pepetj

Ok I'm gonna need a few ideas as to place the 145gal at floor level, safely.

Exactly what type of material should I look for to place underneath the tank?
I have solid concrete foundations, with ceramic tyles at the surface (so it's not like the tank is gonna end in the floor below mine).

Please be as specific as you can.

Pepe
Santo Domingo

jdhef

Assuming that your floor is a concrete slab,it seems to me the biggest problem (depending on what the stand looks like) would be cracking the tile.

I would guess that a stand that large would actually be a wood cabinet without any legs, but instead the whole perimeter would contact the floor. So, I would think it would be okay to just put it in the floor, if that were the case. If you were really worried, you could always try to put some sort of continuous rubber strip under the perimeter.

Good Luck

pepetj

Update:
Nitrite still present at the 29g bow, but reaching lower levels (more close to around 0.24 or less, than close to 0.48ppm or less) before partial water changes (every other day).
Moon is way less shy than the first days! Is swimming freely with the lights on, so now I can keep them on for longer periods for the plants' sake. Moon likes floating plants (better said, remains of plants that happen to float) so if I don't remove the "floating green waste", the remaining plants are left alone. But if I dare to clean the surface, you can bet Moon will "decor" it the same way. (Can hear in my head what I have read over and over about not keeping Oscars in planted tanks, but... I love plants, so I'm learning to love and accept the way Moon likes to keep plants at his/her tank).

a) The 145gal is coming home tomorrow evening! Hope the styrofoam works (I'll get it tomorrow), substrate pending. Expect to begin set-up by next day (Sunday). Home of Moon and yet to find tank mates.
b) One payment left on the 40gal (w/filter, stand, canopies, light) Home of six young Cichlid Convicts, if not tomorrow, coming up next week;
c) made first payment of a 55gal (w/filter, stand, canopies, light). Home of the school of 8 Red-Salmon Rainbows(around 3" each) (plus one young Rainbow still not ID'd, around 2"), will keep them at my office, delivery expected in two weeks.
d) After all that is achieved, of course I will still need at least a 20gal (maybe the 28gal wide tank that, by the way, is still availble) for the Zebra Danios to strive.
Which brings me to
c) Should I keep Edda (female Betta) in the 5.5gal and use the 10gal as quarantine tank? or should I do it the other way around, moving Edda back to the 10gal and keeping the 5.5 for hospital tank? or maybe use a tank divider and place a beutiful male Betta next to her?

Am I thinking about breeding? I don't have that expertise level yet! (I kind of dream about Red-Salmon Rainbow fry) Well this makes me think about who is keeping who here, maybe I'm a fishkeeper, but they -the fishes, I must acknowledge, at least in a way- do keep me

MTS alive and kicking

Pepe
Santo Domingo

pepetj

Update:
Yuppiiii! The 145gal and the 40gal are home!
I am breathless. I just finished moving up the 6footer upstairs (only a 2nd floor, but I'm 43 and mostly sedentary).
Placed it over stryrofoam. Got some sand (not as much as I wanted), and I'm gonna take a nap, to start setting all up. Hopefully, I'll begin fishless cycling tomorrow.

Pepe
Santo Domingo

jdhef

Congratulations!

Barbrella

Awesome!

Take your time - the preparation and anticipation is half the fun!

pepetj

Update: After a short nap, I went for it.

145gal set up running! with 3 AquaClear 110 (#1 seeded from the 29gal bow; placed a 1/2 of small seeded sponge on #2 and #3 -from the 10gal tank, inside-the-tank filter where I placed a new sponge media). No canopies, no light. Barely 3/4" thick sand substrate (from established, healthy tank ).

After treating my source water for removal of chlorine/chloramines with probable overdose of ChlorXChange from API, before it entered the tank (didn't want to loose any bacteria there) with the aid of a bucket placed in a 4' ladder, where the garden hose (first time we use it) brought untreated water in, while another (aquarium use only) hose syphoon it to the tank.
PAUSE: Guess who found the garden hose, attached it, brought it to me, called me to my cell from the other end of the appartment to turn it on safely without spilling water all around the house? Hint: The same person who appeared slighty happier than me when I confirmed the tank was on its way home -you allready have an idea right? Ok, my wife! who by the way ran to Camila (our 3+ yr. old daughter) before I got any chance to say a thing saying (wasn't it more like shouting?) Moon's home is coming! Moon's home is coming! At least she had the courtesy of going for a walk (opposite to me, she is in shape) and left the arrival and set-up for me to share with the real -although not nominal- boss in the house (yes, Camila).
First readings: pH 7.7 Ammonia 0, Nitrites 0, Nitrates 0, GH11, KH9
After adding 25ml of Ammonia solution -without surfactants of course, 5ppm; Nitrites 0, Nitrates 0. Let the fishless cycle begin!

PS Agreed with my wife to have the stand of the 40gal painted (it's black, she wants it mahogany, and she's right) so the 40gal setup will be delayed, the guy who will do that is coming Monday (she called allready), placed the AquaClear 70 that will go into that tank in the 29 gal bow.

Planted a beutiful Anubia Barteri in the 145gal tank that's going to the 40gal (I just love planted fishless-cycle)

Thank you all! I'm touched by the way we share fishkeeping at fishlore!

Pepe
Santo Domingo

MrsM3197

Congrats Pepe!!! You are truly an inspiration to me. I know that I have my kids hooked (pardon the pun) on my new found joy, but I think I am getting my husband as well. All the better, 'cause when I start begging for new "toys" he doesn't get quite as upset

Barbrella

Do you mean planted in the gravel? You can't cover up the rootstalk of these plants. You need to attach them to driftwood, rock, etc. and the roots will attach themselves.

Just checking - wouldn't want your beautiful plant to die!

pepetj

Thanks for your concern Barbrella. Good point there. I guess I should have said placed instead of planted. The rhizome is at/above surface level -not buried, however, the secondary roots are indeed buried and attach the plant to the substrate (as long as it's placed in a quiet spot it seems to work fine, otherwise it ends floating around).

I learned the hard way, lost two-out-of-four Anubias Afzelii because of that mistake, when setting up the 29gal bow, few weeks down the road.

I can't have Anubias with an Oscar (too bad, because I love the way they look), that's why I'll move them to the 40gal. I guess I'll go with bundles of Anacharis, Hornwort (despite the constant clogging of filter intake, yes Moon keeps me busy, and I love it) and large/medium Swords (chomps its leaves, trim half plant appart, but somehow allows part of it to survive with a couple of intact leaves, I guess I'll see who tires/wears down who, either Moon will end ignoring or -hope not- be strong enough to uproot the whole thing)

Pepe
Santo Domingo

pepetj

Update: 145gal readings at noon Sunday July 6th (within first 24hrs of set up):
pH 7.7, Ammonia down to 3ppm in less than 24hrs. Nitrites present at >0.01ppm!, Nitrates zero (as expected)
. Looks like seeding bacteria in one of the HOB will spare me a few days of fishless cycling! (maybe not in terms of days compared to small tanks -11 to 13, since the volume of water -ergo the total surface that needs to be colonized- is huge compared to my previous experience).

Pepe
Santo Domingo

pepetj

Update: After the first day, the hopes of quick fishless cycling vanished. For the third day, Ammonia remains at 5ppm (Ammonia spike) trough 24hrs periods, and nitrites still low (0.24ppm). No problem, I still have some more work/research to do.

Got a tankmate for Moon! a young 5" Green Severum. Left it at the LFS until the 145gal is cycled. Also considering adding a school of five 3 1/2" Tinfoil Barbs.

Canopies solution found! I'll go with my pseudo-DIY project (I design but pay someone with expertise to do it). Got two pieces of a little more than 36" long of aquarium plastic juncture (from leftovers at my favourite LFS) that holds 1/4" (maybe a little less) thick glass. Took measurementes of the tank top areas, and will visit a glass store to have it cut/assembled.
Lights not solved yet. Working on getting more river sand.

tzqng8

Pepe, sir...YOU ROCK!

Get some pictures up man! We want to see what's up and how living the dream actually LOOKS!

Barbrella

Severums are my all-time favorite fish! Beautiful and intelligent. They are rather shy though and do need lots of hiding places in the tank.

I would re-think the Tinfoil barbs. They grow over a foot long, are very fast swimmers and need more room than your tank could provide.

I would try and find the Silver Dollars.

pepetj

Hi tzqng8: I will get some pics soon (you may not believe this, but I don't have a digital camera). However I a friend will lend me one over the weekend.

Hi Barbrella: The thing with Silver Dollars, is that I placed the order of eight through one of the LFS, but they didn't make it through the trip (at least that's what they told me, didn't see the bodies). Next flight comes in two weeks from this one (from US), so I'm still hoping to get them.
I lost the money (they warned me about the risk in that particular flight -that originated in Thailand) and I assumed it. Placing a price on a living thing is just, well nonsense. Win some, lose some, as life is.

Thanks for the advice on the tinfoil barbs... my tank is not that big (even though it feels like it is). Do you have any suggestions on aquascaping for my tank?

Pepe
Santo Domingo



Pepe
Santo Domingo

pepetj

Update: 145gal readings: Ammonia in zero! Nitrite spike! Entering the second stage of fishless cycling!
Solved the lighting issue: Will place two 36" lamps side by side, just over the glass canopy.

The question is: I have two options, one (cheaper) just a standard fluorescent tube per lamp, the other has three tubes (with higher output). Since this is an Oscar Tank (they don't like light that much), it is not going to be heavily planted (dense bundles of Anacharis, some large Swords), would I attain enough WPG to remain at low level? Or would 0.24WPG be too low?


Pepe
Santo Domingo

Barbrella

Plants won't last long enough with an Oscar to grow at all. Severums enjoy plants as well, although they aren't as destructive as oscars.

If you really want to try plants, I would skip the anacharis and swords and try something really tough, like an Anubias Coffefolia. They have large waxy, stiff leaves and you can tie the root stock to a piece of driftwood or a rock. They can also survive lower light levels - but might not survive the Oscar.

Anything planted in the substrate, like Swords, will be uprooted if they aren't ripped up outright.

pepetj

Update: Brought home Moon's new partner (another Tiguer Oscar, around 4"). After acclimation, the owner of the Tank is giving him/her a hard time, I hope this aggression stops. Otherwise I'm going to implement plan B: Placing the youngest one in the hospital tank, or plan C: Divide the 29gal tank. The 145gal won't be ready until a few more days.
Brought the DIY canopies (will have to take one back to cut 1/4 of inch or less, not big deal), brought the single tube lamps (it's a low light tank).

Pepe
Santo Domingo