60gal mantis tank

[justinl]

okay so this is my first saltwater tank and the reason i even came into SW was because of the mantis shrimp. Ill drop interesting facts about them here and there. but on to the tank. Okay so first things first, I built my own tank to fit on a big stand I already had. It was out of acrylic because some mantids can smash glass. I wanted to be prepared for anything.



I forgot to think when i bought my heater so i had to mantis proof it because it's made of glass. Ill probably get a stealth later.



fast forward a couple of months and I had my setup nearly complete!

my cloudy tank cycling. The yellow basket has a decaying shrimp in there. Smells like hell on fire if i take it out of the water.
the lighting system cost a whopping five bucks. I suppose Ill get a real aquarium light when i decide i want corals but for now it serves its purpose.


my parents are paranoid. They insisted i keep towels on the sides in case the tank spontaneously combusts. way to trust my workship guys! i won in the end and the towels are gone now.
the stand has sliding doors and i have all my stuff in there. There used to be a reallly really old busted TV which i had to gut out. On the right of the tank, the top opens up to reveal an old school radio which still works and sounds pretty good. On the left it opens to a turntable. it's sweet.


i sure hope those pics worked.