Your current Fish tank Setups!

[Matutu]

Rocks first and before sand for a three reasons.

you don't want burrowing fish to dig the sand out and make the rocks shift!!
you don't want a unstable base to work with.

Also a lot of sand compacted under the rock makes big dead areas of hard sand

 

[famas]

Managed to get some more done on the new tank tonight.

Got it all together and cramped in place



Here you can see the 1.5mm gap created by the cable ties.



Next I squished down the end of the nozzle with some pilers. (but not too much otherwise silicone starts coming out the back of the tube instead of the nozzle



So it fitted nicely into the gap.



Then I injected small blobs of silicone evenly around the tank.





And left it to dry over night.



Tomorrow All the cramps, masking tape and cable ties can be removed and the small blobs of silicone should be strong enough to hold the tank together so I can inject the rest of the seams.

After the seams are done its another 24 hour wait then the water tight seal can be done on the inside of the tank.

then fingers and every thing else crossed its water test time.

 

[hamesy]

One of my tanks sprung a leak last week. Managed to nurse it till the weekend when I got a replacement tank. Saturday afternoon was spent transferring everything over; filters, the gravel and sand, plants etc, followed by the fish in the evening.

Still nursing the tank back into shape but I've lost a lot of fish due to stress

 

[famas]

It was all going so well until .........



Got a bubble in the seam, its on the initial blob that held the tank together, I'm guessing it happened when I took the cramps off and the tank must have shifted slightly. Its only happened on this blob though.

Am gutted as the rest of the seams came out pretty well.



After doing loads of searches on the web it seems bubbles in aquarium seams are quite common but normally they are small and spread through out the entire seam.

Some people say that while they are unsightly they pose no structural issues.

others say they are always a potential problem and should be checked regularly.

I guess its down to the size of the bubble and where it is.

I might as well water test the tank any way, if I press hard on the glass in front of the bubble there is no movement of the bubble so its sealed in well.

What are peoples thoughts? any one got a bubble in the seam on your tanks or had any experience with them?

Its going to take a long time to dismantle and clean the silicone off if I have to

injecting silicone works well but if you use clear silicone you will get an out line around the initial blob. If I used black silicone you wouldn't see this.

 

[BDEE]

Looking at the spread around it, I would not be filling that with water in my house!

But then that comes from someone who has had a 550L tank flood the bottom of his whole house, so I tend to be ultra-paranoid these days!

 

[dbmzk1]

I'd never be brave enough to make my own tank anyway, so no way I'd trust that haha.

 

[famas]

yeah think its going to be a tear down and remake.

Luckily I bought more silicone than I thought Id need and only used one tube for the hole tank, so got plenty left over.

fingers crossed it will go better the second time round, got more of an idea what to do now

 

[MassiveJim]

why make your own anyway ?
Is it significantly cheaper than buying premade ?
How is the lid being made for it ?

 

[famas]

why make your own anyway ?
Is it significantly cheaper than buying premade ?
How is the lid being made for it ?

Always wanted to give it a try, I enjoy building stuff

Depending where you get your glass its usually much cheaper.

Its a rimless tank, so no hood or lid.

 

[Rybo89]

Cleaned my tank out today, thought that algae would be a bleeda to get off but it just wipes straight off. took me 2 min to clean the whole glass of the tank. Such a difference! looks stunning again.

We are already considering a bigger tank. Maybe 400+ltr tank.

 

[EyepodI]

Can anyone recommend a UK tropical fish forum?

I am a bit of a newb with this fish tank keeping malarkey and have some questions to ask which are not OT to this thread.

 

[kaptainmarc]

UKAPS is a good forum but they can be a bit harsh if your a noob I don't post I just read

but its full of great information and people with a lot of knowledge

 

[Euro_Hunter]

Can anyone recommend a UK tropical fish forum?

I am a bit of a newb with this fish tank keeping malarkey and have some questions to ask which are not OT to this thread.

My favorites are:

UKAPS - http://www.ukaps.org/forum/
Practical Fishkeeping - http://forum.practicalfishkeeping.co.uk/index.php

 

[Zatoichi.uK]

I've had a 2nd fish appear to get dropsy. He's looking more bloated and some scales are sticking out, same as the last fish that died.

I've kept the tank very clean doing 25%-30% changes every 10 days for months now and the levels all seem fine. I'm not overfeeding, or at least I don't think I am. Small pinch for 4 gold/fancy fish.

I hope I don't have to get the clove oil out again.

 

[oulton]

Always wanted to give it a try, I enjoy building stuff

Depending where you get your glass its usually much cheaper.

Its a rimless tank, so no hood or lid.

My mate did this, he made his own hydro setup where the fish poo was used to grow garden herbs. After about 3 months though the bond failed and his appartment flooded so be really careful

 

[Malt_Vinegar]

I've had a 2nd fish appear to get dropsy. He's looking more bloated and some scales are sticking out, same as the last fish that died.

I've kept the tank very clean doing 25%-30% changes every 10 days for months now and the levels all seem fine. I'm not overfeeding, or at least I don't think I am. Small pinch for 4 gold/fancy fish.

I hope I don't have to get the clove oil out again.

4 gold fish? How big is the tank? You would need somewhere in the region of a 300 litre tank for that number of fish.

 

[gillywibble]

I've had a 2nd fish appear to get dropsy. He's looking more bloated and some scales are sticking out, same as the last fish that died.

I've kept the tank very clean doing 25%-30% changes every 10 days for months now and the levels all seem fine. I'm not overfeeding, or at least I don't think I am. Small pinch for 4 gold/fancy fish.

I hope I don't have to get the clove oil out again.

Dropsy and other infections can be successfully treated with Baytril, contact a fish vet ASAP.

 

[Zatoichi.uK]

4 gold fish? How big is the tank? You would need somewhere in the region of a 300 litre tank for that number of fish.

It's 120l. I did the calculations at the time and 4 was fine. The two larger fish are around 5" and the two smaller are under 2" still. Will try and put a pic up later.

Here's the tank. I even uprated the filter to a fluval external one good for up to 200l.

 

[Malt_Vinegar]

It's 120l. I did the calculations at the time and 4 was fine. The two larger fish are around 5" and the two smaller are under 2" still. Will try and put a pic up later.

Here's the tank. I even uprated the filter to a fluval external one good for up to 200l.

According to even the stingiest recommendations for goldfish that tank is just about big enough for 1 fancy goldfish.

That's the reason most people keep goldfish in ponds and go for tropical or marine fish for indoors.

External filter is no bad thing, it will help keep the water clean at least, but its the "swimmable" size that is the real problem

 

[Zatoichi.uK]

Okay thanks. I guess I need to find a friend with a pond or get a bigger tank at some point. I know several people who have waaaaay more fish than me in a similar size tank and don't seem to have any issues. Probably nitrite levels off the chart though.