Sharing my excitement... A bigger tank!

[lexie]

Hello everyone!
I'm going to share my brilliant news with all of you, seeing as how I'm so very excited about it myself.

I'm shortly going to be getting a 6ftx46"x46" tank for my gorgeous axolotls. Given the bore of my tank now, I want a really nice tank for these two plus the leucistic I'm putting in with them.

So here are the details:

Substrate: None
Filter: 3 Internal Powerhead Filters
Water level is going to be only 20" high
On the left hand side I'm going to have a 1ft long rock formation 44" high made out of styrofoam made into a sort of waterfall thing with just a powerhead and some simple tubing. I'm going to have a styrofoam rock wall background and the background will go on the base of the tank as well, as a sort of substrate thing. There'll be smooth areas and some caves and some bumps and stuff just for the axies to play around in, and a few plants, with 2 40w light tubes and maybe a few plants from place to place, held down by large rocks and smaller pebbles (no, not gravel). I'm going to have a land area above the water...(Just for fun, I know they won't go on it or anything) made out of the styrofoam rock also that will have some normal household plants planted on it and I might put some thin leafed grass-looking plants in the water. I'm really excited about this setup, I'll post pics when it's finished (Should be a week or two... Using mature filter media and all the water and some of the rocks from the other tank, does that mean it won't have to go through a cycle?? I'll keep checking the water parameters just to be sure)

My only problem is I can't find these products anywhere in Australia... Does anyone know similar products that would be available to me?
-Styrofoam - i can get that!!
-Canned foam???
-Quickcrete Quickwall??????
-Waterfall Foam??
-Concrete Pigment (black, brown, cream, etc, for variation)

I'm a girly girl and so I don't go to CONCRETE stores! I have no idea where to get this stuff from!!
Thanks, I want to get this project up and running asap.

Thanks!!

(Message edited by alexa on May 18, 2006)

(Message edited by alexa on May 18, 2006)

 

[lexie]

Oops! I meant to say cm. So it's NOT 6ftx46"x46"... it's 6ftx46cmx46cm. Lol.
That means it'll have 20cm of water... not inches... lol

 

[joanne]

I would recommend going to your local hardware store. BUNNINGS Hardware House sell EVERYTHING and the ppl who work there are friendly and helpful - They are used to helpin "Girly Girls" like yourself. I assume they have Bunnings in QLD. They are in most other states of AUS as far as I know.

Goodluck.

 

[anna]

One thing, Just make sure that the styrofoam and other materials wont be leaching toxins into the water. Bunnings is a very good store and should have what you need plus advice. If they dont you will probably have to bite the bullet and enter one of these concrete stores or some of the other hardware stores in your area. If you ask for help they should be able to help.

 

[lexie]

I did a few searches so I do know what to avoid in terms of materials and stuff that will be harmful to the axolotls.

There's a Bunnings pretty close to where I live. I'll go tomorrow!

 

[lexie]

I went to Bunnings yesterday and I'm overwhelmed by their brilliance. I got some cement mix for $3, expanding foam for $7, a huge paintbrush for $2, and because I was worried about the cement and wasn't sure if it would hurt the axies I bought some pond sealant to coat the rockwork with once I'm done. I figured I'd use the pond sealant for the seahorse hitch structure I'm making out of clay for the soon-to-be seahorse tank.

I couldn't find any foam though... Went to a couple of places that sells fridges and stuff and asked if they had any leftovers, but I only got one 3ft sheet... I need 2 6ft sheets and a bit extra for the sides!! I'm going to ask friends to ask the places where they work, and I'm sure my dad and mum's work should have quite a bit of foam. I'm not sure if I'm posting this in the right place... But we don't have a DIY section... I'll update with photos once I begin constuction and then show a photo of the finished product. Knowing me and my impatience, the finished product should be around a day or two after I get the tank and foam... hehe