Coffee Table Fish Tank.

[Andy_WSM]

A few months ago I redecorated my living room and put a heated tiled floor in. I wanted something to break up the area between the sofa and the TV, so decided on this:




I have always wanted a tank like it and am really pleased that it has proven to be practical as well as look the part in the new living room.

The tank itself has 4 flourescent lights built in, 2 power heads running an under gravel filter system, heater (had to replace this as the one that came with it varied in temp too much!) and I have added myself, some blue LED lighting for good night time viewing effect!

I decided not to have fish to be "different" - and have a Crayfish, approx 100 Shrimps of various species and 4 Red Claw Crabs in it. Amazingly I have got away with live plants which non of the inhabitants have dug up / cut off yet and they are quickly becoming established / growing.

The real beauty for me is that as I work away from home I can leave it for days at a time and all the inhabitants are happy to scour the bottom of the tank for food, which keeps it clean.

I just wanted to show it off really

[stelibertine]

That's very cool looking

[Frase]

Good stuff mate.

[Mikeysm]

Looks awesome

But how do you get the cables there without having them trailing across the floor?

[Andy_WSM]

Originally Posted by Mikeysm

Looks awesome

But how do you get the cables there without having them trailing across the floor?

All the wiring and control switches are built into one of the corners (filters & heater built into the others). There is one white cable that runs across the floor, but it perfectly fits in the grout line between tiles, so isn't a trip hazard - or even stands out.

You can see the cable in the pic if you look closely!

Thanks for the comments/nice words everyone

[Berber King]

Very nice.Does the crayfish not eat the crabs and shrimps though? (and the crabs eat the shrimps)

[Andy_WSM]

Originally Posted by Berber King

Very nice.Does the crayfish not eat the crabs and shrimps though? (and the crabs eat the shrimps)

No, they seem to get along just fine. The shrimps are too fast for the crayfish / crabs to get. I am sure if they sat still long enough...

I guess it's just a case of keeping them reasonably well fed on Brine Shrimp / Bloodworm, so they don't want to eat each other!

[Spuddy]

Originally Posted by Andy_WSM

All the wiring and control switches are built into one of the corners (filters & heater built into the others). There is one white cable that runs across the floor, but it perfectly fits in the grout line between tiles, so isn't a trip hazard - or even stands out.

You can see the cable in the pic if you look closely!

Thanks for the comments/nice words everyone

ahh yeah i can see the cable, its tiny! that tank is so awesome man.

if you dont mind me asking, how much does something like that set you back?

[madshawty]

Thats an amazing tank!!

[Andy_WSM]

Originally Posted by Spuddy

if you dont mind me asking, how much does something like that set you back?

They're on EBAY at about £500 ish. I got lucky and paid £350 for this one and was able to collect it on a journey back from work, so zero carriage either.

I've been pimping it up this week - I am replacing the flourescent lighting with LED lighting and have added an air pump which is split to feed the 2 venturi points on the power heads. I found the water surface was becoming very static and lots of debris was floating. The air pump helps keep things moving and breaks the surface tension brilliantly. The venturis on their own were a bit weak - pathetic almost!

Tanks doing great, water has discoloured slightly due to some new bog wood that I added, which I obviously hadn't soaked for long enough! Crayfish, shrimps & crabs all doing well.