Kellie and her 55 gallon adventure! (a photo journal)

[Kellie]

My new 55 is on the stand and I'm researching stocking. So far it's going to have 18 tiger barbs (6 standard, 6 albino, 6 green) a red tail black shark and 3 (or 4 if I change my mind and go dwarf) cichlids, still researching and making final decisions there. Tank will have heavy rock scape on one side and I'm planning to heavily plant in multi tiers on the other with a little intermingling. I want the tank to feel as though your looking at the beginning of large under lake caves and very scary fishes could be lurking near! none of my fish will be tank busters but i want to create the image they could hiding beyond. Not much to look at yet. I'm starting this journal so i have a place to track this journey, something i wish i did on my smaller community tank.
Here it is so far, paintings on the wall were painted by me

 

[abrinn23]

This sounds awesome I'm definitely following along. I would definitely paint the background black

 

[Kellie]

This sounds awesome I'm definitely following along. I would definitely paint the background black

I have a rock cling background it's just not applied yet.

 

[abrinn23]

Oh okay even better haha

 

[Kellie]

Background applied! And lights plugged in.

 

[PsiSoSerious]

Kellie i'm liking it

 

[Kellie]

Kellie i'm liking it

Thank you!

 

[Kellie]

Sand is in




And bought some amazing lace rock!




And various other rocks and slate:

 

[thursyanna]

I'm definately following this because I'm just starting out on my tank. I'm going with the rock cave look also! I like yours so far!

 

[Kellie]

This is what i came up with for the right side of the tank using lace rock, sponge rock and Mexican river rocks. Hopefully i can make it with the same structural integrity when i put it in the tank! Still have some rock boiling to do.















This is from the side, this piece is going against the glass so you can see in if you look from the side if the tank.

 

[Lochnessholly]

You could always use silicone before you place it in the tank to make it easier for placement

 

[Kellie]

I'm definately following this because I'm just starting out on my tank. I'm going with the rock cave look also! I like yours so far!

Thanks! Make sure you start a photo log of yours too! Even though i haven't come very far yet i like being able too see the progression.

 

[Kellie]

You could always use silicone before you place it in the tank to make it easier for placement

Thought about it, but i want to be able to rearrange if i need to in case of aggression. As it is, its very stable, i kept playing until i got the pieces interlocked like a puzzle. also score one for photos so i can refer to it to put the puzzle back together after cleaning, lol.

 

[Kellie]

Added equipment. I'm going to do a second filter when its fish time but just the main filter for now, cartridges will be seeded from my 36 gallon tank. The bubbly wall has the air hose that looks like a plant, going to use anachris around it to hide it more and the slate will hide the heater. Anything of the bubbly wand not hidden by rock or slate will have plants in front.

 

[PsiSoSerious]

Why are you adding a bubble wand? I'm just curious, not criticizing

 

[Kellie]

Why are you adding a bubble wand? I'm just curious, not criticizing

Background movement. I am going to plant crypts in front of it and keep the flow of bubbles low. Something to blur the backdrop to create the illusion of depth as though there is cave beyond it. If it looks too fake once the scaping is complete its gone. It sounds good in my head, we'll see if it works out in practice.

 

[PsiSoSerious]

Cool I can did it. I was just curious because I know plants dont like to much extra oxygen lol

 

[Kellie]

Hard scape finally complete!

 

[PsiSoSerious]

That looks amazing, and the feature on the right is fantastic(not that the other isn't ). Now if I remember correctly you said you can see in the "cave" on the right from the side? Our did I read wrong...

 

[Kellie]

That looks amazing, and the feature on the right is fantastic(not that the other isn't ). Now if I remember correctly you said you can see in the "cave" on the right from the side? Our did I read wrong...

Thank you and yes! directed a flash light beam from the front to light the inside, this is the view from the side of the tank:




The picture came out sideways but you get the idea