My recent project!!!

[kerisb]

Ok so awhile back was trying to decide on whether to stay with 3 or 4 smaller tanks or go for a couple large tanks!   Well guess I decided on the larger tanks!!! lol

This is what I started with and so far have ended up with.

Got a 90 gallon tank and stand.......the tank was previously salt water so needed some cleaning, and the stand I was not real fond of.    So thanks to "rockgarden" on this forum aquired another stand....it had good bones but I wanted to dress it up alittle.

Then got some river rock for the substrate.

Here are some pics of what took place.

The pine stand is the first stand that came with the tank, the black stand is the one I got from "rockgarden" minus the oak.  Will see if I have a better pic of it.

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[kerisb]

More pics!!

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[kerisb]

And finally into the house!!

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[kerisb]

Lol now just have to decide whether it will house my oscars and jack dempseys....................or be a community tank for my clown loaches, angels, livebearers and convicts.    Ohhhhhhhhhhhh decisions decisions!!!!    Everyone else here seems to think it would be great for the oscars...........but they are in a 80 gallon hexagon that they already seem to like lol!!!

[Hookup]

it's not to late to add salt.

[Rybren]

+1

Those clowns will be awfully p'd off if you forget the salt.

[kerisb]

LOL would love a salt water tank...............but have done lots of reading in here and quite frankly you guys all have me terrified of salt water tanks.............they seem like tons of work............and tons of money!!!!      Maybe at a later date...........when I can afford to invest tons into my tanks lol.

Actually with being a shift worker (12 hour shifts) there are some weeks when my tanks get a bit neglected...........so can't afford that with salt water............the fresh water are a little more forgiving!!

And have a hard enough time deciding what fish to keep and what fish not without getting into the really beautiful salt water ones!!!!

[Hookup]

LOL would love a salt water tank...............but have done lots of reading in here and quite frankly you guys all have me terrified of salt water tanks.............they seem like tons of work............and tons of money!!!!      Maybe at a later date...........when I can afford to invest tons into my tanks lol.

I feel badly... this is not the impression that we, the lovers of the salt, should be giving anyone.  It can be expensive, and complex, and take tones of time, but i'd be the vast majority of salt-water tanks are not setup or maintained that way.

That said, i've seen some amazing looking fresh-water systems... so don't think i'm bashing fresh (much)...lol...


How's it feell having one big tank vs a few smaller ones?  Like you've crossed some kind of aquarium line?

[nelson]

Having been in fresh for some time and now in sw for 5-6 years, I can say from my experience that the maintenance required by my thriving 120 swt is far less than my 120 fwt.  Apart from my feeding every two to three days, I spend about 3 hours in equipment maintenance/water change monthly. I haven't checked my water parameters for three years. I will admit that as the sw tank matures it does take constant care and attention, but once it's fully "aged", in about 2 years, it's pretty much carefree.  This has been my experience - the experiences of other hobbyists may differ.

[kerisb]

Ohhhh don't feel bad.............I am sure someday I will get into salt water........just not yet...........lol I haven't even graduated into live plants yet.      Besides I am married to one of those people that thinks all the tanks are is work, and says they are just fish..........lol other than my oscars he doesn't even know what kind of fish I have.............and counting the babies I probably have 100 or more fish!!!

I will have to let you know in a few weeks how it feels to have graduated into the bigger tanks...........have to wait till this one cycles..............man that is the hardest part..........I have never let a tank cycle before so it is going to kill me to just leave it.............I usually just take dirty water and swap some filter media and used gravel.....and it has always worked so far............but didn't see this tank being ready so soon.............and unfortunately just cleaned the other tanks last week so no real dirty stuff to add to the big tank.


Besides told my hubby that I have to keep all tanks going for atleast another month or so............deal was if I get this big one I would give up either my two 40ish gallons or one of the 40's and the hexagon 80.............hahah have to ween myself off of them!!

[salvini55]

in my personal experiance, Planted tanks are WAAAAAY harder to maintain than a reef.

[White Lightning]

Nice job on the stand! I have never kept live plants but to my knowledge they are harder than a saltwater tank. Not quite as expensive but a lot more miantenance. A saltwater tank is not that complicated. People can certainly have some complex saltwater systems if they choose to. But really, your system only has to be as difficult as you make it.

Good luck with whatever you decide! If you are going with freshwater, I would suggest going with discus or angelfish. I have never had an oscar but I have heard many people coment on their personality.

[kerisb]

Thanks, yes I really like the way the stand turned out!      And yes I have 8 angels as it is and they are beautiful fish...........mind you they are very territorial and argumentative with each other lol.
As for the Oscar's they are wonderful to watch and yes have different personalities.......not hard to tell when they are happy and when they are pouting lol..............and they pout anytime I go near the tank and don't feed them lol.


But I think for now I am going to stick with freshwater................as I really do need to get my fish out of the smaller tanks!!   going to be awesome to see them swimming around in this bigger tank!!

[kerisb]

Ok so the update on my tank.......... it is not finished cycled yet!!!!!
But I have decided that it will be for my bigger fish...........as I just tonight acquired a gorgeous ID shark.    So going to put my oscars and the shark in the large tank.
It is driving me nuts though waiting for this tank to cycle!!

Here is a pic of how it stands today!!

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