new 36X12 37gal project...finished!!!!

[mellowvision]

I dig it. it seems very industrial, the glass looks really thick

 

[Bahney]

the glass is 10mm and the tank is so heavy i can hardly lift it, lol

the guy i got it from had it hand made a couple of years ago and wanted the glass thick so he could put a lot of rocks in it.

i am not to sure how strong it is though some of the sealant seems to have algae underneath the outer edge which is not a good sign, but i have had the tank full for a couple of days and it never leaked, and it was being used up until just a few weeks ago so i am not too worried about that i suppose.

 

[816johnv]

very nice another excellent project in the making by Budget Bahney cant wait to see it finished it should be excellent if it is anything like your last project..

 

[Que]

Nice Bahney... Nice.

Q

 

[Bahney]

Budget Bahney cant wait to see it finished it should be excellent if it is anything like your last project..

I like the Budget Bahney, lol

suppose it makes me look like a tight git but i just dont agree with paying £400 for a tank and stand when there are so many excelent second hand ones out there from people that did spend £400 and dident realise how time consumeing this hobby can be.

and i like to set myself targets the target for this build is £50 i am doing pretty good so far

£7 worth of wood
paint was free
tank free
filter free
lights free
heater free
powerhead free

i have some free polystyrere for the 3d background that i got off a friend as well so hopefully after buying new filter media/cement/sand/drift wood i will come in under £50

plants are easy, my 2ft tank is growing them like mad, i can easilly take cuttings out of there.

i want to breed some kind of plec, i have almost decided on golden BN or leopard plec's L134's i want the tank quite sparcley planted mainly java moss and fern with some corkscrew viallis there will be pleanty of caves and a nice piece of feature driftwood in the tank, maybe 2 or 3 types to give a contrast of colours/textures but who knows...i suppose it all boils down to what ever i can get my hands on FOR FREE!!!! lol

i hope projects like this inspire people to think that with some time, a bit of creativity and a nose for a bargain you can do projects like this for almost no money at all.

 

[Bahney]

Stage two.......

a terrible pic i know but i wont have a decent camera until next week sometime. i should have done this last weekend but i had problems with my car and a few other things i needed to get sorted so i did not have the time.

anyway today i have half the background mocked up, i am pretty pleased with how it has gone. it took me about 2 hours but a good 45min of that was just trying things and making different shapes and seeing what i liked and didn't like.

there is a cave in this side as well as a small area for the power head to go which will be powering my under gravel jets.

once again sorry for the pic i will take a better one when i can. i will be finishing it off tomorrow and i hope to have the cement on in the next few days (probably Monday)

i am thinking of going down to the beach and picking up some sand to go in the tank, is this a good idea? i thought the salt in the sand would help with the amount of times i have to do a water change as well....any thoughts?

 

[denial727]

personally, i'd go buy sand. It's only a few dollars a bag.
I'm always fearful of contaminants in beach sand. Must be my ocd!

 

[Bahney]

SOME BETTER PICS

it took a while but i have managed to incorporate the filter into the background, it all looks a bit basic at the minute but once the cement is in it will all start to come together....i hope, lol

 

[Bahney]

ohh and just to add it isn't finished yet, lol

piece on the left is finished but the piece with the filter still needs a lot more work so don't be too harsh yet

 

[jm1212]

looking good so far!