Clearseal 500 litre Aquariam-Do I need a mat?

paddy147

Spent the afternoon draining and cleaning the tank out and started to plant it and add in more soil,nutriant and sand too.Also bought some more plants.
Bog oak is nice and clean now and dead wood has been secured to the slate rock bases with Tech 7 sealent.

unklerosco

Looking good..

One thing to check, some sealants can leech chemicals into the water that can be harmful to fish.. Not sure about tech 7 tho.. Be worth checking into.

paddy147

unklerosco wrote: »

Looking good..

One thing to check, some sealants can leech chemicals into the water that can be harmful to fish.. Not sure about tech 7 tho.. Be worth checking into.

Tech 7 is perfectly fine and can be used on and in aquariams,it says on the side of the tube and I have checked with 2 aquariam shops and they actually use the stuff too for fitting rocks and wood.:)

Got some more work done this evening.........well actually my girlfriend got the work done,while I made cups of tea and scoffed the chocolate and took the pics.:pac::pac:

Had the plants in the large plastic bin with the heater in it,to keep the temp just nice,also filled up the bath with around 200 litres of cold water and had a heater in the bath to heat the water up.

We theen uses a garden hose and with the aid of gravity and suction,we syphoned the warmed up water from the batjj down into the tank,and its now half full again.

This way means no hassle with filling bucket after bucket after bucket of water and taking forever to fill the tank.

Able to sit back and watch the TV with a cuppa tea,while the tanks fills up.

Sweet.:D

paddy147

Its done,thank the lord jesus.
Absolute pain in the ar5e planting every bit of grass and root by hand.It must have been tough on my girfriend too though.

Had to use a planting tweezers to do it,and even then some of the plants were rising out of the soil as the tank filled up.
Anyway,my missus has great patience,in planting up this tank,and also having to live with me too.:'D
Just have to install the Pro-Flora digital Co2 injection system tomorrow and then leave the tank and plants to establish themselves for the next month or so,before any fish are introduced.The external filter also has to establish its own bacteria and mirrobs aswell,so the next few weeks will see that happen too.

The water was a bit cloudy from the planting and from refilling the tank,but this will all settle down and should be nice and clear again by the moening.

unklerosco

Looks class... Planting that grass is a pain!! I tried it once n gave up, then I bough some pre planted mesh that was dead handy but the fish ate it!! There's no justice...

paddy147

unklerosco wrote: »

Looks class... Planting that grass is a pain!! I tried it once n gave up, then I bough some pre planted mesh that was dead handy but the fish ate it!! There's no justice...

I made a joking comment to my girlfriend about the grass floating back up as she was planting it.

All I will say was and is,that the look she gave me was enough to make me shut up and get out of the sitting room and stay out in the kitchen/dining area for quite a while.:D

Can I ask you where you got the pre planted mesh?
And did it look nice and natural too?

Might be handy for the future.

unklerosco

http://www.java-plants.com/

It looked class, looks a bit square at first but once it grows out it looks class..

The moss on bamboo sticks are cool, I'd 3 in my tank, down to one now.. gave the others away.. they grew fairly fast and I'd too much moss in the tank

paddy147

unklerosco wrote: »

http://www.java-plants.com/

It looked class, looks a bit square at first but once it grows out it looks class..

The moss on bamboo sticks are cool, I'd 3 in my tank, down to one now.. gave the others away.. they grew fairly fast and I'd too much moss in the tank

Thanks for that.:)

Theres a heap of different plants in the tank now,havent a clue what they are though.

I only know that theres Java plants and some sort of moss,es in the tank,but dont ask me what else is in the tank,as my girlfriend was calling them by their latin names when ordering them in and buying them in the various aquariam shops.

I was totally lost and just stood there smiling and holding the credit card.:pac::pac:

unklerosco

You weren't in fins furs n feathers in Swords on Friday/Sat where you?

paddy147

unklerosco wrote: »

You weren't in fins furs n feathers in Swords on Friday/Sat where you?

We were indeed,and also today too.:)

She ordered in some type of Villis plants (think thats the correct name??)

unklerosco

I think I might have seen you, saw some woman asking Gav about plants etc while some loon of a man was at the till paying for them ;-)

I get all my gear in there.. Great shop.. Also handy as it's a 2 min walk from my house!

paddy147

unklerosco wrote: »

I think I might have seen you, saw some woman asking Gav about plants etc while some loon of a man was at the till paying for them ;-)

I get all my gear in there.. Great shop.. Also handy as it's a 2 min walk from my house!

That was most probably her and me so.:D

Shes knows Gavin well,from his days in Whackers Pet Store,as she used to buy alot of fish off of him (Whackers now closed down/gone I believe)

Spent a nice few euros in SeaHorse Aquariams today aswell.

What am I getting myself into here???:pac::D

unklerosco

paddy147 wrote: »

Whay am I getting myself into here???:pac::D

Debt and misery :D

First the fish will get some crazy disease and then you'll get a crazy algae bloom that'd wreck all the plants... Or maybe that's just what happened to me. Lost 20+ fish in 2 days and had to replant my tank. It aint a cheap hobby that's for sure..

paddy147

unklerosco wrote: »

Debt and misery :D

It aint a cheap hobby that's for sure..

I think I will find this out the hard way,if I havent found out allready.Spent a fortune allready and still not a single fish yet.:eek::D

Sure what the heck,as long as shes happy,then sure thats all that matters.:pac::pac:


She rekons that the Pro-Flora digital Co2 kit will be worth the money,once its installed and working away.Hope to god that shes right on this.

paddy147

Allmost there,started to install the Pro-Flora CO2 injection kit today.

Decided to mount the computer and LCD screen on the wall above the tank,there is the cabinet top to sit on top of the tank itself,so it will look alot nicer and neater once its all done.:)

Cookie_Monster

Lookin sweet!

paddy147

Just have to hook up the CO2 bottle,power the computer/lcd screen up,set ithe CO2 system to auto mode,then top up the tank water to the full level,place the cabinet top back on,tidy up the woring and plugs,and then leave it for the next 3-4 weeks to establish itself.

All the credit should go to my girlfriend,as shes the 1 with the vision and not me,and shd did allmost most of the work too.:)

Im just the man with the credit card.:pac::pac:

paddy147

My girlfriend never stops,she got alot more done today.
T5 lights fitted to cabinet lid,more grass bought and planted,instalation of the Pro-Flora CO2 injection system.Oh and all cabling tidyed up and a drip loop aswell.
Still a tad more work to do,to finish it off,but Im seriously impressed with her skills and passion for this tank and its setup and look.

Limerick Bandit

Looks great paddy, did you put the light's on timer yet?

paddy147

Limerick Bandit wrote: »

Looks great paddy, did you put the light's on timer yet?

She did indeed.;)

Lights on for 10 hours each day from 11am till 9pm.

Also priced up a new and full 2kg and 5kg CO2 tank today from a suppliers here in Dublin.

50 euro plus vat for the 2kg tank
75 euro plus vat for the 5kg tank.

paddy147

Just a quick update......

My girlfriend bought a nitrate testing kit today.
Also the water has now settled and cleared very well and the plants are growing quite well.
The CO2 kit is doing its job nicely.
2 more weeks and we can introduce some fish,I cant wait.:)

paddy147

Just bought a pond pump kit today.
So its bye bye to endless slogging in and out of buckets of water each week.

This baby will empty and refill the tank while we sit back and relax.No more back ache either.

unklerosco

Where'd u get that? Been looking for an easier way to do water changes myself..

opti76

i think are Lidl or Aldi are selling those pumps.


ya just found it ...
http://www.lidl.ie/ie/home.nsf/pages/c.o.20110324.p.Stainless_Steel_Garden_Pump

paddy147

Lidl,and they are selling like hot cakes too.:)

The 4meter long hose kit is seperate and costs another 9 euro

It also has a detachable filter/guard head at the bottom of it,so that you dont suck up any objects or fish.

http://www.lidl.ie/ie/home.nsf/pages/c.o.20110324.p.4point2m_Suction_Hose_Set

donal2000

Stunning tank and setup. Looks great.

What is the background or did you just paint the back of the glass?

unklerosco

Clearseal tanks come with a painted black or blue background as standard...

paddy147

donal2000 wrote: »

Stunning tank and setup. Looks great.

What is the background or did you just paint the back of the glass?

Thanks.I like the looks of it now.

As the poster above said,the clearseal came/comes with the black or blue back.:)

paddy147

Bought a nitrite testing kit yesterday.
Also the PH level is currently at 6.53.The plants are absolutely flying with regards to growing and rooting into the soil.:)

BigAl81

Any fish yet ;o)