I've been meaning to give you an update on my big tank for ages, but have been so busy. Got time now finally . So my tank has been up and running for nearly a year now.



I finished the cupboards and shelves around the tank, so it is now boxed in and looks great. The plants have grown well, too well for some of them. The wisteria and fluffy weed stuff (cambomba?) had to both come out as they went mad. I had to trim them every 4 days or so, it was a bit out of hand. The Amazon swords are getting huge, and one of the even had babies which is good, free plants I've gradually added further fish and the others have grown bigger. The shoal of harlequins now numbers about 50 and make a good site when they school. I've added some upside down cats (no photo at the moment, they hide all the time ). I have also added a rainbow cichlid called Romeo, he was a valentines present. He did have a Juliet, but she died of hole in the head, just wouldn't respond to my treatments . I do plan to get Romeo another girl friend when i see a female.



I've also added a paradise fish. Again i had two, a supposed pair. But they turned out to be both males and started really fighting, so one has been taken back to the LFS. He doesn't have a name yet. I'm planning to get him a girlfriend too when i find one.



And Sinbad has grown even bigger, he's now 10.5 inches nose to tail. My biggest fish by some margin. And he loves eating, happily munches his courgette. He eats an inch or so a day. It is amazing how he can balance on top of plants and things though, guess that comes with having a swim bladder.



That's all for now, I'll do another update soon when i can get the fish to hold still for some pictures. Like that's ever going to happen.

My tank has been up and running now for 2 months and the plants have grown in amazingly. I think it looks great now. I've also added some fish from my sitting room tank, and have a few more in quarantine waiting to go in. The filters have been working fine, but i decided to add a booster pump to one of their return feeds. The pipes for it are really long with a few corners and the current from it was a bit pathetic, so i installed a small booster pump and its much better. Still waiting for the second external heater to arrive, company keeps promising it but it doesn't come

This is how the tank looks now. The tall plants are breaking it up really well now so when i get my angle fish they shouldn't fight as they'll all have their own areas to hide. Still need to build the lid for the tank cupboard area, it will hide the lighting systems. I'll have time one day, June maybe.



I fertilise the tank once a week and the lights are on for 13 hours a day at the moment. Now the plants are grown up so well i will probably cut the lights back a bit to prevent algae build up and the plants going mad. I haven't had any algae growth yet luckily, i think the fish and plants are getting it before its a problem. The plants around the plane and ship have grown up really well and they look like they've been there for quite a while now.





The sand can get a bit dirty, especially with the plecs pooing away. I've got a plug in hoover which is quite efficient. I spend a happy half hour up to my armpits in the tank hoovering once a week.

So far the tank contains 4 harlequins, 5 mollies and about 8 molly fry (at it again ), 2 hoplo catfish called Lucy and Not Lucy, a sailfin plec called Sinbad, a L015 plec who hides all the time, 10 corries and 5 unknown algae eaters.

Here is Lucy on my sunken battle ship. The spots are sand from her rummages, not white spot. Hopefully i won't get white spot as the tank has UV systems. The Hoplos are really cute and have started coming to the surface for the flake food. I'm hoping to train them to hand feed like the mollies.



And Sinbad engaged in his favourite past time of stuffing himself



I'm planning to add another 15 harlequins (already in the quarantine tank), some angle fish and some other small cichlids such as earth eaters. I might also add a few more catfish as i love them so much. they are definitely my favourite fish. That will be a gradual process over the next few months depending on q tank capacity and such things.

I'm very happy with my tank. Its quite a bit of work but i love having it. It is a bit of a distraction though. Its in my office and when I'm trying to work I keep looking over and staring for ages.

Finally got around to writing the rest of this, i've been so busy haven't had the time. And my tank hasn't looked good enough to photo

So after i got the tank delivered i finished building my shelves, lots of space for my books Then came filling the tank. To make a good substrate i decided on aquatic compost and sand on top. Needed 2 and a half bags of compost and one and a half of sand, but that has given a good even layer about 2 inches. Then came the scary part, filling it up. Attached a hose to the tap and filled it slowly, fingers crossed. The floor didn't collapse and my tank disappear into Lloyds bank, so i'm happy. The sand got very stired up and took about a week to clear. This gave me enough time to build the lighting bar out of a strip of 2x2. I'm using 4 54w T5 tubes suspended over the tank. They are arranged in two pairs and overlap slightly in the middle. Hope this will be enough light, we shall see. Also got some LED strips from Ikea which attached to the bottom of my lighting bar and provide moonlighting. Once the tank had cleared i added the bogwood and ornaments. The bogwood turned the tank really brown with the tanins, as seen here. Ignore the heater stuck on the glass, thats just temporary until my hydor external heater arrives.



And here is my crashed fighter plane for the bottom



I then set about planting the tank. I'd grown some plants myself from cuttings ready for the tank and they have done quite well. They were a bit twisty from growing in a small tank, but are growing out now. Spent a happy few hours up to my shoulders in water planting them all, but it looks great now. Also added a large sunken battleship. I like them, and they provide nice caves for the fishys. And its funnel bubbles away too



Here is the fighter, now planted around. I'm trying to get a look and fell that its been there for a long time. I'm also going to get some shorter carpeting plants for this bit.



I've also made a little cave with bogwood on this side. the tall plants you can see here still have a ways to grow. I have tried to plant something tall every foot or so to break up the tank and provide cover for my angel fish, as advised by lHG.



This is my ship. The area in front will remain clear largely to provide a good rummaging/feeding point for my corys and plecs. The funnel is powered by an airstone, with the pipe buried in the sand.



Better view of the front of my ship.



And on the left side i have made a sort of bogwood forest. This will give plenty of hiding places for the plecs and lots of wood for them to eat. I am getting some 'vampire' plecs which eat the bogwood. Again the tall plants will grow up here and make some more cover.



Now i'm just waiting for the tank to cycle. I filled my two filters with some mature media from my other tank and some bactinetes to seed it. Think i was a bit impatient and/or over enthusiastic with the ammonia, which is holding my cycle back for a bit. Anyway the ammonia is falling, the nitrites have climbed and are falling again and i hope to be adding fish this week. I will transfer some fish from my current tank at first, and then stock the tank with some nice cichlids.

My new tank is now finally arrived and installed. Had to get a firm of piano shifters in in the end to get it into my flat and into place. Really heavy and getting up to my flat is not straight forward Its all done now though and sitting in place Its really really big, i didn't really ken it would be so huge TBH.

Just need to finish the shelves now, then fill it with compost, sand rocks, bogwood, water, fish.......
Ordered my filters so they are on their way now, hopefully DHL will turn up soon.

Been doing more work, playing with my power tools

To make all the filter connections easier and neater i've concealed pipes in the middle section of the bookcase, along with wires for lighting and the elctrics needed. This way you shouldn't be able to see any of the filter plumbing or wiring at all.

Also done plumbing in the cupboards underneath. The two filters will be fed from a common feed system draining from both ends of the tank. Thats all the piping marked in red. Each filter feeds from a sepaerate cut of valve to allow maintenance. I've also included an extra valve to facilitate water changes. Each filter will then have a separate outlet, the green marked pipes. I'm planing on spray bar at one end and a sort of jet flow at the other.

This is where i left it today, its really sprung up now. To finish the book case i will put beams across the top with shelves on top of that up to the picture rail. Lots of room for my books Then a couple of doors for the cupboard under the fish tank to hide stuff. Tank is delivered tomorrow, can't wait to see it and start fantasising what to put in it.

As promised i've started a blog of building my new big tank. I'm v excited.
Spent the last few days visiting homebase far too much to buy all the stuff i need, or so i thought, but i'll be back their tomorrow Oh well. Today Jewsons delivered me a large pile of big bits of wood to build the tank frame. The tank is going to be part of a large floor to ceiling bookcase so its all being built from scratch. This is the wall its going against all freshly painted.

First i laid long thick beams to support everything. Its all 2x4 redwood so v strong and will distribute the weight fully across the floor. The beams are screwed to the floor (hence pulling up the carpet) and everything is screwed and glued to them.

Next were 12 risers for the under tank cupboard. This will hold all the filters, heaters and a uv system. I've only installed 8 of tem here.

On top of these risers sit four big beams, also 2x4 redwood. These beams are screwed onto the risers so won't move. The whole thing will be topped with 18mm planks which the tank will sit on. Gave it a good shake this evening and its rock solid, doesn't budge an inch. One of the beams will easily hold my weight so they'll defiently take the tank no worrys.
Still need to add two more uprights in the centre. The beams that extend out either side of the tank frame will be a bookcase. Now i've started to build it i'm getting an idea of the final size. The main beams the tank sits on are 210cm long. I left it here for today as my knees were knackered (note to self: buy knee pads). its taken about 4 hours to this point. Thank goodness for power tools, with out them i'd still be sawing up the wood.

Also ordered the tank today through LFS and it will be here on Friday apparently. Seems the people making it haven't heard of the metric system so the tank will be 79 inches long, 18 wide and 24 tall.