[cichlidgirl1]

It turned out really good. I am so happy with it. Amazing how much it improves the coloraiton of my fish.

 

[brettokok]

love the pic of your alpha male!

 

[KoenEeckhoudt]

nice dude

 

[Bearfan]

Beauty!

 

[cichlidgirl1]

nice dude

Thanks, and im a dudette(female) I noticed your from europe , loved it there, lived in germany for six years. (near frankfurt). Beautiful area, we never got to go to belgium but we did see italy, switzwerland,austria and germany of course.

 

[atajuni]

Very nice.

One question that I would like to ask you, which is the one that you prefer to have a bare bottom tanks or covered the bottom with sands.

Wouldn't it be difficult to do syphoning with sands covering the bottom tanks ?

 

[flashg]

I prefer sand to try and achieve a natural Tanganyikan look.

 

[cichlidgirl1]

Very nice.

One question that I would like to ask you, which is the one that you prefer to have a bare bottom tanks or covered the bottom with sands.

Wouldn't it be difficult to do syphoning with sands covering the bottom tanks ?

Well, i noticed that it is easy to vacume sand, just do it like for gravel only do not jam it into the sand like you do for gravel. Debris will sit on top of the sand so there is no need anyway. If you jam it in then it will suck up the lighter sand. Just lightly run it along the surface of the sand. After you do it a couple times its easier than gravel vacuming and twice as fast. (if you suck any up then you just tap it right away and it falls out, if you really get it up there then simply clamp the hose and it all falls back out the tube.

I like the look of sand in the tank compared to empty bottoms. just my own prefference. With african cichlids i like jet black sand and a ton of rockwork and caves, and in community south americans i like a nice yellow sand with bits of larger gravel and river stones in it (looks great with driftwood etc...)

 

[css virginia]

I liked that 1st. pic. with that lighting. 8) That was interesting.!! The stand is looks good also.

 

[cichlidgirl1]

Thanks, the stand is in excellent shape. I am going to lightly sand and put some red oak stain/polyeurothane on it. It wont take much to whip it into shape since it looks fine as is. I just like a good waterproofing coat anyway.

 

[Juan]

Wow Very nice CG :thumb: turned out really sharp..nice fronts by the way :fish:

 

[cichlidgirl1]

Thanks, the stand is in excellent shape. I am going to lightly sand and put some red oak stain/polyeurothane on it. It wont take much to whip it into shape since it looks fine as is. I just like a good waterproofing coat anyway.

what i thought was water damage was actually just dirty water spots, no need to refinish :thumb:

Got first box of sand in tonight i will post pic with sand, more should arrive tomorrow.

 

[cichlidgirl1]

Here is my sand in the tank with new painted background. Money well spent. Turned out good. I can not get over how blue they look compared to before. its amazing the change . They are very relaxed in this tank as well.

This pic shows the difference in coloration between the burundi and mpimbwe. both are just 1 inch juvies.

 

[Bearfan]

Looks much better with the sand.

 

[cichlidgirl1]

Thanks. I think so too. Nice sand, so clean too.

 

[Fishbguy]

looks amazing!

what's with the goldfish??

 

[cichlidgirl1]

Thanks.

Its embarrassing but the goldfish is a eating machine , loves left over food and even ....POO !! Contrary to popular belief goldfish are also more than able to adjust to temps 76-80 degrees as well. I borrowed a couple from my daughter to use as clean up fish. working great by the way. LOL VORACIOUS EATERS. Tank is spotless. You just have to be careful to get a clean healthy specimen to use.

 

[blazen808]

love the look it looks very profesional

 

[MNcichlid]

I really like the look of your tank. Can you elaborate on what paint you used, and how you applied it?
Thanks!

 

[cichlidgirl1]

Thank you. No problem. I used rustoleum "american accents" flat black latex (one quart) and one quart of valspar interior/exterior satin accentfinish "twilight purple" (its a purple black custom color i found at lowes, it has a magenta base) I just took the color square to the guy behind the counter and he mixed it right up.

It was very simple. I poured the flat black and twilight purple 50/50 into the roller pan, then i added a bit more purple till i got the look i wanted (just a nice dark blue/black or purple/black shade.) I used a regular roller for smooth walls to apply it to the glass (they rollers will say for smooth etc. ) I would roller the whole thing on (used a cheap broom that i unscrewed the head off it to use for a extention, it screwed right in to the roller handle) I put a fan on high to blow accross it (placed it on a tv tray to raise it up) . Every hour i would paint another coat onto it. I used 3 coats. The two quarts gave me enough paint to paint the 7 foot and also my 6 foot tank in the other room. I did not use as much twilight purple on the six foot tank and its back ground is flat black to the eye.

The tank has a great blue tint to it at night when i put my lights on, i have a double light strip with regular 25 w daylight bulbs in the front and marine glow bulbs in the back. It has a blacker look (but with a hint of blue in natural light with tank lights off. Tank lights on and its nice and blue looking day or night. When i went with two marine glow lights its super dark blue ! The pics you have seen here are one of each bulb in the strip.

The jet black sand also helps with the color of the tank as well. The painted background and black sand seem to go hand in hand.

Two quick things i would note from my experience when you paint the tank:

Tape up a tarp or plastic sheet on the wall behind the tank LOL

Hang your filters up on the front of the tank to run after you paint the back, that way the paint can harden for 24-48 hours before you try to set the filter back in place lol.

I believe they make a hard clear coat you can paint onto the latex after you paint the glass, i did not do this, might wish i had when i have to move the hob filters the first time.