Planted Tank Upgrade! Pic Heavy!

[LittleShadow 79]

Hey Guys! 

Sorry I haven't been on in such a long time! But I just wanted to show you guys what I've been up to!

I bought a 55 gal at a Pet Supplies Plus dollar per gallon sale (wow!) and finally got my hands on one of those, along with a hood and a light about a year ago, and it sat...and sat...and sat...in our spare room for quite some time, until I got my fiance to get started on the stand he said he was going to build this spring!  

 

So for the stand, he took 2 4x4"s and cut them to 20" for the legs (because with the height of the stand plus the tank, anything much above that and I'd have to get a step stool to work in it, and I didn't want to do that...), and took around 6 2x4's (I don't remember how many exactly, sorry) for the sides, supports, and sides of the bottom.  Then he took a 1/2" sheet of ply board for the top and the bottom as well.  All put together, and it looked something like this:

 

 

 

And then we took the tank off of it and stained it, and it came out like this:

 

 

 

Eventually we got back to putting the tank back on the stand (we also have a yoga mat under the tank too, to help try to level it out), and got back to the important stuff

 

Like adding plant substrate...

 

 

 

 Then sand and water...

 

And finally!  Plants!

 

 

 

After about a month, we added these two cuties, along with a bubble wand and some rocks

 

 

 

 

Enjoy

[DawnMichele 6,045]

Looks great!!!!! 

[Hidr 4,961]

He did a wonderful job on the stand.

[Speckles 1,178]

Fantastic! I love your fish and that little grassy plant is gorgeous, how do the fish like it?

[koko 14,340]

[LittleShadow 79]

Thanks guys!  He did put a lot of work into the stand, I helped some, but I still didn't do nearly as much as what he did, but shop class was his thing And I think they like it, I don't think they knew what to do when they were first let into it though.  They just kind of hung around the bottom and hid next to the plants for a while until we started feeding them lol.  Now they swim wherever though.  Thankfully they don't pick too much at the plants - just a little at the dwarf hair grass and the big bushy plant in the corner - but that thing has grown to the top already, so I think it'll be fine lol.  

[shelbysfish 370]

Love this!! And amazing job on your tank stand.

[Arctic Mama 3,627]

The whole setup looks awesome from top to bottom.

[shellbell4ever 1,381]

Awesome stand and your tank set up is very nice