You Won't Believe What I Just Did!!

After Reading through some of the posts the other night I came across a post by Stretnik *Waves to Kev* I just fell in love with his Tank....Loved all the Moss...As my tank is already set up & kinda stocked with tropical fish...I thought...(wait for it) Marguerite you need a second tank..A Bigger Tank... Did a deal with a guy from Roscommon yesterday at 2.30pm for a 240lt tank....*Grins* bunged Hubby into the car & off we went....Turns out he lived in Carrig on Shannon...after 5hrs of driving & welts on my behind..(not good for an old Granny) we finally found the place...It's another story about how we got the tank into the car...didn't arrive back in Cork until 1.40am wreaked....I'm here now after moving every piece of furniture in the room to see where it looks best...still can't decide...BUT....am I a Happy Granny....Yes! Yes! Yes!

... your hooked ... doesn't take long at all and its a sure sign when you rearange the house to suit the tank
the 240 is a nice size tank and keep us updated
best of luck

OH DEAR!!!! the bug has bitten!!!!

Remember though not to dive in to it half heartedly and to carefully look through the beginners section when setting up your new tank, be aware as well with a bigger tank comes a longer period of preperation before you can actually put fish in the tank called "cycling period" remember as well to plan your new setup propperly ie:
choose the fish you want to keep in the new tank read up on them try to get to know them better in other words

Learn their ideal water perameters (temp, water quality, and habitat)
Try not to stick to one source of information but compare several and find a middle ground
Most importantly get your self a good quality test kit eg: www.seahorseaquariums.com/store/product/...uid-Master-Test-Kit/

this will be one of, if not THE most important tool to helping you achieve the tank you are looking for, seconnd most important... This forum

After you have gone through the above... Its a cake walk lol

Wow, you only have your first tank up a week or so and the bug has bitten already you will have a house full of tanks by the end of the year

Ha ha funney stuff

*Grins* Thanks so much for all the help...I know I have a lot of reading to do,& a lot to learn...After seeing the Goldfish with the big red heads..I've decided I will use this tank for coldwater fish...Kev has given me so much information already about the different moss..Big Thank you to him..so I'm going to take my time (Lies) setting this tank up!Hubby says he is going to send me out to work to pay for all of it.....

We should set up a section on the forum called HOW TO GET ROUND YOUR OTHER HALF.

Ha! JWM....Tell you what...You find me some floating wisteria...& I will tell you the secret..*Wide Evil Grin*

thought i was impulsive

good luck with the fun of two new tanks.

just to state this openly on the forum "WE ARE NOT RESPONSIBLE FOR ADDICTIONS CAUSED BY FISHKEEPING" , now that that's said tell the secret tell us all how you managed that coup of persuading the otherhalf so fast we ALL want to know

I've been beggggging for so long to see the Tables turned where it's the woman sneaking the Tank by the Husband, THIS I'm just dying to hear !

Kev.

maybe some women just see themselves as a powerfull force of nature, well for the rest of the women, maybe their means are not fit literature for a public forum

Ha ha thats brilliant.Make sure tough to take your time, and research everything that your gonna be putting into the tank, from substrate, plants, wood/stones and of coarse the fish.Petstop in middleton have a good range of plants. but im sure some of the sponsors on here will post plants directly to you.

have a look here www.aqadvisor.com its a great site for stocking your tank and making sure you have enough filtration.Oh and make sure to take lots of pix for all of us to see. :)

Stuart.

Loved sheag35 post! to answer the question how I got hubby to sit in the car for almost 9hrs...I did what any reasonable woman would do when she wants something....I flashed my eyelashes..rolled my eyes..& when that didn't work.. I promised him the remote control for the telly that I had hidden..then I made him an offer he couldn't refuse *Winks*
Finally have the tank in position..even put the table thingy together all by myself..(not bad for a blonde& I had no bits left over either) now all I need is the Mosss...all donations gratefully accepted...Big Smiles..Have a peek..isin't it a beauty!

Very nice and very impressive, well done

I think this is the worst case of addiction I've seen so far!!!! Now mind you, I fully understand. I hope you enjoy your new found love for a long time!

Petra wrote:

I think this is the worst case of addiction I've seen so far!!!! Now mind you, I fully understand. I hope you enjoy your new found love for a long time!

Here, here!

Looks brilliant Tara looking forward to seeing it all setup! Now when you getting a nice small tank for going underneath this one


Mark

Nice tank look forward to seeing pics when finished best of luck with it

Keep asking Questions Marguerite, take your Time, cycle, wait, stock lightly, wait, stock more , wait wait wait, you won't be sorry and..... did I mention? keep asking questions!!!!

Kev.

Well Lads...went off to the city this morning..armed with my list that my Son gave me, to set up the tank, the first thing I was to get was substrate..next on the list was Sand.... & a few plants.& I was WARNED..not to buy anything else... .First stop Midleton.. No substrate...tried 2 shops (dont know if I'm allowed mention names) so I wont Next stop.. kinsale road Roundabout..no substrate..tried the petshop around the corner ...no substrate..out to the Lough...no substrate.. ( I'm thinking what the hell is substrate that everyone is buying it....I can't ask what it is..because I would be giving Blondes a bad name ..Smirks! Bought one or two plants in each shop just to be nice *smiles* 9 fecking euro each...I could have bought a tree for that..
Getting rightly fed up now I tried the last shop in the North Main street..Woo Hoo. .he had it.... He Asked me how much I wanted & I said enough for a 240lt tank...I needed 4 buckets....he' gives me 4 nice yellow buckets...Why did no one tell me that substrate is just a fancy word for DIRT? Shock & horror at the price..15euro a bucket..maybe it was more I can't remember.(I could have got a bag of mosspeat for a fiver.)I asked for sand.. he shakes his head..Nah your better off with stones...so I get a bag of stones 20 quid....for small tiny stones...for feck sake.....ok the plants..I am now falling on the floor clutching my heart with the price of a few leaves...9euro...is someone having a laugh at these prices? are we all crazy? I intended to put nice sq granite rocks..but I spot nice rocks in a box....I spend ages looking for the right ones..I find 3 at a fiver each...the very nice man carrys them all to my car..I have spent 12 hours washing stones,boiling rocks & lugging water...Its all set up....well..kinda sorta *Grins* I can't get the bloody filter to work.....& I am just too tired to play with it anymore......My Question is....will this bloody water clear & will I be able to see the plants rocks & stone that I paid an arm & a leg for...& after all that work....I don't like it now...so Help needed with designing please...what do you think....will it look ok with a few Maceral in it..(just kidding *Grins*)whats missing?

Its not a bad attempt, but in order to get to where you need to be lets tackle a few things one at a time...

When you say your filter isn't working, what exactly do you mean, is the thing runing? If you are referring to the water being cloudy and the filter IS runing don't worry it takes a while for the water to settle and the filter to work properly, I think it will help more if you can explain or better yet take a photo of your filter/pump.

As for the tank decoration, lets see if i can give you a few pointers, Firstly, what fish are you planning on putting in your new tank and where are they from? these questions are very important factors when planning how to decorate your tank, for example if your fish come from South America, try to decorate your tank according to the area where your fish come from, ie: Drift wood, rocks dense pockets of greenery widely spaced around the rocks and drift wood, If your fish come from the African lakes like your Tanganyikan or Malawi Cichlids there is going to be very little to no greenery more Rock and or Drift wood/roots
Amazon Basin:

Lake Malawi:

Lake Tanganyika:


The closer your tank looks to the natural habitat of the fish you plan to put in your tank the better its going to be for your fish and the better its going to look to you...

I hope this helps... and good luck

All looks ok for starting , I'll recommend to You to spread the plants, don't keep in the bunches like that as most of the bottom leaves will go brown. You can plant them one beside other, take your time with that and You will see that is way better than planting in the garden

Best of luck with Your new perl

Dan

Looks very nice for your first attempt,but as the guys pointed out its the types of fish your going to keep that will determine the decor of the tank.If you give the guys a list of fish you are looking to keep i'm sure they can help out alot more with the decoration of the tank.The idea is to get a balance between the ideal enviroment for the fish while keeping it nice to look at.

As for the substrate, i have used organic compost from woodies with good results big bag of it for 7.99e i think.

Stuart.