Well now that I have learned a bit more about aquariums im setting up the 55 gallon aquarium I recently bought.
It will be home to my 2 angels and common pleco I currently have as well as a school of some sort, 4 or so loaches, 3 upside down catfish, 3 more angels and whatever else I find that will work. I'll be adding plants maby not right away but as soon as I can.
Monday, August 28-
The order I made for the emperor 400, visi therm stealth heater, glass canopies, LCD thermometer, magfloat, and airstone came in a few days ago. I am waiting for my LFS to get a shipment of eco-complete which should arrive this Wed. It would have been in last week but they messed up my special order and got the cichlid substrate instead of the plant one.
I will be constructing a DIY hood to house the shop lights I purchased and hide the filter and everything. This will probably be finished today or tomorrow.
The lighting will consist of 3 standard flourescent tubes. They are t-8 and 32 watts each totaling at 96 watts or 1.75 WPG. I currently only have one shoplight that fits 2 bulbs and will be purchasing another single bulb fixture soon. The total cost of the wood to build the box, the hinges for the front door to swing open, and the lighting (including bulbs) was about 40 dollars. Compare that to another 2 bulb strip light that wont look as good and costs 90 dollars.
I will also be painting my own background which will be a fade from black at the bottom to a blue up top. This will hide the submersable heater which sits at the bottom and it will also blend in with the eco-complete nicley.
For the stand I will be attaching fabric to a dowel rod that will run horazontally on the front side on the top. It will give me a place to store all my supplies and hide all the wires and ugly stuff.
I will update when I finish the hood or if anything else happens before that. I hope to have water in it by thursday if all goes well and start the cycle.
As I was typing this my peice of driftwood I ordered was delivered. Here is a link to the auction for pictures:
eBay: ANCIENT CYPRESS DRIFTWOOD with SHELTER #705 (item 180021738283 end time Aug-24-06 07:48:28 PDT)
Its an amazing peice and it looks awesome in my aquarium. I will find a nice peice of slate to mount it to and start prepping the wood today as well. It forms a nice long tunnel when resting on its three natural legs and will be PERFECT for my pleco and other fish to hide in.
Pics:
Bare aquarium and stand:
Aquarium with heater/filter:
Close up of filter:
One 2 bulb t-8 64 total watts shoplight:
