Axolotl tank build [pic heavy ]

[harry7890]

Well i am going to do out my 5ftx2ftx2ft tank for my axolotls seing as they have layed eggs andi hope to raise a few .
here is a link to the eggs
managed to get my axolotls to lay eggs

here is what it looked like before

a few week ago i took all the plants out and left it at its bare minimum

the metal and plastic rim came off to reveal the bare wood wich i am going to sand and repaint

the first thing to tackle was the largest mound on the righthand side , as it was higher than i wanted it , and to get out the polystyrene backgroung that my dad put on when he was using it .

the mound was out and now to get rid of the muck , i had to removeit a buket at a time and it took 3 buckets , that meant me trailing up the stairs twice eachtime

i also found these little mealy worm beetles running arounnd in the damp muck that was in the bottom

when your all alone, and your extremely bored WHO CAN YOU CALL your ipod :L lol it was now the time the music was on ipods are a vital piece of equipment when tackling a job like this

all of the polystyrene was off the back wall and most of the polystyrene from the mound was on the floor of the aquarium so it was time to start lumbering it out

i had got all the polystyrene out of the tank and in a bin-liner to go in the bin now it was time to turf out the muck

all the muck is out now and there is just 1 mound and bare glass untill i get some pond soil, weed blocker and play sand oh and lots of plants and java moss

and that is it for now . ill be sure to keep you posted

 

[morphyrichards]

Re: Axolotl tank build [pick heavy ]

Excellent work so far, cant wait to see it when it's finished!

 

[MereB]

Re: Axolotl tank build [pick heavy ]

Holy cow was THAT tank was a mess!!!!!! and ewwwwwww those bugs are making my skin crawl **cold shiver** what did your dad have in there before?

:rofl: <~ at the thought of you getting that tank up/down the stairs to start with. That would have been quite a task.
My iPod would have been on loooog ago, when I started

That said You have made an EXCELLENT start on it. Can't wait to see it when it's all done and full of water with all its plants.

You probably know but the easiest way to get all the little bits of silicon off the glass is with a razor blade....
One of these little babies

Are you going to leave it where it is or have you got a stand for it?
What is that under the tank, looks like a grate or a vent of some kind, too hard to tell, but if you plan to leave it there you might want to buy a piece of polystyrene foam board to put under it. It removes any little lumps and bumps from under the base that could crack and break the glass when it's full of water cause that sucker is going to be HEAVY!!!! 556ish kg/1227lbs if you fill it, give or take and that's just with water, sand and gravel etc. are heavier than water. Just a thought.

That is one BIG tank. Kinda wish I had one.

Sooooo can't wait to see it finished Keep up the good work.

 

[dazkeirle]

Re: Axolotl tank build [pick heavy ]

I'm gonna subscribe to this, I see somebody who likes a project and can see great things to come.

Get it clean and keep giving us photos along the way.

Looking forward to watching this progress.

 

[harry7890]

Re: Axolotl tank build [pick heavy ]

Holy cow was THAT tank was a mess!!!!!! and ewwwwwww those bugs are making my skin crawl **cold shiver** what did your dad have in there before?

:rofl: <~ at the thought of you getting that tank up/down the stairs to start with. That would have been quite a task.
My iPod would have been on loooog ago, when I started

That said You have made an EXCELLENT start on it. Can't wait to see it when it's all done and full of water with all its plants.

You probably know but the easiest way to get all the little bits of silicon off the glass is with a razor blade....
One of these little babies

Are you going to leave it where it is or have you got a stand for it?
What is that under the tank, looks like a grate or a vent of some kind, too hard to tell, but if you plan to leave it there you might want to buy a piece of polystyrene foam board to put under it. It removes any little lumps and bumps from under the base that could crack and break the glass when it's full of water cause that sucker is going to be HEAVY!!!! 556ish kg/1227lbs if you fill it, give or take and that's just with water, sand and gravel etc. are heavier than water. Just a thought.

That is one BIG tank. Kinda wish I had one.

Sooooo can't wait to see it finished Keep up the good work.

i am going to leave it there as i have no room for a wopper like that anywhere else
and the thing that looks like a grate is an old heatpad that no longer works and supplied heat to my dads snake when he had it in there.and yea it is huge and with that is a huge mess . all the old polystyrene and stuff stuck to the sides.but all the tank is not underlined with polystyrene so i am going to theif some from my lfs and stick it under

I'm gonna subscribe to this, I see somebody who likes a project and can see great things to come.

Get it clean and keep giving us photos along the way.

Looking forward to watching this progress.

cheers both of you and will later on today i amgoing to get the remainder of silicone off the sides and polysyrene then clean the glass and sand the frame

 

[harry7890]

well seing as the school holidays are on now for a week now would be the perfect time for me to crack on with the axolotl tank

the othere day i got most of the old polystyrene off the side of the tank and some of the silicone

Before

After

and the other side

i now have 17 tubs of java moss to create a moss wall and 2 bags of pond soil for the base to plant the plants into .
:L lol

will post pictures as i progress

 

[Manifest]

ooh this looks like an exciting and ambitious project! Definitely going to watch this one!

 

[MereB]

:rofl: only 17 tubs :rofl: I don't remember the last time I saw that much javamoss in one place Still I guess you need a lot to cover the back of a 5 foot tank :happy: Sounds like it's going to look beautiful.

 

[harry7890]

well yesterday was a bit eventfull . we got another dog as the guy who had him got bit . but by accident as the dogs were fighting and he stepped in and got bit . and its happened twice , so now we have 2 lovely dog de bordeuxs so that postponed the building.

anyway i am back on schedule and i have put 2 bags of pond soil on the base and i am later going to add some weedblocker and a layer of washed play sand.

so there we go . i will be posting more pictures of the tank later when the san goes in

 

[MereB]

How goes your "little" project? I know it's only been 4 days... what can I say I'm impatient but I just LOVE decorating and redecorating tanks.

 

[harry7890]

How goes your "little" project? I know it's only been 4 days... what can I say I'm impatient but I just LOVE decorating and redecorating tanks.

well argos have no stock in any of their shops of playsand so i have been held back from doing anything more for the time being , untill i get some sand ... any ideas where i can get some fairly cheep that i can use . and i think i will need a big bag :L

 

[Shizeric]

Try contacting a company that does pools and whatnot...me and my dad are putting a pool in our yard so when I redid my tank I just grabbed a few buckets of the literal tons of sand we had. It's super cheap and pretty good stuff.

 

[MereB]

Sorry they are out of sand, what a pain

I googled it and there are quite a few online sand suppliers in the UK all selling 25kg bags but they all have a minimum order of 5 bags that's 125kg of sand!!! Costing about 50 pounds with delivery depending on where you are in the UK. One will even charge you 41 pounds for just ONE bag so you may as well get all 5 at that rate since you're paying for them

Do they have places in the UK that sell stuff for landscaping? A soil yard perhaps? They sell all sorts of soils, pavers, mulch, water features, Pots and planters etc. that's where we get our sand from. All the ones around here (Australia) sell play sand and white sand in 20kg bags as well as by the ton and 1/2 ton.

Not sure what Argos is exactly but we also have hardware stores that sell play sand as do the larger Toy stores, the ones that have sandpits or the large childrens play equipment sets for sale usually.

You could also try Pool shops for pool filter sand. It's usually pure white and quite fine but I have no idea what it would cost you.

 

[HMAxolotl]

Have you tried B&Q, they do play sand 25kg bags for £4.28... Check there website and see if you can get some sand from there... Oh and Smyths toy store do 15kg bags for £2.99 Hope your baby axies are all good and I hope you can get some sand...

 

[kimax]

Tagging along to this one!

Can't wait to see updates.

Kelly