Carriwin's Tank Adventures

[Carriwin]

Here's the pic of the completed tank! I'll upload it to my album with the BB Code later.



Tah dah!

So, next purchase is two lightbulbs for the hood lights. That way there's plenty of light for all of my pretty plants. The curly driftwood started to stink, so I took it out of the tank and replaced it with the wood with the plants attached.

Shopping list:
Bulbs
Liquid ferts

Maybe another GBR in a couple weeks once everything is square.


Sent from a place where the water is fresh and clean and we all swim free.

 

[TMaier]

Looks great. Really going to brighten up once those 2 bulbs are added.


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[BettaChi]

WOW. Love the bubble wand effect in the back of some of those photos! Snazzy!

 

[Barliman]

Here's the pic of the completed tank! I'll upload it to my album with the BB Code later.

View attachment 288003

Looks really nice.

 

[Carriwin]

Thanks, guys! I'm really excited to post these pictures. I ran all over Raleigh to find the appropriate lighting for the 55g, as I didn't think I had the correct bulbs. Turns out, after I flipped the hoods over to put the new ones in, that A: I bought the wrong size bulbs and B: I had the exact correct bulbs I wanted anyway for the tank already.

What are the odds??

So, I switched the hoods on the angel 55 to the planted 55 and visa versa. I'm actually really happy with the results:

and

I think the angelfish 55 now has a lagoon kinda feeling, which definitely changes the atmosphere in the tank. I have to watch it though, as the bulb is definitely designed for plants, however, the others were full spectrum daylight bulbs? So, I think they'll be alright. I just have to watch for algae. I love the new look though, it's less harsh and less,... obnoxious I guess would be the word? At this point, I'm not looking to buy the new hoods for the angelfish 55 just yet. I kinda like it this way.

My next purchase will actually be a hood for the 38g I have, as I think I'm going to break down the 30g and let everyone in THAT tank have a little something extra to swim in. I just have to switch the substrate out from white to black. I think everyone in there will be much happier once I have that complete.

I broke down and bought 2 bala sharks while I was at petsmart. I resisted while I was at the one store, but got nailed at the second one... they had mediums on sale for 5 dollars a piece... which made it worth while putting them into the planted 55g. Now I have something slightly flashy in there now, which helps. Everything else likes to hide.

 

[TMaier]

Looking good.

Are you going to apply a background.

Seeing cords makes my OCD kick in and I twitch. Lol


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[Carriwin]

LOL, I'm the same way, honestly. I'm trying to decide which background would be best to go with. I thought about adding the one that looks planted anyway, but I wanted to display what my tank looks like in actuality before adding the beef of the background. LOL

I found one that has driftwood and plants on it, which I like, but I'm trying to decide if that's the one I really want. I'm open to suggestions.

 

[Carriwin]

So... I love my local PetSmart... they're turning into the type of store that's like an LFS... I have a smaller store near me, so you get to know who people are when you're in there often enough. I called them earlier, realizing that I have a brace in the middle of my 38g tank, therefore I can use 2 - 19" Glass lids instead of paying for a full hood! I called my local Petsmart and told them I was going to be purchasing the glass lids later on after work along with returning the lights I had purchased in error. The guy was completely accommodating and was willing to pull the lids for me so I didn't have to stress about whether or not they'd be there later.


And I've been repurposing the sizes of lights everywhere, so once the transfer of fish and substrate is complete, i'll just use the light that was originally on the 30g for the 38g and everyone will be happy.

I'm in for a lot of work this evening, but I think it'll be worth it.

 

[shellyx]

Great set ups Carriwin
How many tank's do you have?

55 gallon elephant nose tank.
30 gallon boraras ,bamboo shrimp, crs,rcs and different snails.

 

[Barliman]

I like the layout of the planted 55: very natural looking with good swimming room. As for backing, I'd just put some black paper along the back to let the colors in the tank stand out more.

 

[TMaier]

LOL, I'm the same way, honestly. I'm trying to decide which background would be best to go with. I thought about adding the one that looks planted anyway, but I wanted to display what my tank looks like in actuality before adding the beef of the background. LOL

I found one that has driftwood and plants on it, which I like, but I'm trying to decide if that's the one I really want. I'm open to suggestions.

Don't do the cheesy plant background. You want your stuff to stand out! And all blue isn't natural unless you can find a good gradient.

Black is always classic.

This is what I'm using but there are other river or rock backgrounds that I like too.


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[Carriwin]

Great set ups Carriwin
How many tank's do you have?

Uhmm... technically 5 with water in them? Two aren't running filters currently because I'm trying to decide which tanks I'm going to use. I'm hopefully going to beat it back to 3... I wanted only two, but with the leaf fish I can't have neons in that tank. Once they pass on, I'll probably put neons back in that tank with the plants.

I like the layout of the planted 55: very natural looking with good swimming room. As for backing, I'd just put some black paper along the back to let the colors in the tank stand out more.

Thanks, Barliman! I was going for the "forest floor" look.

Don't do the cheesy plant background. You want your stuff to stand out! And all blue isn't natural unless you can find a good gradient.

Black is always classic.

I think I'm going to go with a black background as that seems to be the popular vote. I just need to swing by petsmart and pick it up. Probably going to do that with my next paycheck.

OH, scored a 300w heater for $12.05 at PetSmart yesterday!!! It was "priced to clear"... I picked it up and said tyvm. Going to most likely put it in the planted 55, as the water seems to be running cold even though I turned the heat up on it to 82... I figure the heater that's in there will be suitable for the 38g.

 

[scottb]

Hey Carriwin, not sure if this is an option for you, but I just picked up a black background for my 55g on ebay for $10 and some change. I know petsmart charges quite a bit. Obviously the only negative is having to wait for shipping though.

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[Carriwin]

scott,

That's a great idea. I'll probably try to do something like that. We'll see if I have the patience.

 

[scottb]

Well you've gone this far without one. I'm sure a few more days wouldn't hurt =)

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[Fresh2o]

One of my tanks (shrimp tank) had a piece of black blotter board (think heavy poster board) taped to the back of it. While redoing the tank, I painted the tank with black acrylic paint from Walmart.
For my planted tank, it's not much better. I have a black plastic trash bag taped to the back. It was one of the temporary things I never got around to.


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[scottb]

I can relate with Fresh. I used black poster board for my 20g and painted my 75g before I set it up. I decided to buy a background for the 55g since having to move it out to paint isn't ideal. I will most likely just tape it on instead of actually applying it. It seems more practical and I'm too lazy haha.

Hey Fresh, do you use just normal tape? Wondering if the water/condensation will be an issue

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[TMaier]

Craft store acrylic paint is cheap and easy. I did this once and used a sponge to paint it. First a little grey black and then blackest black.

Rubbing alcohol takes it right off when you tire of it and want something new.


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[Carriwin]

Makes me wish I hadn't used my last black trash bag. LOL At this point I don't think I could paint the back of it now, considering. I might be able to swing the plastic bag though... I can always hit up the dollar store for those. Probably will go shopping there tonight. LOL

I was happy to see everyone still relatively kicking this morning. I think the remaining bala shark thinks he's a clown loach. He's been hanging out with them a lot. It's rather entertaining. Although, he's going to be in for a rude awakening when he gets a lot bigger than they do. LOL We'll cross that bridge when we come to it though.

 

[Delapool]

Would be curious to see the black plastic used as have no hope of moving the tank here for painting. I have just used normal tape on an aquarium background. Mostly it holds fairly well but had to re-tape two spots.