# Over Hauled My Tank



## FEEFA (Nov 19, 2007)

I decided to do a major cleanup/change to my 220gal.
Since having the 16 pygos my tank water never seemed to be crystal clear anymore, even with an fxs and 2 2217's and weekly 50% w/c's. I dont think that having it planted with 4in of gravel was helping much either, there was always a tonne of debris coming up when I vac'd.

I returned all of my plants to the lfs and removed all but a single pebbel layer of gravel, some areas the glass is completely exposed.
Now all that I have in the tank is two peices of driftwood and two large fake plants.

My tank is now spottless and crystal clear after 2 50% waterchanges and Whiteyhas never been happier. He used to just sit on one side of the tank and swim around every half hr or so but now he is out every 5min pacing the tank.

I just fed him and hes in a metro bath for some minor hith symptoms, probably due to the non pristine water quality, and he should heal up 100% without any scarring really soon.

I know I know this thread is worthless with out pics. I'll try and get some up this weekend while I'm hungover.

Thanks again Carbee for an amazing rhom


----------



## BRUNER247 (Jun 2, 2010)

Sounds awesome! I always heard that tanks should be bare or 1/2" deep or less.but seems rarely does anyone practice it. I keep thin layer or bare in all my tanks.can't wait for pics.


----------



## HGI (Oct 27, 2009)

I've been almost wanting to do the same it my tank and just pull a good 90% of my sand out leaving barley anything and ripping all the plants out but I just can't do it.

Post a photo of whites new tank set up.


----------



## Soul Assassin (Nov 21, 2006)

BRUNER247 said:


> Sounds awesome! I always heard that tanks should be bare or 1/2" deep or less.but seems rarely does anyone practice it. I keep thin layer or bare in all my tanks.can't wait for pics.


I've always followed that rule, it makes cleaning easy and no sh*t gets deep into the substrate









Feefa!!!!


----------



## CLUSTER ONE (Aug 2, 2006)

Im also leaving planted for a bit at least to try bare (well tiled) bottom. I want it to be an easy to clean tank and hopefully the water will always be crystal clear unlike with my current sand that often gets kicked up. I plan to do just tile and some driftwood for decoration to keep it simple.

Post up some pics.


----------



## FEEFA (Nov 19, 2007)

HGI said:


> I've been almost wanting to do the same it my tank and just pull a good 90% of my sand out leaving barley anything and ripping all the plants out but I just can't do it.
> 
> Post a photo of whites new tank set up.


I forget what you're keeping, If its pygos I say go for it and things will be much cleaner.
I thought about it for a bit also because I really liked the look of it planted but surprisingly I like it almost bare just as much.
It does take some getting used to it for the first few days but then its all good.
The bonus was that Dragon aquarium actually gave me 80 bucks store credit for all my plants so now I have that to play with.

Be sure to post some pics of the tiled tank sean, have you started the project yet?


----------



## BRUNER247 (Jun 2, 2010)

I don't mean to derail your thread feefe.jk I messn with ya feefa has anyone heard of getting creative with tile n made like a cave, or ledges, or different levels, ect?


----------



## FEEFA (Nov 19, 2007)

Sounds like a cool idea Bruner, maybe sean will give it a try.


----------



## Criley (Jun 2, 2010)

Feefa said:


> I've been almost wanting to do the same it my tank and just pull a good 90% of my sand out leaving barley anything and ripping all the plants out but I just can't do it.
> 
> Post a photo of whites new tank set up.


I forget what you're keeping, If its pygos I say go for it and things will be much cleaner.
I thought about it for a bit also because I really liked the look of it planted but surprisingly I like it almost bare just as much.
It does take some getting used to it for the first few days but then its all good.
The bonus was that Dragon aquarium actually gave me 80 bucks store credit for all my plants so now I have that to play with.

Be sure to post some pics of the tiled tank sean, have you started the project yet?
[/quote]

You had better never tell someone to post pics again, until youve posted yours!


----------



## FEEFA (Nov 19, 2007)

Ha ha ha they're coming, gonna update my saltwater thread also


----------



## CLUSTER ONE (Aug 2, 2006)

Feefa said:


> I've been almost wanting to do the same it my tank and just pull a good 90% of my sand out leaving barley anything and ripping all the plants out but I just can't do it.
> 
> Post a photo of whites new tank set up.


I forget what you're keeping, If its pygos I say go for it and things will be much cleaner.
I thought about it for a bit also because I really liked the look of it planted but surprisingly I like it almost bare just as much.
It does take some getting used to it for the first few days but then its all good.
The bonus was that Dragon aquarium actually gave me 80 bucks store credit for all my plants so now I have that to play with.

Be sure to post some pics of the tiled tank sean, have you started the project yet?
[/quote]

I havnt started yet. I have a ton of plants to sell or get rid of, How many plants did you have? I dont remember you having a ton. 80$ is alot to be gettting form a lfs too. Tanks for an elong and sanchezi though eventually i may switch to messier fish.

Bruner... Ive seen people do ledges with the great stuff foam, but not tile. Ive seen state stacked in cichlid tanks though


----------



## FEEFA (Nov 19, 2007)

I had a fair amount but I too was surprised that he gave me $80 for them


----------



## FEEFA (Nov 19, 2007)

The planted pic is obviously before the overhaul and the rest are updated.
Hope you like them.

You can actually see a lil bit of the early stages of the hith but that should all heal up soon.


----------



## DaElongatus (Jul 30, 2005)

very nice !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!


----------



## FEEFA (Nov 19, 2007)

Here's a video also, if someone could please embed for me that be great






Thanks Daelongatus


----------



## Brian762 (May 18, 2010)

Very Nice!!!!!!!!!


----------



## Soul Assassin (Nov 21, 2006)




----------



## HGI (Oct 27, 2009)

That is wicked, I'm really thinking of doing this to my 170g soon (once I get my 90g) I kinda plan on taking most of the sand out of the 170 and putting it in the 90 as well as pulling out all the live plants... my shoal just keeps tearing them up anyways... would be so much easier on me to keep the tank clean but I'm concerned if I do this they will fight as they wont have anywhere to hide or anything.... Any thoughts?

Also do you have a before and after photo? I'm really digging how it looks now, great job none the less.


----------



## FEEFA (Nov 19, 2007)

Thanks for the embed SA

Hgi, the second pic is a before shot with all the plants.

I'm thinking since you have sand I am not sure removing some will actually help much. With sand any debris stays on the surface anyway right, so to vac you just skimm the surface of the sand.
I agree that eliminating the plants will help though especially with shoals, dont you hate those floating pieces of rotting plants everywhere


----------



## spec-v (Feb 27, 2005)

^^^^^^^^^^^Feefa you got me wondering if I should take my plants out of my 75 gallon with my 4 pygos.


----------



## Sanjo Eel (Aug 21, 2008)

Beautiful fish and nice tank too!


----------



## FEEFA (Nov 19, 2007)

Thanks everyone!

Its your call spec, it does make maintainence easier though


----------



## FEEFA (Nov 19, 2007)

Well...I've taken things to the next level. My tank is now completely bare bottom.
I'm trying to make my tank water as pristine as possible to help get ****** better.
I am now dosing with metro plus and will be adding chemi pure to my filters as soon as the bath is done.

To be honest I was worried about how it would look but I actually like it. Just a big glass box with a huge fish.

I do have one question though, the bottom of my stand is hollow and ****** can now see inside of it at my filters and other supplies and stuff in there and I dont want him to get stressed out.
Its an easy fix, tommarrow I will pick up a vinyl backdrop and put it underneith from the outside.
My question is though should I just get a plain black one or maybe get something with a design so to ****** it looks like the river bed or something?

To be honest I'm leaning just to go with plain black but was wondering what you all had to say???

I will upload some pics in here soon

Thanks


----------



## D.D.Denham (Aug 13, 2007)

...depending on the rhom, some will chase their reflection on a black background/bottom. I would suggest some type of scenery-type layout.
Good luck with the treatment, sounds like ****** is getting the best care possible - keep up the committment to pristine water quality!!


----------



## FEEFA (Nov 19, 2007)

Thats Buzzardo I am trying.

Well I went to dragao and they had a nive rock back drop that was perfect for my situation so I went with it over the black.
It was a lil bit of a pain to put up but but there's lots of tape and its serving its purpose.

****** looks awesome, he's gone completely white/grey again like when you had him. I much prefer the look over reg black since its very unique


----------



## BRUNER247 (Jun 2, 2010)

You have a awesome looking rhom there ******


----------



## Blue Flame (Jan 16, 2006)

Looks very nice...good job!


----------



## FEEFA (Nov 19, 2007)

Thanks guys! It took a long time for me to have the tank for a monster rhom but atlast I have both now.

He can be a lil jumpy at times but "we" have a nice lil routine for waterchanges and feeding.
He stays out of my way casually gliding to the opposite end of the tank when I'm cleaning and then I feed him all he can eat LOL


----------



## Soul Assassin (Nov 21, 2006)

The bare bottom is a great idea untill the HITH is cleared up. I had it on my community tank for quite a while and the cleaning is almost a pleasure. The only issues that I have read about with bare bottoms is that certain fish can develop droop eye; either from searching for food on the bottom or from their reflection. I would suggest you enjoy it for a long while and then you can always add sand (which is the next best thing for easy cleaning). Post some pics of that new back-drop you got when you get a chance (and ******).


----------



## EZmoney (May 13, 2004)

Tank and ****** both look wicked!

I have a bare bottom tank with some slate tiles. it keeps maintenance easy but adds some decorative flooring. you should try that out


----------



## FEEFA (Nov 19, 2007)

I've heard of people doing tiles but I'm not sure how, wouldnt the tank have to be drained?


----------



## BRUNER247 (Jun 2, 2010)

I wouldn't think draining the tank would be necessary if your not siliconing them down.might run a test to see if they'll mess with your water before you line the bottom though to be safe.


----------



## Sacrifice (Sep 24, 2006)

BRUNER247 said:


> I wouldn't think draining the tank would be necessary if your not siliconing them down.might run a test to see if they'll mess with your water before you line the bottom though to be safe.


X2 not all tiles are made the same way. Make sure that they aren't going to affect your water parameters. Man that's a beautiful rhom what size tank is he in?


----------



## FEEFA (Nov 19, 2007)

He's in a 220gal 6ft

Thanks!


----------



## Sacrifice (Sep 24, 2006)

Awesome fish and tank!


----------



## BRUNER247 (Jun 2, 2010)

If you measure correctly n you need a tile cut, the place you buy it will usually cut them for free.


----------



## FEEFA (Nov 19, 2007)

Thanks guys but I will probably be putting gravel back in later on instead of tiles


----------



## BRUNER247 (Jun 2, 2010)

Yeah I don't think you can beat a nice thin layer of gravel. Although I've been wanting to try tile.


----------



## EZmoney (May 13, 2004)

****** said:


> I've heard of people doing tiles but I'm not sure how, wouldnt the tank have to be drained?


Naw, no need to drain the tank. Just place tiles on the bottom of tank and have them butt up against eachother. No need for silicone or grout. Not all, but many tiles are aquarium safe, including slate tiles which look the nicest imho. Plus you can always add gravel back over the top of the tiles too.


----------

