5ft hole in the wall

[bluemoon280]

My story......  mwuuhaaaaahaaaa

[bluemoon280]

Currently running as this ..

With history pics of how it was built to follow.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[bluemoon280]

So long story short

I guess i will give you the preamble as is expected.
 
I kept trops, then cichlids, then marines in the 80's when UG filters, tufa rock, Berlin skimmers were popular.... I then got hitched and that put pay to all that.
 
Kids come along, and we go through a two foot cold water tank, then convert to trops... Then we visit a LFS and see Marines,,, the new uber easy to keep Reef tanks... LR & power skimmers & Circulation!!..
 
So we buy an AM Perc 120 after lots of research, study, preparation, consideration and pleading :thumbsup: with the better half.
 
Anyhue two years later and we have done all we can do with with a Perc 120,.....
 
You should note....Its amazing the number of pipes, wires & tubes you can get through a 5cm circular hole as found down the back of the third most stupid compartment of a Perc 120.. I had, the standard three pumps, plus skimmer, MH lights, actinic lights, led lights, tunze streams x2, auto top up, in & out, calcium reactor? check!, phos reactor? check!, carbon reactor? check, heaters? three of em! cooler fans, check! more and more, its like the tardis that hole, and its a good job i'm six foot four and have arms that drag on the floor.......
 
Anyway, two years later and errmm well, we suggest to the wifee, "you know well, what a good idea it would be to brick up the garage, put a floor in, knock a door through and make a wonderful gym cum utility room......" and then tag on the end in a quieter voice........."oh, and we could knock a five foot hole in the wall, and build a great big 2.4m stand for all the gubbins to go in"....
 
Silence was the firm reply......
 
but then as if by magic...


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[bluemoon280]

So we had this


Which became this



And this





To finally this



Which looked like this



And



With a range of corals, like













Then I lost my job and the leccy bill was too much with twin 250w metal halides and umpteen pumps.

So.....


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[bluemoon280]

I really wanted a six footer, but when i drew a six foot line on the wall...OMG it looked huuuuge!!!: and so it was agreed by the powers that be, that five foot was the optimum size.
 
It is 58 1/4" by 24" by 24" - why the funny measurements, you may ask.. Well as a typical Yorkshireman, i have short arms and deep pockets, so money is a consideration in everything. ;)
 
The LFS i approached at the start said, look we have a tank that was made specially for a specific place, but the buyer ducked out.  So, as a hole in the wall can be anysize, yours truly stepped up.



Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[bluemoon280]

The overflow runs into the sump, through 3 large sponge mechanical filters.  Then the water runs up through ceramic tubes, then down through siporax. The last two chambers hold the heaters and co2 reactor.

I use a 7kg co2 cylinder which I can swap for a full one locally when it is empty, which is every 8 - 12 weeks.

I use an auto top-up system to replace any evaporated water, which is the tunze osmolator. This means I can fill a 5 gallon container and forget it for a few weeks.

These shots are a few weeks after it was set up













Hope you like.



Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[bluemoon280]

Some updated pics taken today with slr rather than iPhone
















Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Noshalot]

 

WOW!!!

What an amazing tank, what fish do you have in it?

ps I love your writing style

[Bri]

Stunning. Not jealous of the marine tank at all :P Unfortuantely a hole in our living room wall would either stop people getting upstairs, sit on the kitchen worktop or occupy some of next doors living room, which i cant imagine they would appreciate lol

Great looking Anubias too, i like Anubias

[frosties]

Yes - this tank is amazing... I have known Bluemoon for a while now - he pops in and out of the shop fairly regularly... (Costs me a bomb in coffee!)

What amazes me is that in this tank, you have to plant backwards... that is the back of the tank is actually the front... and the front is the back!!!

But I will vouch for his arms... they do drag on the floor! 

[James]

Thats one impressive tank, is the entire surface covered in frogbit or similar?  Seems to give a really nice shaded effect to the tank

[nelson]

Love it  .

[fishfan]

OMG that tank is gorgeous, as were the earlier ones too. And you made them and even have to plant backwards.
UBER IMPRESSED.

I do feel a bit betrayed tho as you said elsewhere that you couldn't get plants to carpet and I thought you were a struggling
would-be-aquascaper, like myself. Then you produce these pics! TRAITOR.

Mind you I need a dictionary and a musuem to understand all those "when I first started out" references! LOL

[bluemoon280]

Many many thanks for your comments.

Have given the tank a trim and added some new ones that tony had available.

I will take some more pics when the tank has cleared.

Livestock is made up of;
6 dennisonii barbs all about 4"
Shoal of cardinals
Group of endlers
Half a dozen Angola barbs
Pair of clown loaches
3 SAE's
Pair of rams
Dwarf gourami's
Giant danio's
Golden barbs
Congo tetra's

There is enough in there that there is always something going on.  But also room for lots more if I wanted.

Would like some sparkling or croaking gourami.

A



Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[bluemoon280]

Thats one impressive tank, is the entire surface covered in frogbit or similar?  Seems to give a really nice shaded effect to the tank

The surface gets somewhat covered, when I let it grow.

The shadows sit at each end as the light unit is 4ft on a 5ft tank.  Though the lights are 4 t5 tubes about 10cm from surface, but I run with cover glasses to reduce condensation.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk