in the beginning....

so i got a call today from the LFS," i can deliver at around 1". this is what i got. AND SO IT BEGINS! i have a diamond drill on order, RO/DI prepped and ready, 100G worth of IO salt, all test eqipment, Caribsea Aragonite, cheapy 4Xt5, sump + skimmer, 40lbs base rock, plumbing equipment, return pump and 2 200W heaters. if i get some raw shrip tomorrow i should be in business! any advice would be much appreciated!

Thanks,

Ben

 

looks like you'll have some fun on your hands shortly. enjoy! i love new tank builds.

just curious, were you purposefully going with a ~1.3" sand bed? thats all 40lbs of sand is going to achieve is 1.3" on a 55gal 48x12

I have that exact same aquarium kit for my 55gal cichlid tank. id say to get some egg crate to put on the bottom pane of glass. especially with that shallow of sand. in my case my cichlids like to alter the sand bed by moving it around and the egg crate has saved a few cracks. (first time around years ago i had a rock crack the bottom of the glass as its not very thick) so with the egg crate you can set the rock work in the tank and put the sand down around it. this way if your critters move the sand the rock work is stable and not going to fall. obviously there are other ways to accomplish this as well, but this seems the cheapest and fastest method

 

Congrats on the arrival of the supplies. That first pic looks as though you have an expectant customer already.

 

congrats will be following your tank build.

 

Sounds like you found your summer project, congrats on the purchase. What kind of a tank did you have in mind?

 

Alright! Congrats on the new toys! I enjoy watching builds come together and look forward to following along on this one.

 

well....this build has already been put to a complete halt. the tanks has all tempered panes so no drilling. i do not intend to do a siphon overflow so i need a new tank altogether. that's gunna take some time... as for the substrate, i have another 40lbs on order but that doesn't matter at the moment. can't believe he sold me a tempered tank when i bought it because it was the only on i could drill. just goes to show how much researh is really needed in this hobby.

 

Booo! Sorry for the troubles. Frustration is a crappy part of the hobby!

 

very small update, went to the LFS (good people) and asked to refund the aquarium kit for store credit. he agreed and sold me a once used 55 for 125$. for some reason it has VERY thick glass for a 55(1/2") so I will be very comfortable drilling it. i now have 145$ left of credit to use on LR and substrate so in turn what i though was a setback turn out for the best. i didn't need the HOB filter, T8 lights or 200W heater so in the end im getting more for less money. picking up on sunday!!

 

giddyup ben. lol. good to see youre gonna get this going now. good luck with it all.

guy