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Gareth's 45 Gallon Slate Tank Journal (56k Warning) *Pics added July 02nd/07*

33K views 205 replies 70 participants last post by  chippie 
#1 ·
Day 1

Today was a busy day. Today I emptied the tank out (it had old gravel in it still, dead plants etc, it was a rather gruesome process), painted the inside of the canopy white, and painted the back of the aquarium black.

I managed to get all of the old equipment from my 135 Gallon tank removed and set up for use on this tank too.



The setup is pretty straightforward. Water flows down the intake tube from the tank into the CO2 Reactor, flows from there into the Fluval 404, and from there it is pushed through the UV sterilizer and back into the tank. I know my hoses look disgusting, but I could not find my hose scrubber before I took the pics.. My bad..

Here is the stand set up in my living room, I am really hoping that 220 watts of Light isnt going to overpower the plasma TV.. lol



Tomorrow the project continues with plans for wiring the canopy, moving hte tank upstairs, adding flourite and hopefully filling the thing with water...
 
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#2 ·
Day 1 (4am)

I was impatient, and waited just long enough for the paint to dry. Moved the tank upstairs, put in the flourite and filled the tank. Took half an hour to get the filter primed with all the tubing, but I thought all was well.

An hour later I start noticing that a lot of air bubbles are passing through the Fluval so I start nosing around. Much to my dismay I discovered that the original fluval tubing connecting the CO2 Reactor to the Fluval had eroded and was leaking all over the carpet behind the tank. THankfully I caught it in time and replaced the tubing with some 1/2" stuff I had lying around, its not pretty, but will do untill I can get some 5/8" tubing thats a little "stiffer" (This stuff seems pretty flimsy, kinks easily, etc).

I am going to get some sleep, tomorrow I am going to finish rebuilding the canopy, wire in a Fulham Workhorse 5 and a Fullham Workse 7 ballast to drive the 4 x 55 watt GE bulbs, and hopefully experiment with a few layouts.

I am going to post a few of the different layouts here and get some feedback before I settle on a final design. So far I have a few ideas, keeping in mind that I want to cover the entire bottom of the tank in a moss carpet.

Layout 1 - River Rock, and something with this piece of driftwood. Sorry about the quality of pics, it is 4am after all, and I had to take the pics on my kitchen counter (only place with bright enough lights)








Layout 2 - Slate Walls. Any of you who remember me know I love my slate, Something akin to my old 30 Gallon Krib tank (see pic)



Layout 3 - Mopani "islands". I have a ridiculous amount of mopani on hand.. Enough that I could stuff this tank full of really cool pieces. However this time I was thinking about maybe setting up 1 or 2 groups of mopani with the branchy ends facing upwards, sort of like overturned stumps. These would have moss "tufts" on the top surfaces to grow in carpets similar to the tank bottom. Here are some pics of some of the mopani I have on hand (pics from the old 90 Gallon, which is now a turtle tank for my Red Eared Slider, and the old layout for this very tank)




I have a "lot" more, but these are some of my favorite pieces

So I'm not so sure... I'll have to actually see what I can do with the materials I have, but I think I can come up with something pretty unique this time around. So here we are, after a days work, we have the tank cleaned, filled, and now just waiting for the flourite cloud in the water to settle.



It is DEFINATELY time for bed.
 
#3 ·
wow I love your tanks, im really excited to see this one set up. I love it when people make the " natural backgrounds " out of wood and rock. I personally like the layout you are thinking of with the overturned stumps i always wanted to do that in my 75 but could never get the right stumps.
 
#5 ·
Ok so I experimented with a few layouts, but so far I like this one the best. What do you guys think?



I need to pick up a little more slate to finish off the top 3" of the tank, but so far so good, I'm pretty happy. Its a little cloudy from kicking up the substrate while arranging hte slate, and the lights just make the haze "glow" but you get the idea..
 
#8 ·
i love it. Its different. It gets alittle boring watching all these relatively flat tanks with a few rocks and hairgrass/hc. Once plants take root on the slate(moss/java/anubis) and fills it it'll look amazing. I bet the nooks and crannies provide nice hiding spots for shrimp and small fish.

:thumbsup:
 
#11 ·
Since the tank is only 12" deep (front to back) it really makes "sloping" difficult. The slate uses up a lot of room when its stacked this way, the upside being the weight of the slate (which is leaning down and back against the glass) keeps it from collapsing. I'm doing this without silicone, although it would be a good idea. I rebuilt this wall 7 times last night to make sure everything locked together tightly.

I'm also trying to preseve the plantable base of the aquarium which now only ranges from 4-7 inches front to back.

I also have to consdier the light. It's difficult to see in these photos (I'll take some better ones in a few minutes) but many of these pieces stick out quite far, creating little caves all throughout the slate. It creates a lot of shadows and blocks a lot of light that the moss carpet will need to grow the way I have planned.

The upside to this design at least, is that with all the nooks and crannies in the stonework there should be tons of room for shrimp to hide, breed etc. They will be able to go all around the slate where the fish can't go.
 
#12 ·
Here is what the tank looks like now after 7 wall rebuilds. The piece of wood in the center is now actually built into the wall, the rest of the wood is wedged in place using the top edge of the tank, pressing the wall into place. I had experimented using Plant shaping wire (the thick stuff used for shaping bonsai tree's) to "hang" and drape the wood across the slate but that ended with disasterous results (small collapse).



When I had this tank made a few years ago I purchased a heavy dutier glass that would support the rockwork I wanted (We have an aquarium manufacuter within a 20 minute drive). I have no doubt that If I were using standard glass my tank would have shattered during the cave in. I managed to escape with only a teeny tiny little scratch near the gravel line, but it was definately "change your shorts" scary.




I am still deciding on what plants to put in here. Since Java Moss is going to be such a prevelent feature in this tank I think I will stick to some nice java ferns and some crypts. We'll see.. I'm gonna wander around the stores today and see if I can find anything cool.
 
#17 ·
Well I added a few plants, many more on the way, and I added a couple of fish and some shrimp.



Met with a minor disaster introducing hte new fish as my CO2 had gotten extremely high.. (I must have bumped the needle valve when I was screwing around with the tank the day before). I lost 4 Cardinal Tetra's inside of an hour of adding them to the tank, but after a 50% water change everyone seemed to calm down a lot.

This are looking better this morning, the shrimp survived the night (which I was really worried about, given the previous CO2 problem, and hte platties are out of hiding.

I didn't realize untill I actually added some living things to this tank exactly how many hidey holes there are in this tank. The fish and shrimp can completely dissapear from view and hide in and behind the slate in a lot of places. There are intricate tunnels behind the slate wall that the shrimp seem to have claimed as home. They are feeding on the filter intake tube and scouring the slate.

I changed my mind about the moss bed and decided to give glossostigma a try, I only have a little bit, and its spread pretty thin so I'll need to get some more (any Canadians got any cuttings they could send my way?).

I did add a ton of moss to the upper left hand side of the tank to fill in some of the "open" space above the wall and around the wood. This will be trimmed back in a week or two, I just need to get it rooted to the wood so it can start creeping in. It has also provided a HUGE amount of plant mass for baby shrimp to hide in (wont be getting Cherries for at least 2 weeks, but I'm thinking ahead)

I was going through my garage of fish stuff and found "just" enough slate to finish the top of the tank. I really like how the wall looks now, as the slate is stacked to the point of coming out of the water.
 
#18 ·
What a great look, Gareth! I recently set up a 20l and was hoping to put a couple pairs of Kribs in it (a fish I've always wanted to try). I might just have to try a slate wall.

So, do you just get the slate at a local Home Depot-type store? Are there different varieties of 'slate' or is slate just slate (sorry if my ignorance is showing here :)). And, you didn't use any silicone, huh. Just trial and error on the stacking. Would you recommend this for us "non-professionals" at home? Certainly my standard 20l wouldn't have the thicker glass, so I'd have to approach is slowly.

But, I'm lovin' that look!
Brina.
 
#19 ·
Well here is the tank as of today, few more plants added, and some livestock. So far so good. The initial introduction of fish was almost disasterous due to the CO2 being cranked "way" too high, but managed to save most of the fish, and both shrimp.


Click here for a larger version of this picture

The glossostigma is growing slowly, so I may purchase a bit more to spread it out, you cant really see it in the pictures.

Here is one of hte sunburst platties, they are acting really shy and they retreat into the plants or rock wall when you approach the tank.



Here is one of the atyopsis shrimp. I love these guys, and I get a real kick out of watching them climb over the rocks and wood.

 
#30 ·
I made the stand out of 3/4 inch plywood, and its only about 18-20 inches high so it keeps the center of gravity for this tank pretty low to the ground. With as much rockwork as I have in this tank I wanted to keep it pretty low to the ground.

There is about 100 pounds of slate in there, which isn't really that much when you think about how much water its displacing. 45 Gallons of water weighs about 375 pounds, and the rock is displacing around 12 Gallons of water (about 100 pounds of water) so its not really "adding" weight.

I might be off on my estimates, I haven't really measured exactly how much water volume is in the tank now but I'm probably within 30-40 pounds.

The only thing to be concerned about is how the weight is distributed on the bottom glass as the slate wall puts a lot of weight on the back half. I had this tank made for me though, with the intention of using a lot of rock so I'm not really worried.
 
#26 ·
Looks awesome, especially the moss and slate effect.
i would get rid of the vals or move them to the corner/side.
they take alot away from the slate.
sunbursts are my favorite platy, they seem somehow more inteligent than the others.
 
#29 ·
Well today I ordered some new light bulbs as these ones are simply too old. They are growing the plants, but the glosso is struggling a bit so I'm going to replace 2 of the bulbs (the ones near the front of the tank).

I've also managed to get some shrimp on hold till thursday (when I get the lights I'm going to pick them up). At $4 each, its the best deal in town for Ammano's... I will probably add 10-15 of them, and maybe a handful of cherries (if I can find some adults, or larger shrimp).

Next friday I should have my shipment of Cardinal tetra's as well, and I might add a couple more fan shrimp.
 
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