Adam the Irishmans 55g

[AdamsB]

I've been meaning to write here for a while but my lack of photos put me off. With the construction of everything coming to an end (ETA this sunday!) I decided to post what I've been doing and my plans for the tank.

So the tank is 55 Gallons (210L or so) Which I'm in the process of making a Background for. The backing will hide filtration and heating and cover about 70% of the back glass and the rest will be sprayed black. I hope by doing this it gives a feeling of depth. It works in my head! . I'm about half way done with it but will add pics of everyting to date.

I Made my own stand out of 2x4, wasn't sure if it was strong enough so bulked it up with even more 2x. When it come to tank safety more is more after all

Filter is a hag on the back which came with the tank which I'm planning on upgrading to an external when i can.

Heater is a 200W

Lighting is only 2 half tank length 15W t8 so plants are going to be low key. I'm keeping an eye out for second hand light units more so than new filtration at the minute.

Substrate, pool filter sand.

Planting, low light low maintenance.

Caves, wood etc.

Stocking, is all depending on my finances. So my Plan is hopefully to grab 6-8 decent corys and keep them for a while (2-3 weeks) after the tank is cycled and then introduce 5 L046 f1 fry.

For early next year future stock will include/If things don't go to plan it will be a primarily cory tank with shrimp and some form of tetra or rasbora.

And now for the pictures, Nothing too exciting yet....



^ Just after building and spraying the stand which has since had all uprights doubled up.


^ After carving and getting a final form i liked, kinda.



^After first coat of cement, screwing round with colours too

[Morainy]

Hey, Adam the Irishman. I like your name. Nice tank setup, too. The hardscape or background you're making looks like a lot of fun. How many coats of cement do you have to put on it? I have never tried anything like that. My expertise is exhausted just by trying to figure out where to put a rock or two. Building your own looks like fun.

I can make a suggestion for stocking (down the road). I looked after Aquaman's purple harlequin rasboras for several months, until this week. Those are awesome fish. He had a group of about 20 and they shoaled tightly. When first introduced into the tank, they all faced the same direction and hung together in formation for a couple of days. They looked like they were waiting for a shark to show up. After that, they became more relaxed but would always swim back and forth together, especially when kept in a species tank. When Bill eventually added some large neons and rummy-nosed tetras, some of the harlequins would swim with that group.

The purple harlequin rasboras have shiny orange noses. The noses are somewhat reflective in the dark for some reason.

I have espei rasboras and regular harlequins in another tank, but I love Bill's purple ones. If you can find them anywhere, I recommend them!

I also like corydoras and I see that you are going to put some in your tank. Some corycoras seem sensitive to water quality like gH, so I'd recommend testing your water before you put the corydoras in, if your cement background goes into the water. I can lend you a test kit. In my experience, the bigger corydoras like julies are a little more resilient than skunk corys.

I look forward to more posts!

[AdamsB]

Thanks for the reply, I just googled the rasboras you mentioned and they look fantastic. I like harlequin rasboras but the purples ones look to have a nice colourful "twist" to them. I really like Boraras Brigittae but have only seen them in one store back in Ireland. I'm still trying to find good stores here but not having a vehicles right now going to Vancouver from kelowna is difficult at best.

So my plan is to grab a bunch of fish from Charles at Canadian Aquatics and ship them to Kelowna.

The background is quite simple. I've done one about half this size before so this time I'm hiding filtration and trying different colours. I like to put a decent depth of cement on, maybe 1/4 inch in total which is about 5 generous coats and then a few more to adjust colour/texture. Just because putting rocks in, catching fish nets, general tank maintenance can easily damage the background considering its just foam. So a decent thickness will allow for abuse

At the risk of sounding like an amateur I've never tested for Gh before, just Ph (which is now a solid 7). Although Irelands water supply is pretty uniform and most fish are tank breed but i guess when buying fish from locations out of my local water range these are things i now have to consider.

[Morainy]

Hi Adam,

Your tank might be big for boraras brigittae, though, at 55 gallons. I have some of those little fish (chili rasboras) in my 36 gallon and I can't even see them. They are always swimming in the trailing fronds of the water lettuce at the very top of the tank and I have to bend down and look up to see them. They are usually directly in line with the black rim of the tank.

I might put some in my Ebi, though. My Ebi is only 8 gallons and it has a glass top. It's got some orange dwarf crayfish right now. I don't think that the crayfish would eat the chili rasboras.

I'm not sure where to get purple harlequin rasboras from. I wonder where Aquaman got his?

Good luck with your tank. I look forward to more photos.

[AdamsB]

So, Finally some progress!

I finished the Background, Tank is in place and filled. Filter running and I'm testing out the heater. It doesn't have a specific temperature on it just Min and Max.

So right now the Ph is a whopping 9+. I figure I'll need about 3 complete water changes to drop it to normal.

Theres also been some bad news on the desired fish stock. The Canadian weather has hit hard and fast, -5c right now with weekend temperatures predicted at a low of -10 and a high of -3. Given that my job is entirely outside it makes things difficult. I was expecting to get at least 2 more weeks wages but it looks like the L046 will have to wait till spring time! Which will be good as the weather will be more suited to shipping and the tank will be established.

So here we go with photos

















A total of 4 inlets for the filtration section.

[neven]

now comes the hardest part, patience. You can expect that PH to remain high for a long time.

[AdamsB]

Another Update!

So a couple of things happened over the past few weeks. Ph dropped to 7.5. Tank is cycled, during cycle i added some wood and a couple of low light plants till i upgrade my lighting Today i bought myself 5 Julii Corys. The substrate was added a couple of days ago so pics are a little cloudy. I'm hoping to add 4 more Juliis to my tank along with a pleco of some form next week. I was thinking of getting a couple of plecos too. But after doing research on the ones the LFS advised me on They're either too big or aggressive, I'd like a passive one no larger than 5 inches. Clown Pleco, Golden nugget, Rubber mouth were all recommended. The plan is to eventually get Zebra Plecos but i thought while I'm saving for those i could practice some pleco care on a few not so expensive species. Any Input would be appreciated

And now to the pictures!

[monkE]

great job on the background, the tank looks amazing!

Keep the pics coming

[teija]

Looking great, and so realistic!

[effox]

That's an awesome background man.

Cheers,
Chris