Phishies' 55 Gallon

EDIT:



Rest of the completed tank set up are on page 2, with a few fish pictures on 3 and 4.

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Don't get your hopes up for lovely fish pictures yet, this tank won't even be getting plants and ready to cycle until about the end of February, when I get some extra money from an orchestra concert.

But! May as well get started

So this is my 55 gallon that I recently purchased via a lovely ad in the newspaper. The tank and accompanying stand was $100. Not bad, eh?



Sideways, while I was cleaning it. There was a downside to this wonderful purchase - the ALGAE. There was so much hardened green algae (former saltwater tank)...ugh, if only I had thought to take a picture of it when I first got it.

Basically, take this...



And put it allll over the place lol. It took about 4 days worth of scrubbing vinegar to get it squeaky clean. So now it's like this:



Also with the tank came a nice black stand



And a nice free bonus, a background! It's actually double sided but the other side is way too "loud" with a bunch of greens...would fade my fish out. Backgrounds are cheap but meh, saving every penny I can!



So yep, that's it for now! Next up is the leak check. Pumping water from the sink and letting it sit overnight, oh boy, so much fun!

I'm hoping to make this a loach tank. Haven't decided on all the species yet, but so far kuhli, yoyo, and dwarf are on the list. Stay tuned

 

what are you puting in it?

 

Good price for a 55 gallon tank AND stand. Does it have lights or anything else? It is really great you have plenty of time to research just what you want. check these out.



If you get 10 or more it is best, as they are really small, and need that many to feel secure. Those and a couple of other compatible mid tank fish would be a really spectacular tank! HUMMMmmm platimun pearlscale angles! then your tank would be black & white and go with that lovely black stand.....

 

I was looking at the dwarf loach actually, but it says on the page they're expensive - do you know what they usually go for?

I hear angelicus loaches like to hang out in higher areas of the tank so, I'd probably get a few of those. Maybe a couple of yoyo loaches, I think they're beautiful.

So yeah, the next month will be spent balancing out what I want. I really want kuhlis and yoyos. Angelicus would be nice too.

But no flower, no lights. I'm still working on those too. Loaches don't like a lot of light from what I hear, which is just fine with me because I was going to get just enough lights for some low-light plants...don't really feel like spending a lot, heh.

 

I was looking at the dwarf loach actually, but it says on the page they're expensive - do you know what they usually go for?

I just found some for $12 each....I find that not so bad, as many fish I buy are 20+....but having to buy 10 or more makes it seem high. It is all in what you want in your tank.

For me the idea of having a tank that really stands out is important. From my experience I have one really cool 55 gal , then there is my old 55 which is a mish-mash of all the fish that have survived over the past 4 years. There is no rhyme nor reason, and to tell you the truth it isn't very interesting. I would much rather have a well thought out tank, with few fish, but is striking and an interest to watch.....

 

I know what you mean...my 10 gallon community tank is like trail mix lol! Such random fish.

Yeah, the black and white theme you mentioned sounds very interesting.

So far this is my preliminary idea..

All of those aren't completely black and white but they all have the same general black/white/grey/brown tones. I put pictures of the color(s) I would aI'm for to make them pretty similar.

The kuhlis and probably yoyos would hang out at the bottom. The angelicus would go between the bottom and mid, and the angels would hang out near the mid and top. So I guess there's a good balance there?

The other good thing about the angelicus and yoyos is they'd both be around the same size (yoyos a couple inches bigger), so they'd probably "school" or group a bit, so it's like a school of 6 rather than 2 3s, right?

When I first bought the 55 I wanted a pleco but at this point I'm not willing to get one of the bigger ones if I'm going to do loaches. Maybe I'd get one of the smaller ones if I ever really got the urge for one.

 

Yay I got the rock I needed to make my decorations! Some flat fieldstone from a local gardening center at 15 cents a pound! Got 25 pounds for about $4. Man, I wish saltwater live rock was that cheap...

I'll post pictures once I'm done making the decorations. Today I'm probably going to be cleaning boiling the pieces, and if I have any more glue left start - not sure if I do or not.

 

What are you using to glue your rocks together? Sounding good
Carol

 

Well I thought I had some silicone glue but apparently not, I'll run by the Petsmart this afternoon after orchestra rehearsal most likely and pick some up.

What would you recommend I use for like, long spreading glue? For instance I'm going to be covering a plastic cup cut in half to make a cave with sand...will the silicone stuff spread okay over a surface like that? I've never had to use it other than lines and such. If not that I hear epoxy is good?

 

I use GE 100% pure silicone clear from Lowes(cheaper, same stuff) and use a caulking gun to dispense it. It will spread just fine on the cup(rough it up with sand paper) then roll it in sand or gravel. You can also use PVC pipe cut to your specs to make caves.
remember to let the silicone dry for at least 24hrs before covering with water.
Can't wait to see pics
Carol

 

Ugh I don't know what I was thinking. I went by the LFS store today and ended up getting this CorAffix stuff. The guy said it can be used to seal things together in the aquarium, that stuff was expensive though. I feel like a newbie who fell to the trick of paying too much. Oh well. This stuff better work. It's "ideal" use is to affix coral to rocks and such, but I mean it should work with rock to rock, right?

The guy is very nice though I talk to him all the time when I'm going in for fish, he always knows what he's talking about, and knew I was doing a freshwater tank - and a loach tank at that, so I would hope he didn't sell me something I can't use lol.

 

yes you can use that I was just trying to save you some money Let it dry 24 hrs also before putting water in.
Carol

 

Yeah I would've loved to have saved money lol. It's okay. This stuff should last me a long time, it's not like I use tons at a time.

My next task is to figure out how to boil the rocks. My mom ordered me to go buy a pan because she won't let me near her non-stick pans lol I wanted to fill the tank tonight to do a leak check. Maybe I'll be able to after the super bowl goes off

 

After you boil your rocks let them cool naturally, if you drain the pan and put cold water back in on them while they are hot they will explode. So please be safe and be careful
I'm sure you knew that but I'm a Mom and I had to say it
Carol

 

Hehe yeah I know, I cook a lot actually, she just doesn't want me to scratch up her nice pans lol. Understandable.

 

Hehe yeah I know, I cook a lot actually, she just doesn't want me to scratch up her nice pans lol. Understandable.

I don't blame her a bit I have a beat up pan I use for anything fishie I have to boil
Carol

 

I had a ton of fun boiling all my rocks for my 55 gallon tank and scrubbing them up where I gathered them from the lake... They stack all the way up to the top too...

The good thing is... you saved a lot of money and with patience you will have a beautiful tank!

 

loaches are cool and you got an amazign deal for a 55 w/stand wow hope everything sets up nicely

 

Yeah in my local paper in the classifieds there's an "Under $50" section, where you can place up to 3 ads for free, as long as they're <=$50. There's tanks there every week. I missed out two weeks in a row where people were selling 55s+stands for $50, but hey, $100 for both is still a great deal.

 

Wow that's pretty cool, I'm ready to see what you have planned for this tank as far as aquascaping goes.

 

Okay, update time

Yesterday was a big day! I checked the tank for leaks, boiled/cleaned the rocks, and then constructed my caves and decorations...

It was a nice day despite being February in Virginia so I took the tank outside rather than test for leaks in the basement. Less cleanup if the worst would happen



Cocoa says hI by the way:



Anyways, we were leak free - yay! So then after cleaning up all the rocks I took them to the basement and assembled them.

Sadly when I got them up in the tank I just couldn't get it back to its former glory. I had numbered them with chalk and everything but alas, a few of the crucial pieces just wouldn't hold up together anymore. So after I was done gluing, here is the final piece(s):



It doesn't look too different. Some spots are the same. I like it anyways



I was kind of disappointed at first, I had wanted my big "center" rock that I'd found to stand up straighter just wasn't laying very stable as it was in the basement, I didn't want to risk it, even though it was going to be glued to the other rocks. So I modified it and now it's one large cave



That's it for now! My next step is to buy my top and lights. I wish there was a hood I could use but I can't seem to find any with the wattage I was looking for. Oh well.

We're getting there. Slowly

 

looks good for 100 $

 

I like the rock setup, I need to go down to the river and see if I can find some stuff for my other tank as I set it up.

 

Yeah I wish we had a river nearby that would have the kind of flat stones I wanted, but meh. The rocks were only 15 cents/pound, and that's about 25 pounds worth in the tank. It was like $4 I think.

I'm debating on what else is going aside from plants. I know I want some driftwood, which is good because the LFS here has basically an endless supply of pretty good stuff. My mom has some broken clay pots she said I'm free to use - are clay pots good as decorations? The clay won't deteriorate in the water over time, will it?

 

Great pickup there! Looking forward to seeing it when you get it cycled & stocked.

 

. My mom has some broken clay pots she said I'm free to use - are clay pots good as decorations? The clay won't deteriorate in the water over time, will it?

if you mean clay like terra cotta flower pot clay yes those are cool, just make sure that they broken peices aren't to sharp. I can't wait to see your tank!!

 

Okay, been a while since I updated this.

I've been going through **** trying to get substrate into this tank. Sounds silly, but when I picked up my rock formations they...fell apart :| Oh well. I put in a pretty thin layer of flourite for my plants...in a few minutes I'll back and put sand overtop. Pictures when I'm done

I'll be ordering the lights off ebay here soon...and then maybe go ahead and get the filter as well with my Amazon gift cards \o/

This tank is taking forever But patience is key when you're low on cash.

 

If your rocks fall you might want to silicone them together with GE 100% silicone

 

I did before. The way they're together it holds fine...you can tug and pull each piece and it stays put...but trying to move the whole structure itself was not so good

Well I just put the sand in. It's a mess When I finish cleaning off the tank and the glue is dried I'm going to fill just a bit of the tank so I can finish cleaning up the sand. I rinsed it out but it's going to be cloudy anyways...may as well get as much as I can gone before I get my filter.

 

Haha okay so funny story. Funny so far, anyways.

I ordered a 108 watt fixture off eBay. I get home today and the package is waiting for me at the door, yay...

I open the box, and the next box is labeled "260 watt"

...

I thought he reused packaging, so I opened the fixture itself. Yep. I've got a compact fluorescent 260 watt fixture (4x65w bulbs)

Cool, yes. But I can't just keep it without telling him! So I sent the guy an email basically saying that I'm perfectly willing to keep the upgraded fixture (lol), but if he wants it back he needs to pay the shipping and send me the 108 - I'm not willing to pay anymore than I already have...after all, this is his mistake, not mine.

But hey, if by some weird chance I get to keep this, awesome. I wouldn't use all 4 bulbs at once of course, that's way too much lighting for the plants I"m getting lol...I'd just use 2 at a time.

Edit: This is on the seller's page:

SALES TERMS & CONDITIONS

· ALL SALES FINAL. No refunds. No exchanges. Sold AS-IS.

<.<
>.>

 

Alright guys, huge update time!

EVERYTHING is here! Except for the heater, which should be arriving tomorrow or Monday - probably Monday, Fedex doesn't usually deliver on Saturday/Sunday here.

So I ended up ordering plants fromthatpetplace - they're BEAUTIFUL...for stuff that was packed very tightly and shipped for 2.5 days, those plants look fantastic! Very green and fluffy leaves And good pricing. I'm very pleased, highly recommend, and will definitely usethatpetplace again for future plant purchases!

Anyways, here's a picture of the tank I took yesterday, just to give an update on how I have my lights set up:



I didn't want to hang the lights from the ceiling so I bought some fancy shelf/hooks for plants instead and did a simpler set up. Thank goodness the studs happened to be placed along this wall almost perfectly centered for my tank!

Anyways, now the tank is full and planted, but the water is really cloudy (yay sand...), so once it's settled tomorrow and I've got the filter and powerhead running I'll post a much much prettier picture!

As you can see, I also redid my rock setup. Now I'm only using the smaller of the rocks...made a different cave-like structure, moved it, and got driftwood for the other side...the other rocks were just too big and bulky to really work for what I wanted. I think the driftwood looks better anyways.

So yeah. More pictures tomorrow!

 

its starting to look good there. good job.

 

Alright guys, I promised pretty pictures once the tank cleared up, so here they are!

Well first, here's what it looked like at the end of day 1...still kind of sad and cloudy




And then a couple days later, I changed the background to this contact paper I had lying around - it was prettier and less reflective...my room gets soo much light, the background I had made me feel like I was looking into a mirror!




Here's a list of all the plants in this tank:

1 Amazon Compacta
3 Broad Leaf Ludwigia
2 Crypt wendtiI "Red Wendtii"
2 Diandra
2 Golden Lloydiella
3 Green Hedge
3 Micro Sword
1 Ozelot Sword

And now I'll take up space with some closeups of the plants and decor!












If you guys want much higher detail and more photos, here is the link to this set on my Flickr account:

I've started adding food to the tank to jump start the cycle, so hopefully by the end of April I'll be just about ready to get some zebra danios, which are going to be my dither fish for the loaches.

 

It's really looking great! Loaches, loaches, loaches! I love loaches
Carol

 

Beautiful tank!

 

wow it looks great. the plants all look so good. great job so far.

 

That is so beautiful! Great job! I hope one day to make my tank as nice as yours!

 

Holey moley - great job aquascaping there Phishies. Looks fantastic.

Mike

 

Aww thanks! Yeah I think this is my best aquascaping to date - I'm surprised it turned out so well! I got the driftwood from Petco for like $8...it's quite nice. And the plants, like I said earlier....thatpetplace really has some nice stuff!

Thanks for the comments guys I'll definitely show more pictures once I actually get some fishies in there

 

Wow, your tank is really coming along beautifully!