40B Build - Doing Lots of Stuff I'm Not Supposed To Do

[BigJim]

I took advantage of a day off work finally got around to setting up my 40B that's been sitting empty in my basement for the last few months. Petco dangled the tank in front of me with their $1 per gallon sale and I took it, hook, line, and sinker.

I painted the back of the tank using Rustoleum Gloss Black spray paint. I wiped the tank down with a wet rag, but I really should have used paint thinner. There was something on the back of the tank that caused the paint to crinkle and look really terrible. It took me an hour with some very fine steel wool and a lot of elbow grease to remove the bad paint, but it was worth it. The back of the tank looks nice and smooth now.

I built the stand myself. I had a few extra 2x4s lying around, so I got a box of screws and spent some time in the garage. It's painted with the same Rustoleum gloss black that I used for the back of the tank. It may be a little crude, but it's effective. There's also room on the bottom for another tank(s) for some time in the future when my wife decides we should breed some more fish.

Here's a shot of the empty tank on the stand. You can see the AC110 I'm going to use. I picked it up off Craigslist for $40. It came with a pretty fresh sponge and some loose ceramic biomedia. I put the biomedia in media bags and put them in my other tanks. One has been seeding for about a month, the other for about two weeks.

Petsmart was clearing out their Hydor Theo heaters a few months ago, so I picked up as many as I could find. I'm going to use a 300W heater in this tank. It's a little big, but I got it for about $10 new.

Here's the most controversial part of the build. I've been interested in doing a tank with black substrate for a while, but I can't bring myself the pay $1.50 a pound for sand. I was wandering through Menards on my weekly trip there and I found some blasting media called "Black Blast" back by the concrete. Here's some more information:

Blackblast (an aluminum silicate blast cleaning abrasive) is a blast cleaning abrasive made from coal slag from coal fired power plants. This abrasive is generally considered to be the safest of the non-recyclable industrial blasting media and is most commonly used for blasting coated or uncoated metal or concrete surfaces. Blackblast is commonly used as a blast media on painted steel bridges and for ship restoration projects.


Advantages of Blackblast - Coal Slag
* Non-reactant – will not interfere with your coatings
* Easy cleanup
* No detectable crystalline silica
* No heavy metals


Available Sizes and Profiles:
Size Profile Use
Utility #8-4 3.5 - 5.5 Mil For the tough blasting job
Medium #12-40 2.5 - 4.0 Mil For the tough blasting job
Medium Fine #20-40 2.0 - 3.5 Mil General blast cleaning
Fine #30-60 1.0 - 2.5 Mil General blast cleaning on delicate substrates when a smooth finish is required
Extra Fine #50-150 0.5 - 1.5 Mil When a very smooth finish is required


Technical Specifications
Symbol Name Percentage
SiO2 (Silicon Dioxide, Total) 46.5%
Al2O2 (Aluminum Oxide) 22.5%
Fe2O3 (Iron Oxide) 19.0%
CaO (Calcium Oxide) 5.5%
LOI (Loss on Ignition) 3.0%
MgO (Magnesium Oxide) 1.0%
K2O (Potassium Oxide) 1.0%
TiO2 (Titanium Oxide) 1.0%
SiO2 (Crystalline Silica) < 1.0%


Characteristics
Colour: Black
Bulk Density: 90 lbs/ft3
Grain Shape: Angular
Solubility: Insoluble
Hardness: > 7 Mohs

I've read a lot of differing opinions on using the stuff in aquariums. Some people say it'll leach a lot of stuff into the water, others say it'll tear up the fish, still others say they've used it with no ill effects.

I love the "Safe to Use" statement on the bag.

What I've gathered from reading about the coal slag is that it's mostly quartz and it's pretty insoluble. Before I bought it, I made sure it wasn't really sharp. There was an open bag at the store, so I took some of it and really ground it in between my palms. It's slightly rougher than PFS, but really no sharper than play sand.

It really looks awesome. Black Blast is black, but it's shiny at the same time.

These pictures do a pretty good job of catching the shininess.

The stuff is pretty clean out of the bag too. I washed a bucket of it, but I really didn't see much dust come out, so I just poured the other bags into the tank. There is a little dust, but not much. Here's what floated to the top out of about 80lb of Black Blast:

 

[BigJim]

Here's the tank filling for the first time. I'm sure glad I have that python.

Here's the light I'm using temporarily. I haven't been able to find a glass canopy for a 40B anywhere locally, but that's what I plan to use.

Here's the tank partially decorated. I was given the two chunks of driftwood. The big piece sinks, but the smaller piece doesn't yet. That's why it's stuck under some slate for the time being. I'm sure they'll be moved a few times before I'm satisfied. I'm planning on putting some java ferns on at least one of the pieces.

I've added some water sprite (back right corner), jungle vals (back left, center), and anacharis for the moment. These plants have been sitting in my wife's tank for a while now and she's getting sick of hunting for her fish through the jungle. I'll add some more plants once I decide what I want to do with the lighting.

I'm running a fishless cycle. Hopefully it won't take too long.

Here's another thing I'm not supposed to do. Look at the center of the picture and you'll see the evil word "Surfactant". I got this ammonia from Walmart for $1. It does not foam when shaken and I've used it to successfully cycle another tank. We'll see how this goes.

Here's the most important part: Cycled biomedia! Hoping for a short cycle here.

 

[HN1]

Great start! The blasting sand looks awesome, but I do wonder... What are you going to be stocking?

 

[BigJim]

I'm going to move some fish around before I add anything new. I've got a pictus catfish and a striped raphael catfish that are both 8"+. They're in my 29g at the moment and they need some more room. They'll go in the 40 as well as my Praecox rainbows. I've got four males and I'll add some females if I can find some good stock.

 

[spoonman]

I noticed iron oxide in the blasting compound. Isnt that rust?

 

[BlackMagic]

do let me know if that brand of ammonia work.
must be one lucky *** day finding a 300w Hydor Theo heaters for 10 buck only.

 

[taylorodw]

Yes, I am also interested in the substrate. It has high silica content - are you worried about diatoms? It makes me wonder as the bag says non-reactive, does that mean what we aquarists refer to as inert?

It also mentions two forms of the SiO2 in the stuff, I wonder if one or the other is specifically accessible to diatoms?

Anyway, the substrate does look great. I am interested in the ammonia with surfactants too... maybe it's only the perfumes and dyes that are bad news?

 

[BigJim]

I noticed iron oxide in the blasting compound. Isnt that rust?

Yeah, rust is iron oxide. I'm hoping the plants can use most of the extra minerals in the blasting compound. In my research I found people stating that their plants grew well in the stuff, particularly swords and other root feeders.

do let me know if that brand of ammonia work.
must be one lucky *** day finding a 300w Hydor Theo heaters for 10 buck only.

I've used that ammonia before with success. It doesn't foam, so maybe it uses something safe for a surfactant. When I found that sale at Petsmart, I went to both my local stores and bought all the clearance Theos I could find. I ended up with two 300W and a 100W for about $30. I really wanted two 100W heaters for the 40, but I'm cheap.

Yes, I am also interested in the substrate. It has high silica content - are you worried about diatoms? It makes me wonder as the bag says non-reactive, does that mean what we aquarists refer to as inert?

It also mentions two forms of the SiO2 in the stuff, I wonder if one or the other is specifically accessible to diatoms?

Anyway, the substrate does look great. I am interested in the ammonia with surfactants too... maybe it's only the perfumes and dyes that are bad news?

I'm not too worried about diatoms. It has low crystal silica content and I believe that's the stuff diatoms feed on. I believe silicon dioxide is basically quartz in this case.

 

[BigJim]

Looking on Aquariumplants.com, I found they have their own planted tank substrate with an analysis. Here it is compared to Black Blast:


TYPICAL CHEMICAL ANALYSIS
Component_______AquariumPlants Substrate____________Black Blast


SiO2....................................76.72..................................46.5
Al2O3..................................11.28------------------------22.5 – Al2O2
CaO......................................0.63...................................5.5
MgO.....................................2.04...................................1.0
Na2O....................................0.10
K21O....................................1.26-------------------------1.0 – K2O
Fe2O2..................................6.51-------------------------19.0 – Fe2O3
MnO.....................................0.01
P2O5....................................0.11
TiO2.....................................0.52……………………................…1.0
FeO......................................0.82
Loss on Ignition......................2.20…………………................…….3.0

Just an interesting tidbit I found.

 

[BigJim]

The tank's been cycling for almost a week and I'm nearly through it. Hoping to have fish in the tank by the end of the week. I've been dosing 2-4ppm of ammonia every other day. Tonight my reading's were

Ammonia - 0ppm
Nitrite - Light purple - I lost the card in the move, but light purple means there's some nitrites.
Nitrates - 20ppm

I dosed 2 tablespoons of ammonia and I'll check tomorrow.

I also picked up a glass canopy tonight. I've been looking for it online and I can't believe how difficult it is to find a glass canopy for 40B! Most of the online aquarium supplies places carry tops for 36"x18" tanks with a center brace. My tank doesn't have a center brace. I've been losing water at a rate of about 1" per day, so a lid was pretty high on my priority list.

I got out of work on time for the first time in about a month, so I made my rounds to my LFSs. Hit Petsmart first. They had the glass canopies sitting in the 40B tanks, but they wouldn't sell me the lid separately. I figured I'd have to special order it at one of my small LFSs. I hit the first of my two really close mom & pop LFSs. They've been in the same spot longer than I've been alive. It's a small shop that's really cluttered, but they have tons of stuff. I lucked out! I was digging around and I found the glass canopy I was looking for. It was sitting under an LED light fixture and some other stuff. It totally reminded me of why I love the small LFSs.

They also had some new critters that I may have to go back for after I get my tanks straightened out. They had several dwarf puffers, yellow shrimp, blue pearl shrimp, and assassin snails. I picked up four more assassins for $1 a piece.

Here's some pictures to hold you over until the tank is finished cycling.

Here's the tank again. Not much has changed other than adding the glass canopy. Notice how low the water is.

Here's my 29g. It's a little bare because I pulled out a lot of anacharis that was infested with staghorn.

Here's my 20L that's overrun with guppies. Pardon the water spots and the poor picture quality.

Here's why I'm in trouble with my wife. This is supposed to be her tank, but it's overgrown just a little at the moment.

Here's my pictus Zeke. He's one of the future inhabitants of the 40B.

 

[BlackMagic]

the black blast making the tank stand out pretty nice. wish i can get some black blast.

 

[BigJim]

Go to your local home improvement center and look for coal slag blasting media. I can't say I've been successful with it yet, but I haven't seen any bad characteristics yet.

 

[iDream]

darn! i wish somewhere around me sold guppies that are that stunning! those are the most beautiful guppies ive ever seen!

 

[BigJim]

Thank you. I've toyed with the idea of posting them for sale here, but I'm not sure I want to mess with shipping fish. I usually thin the ranks by posting them on Craigslist for $1-$2 a piece. None of my LFSs want them. You should see them glow under the T5.

 

[Floyd R Turbo]

Man!!! I seriously considered buying that black blast stuff from Menards for a 225 Cichlid tank and didn't do it, because it looked like a coal product, and I figured that wouldn't be aquarium safe. DANG IT! DANG IT!!! DANG IT!!!!!!!

+1 on the ammonia w/surfactants. Shake and no foam = safe, but I use Ace Hardware janitorial strength to be safe. Here's the key: ALL soaps are Surfactants, but not all surfactants are soap. Surfactants cause liquids they are mixed with to have less surface tension, which means they will spread easier.

 

[BigJim]

I unplugged my heater the day before yesterday to rearrange some equipment and I guess I forgot to plug it back in. I found out this morning when I stuck my hand in the tank to fill my test tubes. It seems to have slowed the cycle a little, but it's still going. The tank was down to 0.25ppm ammonia and the nitrite tube was a reddish purple. I redosed some ammonia for the day. I'll probably do a PWC tonight when I take care of my other tanks. I don't know why, but reducing the nitrite level seems to give the cycle a kick and speeds things along.

Floyd, Black Blast is a coal product. From what I've read, it's the waste produced by coal-burning power plants. The chemical analysis is amazingly close to the plant substrate from aquariumplants.com too. I'm hoping I've stumbled across a good cheap black substrate. It could also be a disaster. I'm planning on using one of my millions of guppies to test the tank after it's done cycling. If that goes well, my big catfish and my rainbows will have a new home.

 

[BigJim]

I did about a 50% PWC last night and dosed two teaspoons of ammonia. After work today, I had zero ammonia, crazy nitrites, and 10-20ppm nitrates. The plants are loving it. The anacharis has grown a couple inches since I planted it. The jungle vals are rooting nicely and starting to send out runners. I dosed another teaspoon of ammonia this evening. Hopefully the nitrites resolve themselves by this weekend.

 

[Floyd R Turbo]

Don't bother testing nitrates until your nitrite is zero. Nitrate kits (all of them, as far as I know) convert nitrate to nitrite and then test for that, so the presence of any nitrite throws off the nitrate test.

 

[mudraker]

I really can't wait to see how this pans out. I too am always looking for cheaper black substrates. If this is good for plants too, what a find.

 

[Floyd R Turbo]

I think it is perfectly safe, just run this google search

aquarium safe black blast - Google Search

And you get a bunch of threads on the first page where people have used it for years with no problems. Only concern is that it is rough and could cut up fish/hands, but other say no problems even with diggers.

No I wish I had searched it. This tank would have looked way awesome with black substrate instead of the white pool filter sand from Menards