Poecilia Wingei Breeding tank

[Gogi]

Well I guess it is time for me to start a journal. On Novemeber 10, 2012 I purchared a 29 gallon, 20 gallon, and metal stand for $40 USD on Craigslist. I figured I will make the 29 gallon a breeding tank for my Endler livebearers( Poecilla wingei).

FYI: This is going to be a very slow build. I am going to try to keep cost down as much as possible without affecting quality of life for my fish. I hope to accomplish this mostly by waiting for things to go on sale or DIY.

The tank is still at my friend's house but I will be able to post a pic of the stand tonight.

Tank dimension: 30x12x18, I will confirm these measurments once I pick up the tank on Wensday.

Filtration: 4 month old established HOB from my community tank. It is a Penn-Plax 300. I will be adding another filter later on. Since I will only be stocking the tank with roughly 12 adult endlers and 8 fries(or is it *frys*?) The tank will have plenty filtration power for now. Later on once I get another filter, most likely a cannister, I will add more fish.

Stock: 6 male endlers
6 female endlers
8 frys or fries.

Future Stock: 6 to 8 corydoras. Not sure which ones yet
1 to 2 small plecos
Nerite snails
Malayasian trumpet snails

Lighting: To Be Determined

Substrate: Fluval Stratum (bottom layer)
CaribSea Instant Aquarium Tahitian Moon( top layer)

Plants: To Be Announced once i get the proper names for them in order.

I will love to hear your toughts, opinions, advice, or anything helpful

[Gogi]

This is he metal stand. It has a fresh coat of paint. The previous owner did it when he bought it not to long ago.

[Canadian Fish]

Nice! Looking forward to watching this project develop.

Setting up a new tank is always so exciting!

[Gogi]

Yea setting up is so much fun althought it can sometimes be stressful. At least with this build I won't have to worry about nitrogen cycle. One of the best advice I got from AC is overfiltration.

Tonight I will be picking up the 29 gallon from my friend's house and clean it up during the weekend.

[Gogi]

So I finally got the tank to my house Saturday. Tonight I decided to start the cleaning process.
Here is the dirty tank


To clean the tank I used vinegar, warm water, brand new sponge with scrub pad, a very sharp knife (I couldn't find a new razor) and some paper towels.
I only used the knife on the bottom to scrap off some the brown rust/dirt spots off. I then wiped down all the sides in and out. Afterwards filled the tank so that the dirt and rust can breakup. This will also serve as a leak test. I will empty the tank tomorrow and clean again. I will repeat this process 2 more times and hope that it will be spotless when I am done.

Here are the tools. I VERY carefully scraped as much of the rust spots without using excessive force. I avoided any contact with the silicone with the knife. A sponge and a good soak should take care of any brown spots on the silicone.


Before filling up the tank I made sure that my Aqueon Water changer reached with enough slack for future water changes.


Finally tank is filled and void of life or technology. Tomorrow I will drain and repeat. Hopefully I will have the tank up and running by next week.

[Canadian Fish]

Nice cleaning job!

[Gogi]

I finished the cleaning process. The tank is dirt free, rust free, but unfortunately not scratch free. I did not scratch the tank but the former owner must have. I cant really complain since it came free with the stand.

I picked up the light fixture and bulb tonight. Since I am keeping this tank low cost, I decided to buy a clamp-on light fixture from local hardware store. I splurged a bit on the bulb. I bought a Sunlite 65K super mini spiral CFL with 1600 lumens brightness. I picked it up at my local hydroponic store.

Clamp-on light fixture: $7.99 USD
Sunlite bulb : $5.99 USD

I bought the plant bulb to compare. I like the brightness from the sunlite instead. Oh well I will but the plant bulb in good use for my apartment plants lol.

Here is the tank with the light installed.

I like the way one side of the tank is brighter then the other side. I decide against getting another clamp-on light. I will be placing the high light plants closest to the light and low lights on the other side.

I might come up with a better way of attaching the light to the tank. I am really not to excited about clamping it on directly to the tank. Does anyone have any suggestions of a better way to do it?

[dizzydezzy]

Looks great so far!
And by the way it's "fry" - same word for singular and plural (though I totally think we should call them "fries"!!)

[Gogi]

LMAO FRY Thanks for the correction.

[Gogi]

I spent my Saturday buying supplies and setting up the tank. I took pics during each step for this journal. Sunday afternoon I move the HOB filter to the new tank and start fishing. As I am fishing i noticed a small tiny puddle around the foot of the new stand. I wiped it dry and 15 minutes later there it is again. The tank SRUNG a leak!!!!!

I was super depressed. All that work for nothing. Oh well, these are the problems with buying used things. Sometimes you win sometimes you don't. Even with 3 days of leak tesing didn't pervent this. I think the aquascaping was to muh stress for the seals to handle. I will never know for sure.

So i had to move everything to a smaller tank 20 gallons. Hopefully this one will not leak. It was part of the orginal craiglist purchase. I will give it a week before I post any pics of the tank just incase.