My hole in the wall WIP

[MickTheFin]

I thought it was about time I put up some pictures of my tank...

We recently moved house, and the thought of trying to move my 6x2x2 filled me with dread... So, when mousehunter put his tank up for sale I bought it so I could have two tanks set up at the same time (one in the old house, one in the new) then transfer the stock...

Here's my old tank before the move:

http://i260.photobucket.com/albums/ii5/MickTheFin/fishtank/pic1.jpg

In the new house the previous occupiers had knocked through from the living room to the dining room, and the width of the opening was exactly 6ft 1 inch wide. Hmmmmmm :rolleyes:

http://i260.photobucket.com/albums/ii5/MickTheFin/New%20House/IMG_0003.jpg

So, off we go planning a hole in the wall fish tank... As usual for me, everything ends up a mad rush and I have to decorate around the fish. A couple of days after moving in the tank looks something like

http://i260.photobucket.com/albums/ii5/MickTheFin/fishtank/IMG_0029.jpg

A nice snuggly fit wouldn't you say, though it's not exactly a hole in the wall yet...

And here's how it looks today:

http://i260.photobucket.com/albums/ii5/MickTheFin/fishtank/IMG_0038.jpg

Just got a bit of plastering and redecorating to do and I have a hole in the wall! :D Guess what I'm upto this weekend?

Mike

[marinemike]

very nice.

[lasgringo]

thats got to be the easiest hole in the wall tank build ever:D:D:Dlooks great:)

[mousehunter22]

Looking good glad you got it in in one peice and managed to build a stand for it as well:D

[MuddyTench]

Nice job, can't wait to see the finished article! :)

[mad pierre]

Looking good mike. Hope to see it in the flesh when its all finished.
Keep the pics coming

Peter

[moorish]

coming along nicely mike,get plastering.derek

[Tangman]

Hi Mike thats looking good m8, its amazing what you can do when you put your mind to it. Well done keep up the good work. Twiggy:D:D

[Aquandy]

Very good I must say, so can it be viewed from both rooms then? Suppose you don't have to choose what backing colour you need? Great pics, well done so far.

[MickTheFin]

Thanks for the comments.

Since the back of the tank is painted blue, you can't see it from the other room. I could scrape the paint off, and have considered it but I'm sure. Would the fish stand out so much without the background? I don't know...

Mike

[Aquandy]

I thought it was a silly question I was asking too? Thought that was the whole (no pun intended) of the set up? Don't get me wrong though not knocking your tank still looks great but I'd be tempted to remove the paint and see what it looked liked? Could'nt you always then if you did'nt like it repaint it?

[Dal]

Excellent job so far mate looks pukka,

what does it look like from the back pic could help us brainstorm for you,
I was thinking along the lines of a couple of viewing holes at the back instead of full view:confused:

[mousehunter22]

Thanks for the comments.

Since the back of the tank is painted blue, you can't see it from the other room. I could scrape the paint off, and have considered it but I'm sure. Would the fish stand out so much without the background? I don't know...

Mike

Trust me mike that paint is a swine to scrape off!!!!!:D

[moorish]

i think i would give it a try to see what it looked like,if no good just repaint it.derek

[MickTheFin]

A couple more pics to show how it's progressing...

http://i260.photobucket.com/albums/ii5/MickTheFin/fishtank/IMG_0051.jpg

and how it is now

http://i260.photobucket.com/albums/ii5/MickTheFin/fishtank/IMG_0054.jpg

Just got the inside of the tank to sort out now :)

Mike

[Aquandy]

Wow thats amazing mate, really, really looking great. You must be well chuffed?

[Aquandy]

So if you need to access the tank at all do you have to go into the other room todo so?
Have you a sump and if so where that access? How do you feed them?

[mad pierre]

Hi Mike. looks great mate. Cant wait to see it for real, and so quick as well.

Im impressed.

Peter

[dollydip]

wow that looks really good mike i like the aquascapeing you have done a fantastic job mate you must be very proud :D:D:D

[MickTheFin]

Wow thats amazing mate, really, really looking great. You must be well chuffed?

Kind of... I really like how it's turned out. However, I'm having a bit of a cyno outbreak atm and the sand has turned a nasty shade of brown... Still, it's only a month or so since it was set up so I guess it'll burn itself out (hopefully :D).


So if you need to access the tank at all do you have to go into the other room todo so?
Have you a sump and if so where that access? How do you feed them?

Yes, all access is from the other room. I'll take some pics of the rear of the tank, but it doesn't look pretty at the moment - I really need to tidy it up but the missus insists the living room takes priority :D

Mike

[MuddyTench]

Wow, looks fantastic! I can just see myself kneeling on that settee and peering into it for hours! :) Great job, I'm very envious.

[MickTheFin]

And the rear of the tank...

http://i260.photobucket.com/albums/ii5/MickTheFin/fishtank/IMG_0056.jpg

Not nearly as nice as the front :(

Not being able to see through the glass when I've got my hand in the tank is a bit of a pain - I have to turn the pumps off to see what I'm doing. Also, the lip of the tank is now about 5'4 off the ground, so I need a set of step ladders around at all times. Still, I think it's worth the effort.

Mike

[stevieh]

looking good,nice job well done :):)

[lr85ninety]

just get a aluminium platform much better than step ladders mine cost £30 from big diy store great bit of kit

[mad pierre]

where did you get the polystyrene from mike? will be in need of some shortly

Peter

[MickTheFin]

Hi Peter.

It's from B&Q Warehouse in Stockton. Cost me a tenner for four 36" x 18" x2" sheets.

Mike

[mad pierre]

Hi Peter.

It's from B&Q Warehouse in Stockton. Cost me a tenner for four 36" x 18" x2" sheets.

Mike

Il have to get me some. Cheers

Peter

[MickTheFin]

Just thought I'd update this thread six months on.

I went through a bit of a rough patch where for a couple of months all I had time for was work, work and more work. Unfortunately the tank suffered and I had a nasty algae outbreak. However, we're on top of it again with some serious increase in flow and liberal use of the eggcrate - along with a few water changes and replacing the phosphate media.

The tank now looks like this:

http://i260.photobucket.com/albums/ii5/MickTheFin/fishtank/IMG_0161.jpg

I'm not too keen on the aquascaping, but it's a lot more open (There's actually less rock in the tank now than before) and the fish like it...

Mike

[deano]

cool project mick, a idea for the paint on the back wich i plan to do but not tryed is scrape it off and paint a board the same size as the back 2 hooks on the top and hang it over the edge, then remove when needed, thats iff u can be chewed with all the scraping