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February 25th, 2009
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| Tank decorating in progress..
Here are a few photos of the tank that is still on the dining room table lol. I have cut to fit a wonderful large piece of old driftwood that my husband brought home given to him by a fellow worker who had it for years. I set my three new silk plants in the tank to see how they fit. I will be adding more silk plants from my established tanks when the new tank is on the stand with substrate and water.
But this is the first photos of the progress.  The photos are pretty dark in in the shade of the sun, wonder why my flash wouldnt go off? But for now you get the picture and I will take more photos when its on the stand where the lighting may be better.If you double click on the photo it will appear a little lighter. Sorry for the lousy photos but more to come. 
Last edited by capekate; February 25th, 2009 at 10:04 AM.
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February 25th, 2009
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| | Fish Master
| thats going to look great!  is the stand finished or still being built? | |
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February 25th, 2009
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| | Fish Master
| How fun for you, getting to decorate a big tank like that!!!. It's looks great. I can't wait to see it all set up. | |
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February 25th, 2009
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| Wow Kate, that's an awesome tank. I love the drift wood in the last pic. | |
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February 25th, 2009
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| | Fish Keeper
| That driftwood is amazing! I cannot wait to see the finished project! | |
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February 25th, 2009
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| | Fish Master
| looks awesome kate!!!!!!!! if you stand in front of the window, with the window on your backside, that will make a huge difference in the pics...although they look amazing id love to see without the window shinning in it LOL im so greedy! | |
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February 25th, 2009
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| | Fish Master
| Hey Kate,
I love the driftwood! It looks great so far | |
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February 25th, 2009
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| thank you ~
The tank was finally moved a little while ago, my son stopped by on his way home from work to give my husband a hand with it. The tank is now on the stand. The stand is not finished yet, but the frame is and my husband will work on the doors and the finishing this weekend. I worked on the background and have to say that I really like this dark Teal blue color. I ironed a hem and velcro'd half an inch on and a half an inch off making a good sturdy hem. Velcro'd the back side of the upper and lower frame of the tank as well and attached the material before the tank was moved.
I will take some photos of it this evening and hopefully will not have any glare. My two hood/lights arrived today in the mail but after doing a tracking I see that the rest of the order from BigAl's will be here tomorrow. I have to say that I am very pleased with the quick delivery with them, as I just put the order in on sat. afternoon. Hopefully the glass canopy and heaters from Drs Foster and Smith will arrive before the weekend so that I can start filling the tank.
Since I am using a sand substrate i thought it best to lay the sand and fill the tank after laying down the plantings and decorations before starting the filter. This way the sand can settle first for a day or so. With no other supplies yet, thats about all I can do at the moment.
Thanks so much for stopping by my blog, its wonderful to get feedback on the project! | |
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February 25th, 2009
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| | Fish Master
| again, ive said many times, IM SO SO HAPPY FOR YOU!! (and jealous) LOL | |
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February 25th, 2009
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| | Fish Master
| JEALOUS!! lol | |
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February 25th, 2009
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| | Fish Helper
| awesome peice of driftwood, did I just miss where you said how many gallons?
yeah i did 125
Last edited by Lucy; February 26th, 2009 at 07:38 AM.
Reason: merged back to back posts | |
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February 25th, 2009
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| Here is a photo of the tank on the frame. This weekend the rest of the cabinet will be built and finished along with four vertical braces that will be put in as well where the doors will be attached to. For now it is the frame where the tank will find the strength to stand on and the rest is all cosmetics. | |
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February 25th, 2009
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| That looks great Kate! | |
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February 25th, 2009
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| Thanks Lucy! Its hard to imagine how large this tank is and when I look over at the 55, it looks so small now lol. My husband admitted that if he knew how large this tank really was he would have had second thoughts about buying it. But its in a good place in the dining room which opens to the living room so I will still be able to enjoy looking at it. I will have to really consider what else I will be stocking in there as the BR's are going to look pretty tiny in there.
So far all I have going in there is four BRs and three rainbows and one striped rapheal catfish... | |
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February 26th, 2009
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| I can imagine, that tank is huge! I wouldn't even know where to start stocking it. There's so many choices. You could have fish in there that would probably never see each other. lol
Oh well, hubby, too late now. | |
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February 26th, 2009
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| Quote:
Originally Posted by Lucy  I can imagine, that tank is huge! I wouldn't even know where to start stocking it. There's so many choices. You could have fish in there that would probably never see each other. lol
Oh well, hubby, too late now. | hehehe... I thought the same thing when he said it 
Im going to start another thread in the blog on stocking the tank and hopefully get a few suggestions.
One thing I noticed about the tank yesterday was that Papa Smurf made the stand a bit taller than usual size. so the bottom of the tank hits just around my waist area and I am 5.5 or so. That means the top of the tank is high enough that I think I will need a small step ladder when I clean it. But I like the height because I will not have to bend down to look in the tank and I can see the fish at just below eye level.
The stand measures from the floor to 34.5 inches and to the top of the tank from the floor is 57.5 inches tall. | |
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February 26th, 2009
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| L-O-V-E to tank ! The driftwood is very nice also. Are you going to have to attach a rock to the bottom to get it to sink? Gonna put any rocks in it? Kate if you are concerned for the filter you could put a little sponge over the intake until the sand dust settles.
Carol | |
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February 26th, 2009
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| Quote:
Originally Posted by Butterfly L-O-V-E to tank ! The driftwood is very nice also. Are you going to have to attach a rock to the bottom to get it to sink? Gonna put any rocks in it? Kate if you are concerned for the filter you could put a little sponge over the intake until the sand dust settles.
Carol | Hi Carol
I was going to PM you about that same question on the sand. I noticed that you posted once that you didnt have to rinse your pool filter sand and I am wondering if I can get away with that as well. It would be a lot easier than trying to lug buckets full of wet sand to the tank.
Since I have to wait for the tank to cycle before putting the fish in, I dont mind waiting a day for the sand to settle before turning on the filter.
I bought five nice pink quartz rocks for the tank. I have them in my other tanks and I like the look of them. The driftwood has been out of water for many years and yes, more than likely I will have to weigh it down tho the base stump is heavy. If I have to, I will put a few rocks on top til it gets water logged. May not look so great, but for the time being it may have to be done. | |
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February 26th, 2009
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| Quote:
Originally Posted by capekate That means the top of the tank is high enough that I think I will need a small step ladder when I clean it. But I like the height because I will not have to bend down to look in the tank and I can see the fish at just below eye level. | That sounds like a good trade off. | |
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February 26th, 2009
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| Quote:
Originally Posted by Lucy That sounds like a good trade off. | I agree, I kind of like it at this height... the fish and I will be at eye level lol..  | |
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February 26th, 2009
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| | Fish Master
| it is coming along so nice!!! its exciting watching this | |
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February 26th, 2009
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| | Moderator
| Quote:
Originally Posted by Shawnie it is coming along so nice!!! its exciting watching this | Thank you Shawnie!  | |
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February 26th, 2009
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| | Fish Keeper
| That seems like a very nice stand. Did your husband make it from scratch? I wish my husband was handy like that. Your tank is looking so nice! It must be fun to have a project! | |
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February 26th, 2009
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| Quote:
Originally Posted by capekate Hi Carol
I was going to PM you about that same question on the sand. I noticed that you posted once that you didnt have to rinse your pool filter sand and I am wondering if I can get away with that as well. It would be a lot easier than trying to lug buckets full of wet sand to the tank.
Since I have to wait for the tank to cycle before putting the fish in, I dont mind waiting a day for the sand to settle before turning on the filter.
I bought five nice pink quartz rocks for the tank. I have them in my other tanks and I like the look of them. The driftwood has been out of water for many years and yes, more than likely I will have to weigh it down tho the base stump is heavy. If I have to, I will put a few rocks on top til it gets water logged. May not look so great, but for the time being it may have to be done. | Kate - no I don't rinse my pool filter sand. Sometimes it's a little cloudy for a day with lighter,smaller grains of sand but never dirt or trash. I was a little nervous the first time but figured they wouldn't manufacture something to go in a swimming pool filter that would be full of trash and dirt or harmful to the filter.
Now I remember you saying you had gotten some pink quartz to go in it, should look very nice.
I usually just go ahead and use stainless steel screws and a flat rock to hold my driftwood down, I'm too impatient to wait for it to get water logged. LOL
I can't wait for you to get it together 
Carol | |
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February 26th, 2009
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| Quote:
Originally Posted by Butterfly Kate - no I don't rinse my pool filter sand. Sometimes it's a little cloudy for a day with lighter,smaller grains of sand but never dirt or trash. I was a little nervous the first time but figured they wouldn't manufacture something to go in a swimming pool filter that would be full of trash and dirt or harmful to the filter.
Now I remember you saying you had gotten some pink quartz to go in it, should look very nice.
I usually just go ahead and use stainless steel screws and a flat rock to hold my driftwood down, I'm too impatient to wait for it to get water logged. LOL
I can't wait for you to get it together
Carol | Thanks Carol
My sand bottom will only be about 1.5 inches so I wont be able to hide the base if I used that method. You mean that you actually were able to screw into a rock? wow.. I really don't mind waiting for the wood to get logged down. It wont take that long.
Thanks for letting me know about the PFS. Thats what I will do as well. | |
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February 26th, 2009
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| Quote:
Originally Posted by hkirchen That seems like a very nice stand. Did your husband make it from scratch? I wish my husband was handy like that. Your tank is looking so nice! It must be fun to have a project! | Thank you hkirchen
I showed my husband a photo of the style that I want and he is building from sight. He is a carpenter by trade with over 35 yrs in the business so this is a fun project for him as well. | |
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February 26th, 2009
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| Quote:
Originally Posted by capekate Thanks Carol
My sand bottom will only be about 1.5 inches so I wont be able to hide the base if I used that method. You mean that you actually were able to screw into a rock? wow.. I really don't mind waiting for the wood to get logged down. It wont take that long.
Thanks for letting me know about the PFS. Thats what I will do as well. | A drill with a masonary bit, stainless steel screw and washer, 1/2 inch rock
I put silicone strips on the bottom of the rock and put it directly on the glass and poured sand around it. But the fishes have uncovered it a bit
carol | |
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February 26th, 2009
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| Quote:
Originally Posted by Butterfly A drill with a masonary bit, stainless steel screw and washer, 1/2 inch rock
I put silicone strips on the bottom of the rock and put it directly on the glass and poured sand around it. But the fishes have uncovered it a bit
carol | that looks really nice Carol! It looks very natural. I was having a 'brunette moment' and picturing it screwed into a roundish sized rock!  Goodness me!
So you have it permanently in place on the glass with the silicone? But that means you can not re arrange the tank in the future if you wanted to? | |
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February 26th, 2009
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| Quote:
Originally Posted by capekate that looks really nice Carol! It looks very natural. I was having a 'brunette moment' and picturing it screwed into a roundish sized rock! Goodness me!
So you have it permanently in place on the glass with the silicone? But that means you can not re arrange the tank in the future if you wanted to? | It's not stuck to the glass. The silicone was applied to the rock since it's directly against the glass. The silicone keeps the rock from scratching the glass
Carol | |
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February 26th, 2009
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| Quote:
Originally Posted by Butterfly It's not stuck to the glass. The silicone was applied to the rock since it's directly against the glass. The silicone keeps the rock from scratching the glass
Carol | I gotcha! that makes sense now. | |
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