Tank Journal Archive

[jart]

Well have made a little progress the last few days:

* bought some plumbing bits to refresh some of what was there and change from a Durso standpipe + emergency drain to a Herbie setup

* cleaned the tank, sumpsand pumps with vinegar. scraped off some of the old Coraline

* gave the whole stand a single coat of paint (mainly so any parts that happen to show through my eventual cladding job are not the orig black colour

* spur of the moment thing decided to try painting the back panel of the tank, mainly to block view of stair behind. Only colour I had spare was a cool looking dark smoky blue colour. Decided to see what it looks like - liking it so far. Will wait on final decision once tank is wet.

* ripped out the bottom platform of the stand as it was slightly water damaged

* decided on choice and method of cladding - just need to assemble a few bits and bobs before attempting

* brought the tank temporarily inside to check it all fits how I imagined before moving forward - it looks good. Loving the proportions of the slightly taller stand and 460mm height of tank. Also enjoying imagining how happy my fish will be with all that extra swimming room!

I pic of what I have been raving on about.

 

[Trentwalsh]

Thats coolas hell man, love it

 

[MagicJ]

Nice progress :)

The colour on the back of the tank looks pretty good in the photo.

 

[jayellul]

what size is this tank?

 

[MagicJ]

what size is this tank?

900 x 900 x 460 :)

 

[DeWalt]

Great dimensions for a tank. so much potential in that spot as well.

I love your staircase as well btw

 

[jart]

Thanks for the supportive comments everyone. A little more progress:

* have decided on the cladding and doors. Bought them the other day and know how I will be mounting them. Will reveal once they are in place.

* decided to give the back of the tank, where it is just visible when using the stairs, another coat of paint. Once I started I ended up painting the whole thing again! Looks 500% better though, so glad I did it even if most of it will be hidden by cladding.

* installed new base of stand and cut out some Coraflute to cover it more exactly

* can't remember whether I noted it before, but found a rubber mat at Bunnings that is almost the exact dimensions of the base of the stand - the stand is sitting on top of it.

* hoping to get some sand in there today and start playing with some rock.

Here is a pic of the result of the above progress.

 

[MagicJ]

Coming together nicely :)

Something just occurred to me, although you may have already considered it...

You have open backed stairs so how are you going to prevent 'stuff' from falling into the tank from above? By stuff, I mean dirt, dust etc that may be on peoples feet as they go up and down the stairs.

Also, can you actually get to your overflow if required?

In 5 years, I have had to remove a fish from my weir 3 times - for me, that involves removing the pipework in the weir (you need some vertical space to do this) and trying to corner a fish in a triangular space () with a net. Trust me, it is not easy and that's with lots of room to move.

 

[jart]

Coming together nicely :)

Something just occurred to me, although you may have already considered it...

You have open backed stairs so how are you going to prevent 'stuff' from falling into the tank from above? By stuff, I mean dirt, dust etc that may be on peoples feet as they go up and down the stairs.

Also, can you actually get to your overflow if required?

In 5 years, I have had to remove a fish from my weir 3 times - for me, that involves removing the pipework in the weir (you need some vertical space to do this) and trying to corner a fish in a triangular space :)banghead) with a net. Trust me, it is not easy and that's with lots of room to move.

Thanks for chiming in - all good thoughts and questions.

In answer to them:

* falling stuff :) - Firstly we have a no shoes in the house rule, which cuts down on the amount of dirt/leaves/sticks/stones coming into the house, or up/down the stairs, on the bottom of people's shoes. Secondly, my original tank that was in this approx position was a 400L corner, a bit old school, with the top completely covered by glass lids. As a result I have a pretty good idea of how much dust/debris to expect floating/falling into the tank - some, but not too much. Will cover tank when we do the weekly clean of the stairs.

* getting to overflow - will take a pic from another angle later, but yes I can get to the overflow. Obviously not a lot of free space above, but I think it is enough. I will double-check and play around with plumbing/current net tonight though to make sure I am comfortable with the space - thanks for the heads up. Also, the weir is not a triangle in my case. It is like a 25cm square, but with a 10cm square removed from the front corner. Hard to describe, but gives a bit more space to work with than some I have seen.

Thanks again for your thoughts. Much appreciated.