My 1.2m AquaH2O

[SauRoN]

Picked it up on Saturday morning, and everything went pretty smoothly.

Was a little bit worried about casualties, but so far everyone seems to have pulled through.

Completely overstocked in my opinion, but I plan on letting go of most of the fish since I bought this tank to become and Oscar tank.

Worst of it all there was a massive Pleco as well as two Clown Loaches in it as well, which I gave away to a friend who helped me out with the move.

Everything was working perfectly, except for the lightbox. It appears the lid isn't the original lid, as it has a lot of evidence of some DIY work done on it. The light unit is a complete DIY job, and wasn't working because the starter sockets had corroded and fell apart.

I managed to fix it for now, but will look at getting a perspex lightbox made by a friend as replacement which can serve as a condensation plate as well, then I can keep the original lid, or maybe even replace that with another layer of perspex with a feeding hole and such.

http://lh5.ggpht.com/_SM9kTqt8QQs/Ske5Rf0kNhI/AAAAAAAABvI/9s6r5u4ohhc/s800/DSCF1558.JPG

http://lh4.ggpht.com/_SM9kTqt8QQs/Ske5WxCRV2I/AAAAAAAABvM/VATQCWgWK04/s800/DSCF1559.JPG

Lots of clay in the sand had a bit of a river water effect, looks worse here than in really was.

http://lh3.ggpht.com/_SM9kTqt8QQs/Ske5caz6_cI/AAAAAAAABvQ/2BI1uszZrDo/s800/DSCF1563.JPG

http://lh5.ggpht.com/_SM9kTqt8QQs/Ske5izYSI3I/AAAAAAAABvU/OQeVJnx7uqo/s800/DSCF1566.JPG

Tonight things look much better...

http://lh3.ggpht.com/_SM9kTqt8QQs/Ske5oXb-zMI/AAAAAAAABvY/mM8u0UFTxTA/s800/DSCF1596.JPG

Yes I know there's a fake plastic ship in the thing, it won't be there for long just put it in so long since I got it free with the tank.

http://lh4.ggpht.com/_SM9kTqt8QQs/Ske5u0K168I/AAAAAAAABvc/CkCMDL5oGm4/s800/DSCF1606.JPG

Is this a Labidochromis Caeruleus (Electric Yellow) ?

http://lh6.ggpht.com/_SM9kTqt8QQs/Ske50eSt34I/AAAAAAAABvg/aoh-xXUkXN0/s800/DSCF1607.JPG

http://lh5.ggpht.com/_SM9kTqt8QQs/Ske57X-MDII/AAAAAAAABvk/ZQOdGvnjU_8/s800/DSCF1628.JPG

http://lh5.ggpht.com/_SM9kTqt8QQs/Ske6A5FGKpI/AAAAAAAABvo/U0TdQdBfWJ4/s800/DSCF1629.JPG

http://lh3.ggpht.com/_SM9kTqt8QQs/Ske6I6KgzsI/AAAAAAAABvw/xtiHDqLXGWI/s800/DSCF1631.JPG

Quite happy with it all, only problem is the fish that I don't want and what to do with them.

Water level is running a bit low since the suction cup for the Fluval hose is missing and I can't get it in place where it can provide enough surface agitation without spraying all over the place.

Hoping to get an Air Pump in the week so I can run a spray bar on the wall-side and camouflage the pipes and heater with it, while providing some aeration.

[veegal]

Not too shabby what :D Why not list the fish you don't want here and see if you have any takers???

[Zoom]

And you can post the plastic fake ship up my way... the wife would love it in our tank. (She's always wanted one but the prices of them are crazy!)

(Hey... if putting a plastic ship into my tank keeps the missus happy... I'll do it!)

I like the style and shape of the tank Sauron, Keep the pics coming.

[Fish Fantasy]

Geez!! that's an awsome tank Sauron very nice! What's nice about that tank is you could use it as a room divider and make the room look good at the same time. Cool Beans!!!!!

[veegal]

Cool Beans!!!!!

:bigsmile: or Cool Bananas :bigsmile: lol

[stormbringer101]

nice tank and I am sure you could trade the current fish in the tank by your lfs for fishies more to your taste but I remember a certain statement from you stating
1.2m is barely enough water for just two Oscars, never mind with other Tank mates.. what is with that..

[SauRoN]

Not too shabby what :D Why not list the fish you don't want here and see if you have any takers???

I have a friend who has first option, after than they will go up here, and then off to LFS.


nice tank and I am sure you could trade the current fish in the tank by your lfs for fishies more to your taste but I remember a certain statement from you stating . what is with that..

The "standard" 1.2m size that I found while looking for tanks was normally a little bit short on volume, this one is a bit wider than the usual.

But you are right, that was jumping the gun just a little bit, and a massive generalization.

Comments were based on what I had found on Gumtree for tank dimensions, which is why I was initially looking for a 1,5m but eventually settled on this one when I saw it.

Working out the volume on this one it just barely complies to Oscar size, but will have to watch the water parameters and see how it goes, otherwise there will be another upgrade in the future.

The Fluval that's in there now definitely won't manage full size Oscars, but we'll cover that as we go along.

I believe my bike is officially mine now, so some spare cash to put into tanks.



Fluorescent lighting is fluorescent lighting right? Not the tubes I mean the transformers and such? Want to look at building something which keeps the transformers in the cabinet and just runs the wiring to the tubes inside the tank.

[stormbringer101]

as far as I know,the transformer or starter must just have a matching power rating.
I have a light box from one of the buildings we were renovating above my 1.5m all standard as i took it out just with 3 fish tank fluorecents.clould be wrong .

[SauRoN]

Okay the bigger question is, can I over rate it?

Thus have a 30W ballast, and plug in a 20W lamp?

[butcherman]

you can have a bigger transforment than the globe but try keep then the same i run a 20w globe in a 40w transformer and it got very hot and started melting the casing. when i matched the watage the transformer run much cooler

[Zafgak]

OK guys here is the lowdown on the lighting - If you are using the older ballasts (which are essentially a transformer and choke ) a bigger ballast wattage rating will run a smaller tube wattage rating. eg. a 50W ballast will run a 20W tube. BUT a smaller ballast then tube will overheat quickly. eg. 20W ballast 50W tube.

The newer electronic ballasts (especially the new T5's and ---you heard it here first ---- T2's ) will actually check which tube you are using and if it does not match the ballast it will not work !!!

[SauRoN]

Any massive advantages to the electronic ballasts Zafgak?

I see they are quite expensive.

[Zafgak]

The electronic ballast is FAR more efficient and you should save the cost of the ballast in electricity charges over about 6 months
The e-ballast is also instant start and fully electronic so theoretically fewer failures

[SauRoN]

Cool I'll look at replacing with those then instead of the normal ones.

[Zafgak]

Oh Yes - spend about 30 bucks more and you can dim the lights as well
Just ask for the dimmable eBallast