45 gallon bowfront

**Phantom2k4** · 05-07-2012, 03:44 AM

First fish i've ever owned, so this will be my inaugural aquarium journal

Tonight I added a base layer of 30lbs of flourite, then 50lbs of mixed black and blue gravel. I have a Coralife 96W compact fluorescent for my lighting, and an aquaclear 70 for filtering. Here's a picture of where i'm at:

Tomorrow I mount the heater, thermometer, prep the filter material, prep the driftwood, add my airline/bubble system, add the water and start cycling!

**DylanisHawttt** · 05-07-2012, 03:11 PM

Can't wait to see it all setup and going. I'm assuming you are going to go with live plants because of the Flourite base?

**ScottishFish** · 05-07-2012, 03:13 PM

Woo! Love new journals

**Phantom2k4** · 05-07-2012, 05:09 PM

Originally Posted by DylanisHawttt

Can't wait to see it all setup and going. I'm assuming you are going to go with live plants because of the Flourite base?

Absolutely. My LFS is getting their plant shipment Friday, so I plan to go this weekend to grab some.

I currently have a really nice piece of drift wood sitting in a big bucket of really hot water. Just kept pouring boiling water over it until it was just about submerged. After lunch i'll start filling the tank, as i have everything hooked up and ready to go

Also the phone pic was pure laziness. I'll bring out my DSLR for all subsequent pics

**Phantom2k4** · 05-07-2012, 10:00 PM

Tank's full, and everything's running as it should be. The filter was a bit noisy outta the box, so I applied some Vasoline to the impeller shaft and after a few applications I can barely hear it over the trickling of the water. (Which I may add has plenty of clearance before it hits the lid)

Oddly enough the filter didn't work a couple times between lubrication/testing, i'll have to keep an eye on that. Right now i'm waiting for the temperature to rise so I can add my ammonia and officially begin cycling!

**Phantom2k4** · 05-09-2012, 03:56 PM

I added about 4ppm of ammonia yesterday, woke up to cloudy water, which apparently could mean the start of the bacterial cycle

Good to see an apparent sign of bacterial life. Water's still testing at roughly 4ppm of ammonia

**ekfishlover2011** · 05-09-2012, 09:43 PM

It'll take a little bit i think. Nice tank!

**FinalJenemba** · 05-09-2012, 09:47 PM

Yea it will take a couple weeks. Heads up on the AquaClear, if you can still exchange it do it before its to late. When they start working intermittently its only a mater of time till they stop, happened to me recently. If not you can just buy the motor when yours goes out, amazon has them for pretty cheap.

Tank looks great so far, I love bowfronts!

**TheVoldevader** · 05-09-2012, 09:57 PM

Nice tank, any ideas of what fish you want to get?

**Phantom2k4** · 05-12-2012, 03:15 AM

Originally Posted by FinalJenemba

Yea it will take a couple weeks. Heads up on the AquaClear, if you can still exchange it do it before its to late. When they start working intermittently its only a mater of time till they stop, happened to me recently. If not you can just buy the motor when yours goes out, amazon has them for pretty cheap.

Tank looks great so far, I love bowfronts!

I haven't had any issues with the motor yet, so i think i'm gonna tempt fate and stick with it. A bit noisy with the cover on, though I take it off at night so it's never bothersome

Originally Posted by TheVoldevader

Nice tank, any ideas of what fish you want to get?

Congo tetra
Penguin tetra
Sterbai Cory
An angelfish

I went out and picked up some plants today. I only had an hour to put them in before work, planning to "redecorate" tomorrow night