FishyMom 0 Posted April 30, 2012 Hi folks!!! I've been recently given what I was told was a 120 gallon tank. TOTALLY old school, i.e., chrome banding on all edges and chrome top. This tank is at least 30 years old if a day! However, one does not look a gift tank in the mouth. The tank dimensions are 16"w x 22"t x 63"L. A friend said that it actually calculated out to 87 gallons which sounds like an odd number to me but maybe this was originally custom made I cleaned and rinsed the tank to within an inch of it's life with vinegar and baking soda to remove the deposits, filled it with water and let it sit and cycle for a week before I added my fishies Right now it is bare bottom with 3 large rocks that it came with. The former owner also gave me all "gravel" which looks lke the large stones used in landscaping as ground cover. Having said THAT, here's my question. It is my desire to turn this into a planted aquarium and I REALLY want to do black sand. However, the chrome banding is 2 inches all around, i.e., top, sides and bottom. Which means if I even want the sand to be visible I would have to bring it to the level of the chrome banding. I was thinking of using the original stone first as a bottom layer/filler and then adding the sand on top? Is this feasible? Anyone have any suggestions? Or am I just SOL? Thanks a bunch! FishyMom 0 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
shakaho 6,312 Posted April 30, 2012 I get 96 gallons. I know little about planted tanks. Underwater plants all die on me. But I know that people who have heavily planted tanks often use a multilevel substrate with planting medium on the bottom and a top layer of more attractive sand/gravel. That can be pretty deep. 0 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
ShawneeRiver 2,720 Posted April 30, 2012 (edited) You can have plants with just sand. It just depends on the plants. You might need to use root tabs. Are you going to have goldfish in the tank? Have you had plants before? What kind of lighting do you have? Will it be low-tech or will you use CO2? Also, I don't think 2 inches is too much for a planted tank. Some people would do three. I think that my vals just popped themselves out of the substrate in my tank because the roots got deeper and the substrate wasn't deep enough. Btw, I'm very curious about your tank! Please post a picture!! Edited April 30, 2012 by ShawneeRiver 0 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
