The 55 Build

Ok, found a sweet little deal on CraigsList. Here's what I just picked up:


For $50, I got the tank, light and stand. Pretty nice. Using to upgrade my 46. Granted not that big of an upgrade, but still.

Ok, now for a little history. I originally had the 46 and set it up for my pops. It was a kind of therapy for him as he enjoyed feeding and watching the fishies. Had a lot of plants in there and few fishies. Well...as his health slowly deteriorated, so did the tank. I just wasn't able to keep up with it very well. (actually all my tanks suffered during this time). It's in bad shape. Lost almost all the plants and fish in there. As bad as that sounds, family comes first regardless of the cost.

I found the tank listed a week ago and just couldn't resist. Decided I would make the 55 a freshwater and start up a salty using the 46.

Ok, now for the ugly. Parents please send your children out of the room. This is graphic. This is what the 46 looks like now. I started draining some water before I took the pic so it actually looks worse than when I first started. I wasn't origiinally going to document it due to the condition, but decided to go ahead and do it.


Marvin (the high fin plec) is actually sitting under the driftwood. You can't tell too well due to the glare, but the entire right hand side is Java Moss. There are (3) Harley's left in here as well. Surprised they survived. But they stuck with me and are ready for a new home.

So,
Current Fauna:
(1) High Fin Pleco
(3) Harlequin Rasbora
Pond Snails (soon to be gone)

Current Flora:
Bolbitis heudelotii
Crypt Wendtii
Dwarf Sag
Java Moss (soon to be gone)

I won't list what used to be in here as it is water under the bridge. Sad I know.

I went down to Wally World and picked up a tub for $5. This will be a temporary holding cell during the transition.

This next step might be bad, but I figured I would try to keep water fairly close to the tank water. I drained a few gallons of tank water into the tub followed by treated water with Prime at double dose. I transfered over a few rocks and created a makeshift cave. Added an airstone and heater. It is now sitting and aging. Going to test the water prior to moving just to check on parameters. Once temp gets stable, the fun begins. I get to go pleco hunting.


More to follow....

 

Just tested the water in the tub:

PH: ~ 6.8
NH3: ~ 0
Temp: 70

Only parms I am concerned with at this time. Still waiting on temp to come up.

 

10/08: Just got home. Checked temp in the tub; 76. Ladies and gentlemen....let's go pleco hunting. This is gonna be fun.

 

That turned out rather easy I must say. Only took about 5 minutes. I'm not sure if this is true for all pleco's but this guy talks. Sounds just like a catfish. He's showing a little signs of stress but that was to be expected.

Have all the fish and plants out of the old tank and into the tub. A couple more surprises; 1) I found some E. Angustifolia amoungst the big ball of java moss. Even had a big runner out. The dwarf sag, while not looking good actually had some baby plants just under the sand. This was the same for the crypts. Several baby plants. I find that rather odd.

Sry...I didn't (or should say couldn't) snap a pic of him while I had him in my hand. It was a pretty quick transfer once I felt comfortable I had him securely in my hand.

Tank draining commencing now.

 

10/09: Alas, I have lost one harley and another one is on its way out. I have moved it to another tank in hopes it will snap out of it. Not putting much weight in it though. Not sure what happened as the parameters were good. They have good coloration too. Well...I feel bad as I was trying to get their home fixed back up.

Here were the fishies in their holding tank:


The fun part was sifting out the gravel from the sand. But...you can get creative when you're not thinking about it. Here's my sand and detrius sculpture.


Out with the old, in with the new:


Getting things in there. Got all the sand and driftwood rinsed well.


Work continues. Getting ready to test the water in the tank to match the parms. If all is well, I'll go ahead and add them back in.

 

10/10: Just went and checked on the tank. All seems to be good to go. I have both Harley's in there now as well. The one that I thought that wasn't going to make it seems to be getting better. Marvin is still showing signs of stress. Prepping some zucchini to throw in there for him.

I think I'm just going to get the bulk of the plants back in there in no particular scaping pattern just keep them alive. Will decide on new planting arrangements later.