The natural themed monster fish tank build

[14crazychris]

I agree with you about the supports on the sides holding up the weight of the tank. But to say your stand is the same as the stand in the original post is a stretch. The one you made is a much higher quality build than the stand in the pics op posted just below. The difference is how the support rests underneath the horizontal face on yours vs the side extending above the horizontal face. I agree with what you are saying, but the “nay sayer” in my posts have less to do with the “mdf “ itself and more about the cheap construction of the original stand. Indeed the stand you built is sturdy and built for a weight of a fish tank. Whereas the original “stand” doesn’t look like a stand as much as it looks like a cheap ikea desk. My statement about the original desk being weak to hold the tank, “stands” (pun intended).

I wouldn’t put any fish tank on that stand 1 14crazychris it doesn’t look like it was built for a fish tank at all. The stand in C cvar post is well built and designed for a tank. They are not the sam. In any way other than the materials used.

someone may get away with it, but all it takes is one moment of an equipment failure to cause a huge disaster. Example on the left side of the stand the melamine is peeling back, if that gets wet from a faulty filter, it will swell then it will compromise the wood, once that happens it will be easy for the fasteners to cave (the wood surrounding the fasteners) and done.

you do whatever you want, you may get away with it. I just know many people on this site have given me advise that I didn’t like, I decided I need to find out for myself, then when I find that they were right, I wished that I would have just listened rather than losing that fish, or whatever it was that I didn’t listen to sound advice.

thank you for the feedback, the stand was built by one of if not the biggest aquarium manufacturers in my country but I agree it’s not the best. I know what you mean about not listening to advice, and then making the mistakes! Been there done that got the t shirt haha. I’m going to go ahead with my reinforcing strategy anyway as I have the wood lying about. Then I’ll decide what I think about it. I mean worse case scenario I can keep the tank on the floor until I get the upgrade lol. This afternoon I’m going to be leak testing the aquarium anyway as it wasn’t brand new, see how that goes first haha.

thanks

 

[Matteus]

thank you for the feedback, the stand was built by one of if not the biggest aquarium manufacturers in my country but I agree it’s not the best. I know what you mean about not listening to advice, and then making the mistakes! Been there done that got the t shirt haha. I’m going to go ahead with my reinforcing strategy anyway as I have the wood lying about. Then I’ll decide what I think about it. I mean worse case scenario I can keep the tank on the floor until I get the upgrade lol. This afternoon I’m going to be leak testing the aquarium anyway as it wasn’t brand new, see how that goes first haha.

thanks

You are a smart person, I think you will make good decisions. I’m just sharing experience/ opinion to give you something to make your own decisions with. I would get C cvar to build me a stand any day after seeing those pics. ?

 

[14crazychris]

You are a smart person, I think you will make good decisions. I’m just sharing experience/ opinion to give you something to make your own decisions with. I would get C cvar to build me a stand any day after seeing those pics. ?

Appreciate that! I definitely want to go steel stand for the upgrade. Will have to see about space first though. On a positive note no leaks so far on the test fill. Decided to keep the wood at one end so there’s more swimming space for the fish. And later I will saw it down so it sits flush with that end panel. Sand and gravel also got ordered yesterday, went with 40kg of silica sand and 10kg of fine Nordic gravel.

 

[14crazychris]

So a small update, no leaks on the tank so far which is great! Sand and gravel is arriving tomorrow. I’ve also washed off all the river stones, wish I had some more but it will do for now. Stand repair went well and surprisingly sturdy. When drilling through the wood is was nice to see it wasn’t rotten or any discernible colouration change. I’m quietly confident on this one but will decide wether to use or not after I get it moved into my new property. I’m still debating about doing some large Amazon swords along the back where the wood meets the black background and then some Java ferns glued onto the wood. I also am now debating on lighting, I think I will do it on the one side (black background) just above the wood which will give it a nice spotlight effect and shimmer over it, then the other end will hopefully slowly fade out onto the sand bed. This might create a dark gloomy spot which I’m hoping will look really nice with the slightly discoloured water (tannins) especially at nighttime

 

[FJB]

The reinforcement looks great. Nothing like peace of mind. Look forward to seeing the whole project completed.

 

[14crazychris]

The reinforcement looks great. Nothing like peace of mind. Look forward to seeing the whole project completed.

Thank you! It’s screwed in from the sides and above. As the weight is all downwards I can’t see it being a problem, simple but hopefully effective. I cannot wait either! I’m very excited.

 

[14crazychris]

Another mini update, sand and gravel is here now and I’ve also also order 6 large Amazon swords and 4 java ferns. If the ray smashes them to pieces then so be it but I want to give it a try atleast. Will glue the Java ferns onto the wood and the swords hopefully will be held under the sand via the stone and wood. Well that’s the plan anyway…..

So that’s it! Everything is here and ready to be setup now, just waiting until I can move into my new house and then It will be the first thing I do haha! Updates may be a little sparse now until the move commences, hopefully not too long to go now.
thanks

 

[14crazychris]

So it’s been a little bit of time since I last updated. Finally my house moved has been sorted so I’m hoping it will be end of next week fingers crossed. I have also added a couple more fish to the quartintine tank which I’m really excited about. Wasn’t something I was going to add in my original plan but I couldn’t miss the opportunity. I gave it a couple of weeks thought before pulling the trigger. Will get some pictures after the water change later.

Thanks

 

[14crazychris]

Better late than never but here’s a quick pic of the new inhabitants! Three fully grown clouded archer fish. Water is going really green in the sunlight which is annoying but there’s no detriment to the fish.

 

[14crazychris]

So last update before setup! I decided to take the archer fish back to the store. I had them just over two weeks in the end, they got on well with the arowana and stingray but they were quite tricky feeders. Even the live food I offered they didn’t regularly accept and they seemed a bit intimidated by the arowana. I decided I wanted this tank to be easy to feed and not too much stress for me so thought long term it probably wasn’t going to work out especially with the attention needed at feeding times. I felt for the longevity of the fish the archers need to be king of their own tank.

I also got the plants a few days ago, 3 Amazon swords, 1 Vallis and 4 Java ferns, the stingray hasn’t shown any interest in destroying them yet and they are just floating around in pots at the moment. rubbish picture below



Finally I’m moving into my new home on Monday! So tank will be setup on Tuesday and scaped, then hopefully fish in on Friday! Next update I post will finally be something a bit more interesting haha!

thanks for reading if you’re still here through the boring posts lol.