New tank stand

[PaulS]

Happy to be a member of GWAPA again. I had hoped to make it to the meeting last weekend but I instead used the nice weather to build this tank stand. It is sized to hold a 40g breeder on top and a 20g long on the bottom. It's just basic 2 by 4 and plywood construction so it was inexpensive but easily strong enough to support the weight of two tanks. What's not visible is the entire support structure is built with double 2 by 4's effectively copying a solid 4 by 4 half lap design. The fasteners are on the non-visible surfaces (excluding the plywood) and I used self drilling 2.5" deck screws to make the assembly much easier. This stand accommodates a 40g breeder, 50g or 65g footprint on top and a 20g long, 29g or 37g on the bottom. The best thing is that no special skills are needed to make one. I'm in the process of finishing it with polyurethane now. In terms of appearance, I think it turned out nice enough for my purposes.

I hope to have my first tank up and running soon and I'll post more pics then.

BTW, i should mention that this was a prototype design. After I built it, I identified a few design changes that will conceal the end grains on the sides and improve the appearance. That will have to be for the next one.

[PaulS]

Although it's taking longer than expected, I have made some progress with 5.5g setup. Unlike when I was in the club several years ago, I see an abundance of different plants available online. I ordered and received 20+ small, but healthy, rhizomes of Anubias nana petite, and two golf ball size java moss. Instead of baby tears, I've found a different, less difficult plant to try. I'll share that in future post. So far, I've done some assembly gluing the Anubias to the wood.

I have not yet added substrate. For now, I'm just running the tank bare with lights, co2, and Flourish until the plants appear better established. I hope.

Bucket of Anubias Petite

CO2 setup with paintball can

Work area.

[krisw]

It's coming together nicely, Paul! Yes, there's always new plants to try -- that's part of what keeps the hobby exciting!

[PaulS]

Thanks Kris. For now, I'm going to allow some time for the tank to cycle and for the plants grow a bit more. Will post more pics soon.