GSP in new 37 gallon tank.

[jmiller]

Sand was delivered today and I've scheduled a day off for tomorrow to get the tank together. I'll start by washing the sand and then place the rocks. Here are a few different layouts. I like a couple but none really more than the rest. I'll probably end up moving them several times before it's finally done. My five year old grand daughter was over tonight and was giving me advice on what looks best. I even had her do one all by herself.









and the grand daughters

[xrayjeeper83]

haha you know your a good puffer owner when you take a day off to set up a tank


I like the grandkids set up

[BiggieSmalls]

lol. Ditto that xray. I like the kiddies too.

[jmiller]

Well as much as I liked the grand daughters it wasn't exactly the most stable. I did try to recreate it but I couldn't get it tight enough to be safe. Plus once in the tank I saw that my previous tries resulted in very little swimming room. So here's what I did:

Location: Right beside my bed


We have sand! Which by the way was a gigantic pain in the butt to clean.


And finally what I came up with. It hides the filter and provides plenty of swimming room. There are several good hiding spots. I'm going to stare at it a few more days just to be sure.


There were a couple of issues that came up. The hardest to deal with was the filter pipe.


I had to move that stack toward the front just to clear the pipe. Once I turn the pump on I'm sure it will be resting against it. And finally here a view I'll see from bed.

[xrayjeeper83]

Looks good man

On a side not......how can you sleep on a twin bed lol. I have a queen to myself and some days i think its to small.

[jmiller]

Thanks. I've already changed it twice since I posted that. I need to go ahead a fill it or I'll just keep messing with it.

On the bed, it took some getting use to. It does get crowded sometimes when both cats decide to sleep with me. Thank goodness that's not often.

[jmiller]

It's about time. I had to do something because every time I looked at it I had to change something. I figure I'll be less likely now. And a 25' Python was barely long enough to reach. That doorknob came in real handy.



This is how it stands as of now. I'm surprised that it's now more cloudy than it is. I'm going to wait a day or two to let everything settle then time to start the cycle.

[xrayjeeper83]

I like that a lot

[jmiller]

Thanks.

[xrayjeeper83]

any plants planned?

[J-P]

you can start cycling while it is cloudy .. that micro bacteria LOVE those tiny particles to cling to

[jmiller]

any plants planned?

Not on this one. It will be going full marine.

you can start cycling while it is cloudy .. that micro bacteria LOVE those tiny particles to cling to

I did not know that, thanks. I thought it would have to settle so I wouldn't suck all that sand through the filter.

[BiggieSmalls]

Pretty sweet! It's def. a process trying to arrange rocks with a gsp in mind. Looking forward to watching you progress to full marine.

[J-P]

the filter is only part of the bio bed.. the substrate contains most of it. You don't need a filter to start cycling the tank either

[jmiller]

Thanks.

I came home tonight and the water was quite a bit clearer so I decided to turn the filter on for a little while. Holy crap it's LOUD! I sure hope it calms down especially since it's right beside my bed. These Eclipse hoods have a reputation for leaking so I wont start leaving it on all the time until Friday night so I'll have all weekend to keep an eye on it.