# New to the forum, figured I'd post my project tank



## bdgiese90 (Sep 1, 2012)

Hey everybody. I'm soon to be a new fish keeper, and I am open to suggestions and/or comments.

I've spent the last 6 months working on my 29G project (veeeeeeeeeery spread out of course ;-))

I've compiled some pictures along the process and would like to share them. And of course when I checked into this sub forum, I saw the thread about Great Stuff expanding foam. I did research prior to building my tank, and read that It was chemically inert once fully dry/cured, which the x-foam in my tank had about 5.5 months to cure. I guess we will see what happens.

Anyhow, enjoy (or dont)!









This was the first round of x-foam for the base. Looks like a huge blob, I know









Carved down to shape the base.









I used paper maiche made from waterproof wood glue to kind of smooth things out. I didn't end up thinking this was a good idea in the latter stages, as the concrete built up enough to smooth over anyways.









This was a Penn Plax plant shelf I purchased from Petco (I work there, nice little bonus having discounts at my disposal :-D )









More paper maiche. Again, rather dumb idea. It did help seal up the x-foam a little bit though.









Back view of the tank after the first round of concrete (thin layer).









Front View after first second round of concrete. I like to work clean.









Side profile pre-final layer of concrete.









Final layer of concrete. I didn't work so cleanly this time since I was going to fill with water anyways. I took a toothbrush to the glass once it was full.









The finished product (for now) for concrete to cure. 

My next plans are to let the concrete sit in heated (78°F), still water to cure to full (or near full) hardness over the next two weeks. I then plan to do a 75% water change and start filtration. After 1 week of filtration and one more water change, I want to get my nitrate cycle started. I've read you can do this with plain, non-fragranced janitor's ammonia? 

I'm planning on putting some plants and semi aggressive fish in there. Dwarf gouramis and barbs are likely. I'm also open to fish suggestions! 

I'm looking forward to hear your feedback


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## Bacon Is Good (Jun 30, 2012)

Thats awesome


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## dlambert (May 1, 2012)

looks cool.. the progress pics are really interesting  concrete may increase pH so make sure to check and take that into consideration when you're stocking.. keep posting the progress!


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## Reefing Madness (Jun 26, 2011)

Thats pretty tight.


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## bdgiese90 (Sep 1, 2012)

Thanks for all of your feedback guys!

Turns out my neighbor's red jewels got their freak on. Now she has 20 something baby cichlids in her tank, so I'm probably going to end up with 3 or 4 of those instead of a semi-aggressive "community". Right on!

Also. With the concrete raising the pH...forgive me for being ignorant to a lot of things, but once its cured, would it actually increase alkalinity? This is my first tank, and I'm not extremely familiar with concrete in tank setups. 

I'm hoping that the pH of my city water is low to offset that if that's the case..perhaps that's something that only happens in my dreams :lol:


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## dlambert (May 1, 2012)

i'm not sure about concrete in tank set-ups either, i've just tested pH of concrete for my work and happen to know that it is usually alkaline, i would just keep that in mind and check it unless someone else has experience using it in an aquarium. if you are putting wood in, it will lower the pH a bit. jewels will like a low/neutral pH, but I once accidentally buffered my pH to 8+ almost instantly from 7+ and my jewel didn't even change his behavior and was fine. doubt the concrete will be an issue.


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## bdgiese90 (Sep 1, 2012)

Actually, I was planning on a huge piece of mopani. My lady also works for Petco and her store had a 20" bird tree for $4 ($3.20 with discount :-D) so hopefully that will help. I was going to throw it in there without soaking it to see if the concrete picks up any of the color.
_Posted via Mobile Device_


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## Bacon Is Good (Jun 30, 2012)

Cichlids are good... Cichlids that are free are the best


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## bdgiese90 (Sep 1, 2012)

Alright guys, here's the latest development. Mopani bird tree has been added, and I think I may need a water change :shock:

Warning: This photo may be disturbing to some viewers.











Still have plans for plants, probably Anubias and some other simple plants that don't necessarily require external CO2. I know keepers that use a 2 liter bottle with a simple yeast/sugar concoction in some warm water with an airline hose running into the tank, but the stand I have an open metal stand, so it's asking for disaster between my 3 cats and dog being around. Maybe I can do a 20oz side mounted bottle and be all ghetto about it lol


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## jaysee (Dec 9, 2009)

I would classify jewels as semi-aggressive.

I don't understand why the whole bottom is covered in concrete. Are you putting sand over top of it?


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## Bacon Is Good (Jun 30, 2012)

Can`t wait to its finished.

Do you need the address to my house?JK


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## bdgiese90 (Sep 1, 2012)

@jaysee- I covered a lot of it in concrete because my original intention was to only have little coves in the bottom. I'm planning on putting some gravel in little pits in the bottom for some plants and that's about it. 

@Bacon- Let's see if I can keep anything alive in this tank before I think about home delivery :-D
_Posted via Mobile Device_


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## pop (Aug 29, 2012)

Hello bdgiese90;
There exist a type of concrete that can be poured into water to setup did you use a form or just poured.
Concrete has lime and is depending on the type water soluble over time. Listen to the suggestion about checking ph. There might be a non-toxic sealant available.
Novel idea i like it a lot.
pop


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## bdgiese90 (Sep 1, 2012)

pop said:


> Hello bdgiese90;
> There exist a type of concrete that can be poured into water to setup did you use a form or just poured.
> Concrete has lime and is depending on the type water soluble over time. Listen to the suggestion about checking ph. There might be a non-toxic sealant available.
> Novel idea i like it a lot.
> pop


I put on a thin layer of concrete by hand, and the layers progressively became thicker until I was happy with it. 

I did more extensive research on the concrete and discovered that the lime WILL raise my alkalinity immensely and it will be hard to keep fish alive in it. So I'm definitely glad I researched that. I'm still wet curing my tank, but now I'm having thoughts about draining my tank until I get sealant for it. I found sealant that you can brush on to the surface of the concrete, and its non toxic. Even better, its used in zoos. It also makes the concrete so dense that it is impermeable to water, and it works with the alkali in the concrete to seal it

This means no leaching lime in my tank, no alkalinity, safe fish. I'm glad I posted here first. I knew i didn't research thoroughly enough  Thanks!


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## bdgiese90 (Sep 1, 2012)

I just found new research which I am actually pretty excited about:

Turns out that use of unsealed concrete in aquariums is safe after the proper leeching process is completed (i.e. all that lime we were talking about). The lime is what makes the concrete very alkaline, and when its submerged in water (whether its curing or not) it will leech out lime among other things for an extended period of time. After said period accompanied by several large water changes, a cycle can be started with nitrifying bacteria and fish food or whatever method you prefer (people like to use feeders, I personally think its cruel, but I won't break any balls over it).

So with that being said, the leeching period can take 2 or 3 weeks depending on the amount of concrete, type, etc.. Safe to add fish after that :-D

Looks like I have many, many water changes in my future on top of the 12 gallons I did tonight. Ugh..

On a side note. What do you guys think of the color of the concrete? Should I go darker with it? I want my tank to have crazy contrasts with the shadows I created and plants (moss coming soon, new development) along with the fish and substrate I will eventually be adding, probably a dark brown gravel. I like to think I have a good eye for things, but if someone has better ideas, I want to hear them!

Thanks for following my posts by the way. You guys are great. And it has gotten me even more excited to learn about keeping fish and building tanks altogether.

And if you read through my entire post to listen to me nerd out about concrete, thanks for that too.


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## bdgiese90 (Sep 1, 2012)

Hey everybody!

It's been a while since I've posted on here. I had my tank running unstocked for quite a while to get rid of the cloudiness from the concrete in there. I also had driftwood in there, which is making the tea color in the water. It's certainly been a test of my patience, but I have come to terms with the tea color. I was just concerned about how hard my water was. Turns out that the water where I live is hard anyways, so that will have to be remedied with a softener pouch or something similar.

Anyways, I decided to go with the fish-in cycle, using only fish I planned to keep. I also heavily planted my tank (at least its heavy to me) so that my fish don't suffer ammonia burn and things like that during the cycle (of course after doing research on this matter). I think I understand this cycle much better, and though water testing is necessary, I didn't find it to be so crucial as such when planting the tank as well. More discussion on that later if you so choose.

Here's my tank!








At this point there's a Delta Tail Betta and 2 Silver Lyretail Mollies, along with the moss ball, java fern, bleheri, and some other plant I can't remember the name of. They all seem to be hiding in this pic.







Betta and mollies came out of their shell after a few days. Added 5 Harlequin rasboras (super active right away, they were all over my tank!) and another plant described as "aquatic combo". Can someone identify this for me please? 







Rasboras swimming through the hole in the center and..







They came out on the other side! This got me really excited. My betta and mollies don't even use a fraction of the hiding spots/obstacles I've created. They seem to like just being out in the open.

Comments and criticism please!

Ben

Note: I realized after I posted that you can't see the java fern in the later pic. I moved it when I put in the new plants. It's in there I promise  I also decided against the cichlids in this tank because I picked up a 40 breeder that I will so something similar to in and put them in there instead.


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## ninjablackghostknife (Sep 16, 2012)

That must have taken forevermg:I would screw a project like that up so bad...


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