Getting a 150g YEAH!!!

[beckyd]

SO excited! My angelfish need way more room and I have been heart broken to place some of them for sale. I sold one and immediately went into full on hoarder mode, refusing to deal with anyone else who showed interest in them. Yet, I am fretting daily because my fish are fighting and trying to spawn. My husband can't take me anymore and told me to get this tank I found for sale, stand and all. Wahoo!!

I wonder if it has occurred to him that technically I will now have a 55g 'spare tank'???

Probably. He's a pretty smart guy...

 

[anshuman]

ahhahahahaa lolz. just keep that spare. you never know when you need tank. selling it for cheap hurts more when you need spare tank. me too keeping my 30G as spare when i upgrade.

Try to record this upgrade by taking pics/vids and posting here, will help others and entertain me

 

[anshuman]

And I had a question. Whats the Glass-thickness on this 150G? and whats the Glass-Thickness for this 55G?

 

[beckyd]

The glass on my 55s are 5mm. I don't have the 150 at my house yet, but I'll let you know. My 75 is 9.5mm. All have tempered glass. Why?

So, you want me to photo journal the whole fiasco? Well, OK! If you will find my project entertaining, then I will bring you along for the ride.

The new tank is going pretty much right where this tank is, so first, this one has to be moved. Fiasco planning is still in progress, but here are some pics to give you a view of the current situation.

This tank is in our living room. I bought 200lbs of substrate today. I will take about 75% of the current substrate and move it over to keep the cycle going. Filtration for the new tank will be considered an unusual choice by many on this forum. I will be using undergravels with additional pondmaster filter pads applied over the top to add surface area for maximum bacterial growth. The substrate will go over this. I will also run two or three LMS sponge filters from angels plus. The lighting won't be good enough for plants, but I will float whatever clippings I have and grab a bunch of java moss to go in there. I'm hoping to get some hornwort, but I'll have to get it shipped and that is a problem in much of the country right now. We're having some major weather here in the US. Well, not in Florida, but I'm feeling for the rest of you!

 

[anshuman]

wowie, nice pics, the last one rocks, the angels etc.

edit: i wanted the glass thickness to compare what my lfs guy said when i was buying tank, he said the taller (bigger) the tank i want the thicker the glass has to be and the 46 G tank i got is 2 feet tall and its custom size (not the ones he keeps in shop and he said no shop keeps tall tanks ) i had to go for 8mm thick glass and that really costed me huge. (compared to the current 6mm thick 30g tank , 18 inch tall , costs me ~approx 8 dollars). I am still not satisfied with new tank , he has no support bars on bottom, the ones i see in all tank-pics posted by you guys/gals in forums, you have nice black border-support bars i think, i guess i will have to make them separately. bummer.

 

[lauraf]

@Anshu - my tank itself (39g) has no middle support bars, just what is around its perimeter. And my wooden stand has no middle bar either. This combo is readily available in all my LFS's - should I be worried about support issues?
@ Becky - Yeehaw! A 150g! I am sooo jealous. Just imagine all the cool things you could do with that. Please do a journal, I'd love it. Particularly if you add in the parts where your husband thinks you are insane, because I can reeallly relate to that. Just adding my 5g for the baby angels plus the constant brine shrimp hatchery in our kitchen has caused him to reevaluate our wedding vows, I think
Seriously, I would love to follow your journey setting up the 150g - from the substrate for eventual plants (as we discussed in the plant thread, for anyone who doesn't know that we've been discussing this) through to decor, lighting and stocking.
Cheers!
Laura

 

[anshuman]

@Laura , i am not a big fan of no-middle-support at bottom. yes the border support-bar are nice , but the bottom really should be supported, specially when we start adding gallons of sand/substrate and even rocks/decorations etc. its like then playing with lady luck, lucky if nothing happens, else , waking up to flooded room and bellyup fishes.

Ofcourse i am not a longtime tank keeper, i really am tiny-fish regarding to 30G tank, still my common sense tells me 'bad idea' to keep no_bottom_support fishtank. bare in mind , i am play_it_ultra_safe guy.

and lolz @ you hubby's dilemma with you and this fish-tanks.

@ Becky, the journals , Do it

 

[lauraf]

Well, not sure how I can add anything now to support my tank. It seems to be a standard set up, and all was purchased new. If there is someone out there who thinks that this is a reeallly bad set up, I guess I could dismantle the whole thing and buy a different base, but considering it *comes* this way, shouldn't it be safe? Or am I just being very naive?
Let's get back to Becky's thread, tho'. Pictures! Journal! Updates! Boom de yada! (Discovery Channel theme song if anyone wondered )

 

[big54bob]

WASTE Get some monster fish

JK I would add a Fei Feng to the mix and go for an amazonia theme.

 

[beckyd]

Well, Bob, an interesting suggestion. I had to look that fish up. I'll keep that in mind

The move begins. Picked up the tank yesterday. Wow. Got it off the truck and onto the kitchen table. Barely

Anshuman, its 12mm thick with supports along the top and bottom in the middle. I have read that the height of the tank matters more then the length for that. Do a search for making your own tank and you will stumble on info about the engineering of the glass and the support requirements. I think that if your front and back do not bow out more than 1/2", you are fine without support. I mean bow out from the water pressure. If you are worried, take some measurements across the tank at the top. If the front-back measurement across the tank remains pretty stable, you're fine.

Today, my mission was to get the current 55g out of the way. My husband had to go help his parents, so he wasn't home. Don't worry though, I was not to be denied. The stand is on wood and it had to get up onto carpet, but I was prepared. Whoever invented Magic Sliders is a genius. I emptied the tank shallow enough that the fish were kind of sideways (wow, were they mad!). I thought I could get one end off the ground just enough to get the sliders under a corner. HA! Anyone know how heavy a 55g with rocks and 4" of water is? WAY too heavy for one 5' female. It didn't budge. So, I moved the mad fish into a bucket, emptied the tank as low as the suction would get and VICTORY! I then proceeded to take a full 20 min to move that thing about 15'. PULL! rest. PULL! rest... But I got it there. Everyone is out of the bucket and happy again.

I also forget to mention in my earlier post that the fish pictured with the livebearers are my two smallest angels. They were getting bullied with all the spawning and I moved them into my community tank. They are fine in there, but my tank is suspiciously absent of any fry all of a sudden! Hmmm...

Here are some pics of today's antics. Notice the helpful dog ( No really, you're fine. Don't let me interrupt your nap) and the dirt under the tank. I'm going to have a talk with the housekeeper about that! Oh, nevermind, I AM the housekeeper. LOL!

Over the last few days, I have ordered my sponge filters, picked up more rock, and found a pile of hornwort at a LFS. I also picked up some material to silicon rocks to for the rock walls that will hide my ugly filters. I'll show you what I am doing with that as I do it. Stay tuned!

And keep in mind that as much as I want to obsess over this this week, I can't! Next Sunday, I am doing a five mile leg of a marathon relay to fundraise for breast cancer. As happy as I am to let you all picture me as a fit runner, I am a walker However, I want to go at a good pace, so I am walking alot this week which will take away my time. If only it weren't for that pesky job...

 

[anshuman]

you are one determined Lady. hats off.

 

[lauraf]

Good job Becky! I hear you on just wanting to get the job done, regardless of whether there are helpful males around. Plus, I've always found that when I move things to my liking when hubby isn't around, he comes home and really doesn't notice the change for a few days. By then, sorry, it's too late!! !!
Same thing with your hair. "No, baby, please don't cut it short/colour it/change it in any way. I love your hair."
Massive change to hair. Then two weeks later: " You look so super! Did you buy a new shirt?"
And I love your dog helping out with the move. That's like my cats, definitely focusing on my fish needs. I can post a few of my littlest kitteh patting the tank, making sure the squirelly loaches are doing well

 

[markcollier8]

Pics of my 150g

I've never sent photos in before or thou I've had acouple of tanks 17g & 28g with quite a variety of fishes..I purchased my 540L/143g about 3mths ago, I traded in all my more peaceful fish to try my hand at raising Ciclids which are provng lots of fun..

 

[beckyd]

Good job in your first picture posting. I had to ask for help the first time I tried! Nice variety of fish. They look very tame.

Laura- you crack me up

The set-up continues: Today, I wanted to work on some decor. I built my first rock wall. This is the material I used. Its called an 'egg crate'. It came from Home Depot near the ceiling tiles. I have no idea what its intended use is, but I read that it makes great tank dividers for big fish as the water flows freely through it. Seems like good advice to me. I thought of it for this purpose because its large, easy to size, cheap, and safe for your tank.

Armed with my first naked walls, a huge tube of silicon, and a variety of rocks, I began.

 

[beckyd]

Here is my first wall. It will sit diagonally in a corner to hide a sponge filter. The bottom will sink into the substrate. The bottom row of rocks are bigger to hold it into position against the glass.

And look! At the first male neighbor sighting, I herded him in to help my husband and WALAH! The tank has landed on its stand.

Now, all the men on the street are learning to run when I head their way with a charming smile and my husband is walking around wondering how long the branches and rocks are going to take up the table where the tank was...

 

[paperdog9]

Nice tank!!!!! That's gonna turn out great!!

 

[anshuman]

lolzzzzz........ "here comes becky....look down, make a convo.... quietly walk away".

nice journo. . make sure the bottom of tank is cushioned by some spongy blanket or best is thermocol.

 

[beckyd]

Exactly! Shockingly, I didn't see a single guy out this afternoon. Hmmm...

The tank is right on the stand. The whole stand is on cushy carpet, but you think something needs to go between the tank and stand? Speak now while its empty My husband's gonna LOVE this. OH HONEY! Gee, where did he go???

 

[paperdog9]

- sorry, bad with quoting

Yes, I think anshuman means between the tank and the stand.

 

[Newman]

yes I think you need a blanket, or some foam board or foam between the tank and the stand, just like in SW applications. you know in case something falls in the tank.