New House-Reno-Tank

[Nano]

Hey all, after an absence on here of really a few months, (well ok the odd post.)
and no tank since January, I've been rather busy.. We bought a house back in April, and everything was good except we needed to sign the final papers-

this is where the plan went bad. The owner of the house was in long term care, so the house had been vacant for some time. We went to our realtors office and he got a phone call in the middle of the meeting saying the home owner had passed away. So with out his final signature the deal was dead.. The house that was so close to being ours was now in Limbo. Turns out his brother was the executor of the will, but didn't have power over the house!?? Great so needless to say we both had our hearts pretty set on this house so we kept our offer in for the time but were free to withdraw anytime. we continued looking all the way into the first week of July and nothing was right, no where felt as much like home as this house. July 10th in the evening I get a call for our Realtor, letting us know the house was now settled through all the legal junk and was ready to be transferred into our names at anytime. so we naturally were very excited, and jumped over to sign again. we took possesion july 26th.

then the renos started- after working 18-20 hours for 3 weeks on my own (regular day job, and renovating) I did this. sorry the first pic is a crappy panoramic shot

Mama And Ava

and then the mess



Thought I uploaded more "during" pics but I guess not heres some more

Here you can see I've started rebuilding the kitchen cabinets on one side, I still have to do the doors, counters and backsplash, as well as the other half of the kitchen, but I'm running on fumes, and the wife is happy so its time for a break.



So I'm waiting on my tablesaws motor to come in for replacement (35 years old bound to die some time) So I started this-
lucky I'm handy with a skill saw I beefed the stand up since a bit more as well
I should also add that a lot of the materials used for the stand and casing are from the wall and other demo pieces, there was a lot of good wood, so I figured I may as well use it, and keep the tank "green" lol.





Styrofoam background started, tomorrow I start the cement on it



The tank is currently in the garage strength testing the stand, and checking for leaks etc, as the tank was custom made, but there was a seam with quite a few bubbles in it so rather be safe then sorry, especially after new floors have been put in.

As for what the plans are for it right now- its in the freshwater section so that should answer that question.. as for the kind of fish haven't decided, probably cichlids or something small and schooling- tetras etc just for some color in the house.

Filtration is a used Ehiem Ecco (can't remember the size)
Power Head is a tunze 6015
heater is an inline by hydor
and lighting is still in the air, since it will probably be fish only- maybe fake plants. I will be getting LEDs most likely but probably just a couple panorama pros.
Oh yeah - the tank
36"Lx24"Wx16"H so just shy of 60g. 3/8 Glass beveled and drilled to accept 3/4" bulkheads

anyways glad to have a tank again be it fresh or salty- thanks for looking guys and its nice to be back

[IanWR]

Very nice size tank. Will be great for when you decide to convert it to salt. . In the meantime, my suggestion for fish would be African cichlids. They have the colour and behavior that can rival some saltwater fish. Plus if you have water like ours (Saskatoon area), it comes out of the tap at about 7.8 ph, just right for rift lake cichlids. Save your ro/di for the inevitable saltwater tank. There are lots of great plant friendly LEDs now, add a few anubias, and you're away to the races.

Keep us posted!

- Ian

[Nano]

Thanks, I had to shut down the old reef due to school and upcoming move/renos so I may get back into it once I'm through school but for now fresh is so low maintenance and simple. Probably just do cichlids as I've kept them over 10 years on and off. Just want a bit of color and then the rest to be simple- aquascaping and plant work(if any)

I will keep posted. Not like theres much happening compared to salt but what ever lol.

[Dearth]

I loved the tetras especially the neon and X-ray tetras great schooling fish and had the added bonus of looking great under most lighting conditions also ran with a couple of bronze and albino cories for detritus control

[Nano]

Originally Posted by Dearth

I loved the tetras especially the neon and X-ray tetras great schooling fish and had the added bonus of looking great under most lighting conditions also ran with a couple of bronze and albino cories for detritus control

Thanks for the suggestion I used to keep tetras when I was young lol and I've always thought about getting them again. So simple

[Nano]

Lol not many veiws here. But I suppose its freshwater

Anyway the rocks turned out great, but I screwed something up along the way and was having problems with the cement coating cracking... so I pulled them here's how they looked.



To my surprise they actually were quite convincing especially up close. But once they were submerged for a few days the cement was starting to crack. Even after applying drylok. M guess was I didnt let the coats cure between each coat properly.

So I change my mind and went with driftwood. Kept it open. And decided I will keep only a handful of choice Aulonocara Cichlids, one type ime that have never touched plants except to move them. So I picked up 3 show quality males a few days ago and am waiting for them to settle before adding more. Keep in mind this tank will only house them for a year until we move up to a larger tank in the basement. Here is the tank as of today- still waiting on lights so I'm rockin and old t12 light I had kickin around.

[kien]

Well, I'm viewing it, but admittedly I don't have much to say about it. It looks nice and you clearly know what you're doing so carry on :-)

Also, white stand rock!

[Nano]

Originally Posted by kien

Well, I'm viewing it, but admittedly I don't have much to say about it. It looks nice and you clearly know what you're doing so carry on :-)

Also, white stand rock!

Lol. Thanks kien. It may get more interesting if I decide to put a couple plants in. But we'll see. For now it keeps me sane while I go to school so what ever works

[kien]

Originally Posted by Nano

Lol. Thanks kien. It may get more interesting if I decide to put a couple plants in. But we'll see. For now it keeps me sane while I go to school so what ever works

I can appreciate that! I had several freshie tanks that helped to keep me same during school too. I have to say, it is quite remarkable what you can get in terms of fresh water fish these days. Even guppies are surprisingly colourful. My son has a couple of "flame tail" guppies that are almost as colourful as my Hawaiian flame wrasse. Also, if I could, I would put a crap load of rummy nose tetras in my reef! We also have tonnes of colourful shrimp in our little fluval freshwater tank.

[Dearth]

If you get fresh water plants stay away from the surface mat plants those basturds grow very very fast and can take over your tank in no time flat

I also like the look of the "Wood" if you decide to get catfish I would make a cave for them but face it so you can see them nothing worse than not know if they are alive or not

Keep it up