Ryan J's Amano Style Tank

Commnig along very nice Ryan

 

PIC UPDATE:

Just showing some of the inhabitants. And the plants i stock at the moment. (Currently in my old tank)

These will all eventually go, to stock only Cardinals or Zebra Danios.

 

DIY almost complete...

PIC UPDATE:

Got some bad news...
So i painted the cracks first..

Then Painted the base coat, Rust Orange..

Then went with a dry brush and black paint over the rock, looks so awesome. Looks really old!

And as fate would have it, after all my progress the background doesnt fit in the tank! So i cut i and fit it in, then the marine sealer nozzle wouldn't work...So i siliconed just so with the blunt opening...sealed all then edges then filled that center cut with cement. This afternoon il put the sand+cement coat on and then paint the 3 bases again! Haaa planning is so difficult when you're really excited!

But all in all its looking good. I used the cut offs to make smaller foreground rocks..:bigsmile:

 

Awesome work ... your tank is going to look stunning.

 

DIY Background Finished

PIC UPDATE:

Finally its finished!! I am so proud of it!!! I caught myself staring at it for like 40min. Just gota wait for the leaching process to complete.

I also now realise that this is not an Amano Style Tank anymore...So if whoever does the name changing could just remove the "Amano Style" from the title, id appreciate it.

I now need a Digital pH meter. Any recommendations?

 

Very nice Ryan!! +1

 

Looks AWESOME!!! Nicely done.

 

+ 100 awesome DIY project

 

nice....

try boyu...i got a ph pen from them thats really easy to calibrate too...maybe our sponsors can help....its about R500

 

wel done man! looks good.. i like that rock at the bottom of the tank.. it'll look really natural!

 

Thanx guys! I must mention that the downside of this project is that it takes alot of patience, especially where waiting and curing is concerned. One gets so excited, you forget to plan or you refuse to wait for the cement to harden before painting.

@dragon8 - I only need the pen to check the levels of my water, before and after the leaching. So maybe we could strike a deal and i borrow it for the weekend? LOL...id rather spend that R500 on CO2 you know..

@shihr - I want it to look natural. Itl look more awesome when almost covered with Flourite Dark. Will have grapevine towering from the right, over it. Should i add more rocks?

 

wow dude! looking good! Like those lights:blink1:

 

Ha ha. Thanx Walter, surprised to see you on TASA

 

Hey broertjie, time for an update. Did you gooi the the plants and fish in yet?

 

Lol yor! Ek word nou soema genotify!

Ja i added in to platys last night...they seem to be doing fine...also put in a teaspoon of vinegar. Well you could make that two teaspoons, since i had to scrub the glass with it because the cement caused a white residue at the surface. Also, some how...the snails got hold of the cement...and the slime-stuff that they released ALSO created a white hard-to-get-off residue.

But thats all gone, if the platys are alive when i get home today...i will start moving plants over. Get the cycle running....dump all the water....add flourite...cap with Pool Filter Sand...and begin scapping...
Everything is waiting already! Come now tank....

But just a sneaky piccy...this is a quick design of what i want it to look like

 

Small Update

So the leaching seems to be complete. I woke up to this!

I was told that i had left the water in the tank for TOO long, and that the lime had crystallized, causing those flakes. So I did another two 100% WC, added some anti chlorine, 5ml vinegar and added two platys.
They survived the 1st day, i then added the flourite. After washing it how many times, this still happend.

This snail has been keeping it out since the beginning of the resistance!

My other reserve planted tank in the meantime.

 

i'd let that rock on the bottom of the tank protrude out of the substrate just abit so it seems more natural?

 

UPDATE

Right so the substrate is in. I defnitely need another layer of Flourite. But the LPS was out of stock. I took your advice @shihr, and it does look natural.
Added a few plants to make it look mooi:

There are also 4 platys in the tank as well. They seem to be doing fine. I was expecting one to die but it seems the Nitrogen Cycle either wasnt necessary or was a minimal process.

Any advice on making this tank look better?
I wana cap it with pool filter sand so that i can get a good contrast between my BG and rocks and wood. Will this work?

 

Dude I thought you going to have a carpet going? If so you wont see much of your substrate anyways. Looks good by the way. Now plant the thing, I'm sure you have enough plants by now to transform it into an awesome scape.

 

i would leave the flourite uncapped.. looks more natural too (can see im more in favour of natural looks ) also, try slope it from left side to right so that the rock on the right can still be protruded.. also, slope the back higher than the front.. gives it more depth..

so if u dont know what im talking about.. just like ur original inspiration except sloping from the left to the right..