New 46 Gallon Bowfront Build

[neitherman]

I picked up this 46 gallon bowfront from a LFS that resells used aquarium equipment because I wanted a bigger tank that would still fit in relatively the same small footprint available in my rapidly shrinking apartment:

I'm going to transfer the majority of the livestock, plants, hardscape, and equipment from my current 29 gallon set up:

I have ordered and received most of the components I will need to scape this tank including different types of substrate, some more hardscape, aquasoil, and other items that hopefully will make this all go smoothly. In the end I will have everything either on top of or under a 36x18" stand, hopefully looking much cleaner than the current set up. At the moment I am waiting on brush-on plastic primer to arrive so I can start repainting the hideous faux wood grain rim design black to match the stand. Gonna do my best to keep this post updated with my progress.

Edited April 13, 2023 by neitherman

[xXInkedPhoenixX]

Ooo looks like fun! You going to do a different background this time or did you end up liking your red?

[knee]

On 3/8/2023 at 10:51 AM, neitherman said:

in my rapidly shrinking apartment

This is how I feel when I look at my tanks and I only have three setup right now 🥲

[neitherman]

On 3/8/2023 at 3:26 PM, xXInkedPhoenixX said:

Ooo looks like fun! You going to do a different background this time or did you end up liking your red?

Nah, this one will have a different color for sure. I have had many years with the 29 gallon tank and its red background and I'm ready for something new.

[neitherman]

I finally got the stuff necessary to start priming the plastic trim so I can paint it black. I am using this Rust-o-leum stuff as a base coat:

My first few strokes to get a sense of the thickness of this stuff and how to best apply it:

I also picked up a foam roller and will probably use that to apply a second coat more evenly. Things are moving along!

Edited March 10, 2023 by neitherman

[neitherman]

After letting the plastic primer dry for a couple days I decided it was time to apply the paint:

Hopefully this will be relatively waterproof once it dries. I am going to be VERY careful to be sure the water line never goes above the painted portion of the tank rim. I don't want to create any paint flakes that could be mistaken for fish food.

Here's how it looks with the first coat of black:

Gonna see if I can sand it down some once it dries to even it out more before the second coat goes on.

Edited March 12, 2023 by neitherman

[Miska]

On 3/8/2023 at 1:51 PM, neitherman said:

 

 

OMG it looks like pride rock!!! But all lush after the rains.

[neitherman]

Finally finished painting the trim and scraping/cleaning the inside of the tank with vinegar:

So close I can smell it (it smells like vinegar)

I also went to the trouble of setting up the new stand to get a sense of the size and space I will have to work with:

It's more compact than I was expecting. May need to remove a set of metal shelves in order to fit the CO2 reactor and canister filter in with them.

The tank will not be going in the carpeted room but rather in the spot where the current tank resides. Gonna try to take lots of pictures of the big fishie move from 29 gallon to 46 gallon. Very excited for it!

Edited March 17, 2023 by neitherman

[neitherman]

Today was the day I finally did the thing.

I got this tank running and scaped it.

Here's everything I pulled out of the 29 gallon:

Here's the empty tank in the proper position:

Here's the plastic tote that served as the temporary holding place for the livestock:

Here's a shot of the scape before adding some water:

Intermediate cloudy shot for posterity:

Finally the finished aquascape with less cloudy water and more livestock!

It brings me great pleasure watching the fish swim through the holes in the log!

[neitherman]

Added a video of the tank to my Instagram:

https://www.instagram.com/reel/Cp_tfBXL7db/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link

[neitherman]

It's been over three days since everyone was transferred to the new tank. Unfortunately there was one fatality (a standard tiger barb that didn't seem well prior to the move) but thankfully nobody else, not even the inverts, have struggled since then. Here's a few photos of it settling in:

[neitherman]

Stopped at a LFS today and picked up some new friends!

First, 5 more tiger barbs because the more the better:

Then a half-dozen of skunk cories cause they're adorable and one has a really cool black patch on the dorsal fin:

A trio of Amano shrimp because I wasn't sure how they would do in the tank. If they end up thriving I will likely get more:

Didn't notice until I put the bag in the tank to temperature acclimate but one of the albino barbs is missing an eye! I call him Patchy:

[neitherman]

I thought I had 6 skunk cories but when I took a closer look this morning the one with the black dorsal fin looks pretty different from the other 5:

Next to a verified skunk cory even the body coloration is different:

Do I actually have two different species here or do the markings on skunk cories just vary between individuals?

Edit: After a bit of searching it appears I have 5 skunk or arched cories and 1 "false bandit" cory. Doesn't seem to make a difference, they all shoal like they are the same species.

Edited March 23, 2023 by neitherman
Google Fu

[Guppysnail]

The one with the odd stripe is a Melini (bandit) corydora. Here are my bandits so you can see. I LOVE my bandits. Their personality is outstanding and mine love swimming mid water as a group. Yours should be fine with the skunks because mine swim with my Pygmy Cory as well. 

[neitherman]

Just a lil stripey Nerite snail nestled in the bolbitis:

[neitherman]

Tank got its first water change today:

It's a lot less cloudy than I expected.

[neitherman]

Just as I finished up the water change a new plant friend arrived in the mail:

Anubias Coffeefolia variety!

It looks so lush and green! Can't wait for it to anchor to the hardwood and grow nice and big.

[neitherman]

My crypt was kind of underneath some other plants and not getting any light so it's looking pretty sad right now. I decided to move it to the front of the tank to see if additional light+root tabs will help with its plight.

[neitherman]

Here's a few photos of my favorite one eyed fish Patchy!

Can't get enough of the little one-eyed albino pumpkin seed. You can see some even smaller tigers in the background here:

Finally a YouTube video cause why not:

 

[Lennie]

Tiger barbs! We love them with @nabokovfan87 😄

I really enjoy seeing barbs lately. They are adorable dude

[neitherman]

I was keeping neons before these tiger guys and they are night and day. They have such big personalities and it's actually possible to tell them apart based on how they act. Some are more solo explorers while some definitely prefer to shoal. They are endlessly fun to watch and actually are getting along well with the cory gang!

[Lennie]

On 3/28/2023 at 7:23 PM, neitherman said:

I was keeping neons before these tiger guys and they are night and day. They have such big personalities and it's actually possible to tell them apart based on how they act. Some are more solo explorers while some definitely prefer to shoal. They are endlessly fun to watch and actually are getting along well with the cory gang!

They are one of the dream fish I have! Just a huge school of tiget barbs in a big big tank 🙂

Currently I am enjoying rosy barbs very much. I've always scared of keeping barbs due to bad aggressive/nippy reputation on them. I definitely wanna keep more in the future. Amazing fish!

[neitherman]

On 3/28/2023 at 9:30 AM, Lennie said:

They are one of the dream fish I have! Just a huge school of tiget barbs in a big big tank 🙂

Currently I am enjoying rosy barbs very much. I've always scared of keeping barbs due to bad aggressive/nippy reputation on them. I definitely wanna keep more in the future. Amazing fish!

These barbs are all still pretty young so I'm hoping there are enough of them to keep the fin nipping between conspecifics even as they mature. There are 11 larger ones that are about 3-4 months old and 5 smaller ones that are probably 1 month old or even younger. The corys are fast and none have flowing fins so I think it will be okay but I will definitely be monitoring the situation daily for any damaged or ragged fins.

[Lennie]

On 3/29/2023 at 8:30 PM, neitherman said:

These barbs are all still pretty young so I'm hoping there are enough of them to keep the fin nipping between conspecifics even as they mature. There are 11 larger ones that are about 3-4 months old and 5 smaller ones that are probably 1 month old or even younger. The corys are fast and none have flowing fins so I think it will be okay but I will definitely be monitoring the situation daily for any damaged or ragged fins.

I never really kept barbs before, I am pretty new to them as well. @nabokovfan87 has more experience with them. Tiger barbs are slightly different than odessa/gold/rosy barbs in terms of character it seems.

But they all seem to be a joy to watch. They don't feel like a schooling fish, but more like a tank full of centerpiece fishes. Such character! 

[nabokovfan87]

On 3/29/2023 at 10:30 AM, neitherman said:

The corys are fast and none have flowing fins so I think it will be okay but I will definitely be monitoring the situation daily for any damaged or ragged fins.

Barbs and Corydoras generally don't interact.  They have different spots of the tank they occupy when active.  Some barbs will pick off the mid-level for food, but I don't see a lot of them (or didn't) on the substrate.  When the barbs are sleeping, corydoras are still active, but they don't really bother them too much.  I don't think you'd had any issues with those two species.