# A work in progress



## Summer

Day 1

I acquired a tank from an aunt, out of her basement. She told me it was a 55 gallon, I went to get it and turns out it is actually a 75gallon. It came with a stand as well but no goodies. There are a lot of things that I will be needing to gather before this is done but I look at it as an ongoing project to keep me busy this winter. 

First thing I need to do is clean this beast up. The stand is metal and very rusty so I'm going to sand off the rust and give it a nice spray paint job haha. The tank is so full of gunk and crud I think it's going to take forever to get it to a point where I can call it clean. The good news is that it was filled for fishing minnows over the summer so I'm almost positive that it does hold water. 

What am I going to do with it? Well I don't know. But with the help and advice of the good people here I am sure that I will have something really awesome when it is finished! 

Here is what I am working with:
The stand: [









The Tank









Open to any and all advice, ideas, and theories. This is a clean slate for me and I want to have fun with it. Keep in mind that I am working on a low budget so don't suggest anything that will cost me an arm and a leg haha


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## majerah1

I bet it will be lovely once done,cant wait to see the direction this takes.


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## williemcd

You are off to a great start!.. Fill the tank with about 10 gal of warm water.. I'd not use any soap or ANY chemicals... Then scrub scrub and scrub. 
Stand?.. a drill attachment that is basically a wire brush does hours of work in minutes..
Go to your pool supply store for Pool Filter Sand... you're going to need about 40-50 lbs in there... $10.00 for 50 lbs versus 80.00 for pet store offerings, and a great deal better if you plan on live plants... Lighting?.. It looks like you have the fixture... the bulb may be suspect so go to Lowes or HD ...look for 6,500 K bulbs at 1/4 the price you'll see at the pet store.. 
Join a local fish club, participate in their forum and dollar to donuts you'll end up with some cast-off fish.. Today I adopted a 8 inch pleco, 2 tennis ball sized Silver dollars, a 4-5 inch gold gourami, a fancy tail guppy and a black skirt tetra..(all from CL)... 
My only question to you is: What's going to be your next additional tank?....<grin> Bill in Va.


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## Summer

Whoa, Bill calm your engines! One tank at a time! haha


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## susankat

Summer that stand will hold your other 2 tanks as well on the bottom shelf so it will keep all of them together.


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## Rob72

looks like your gonna be busy for awhile cleaning and all, good luck with it


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## Summer

Thanks guys  

Susan- I thought maybe another 75 would fit down there eventually  hahaha But in all seriousness, I can't put any tanks that low until Dominic gets a bit bigger. He'll have a field day going fishing or swimming lol 

Rob72-Thanks  It is keeping me busy along with a few other things haha


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## Summer

Day 2:

Sanded and spray painted the stand and scrubbed the tank out. Still has some smudges but nothing that i cant work on onside the house. looks pretty good If i say so myself










Went to the hardware store. They don't carry peat moss, or straight ammonia. Jerks. lol I did get some play sand though and will work on the other stuff.


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## Summer

Also...just noticed that the stand TOTALLY matches my stair railing. Score!


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## jaguayo

Looking good!


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## Rob72

looks good


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## Kehy

looks great!


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## iadubber

Can't beat free!!


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## FishFlow

Summer said:


> Also...just noticed that the stand TOTALLY matches my stair railing. Score!



That is, so what I noticed when I saw this picture!! 

Looking good! 

And welcome to mts. Multiple tank syndrome! !

Oh forgot. Dual 75's!


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## TypeYourTextHere

That looks like a totally different tank. Don't forget about getting a hood for it as well. I have found that hoods help a lot with keeping lights cleaner and all the other obvious benefits as well. One other thing, have you inspected the stand's joints? It looked kinda ragged in the first pic and it occurred to me that maybe the structural integrity might be a factor due to the rust issue.

Edit: Also, don't forget to inspect the center brace of the tank.


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## Summer

Thanks, everything is very sturdy. The stand just had some surface rust, and after being sanded down to the bare metal it was like new. Center brace and everything else look great. I filled the tank last night with a garden house and am happy to report all water is still inside the tank this mornin haha. More pics soon, for now I'm on mobile since I broke the charger for my computer last night.....total klutz ugh


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## Summer

Day 3: 

Water has been added and sand substrate. "cleaned" filter media from teh 29 gallon in the water for this tank to give it a kickstart, and dosed some ammonia tonight. So we've begun cycling! :clap:

This is my version of ******* water filling 

















and 15 minutes later, voila! a full tank.







]

I have a shopping list going now of things I need to gather up to get this on the road to beautification. 

1. Heater 
2. Light bulbs
3. Drift wood (REALLY want something large and branchy, but we'll see what I can find and afford)
4. Rocks 
5. Plants
6. Some kind of background....not sure what yet. 

I'm sure I'll be adding to that list pretty frequently!


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## Summer

Just a little update...tank is still cycling, into the 3rd week now. Ammonia stays down, nitrites are still way up there though. I added a few plants and an air stone. Heres an updated pic, please excuse the extra air line, didnt trim it down yet.


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## Sherry

Your tank is looking awesome. I wish I could score like you did. I am never in the right place at the right time. Someday, crossing my fingers....


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## iadubber

Lookin good!


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## xteenagedirtbag

wow the tank looks completely different from the first picture. You are doing a brilliant job!


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## majerah1

Updates?I know ya have them lol.


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## williemcd

Looking good Summer... Only one caution. Playground sand might give ya problems down the road. There is a probability of compaction. This could cause a buildup of toxic gases due to Oxygen starvation. Pool filter sand is sieved to be a consistent size of .45 - .55 mm, allowing water to pass through the substrate.
You might be able to toss in a dozen Malaysian Trumpet snails as they burrow into the substrate during periods of light. This might eliminate the potential problem associated with play sand. Bill


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## Summer

Ok yea I do have updates. Tank cycled after 3 weeks and in moved the BN plecos and upside down cat fish. I've added many plants from Susan, Bev, and JC. and am hoping to get some different wood for in there. I also ordered koi angels from aquabid and should hopefully recieve them next week. so heres the updated pics


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## SuckMyCichlids

wow, i really am amazed lol, you definetly turned that tank around for the better, the very first pic is pretty rough looking. i like what you've done with it the plants look amazing


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## drunkenbeast

nice work summer. them angels got a home now


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## FishFlow

Yea, Summer update. Tank looks great. Cant wait to see angels in the tank. How many angels are you getting?

What is the plant on the far right that looks like a palm tree? (Long stem with only leafs at the tippy top.)


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## Summer

FishFlow said:


> Yea, Summer update. Tank looks great. Cant wait to see angels in the tank. How many angels are you getting?
> 
> What is the plant on the far right that looks like a palm tree? (Long stem with only leafs at the tippy top.)


Getting 6 angels (babies, will prob rehome 2 when they grow up) and that plant is a willow hygro


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## RonB

Nice score and nice work.


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## williemcd

Looking good lady!.. Hold your head high with the progress you've made with that tank!... Good job.. bill in va.


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## Summer

williemcd said:


> Looking good lady!.. Hold your head high with the progress you've made with that tank!... Good job.. bill in va.


Thank you. That means a lot.


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## jaguayo

Looks great! What a fabulous job you did with that old tank!


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## Summer

Thank you


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## Rob72

tank is looking really good summer


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## Summer

Ok just a quick text update. I got my koi angel babies on December 29th, I recieved 8 but one was DOA so 7 adorable dime size angels went in. I also added 2 pictus catfish that week, and more recently have added 6 bronze corys. The tank is really growing in and looking great. The catch is, i broke the zoom button on my camera the very same day I got my angels and had to send it out for repair. It should be back sometime this week though and I plan to fully update this thread in pictures. 

A few days ago I added a pressurized co2 system and am more than happy to see that already my plants are pearling. I have a list a mile long of things I want to add, change, and do for this tank but I have to pace myself so that me and my tanks dont end up in a snow drift somewhere courtesy of my husband  So here's what I have planned for in in the coming months:

Next time we get a break in the weather, or when springtime finally sets in I plan to go in search of a piece of driftwood. Of course, impatience may set in and if money presents itself i may end up buying a piece too...we'll see. I also found that the playsand in my tank was raising the pH up quite a bit, and since I want these angels to be happy and maybe even spawn one day I want it as low as I can get it. So the substrate needs changed. Ideally I would love to change to the black sand that susan and bev have used, but I'm having a hard time finding it. If that fails, i may go with safe-t-sorb. When the substrate change occurs (which will also be in the warmer months so that I can hose everything out outside in the yard) then I also intend to paint the back glass of the tank black. 

My primary focus right now is to find a better solution for my shoplights. I want to add another 2 bulb fixture, or a 4 bulb fixture even, but need to either build a canopy or find a way to hang them without looking like crap. I have 15 foot ceilings in my livingroom with a drop ceiling at 12 feet that are complicating matters. Also on the top of things to get are some glass canopies to stop the evaporation. This will be my next expense more than likely.

So that's my long and way overdue update. As I said, I promise pictures sometime this week when my camera arrives back home.


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## Summer

Ok another update...things are growing well in the tank, and i'm starting to run out of room for plants. Theres still a lot of thing that I need to get to get the tank to where I want it, but I'm working on it a little at a time. Here are some pics

The angel babies are growing and changing rapidly
























As are the plecos








The tank is growing in very well, 








added some more plants from Ben and it's filling in


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## gar1948

Great effort-your doing it right. Don't you think planning and setting up the tank is as much fun as seeing it complete?


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## Summer

Absolutely! It wouldnt be nearly as fun if it wasnt an ongoing project


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## iadubber

What are you dosing for ferts? Looks like the plants are filling in nicely!


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## Summer

I have dry ferts, the usuals.... kno3, iron, trace, kh2po4, k2so4. They are growing fairly fast and I think once I'm able to upgrade the lights they will do even better.


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## hanky

Very nice looking tank there, and very pretty little Angels. you've done a marvelous job so far. We look forward to updates.
Still thinking of building yourself a canopy? Its not hard.
When are ya gonna trim that air hose? lol

P.S. if your aunt needs any more help cleaning out her basement let me know, hahahaha


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## Arayba

Id say you got a steal lol great work summer i still would like to see more updates on this :0)


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## Summer

May as well update this one too. I just got a t5ho light for the 75, so heres a before shot:









and after :









and some pics of the critters


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## Cadiedid

I love it, Summer! I'm very impressed! I especially like that you took the time to arrange it with a variety of leaf shapes and sizes. It really draws the eye around the tank!


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## Arayba

That lighting is looking good on that tank


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## Summer

Cadiedid said:


> I love it, Summer! I'm very impressed! I especially like that you took the time to arrange it with a variety of leaf shapes and sizes. It really draws the eye around the tank!


Is that what I did? I thought i just planted a bunch of different stuff to see what i could grow...  hehehe *r2


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## lonedove55

hanky said:


> Very nice looking tank there, and very pretty little Angels. you've done a marvelous job so far. We look forward to updates.
> Still thinking of building yourself a canopy? Its not hard.
> When are ya gonna trim that air hose? lol
> 
> P.S. if your aunt needs any more help cleaning out her basement let me know, hahahaha


Summer, that old tank is really amazing! Looks like a lot of hard work went into it. Makes me want to check out yard sales this spring. Yeah, I'm with hanky...if your aunt decides to have any more "basement cleanouts" let me know! *old dude


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## Summer

lol thank you


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## holly12

It really is looking fantastic!


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## Summer

thanks holly!


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## majerah1

Summer it shouldnt be too much longer before some of those plants deide to get some color to them,then it will really look awesome!You did good on scaping it,seems you have an eye for it.FIsh look awesome as well.Sure have come along way in a few months!


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## Summer

Thank you, Bev. Let's have a sappy moment--I wouldnt have gotten this far if it werent for you, susan, ben and the others who have helped me (and smacked me around) along the way.


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## Summer

Just a few pics and a vid to update. Plants are doing well now, and i have an idea of what i like and what works so concentrating on building up some density as per Ben's advice. got algae under control, fish are growing at an insane rate. So here ya go, some eye candy 


















Video


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## Summer

A few of the plants i keep in here


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## Kehy

ohh, what's that middle one, the green with the white veins?


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## Summer

sunset hygro


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## drunkenbeast

nice update summer i like what your doing


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## Cadiedid

Looks great, Summer. Keep the updates coming as time goes on!


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## Summer

Been a little while since I updated. A bit over a month ago I had a crappy situation, I co2 gassed my fish. I ended up losing a few neon initially, then as the days went on I lost 5 of my koi angels  So now I have 2 koi angels and thanks to the good luck and generosity of bev, 3 black marble angels. After the incident i was hesitant on the co2 and the tank got a lot of BBA, and i lost my stellatus and some other plants so i'm now finally at the point that the tank is looking good again. Cant be too bad, you all voted it as TOTM this past month (THANKS!) SO here are some recent pics!


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## Subaru4wd

Love the pictures! Thanks for updating this. That new T5HO light looks great, and puts your old lights to shame! It makes me want to upgrade my lights that much more!

Sorry to hear about the CO2  I lost an angel and almost lost my catfish when I did a DIY CO2 on my large tank.


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## hanky

Very nice, has your aunt seen it yet, shes gonna want it back ya know.lol. keep up the good work


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