Getting back into fish keeping, picked up a 180g

[russian thc]

It's been a few years since I've kept any tanks, I recently decided to get back into the hobby a little bit after a hit and run accident two months ago I could use something peaceful in my living space to get my mind of things.

Today I went out and traded a few things for a AGA 180 tank , the tank came with a stand and
a custom canopy he built with a bunch of t5 lights attached. So i'll need to pickup a heater/chemicals etc.

I went ahead and checked over the silicone seals and glass, I noticed a slight chip in the rear panel
of the tank as shown in the pictures. I'm not too worried it is sitting full of water in my garage now
doing fine for the moment. I'll let it sit a few days.

I plan on sanding the stand/canopy and re-staining or painting them black to match my Man-Cave.

The setup I plan on doing in a few months is going to be an Amazon based setup with large pebbles/driftwood.
It will be sometime near December, I'm picking up a Nissan GTR next weekend from Canada so I have other priorities at the moment.

For the livestock I plan on getting a Black wolfish or some "Pacus", not sure if anything else cool is available either I haven't looked around yet.

Looking forward to keeping some monsters again!!!


Picture 1 and 2 (Lights):



3 and 4 (Tank):



Evo X parts in picture are for sale
Fracture in back panel:

 

[Belly up]

Welcome back! Let us know when you stock your tank by putting up some pics.

 

[kno4te]

Welcome back to the hobby. Hope to see ur tank up and completed especially if u get that black wolf!

 

[Anthony Nolet]

Idk if you still have it but that's an awesome piece of wood. I have a good sized chip in my tank and it hasn't exploded yet lol.

 

[russian thc]

Thanks guys! I've sanded the canopy down for a couple hours tonight, it still needs a ton of work but its making progress. As for the tank i noticed some moisture on one side i wiped it up......nothing again in the same spot i'm keeping an eye on it though.

Idk if you still have it but that's an awesome piece of wood. I have a good sized chip in my tank and it hasn't exploded yet lol.

Nope, it was the previous owners. He sold this tank because he picked up a 300 gal acrylic. I also found out the tank is only about 160 gallons. Not a 180 unfortunately still my biggest tank yet though.

 

[FMA4ME]

Welcome back

 

[GrindeL89]

It looks like a 150. 72x29x18 correct if I'm wrong. Great tank none the less. Really like the driftwood it looks amazing wish I had that piece. GL

 

[russian thc]

It looks like a 150. 72x29x18 correct if I'm wrong. Great tank none the less. Really like the driftwood it looks amazing wish I had that piece. GL

It's something like that might be 18 1/2" wide not sure, haven't spotted anymore moisture over the past three days too

As for the Wood I'm thinking about going out and just finding a piece of my own, that's what the buyer did I forgot where he found this root
it was somewhere in Upstate, NY. He kept the piece unfortunately.

My plan is to sand all the wood on the Tank , Stand, and Canopy down and then refinish in black/dark cherry.
I also had an idea I plan on trying out. going to "plasti-dip" the back of the tank black that way I can remove it if I need to.
Not sure if anyone has tried this yet, I'd figure it's a good durable alternative to paint.

It's getting there.. I'm going to work on it some more tonight

 

[russian thc]

 

[russian thc]

Finished sanding the Canopy down,i'm happy with it. Just need to sand the bottom wood of the fish tank and the stand.
Once that's finished i'll clean it up, and paint it black on a nice day.

Anyone have any ideas for Budget Substrate??
Realistic floating plants?
Should i run 1 or two fx6's?

Thanks