20 gallon long rack. . . changing my whole setup

[MoshJosh]

Sold my discus. . . time to change up my hobby. . .

 

[BigManAquatics]

Any particular reason why? Or just simplifying or branching out?

 

[MoshJosh]

Just simplifying. Lower water volumes, smaller water changes, less frequent water changes, lower temps, smaller feedings etc.

“current” set up like dis:


here is some progress on the new stand:

 

[MoshJosh]

 

[BigManAquatics]

View attachment 765772

Is that what was a pile of unstained wood a couple of of weeks ago? Looks pretty nice!

 

[MoshJosh]

No it was a pile wood yesterday. . .

 

[MoshJosh]

After 2 coats of danish oil. Tomorrow I’ll sand/polish it with some scotch brite pads. . . Maybe some orange oil and bees wax too

 

[Cowardlyslimeball]

Wow, that look pretty good.. following! I wish I could do woodworking.. I suck so much at it though haha

 

[John58ford]

Love the dado style, reminds me a little of my favorite design. Are you only going two rows tall with a table surface on the top or are you going to stand on a chair to change a third tank? I'm more tempted every day to add a third row to mine lol.

Keep sharing, it's looking sweet.

 

[MoshJosh]

There will be one on top, rim will sit about 6 foot from the floor, so yeah I need a stool for water changes ha ha. I tried to find a good balance between not having a bottom tank too low, not having a top tank too high, and having enough room in between.

 

[MoshJosh]

Got rid of the old setup today, here’s the temporary one:


here is the rack after orange oil and bees wax:

 

[aquachris]

That orange oil and bees wax OH MY that looks nice! Good work, cant wait to see more pics!!!!

 

[MoshJosh]

A few small updates. I installed the “air pump hanging mounts”. . . AKA fence handles:


Got some of the sand I’ll be using, but the more and more I read/watch about planting in sand (it isn’t the easiest to plant in) I may mix some thing else into the substrate just to make my life a little easier. . . But not sure:


a sneak peak of some fish (that will hopefully still be alive by the time I finish this thing):

Made some more caves:

 

[MoshJosh]

I’m went a bit over budget yesterday. . . But got some more plants, some amonos, and some substrate. Gonna go with a sort of 2 tone looks mostly gravel in back mostly sand in front and mixed in the middle. Also I put the “etched glass” background on:

 

[MoshJosh]

Thanks JettsPapa for the plants:

 

[MoshJosh]

Trying to get the electronics/cord management figured out and prepped. I screwed in a bunch of zip tie mounts where I know I’ll need them. . . and might add a few more where I don’t need them just in case. Unfortunately I will need to get some USB extension cords to use with the air pumps, but should still work out:



also, I got kind of lucky after mounting the power strips I realized my Wi-Fi light timers barely fit, and are in the correct orientation so I can access the power button. . . woo!

 

[aquachris]

Yeah, getting those powerstrips in before you starting putting in equipment is a definite good idea... Take it from someone who found out the hard way

 

[BigManAquatics]

Zip ties are my best friend. Usually pick up a package or two every trip to Harbor Freight.

A few small updates. I installed the “air pump hanging mounts”. . . AKA fence handles:
View attachment 769289

Got some of the sand I’ll be using, but the more and more I read/watch about planting in sand (it isn’t the easiest to plant in) I may mix some thing else into the substrate just to make my life a little easier. . . But not sure:
View attachment 769288

a sneak peak of some fish (that will hopefully still be alive by the time I finish this thing):
View attachment 769290
Made some more caves:
View attachment 769339

Are those just little plastic flowerpots?

 

[MoshJosh]

Betta'sAnonymous They are terra cotta

 

[MoshJosh]

Got one of my lights in the mail, and got it mounted. It’s not exactly what I had envisioned, but I think it works pretty well and you practically can’t see it unless you’re looking for it which I think is kind of cool.

 

[John58ford]

Are you going to use glass lids? The reflection back towards the light can be pretty significant, on my tank rack I ended up adding about 20% more than I had originally thought I would need.

That does look very nice, and I love the power strip mounting.

 

[MoshJosh]

I was planning on using corrugated lexan for the lids, though I wonder if the UV resistance of said material would effect plants?

Yeah I am a bit worried of not having enough light, in fact I planned on using the tank mounts that came with the light so it would sit directly over the tank, but despite being the correct size for the tank the mounts are too long. . . I could always hang the light with wire if need be.

 

[AcornTheBetta]

Interesting... Following!

 

[MoshJosh]

Got my drift wood from manzanitadriftwood.com, I think it was a pretty good deal actually, and I think they will work well my tanks. Also I’m sort of considering doing smaller tanks up top for fry/maybe betta breeding?????

 

[aquachris]

So exciting. Keep posting!

 

[MoshJosh]

A friend of mine was nice enough to pick up some more tanks for me while she was out of town (all the 2.5g were sold out locally)

 

[MoshJosh]

I couldn’t decide on what substrate to use, so I just decided to use all of them, if they get all mixed up oh well. Hopefully I’ll get to driftwood in tomorrow, fingers crossed it’s waterlogged.

 

[MoshJosh]

Getting closer:

 

[MoshJosh]

Thanks to everybody who’s watched this thread, and thanks for sticking with it. The “fish“ part is pretty much done. Figured I would show you guys what I’ve done so far and sort of a look at the nitty-gritty stuff. I finished the lids today, think they turned out pretty well I use the new “technique“ for cutting them using a razor blade that I think is meant for cutting carpet, seem to work pretty well. Also I got most of the cords managed, though it will have to change once I set up the top tanks.



The two unused air pumps will feed into the gang valve which will ultimately provide air to the top five tanks. I added the power strip In case I wanted to heat those tanks, but ultimately I think they will just be shrimp which should tolerate the slightly cooler air temperature in the room.



The cords are pretty hidden unless you’re a ground level. . . Also along the way I added some felt pads to the bottom of the stand, Just hoping it will ensure the wait is evenly distributed, my thinking is it’s like the foam padding under a rimless tank.

 

[Perlumia]

Great set up!

 

[MoshJosh]

Slowly getting closer to finishing this thing:

 

[86 ssinit]

Wow nice set up! Just seeing the thread. Are the 5Gs for fry? Subscribed .

 

[MoshJosh]

The top five are all just 2.5 gallons but yes fry and shrimp most likely

 

[86 ssinit]

Lol never seen a 2.5 g tank. Sorry to hear about the discus. They are time consuming!