meeki/bladen river themed tank

[FJB]

Looks beautiful, and I think the meeki (in the numbers/ratio mentioned) and the wiuld-type swords would be perfect and lok wonderful!
Even if a particular piece of wood happens to be from a conifer, it does not matter as long as it is fully dry.

I do have a question about the stainless steel intake/outflow pipes. Why stainless? did you happen to already have them available? It seems expensive and unnecessary (but nice) if obtained just for this purpose.

Again looking awesome!

 

[robmcd]

Get that wood soaking now, because when you flood it's more than likely going to float.

 

[Tripping Willow 91]

I would verify the other wood type before filling or adding fish. Need to ensure that it's not coniferous. Hardwoods are considered safe.

I've already filled the tank but I don't think the wood is too much of a risk. The unknown pieces were collected from an oak and ash dominated wood and were sitting at the base of an oak. I'm fairly confident it'll be oak or if not then ash, it was so weathered and dry that all the bark was long gone so was impossible for me to id. My dad is very good with trees so I think I'll get him to come take a stroll through the wood with me next time and I'll make a list of all the tree species.

 

[Tripping Willow 91]

Looks beautiful, and I think the meeki (in the numbers/ratio mentioned) and the wiuld-type swords would be perfect and lok wonderful!
Even if a particular piece of wood happens to be from a conifer, it does not matter as long as it is fully dry.

I do have a question about the stainless steel intake/outflow pipes. Why stainless? did you happen to already have them available? It seems expensive and unnecessary (but nice) if obtained just for this purpose.

Again looking awesome!

Thanks can't wait to get my cycle over and get some fish in it.

That's good the wood was very dry and looks as though it had been dead a long time, all the bark was gone so I should be good there. Pretty sure from the surrounding trees it was oak or ash anyway.

I already had stainless pipes for the fluval and I love the look of them so I've ordered a set for the tera 800, they're not that expensive if you get them from AliExpress, the set I've got coming for the tetra are £25. I was into high tech co2 injected aquariums before this and liked the equipment in the tank to be visually appealing.

This was my last scape

 

[Tripping Willow 91]

Get that wood soaking now, because when you flood it's more than likely going to float.

Haha you're right there, I've made that mistake before ?. I've had this wood soaking outside in a bin for 4 weeks, I've filled the tank now and it still had a little buoyancy so I've placed some large stones on top for now just to be safe

 

[Tripping Willow 91]

Update - I added water! ?

Had the wood outside soaking in a bin for 4 weeks but it appears that wasn't quite long enough, some of the branches were still slightly buoyant and inclined to bounce around a bit, I've had to add a few large stones to keep everything in place for now. I've stuck a heater in as well, hopefully ? the warm water will have everything sitting pretty before the cycle is complete and the fish go in.

The next step will be to set up the filters, add ammonia and actually get the cycle going, I have a 3year old and a 4month old so finding the time to do things can be difficult, everything is done in small stages. Once the cycle is going I'll get back to adding to the scape.

I'm loving the low light level of the f20 spot.

 

[Tripping Willow 91]

Stanzzzz7 this is how my firemouth tank is coming along so far.

I had a bag full of old dry oak leaves and little twiggy branches ready to go in but they appear to have gone walk about, hopefully next week I'll get chance to get over the local wood and grab some more. I think all the little "detailing" pieces of wood, stones, gravel etc will really add to it

 

[mrrobxc]

I’m liking this setup and love the old planted tank you posted. Looking forward to the little pieces you add to fill out the scape.

 

[Tripping Willow 91]

I’m liking this setup and love the old planted tank you posted. Looking forward to the little pieces you add to fill out the scape.

Thank you, I'm excited about this tank, partially because I get to try another style of scape but more so that this is the largest tank I've owned and I've only ever kept little community fish so this is all new for me. I've also never used sand as a substrate so I'm looking forward to see the natural digging behaviour of the meeki.

I might delay the little detail bits until I can be sure the wood isn't going anywhere, don't wanna get in there fiddling with stuff and have my wood decide it's gonna take off ?

 

[mrrobxc]

Thank you, I'm excited about this tank, partially because I get to try another style of scape but more so that this is the largest tank I've owned and I've only ever kept little community fish so this is all new for me. I've also never had a and substrate so I'm looking forward to see the natural digging behaviour of the meeki

Your time with small fish and intricate scapes will serve you well on this side of the hobby too. It’s all proportion. You’ll develop a masterpiece.