# My 65 gallon tank



## MarcelBro (Apr 10, 2014)

Been out of the hobby for 3 years now as i was living some were that didnt allow pets at all. Prior to that i had a 210 gallon and 135 gallon tank. I have now bought a townhouse and can have aquarium again! This last Christmas since i knew i was moving even though i hadnt told my family yet( christmas surprise ) i requested a aquarium for Christmas. This is what i was given and am super excited to set it up. Its a 65 gallon aqueon tank and stand that had a led light. I felt the stand was not sturdy enough and so i changed a few things with it. The led light that it came with was traded for a circulation pump and i purchased a new led light that i felt would suit my needs better. For filtration i purchased a used eheim 2078 and a hydro inline heater. I still have few thing to do to the stand to finish it off like sanding, filler and paint before filling the tank with water. 
My plans are to do a planted community tank with hopes to some how afford a co2 setup. 






























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## SeaHorse_Fanatic (Apr 22, 2010)

Looks like a good start. Looking forward for updates once it gets wet


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## MarcelBro (Apr 10, 2014)

Well the base has been painted and am going to try and finish the canopy tomorrow. Not sure if i should paint the inside of the canopy or not. On another note i should have water in the tank by next weekend to start cycling tank and media.
















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## the604kid (Aug 31, 2017)

Nice! What did the OP do to beef up the stand?


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## MarcelBro (Apr 10, 2014)

The back was fully open and has been covered with 3/4 hardwood. Added a bigger and thicker center brace between the doors and also added metal support brackets on the inside of the stand. The original stand was held together with only 9 screws and a few dowels there is now about 50 screws half a tube of liquid nail holding it together. The trim around the aquarium is just aesthetics.

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## MarcelBro (Apr 10, 2014)

More work done today. Brought tank down from my closet and Frosted the back of the tank. I made a trip to my lfs to try and find suction cup holders for my filter stuff and was unsuccessful. Going to do more painting tonight on the doors and canopy.
















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## tredford8 (Apr 22, 2010)

Nice work! That stand looks pretty slick now that it's painted. I will be interested to see what you choose for plant and fish species.


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## MarcelBro (Apr 10, 2014)

tredford8 said:


> Nice work! That stand looks pretty slick now that it's painted. I will be interested to see what you choose for plant and fish species.


Thanks. The plants will be what my friend has in his tank. I am ordering pool sand today for the substrate cause its cheap for now. As for stocking the tank looking at getting a large school of cardinal tetras. The hard scape might take a bit.

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## MarcelBro (Apr 10, 2014)

Tank is now currently running with a bare bottom for now. Will be doing a water change in the next day or so.































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## Plumberboy (Jun 2, 2014)

Tank is looking great. I am enjoying your little project. Keep those updates coming!


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## SeaHorse_Fanatic (Apr 22, 2010)

Haha, every pic seems to show the stand in a different colour. Nice job btw.

Anthony


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## MarcelBro (Apr 10, 2014)

Thanks! Yeah it depends on the lighting. I swear im not repainting it before every picture. 


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## MarcelBro (Apr 10, 2014)

Todays update. The led lights came in for the night light, also connected the smart sockets and programmed the timers.
















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## MarcelBro (Apr 10, 2014)

Figured id post a price break down of the setup so far. I will update as new things come up.
Aquarium, stand and led light was $340( was a Christmas gift but thought id put it out there what the cost was)
Led light was traded for circulation pump
New led purchased from ebay $56
Eheim 2078 filter and hydor inline heater purchased used from bca member $190
Led light strip for night light $24
Smart outlets used for timers $28
Paint for stand $23
Pool sand 100lbs $20
Suction cups for filter system $13

So far the grand total is $694 

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## SeaHorse_Fanatic (Apr 22, 2010)

MarcelBro said:


> Thanks! Yeah it depends on the lighting. I swear im not repainting it before every picture.
> 
> Sent from my SM-G965W using Tapatalk


And that's your story and you're gonna stick to it, right?


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## MarcelBro (Apr 10, 2014)

Got my sand and stones today but also had to get a bunch of ikea cabinets. So i have spent most of my weekend assembling that stuff instead of doing aquarium items. 

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## Hammy (Jul 30, 2018)

MarcelBro said:


> Got my sand and stones today but also had to get a bunch of ikea cabinets. So i have spent most of my weekend assembling that stuff instead of doing aquarium items.
> 
> Sent from my SM-G965W using Tapatalk


where did you get your sand from??


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## MarcelBro (Apr 10, 2014)

I got the sand from a spa place in abbotsford by my work.
















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## MarcelBro (Apr 10, 2014)

Some of the stone i picked out for the aquarium. Will have to go get more on payday.









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## Plumberboy (Jun 2, 2014)

That sand is brown, or white? Looks white in the first pic, and brown in the second. The pool place by me, has only brown filter sand.


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## MarcelBro (Apr 10, 2014)

Plumberboy said:


> That sand is brown, or white? Looks white in the first pic, and brown in the second. The pool place by me, has only brown filter sand.


The bag is white looks to be a tan colour.

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## Plumberboy (Jun 2, 2014)

Those rocks should look great on the tan sand.


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## MarcelBro (Apr 10, 2014)

Picked up some flourite clay today to use as a base under the sand. Along with that picked up some fertilizer. I started cleaning the flourite tonight and plan to do a bunch of stuff with the tank once im home from work tomorrow. My friend is getting some trimmings for me to plant aswell so hopefully big changes over the weekend.

Add to the bill 
Flourite 24.99 a bag x2
Dragon stone 13lbs or so $47









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## MarcelBro (Apr 10, 2014)

First bag of flourite went in last night after cleaning it.









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## MarcelBro (Apr 10, 2014)

After a bunch of work this is were ive left off for the night. The flourite made about a half inch layer across the bottom of the tank. Then went to adding the sand in. Brought that up to just over the black trim then started placing the stones. Was hoping to get more stone but when i went back to the store they were out. Once the stone was set about were i think i can be happy with it for a bit added the rest of the sand. Then did a 60% water change only cause im doing them by hand with 3 gallon buckets. Tomorrow hopefully will be adding some plants and maybe a few fish.
















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## MarcelBro (Apr 10, 2014)

Plants and some fish in!!









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## MarcelBro (Apr 10, 2014)

Came home from work and the water had cleared up nicely. Took a few night shots to share.























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## CRS Fan (Apr 21, 2010)

I would definitely uncover your Anubias and the Bolbitis (otherwise the rhizome will rot and the plants will die). I would also attach them to the dragon stone or to some driftwood using thread, fishing line, or super glue.

JM2C

Stuart




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## MarcelBro (Apr 10, 2014)

About a week later and all seems to be happy so far! I had bought bug bite pellets at first for food but the fish didnt like it so ended up getting some flake food.























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## CRS Fan (Apr 21, 2010)

It looks like you have some staghorn and possibly BBA growing on the outer edges of some Anubias leaves. I would highly suggest removing these leaves as not to propagate more algae. It looks WAY better.

Best regards,

Stuart


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## MarcelBro (Apr 10, 2014)

Thanks! The algae was from my friends tank. Ive noticed some new growth since everything has been planted.


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## MarcelBro (Apr 10, 2014)

Keep coming home to floating plants so gotta figure out how to keep them down.

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## MarcelBro (Apr 10, 2014)

Trimmed a few plants back and also noticed a bunch of new growth. Notice yesterday One of my fish has ich so been treating for that. Bc hydro has a planned power outage on april 12th kinda hoping all works out good.

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## MarcelBro (Apr 10, 2014)

Gave the tank some love today. Added a few new plants. Ive trimmed and replanted a few other plants that were already in the tank.
















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## tredford8 (Apr 22, 2010)

Nice! The plants are starting to fill in and the tank definitely looks more mature.


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## SeaHorse_Fanatic (Apr 22, 2010)

Wow the plants are really growing in well. Looking good, buddy.


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## MarcelBro (Apr 10, 2014)

Thanks guys! For it being my first planted tank im pleased with it so far. 

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## MarcelBro (Apr 10, 2014)

A closer look at some of the fish in my tank.






























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## tredford8 (Apr 22, 2010)

Looks like a solid community of fish. I don't know if it's been mentioned before, but I believe the plant in centre bottom of your second pic in the last post is an Anubias (looks like A lanceolata maybe); if it is an Anubias, the rhizome should be above the substrate, otherwise it will waste away. People typically fasten them to rocks or driftwood with thread, rubber band, superglue, etc., but you could also just plant the roots in the substrate with the rhizome above. In the pic below, the red is the rhizome and the blue is the roots. Hope that helps.


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## MarcelBro (Apr 10, 2014)

Small update some things have been moved around for ease. Also a few plants didnt do so great. I have also added a few assassin snails after issues with tons of snails everywhere. I know theres bha but have tried many time to get rid of it which is what led to some plants leaving and its still in there.























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## mom (Mar 11, 2018)

Looking good.


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## MarcelBro (Apr 10, 2014)

This tank early last summer sprung a leak well i was at work. Wound up losing 14 fish and a few plants. But i guess the up side is it allowed me to upgrade to my 135 gallon tank with a 40 gallon sump. Currently in the process of getting co2 togther for it.
















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## Diztrbd1 (Apr 21, 2010)

Nice upgrade and looks great so far!


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## Andrei_ierdnA (Nov 21, 2020)

MarcelBro said:


> This tank early last summer sprung a leak well i was at work. Wound up losing 14 fish and a few plants. But i guess the up side is it allowed me to upgrade to my 135 gallon tank with a 40 gallon sump. Currently in the process of getting co2 togther for it.


So your 65 G Aqueon tank sprung a leak? And did that happen randomly and without it being side effect of something wrong you did?
Did anyone hit the tank, or did you try to move it without fully emptying the water out?
I was considering getting an Aqueon tank too, but have read online reviews from other people that complained about the stands and the tanks leaking after a few months.

Also maybe this is a good time to close this thread and start a new one for your 135 G tank, when you could include more details about your new setup.


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## MarcelBro (Apr 10, 2014)

There was no one at home when it sprung a leak. I had just cleaned it and did a water change the day before. It lasted over a year with no issues. But im super happy with the new tank its been setup for 8 months now.

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