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Uh reun,

Is MDF = Medium Density Fibreboard?

If so (and I have no idea what I am saying as I had to look it up on the web), consider this:

"MDF can be dangerous to use if the correct safety precautions are not taken. MDF contains a substance called urea formaldehyde, which may be released from the material through cutting and sanding."

And

"Urea formaldehyde is always being slowly released from the surface of MDF."

The full source is [link=Here]http://www.design-technology.org/mdf.htm" style="COLOR: #ff6633[/link].

But you sound like you know what you are doing (but better safe than sorry).

Ingo

---

Proud Member of the New Jersey Aquatic Gardeners Club

well, the thermometer was in there temporarily since i juast added the corys, i like to moniter the water temp when i first set up a tank and add fish, so it will be gone in a few days and replaced with a "stick on the glass" unit i will hide on the side no one sees. and the old filter from my 10 gallon is on it right now, but soon the new 50 gallon filter i just purchased will be on it, and its tube sits in the very corner behind the foliage.

thanks to the ugly vscaping no one will ever see the heater or filter tube when looking at the tank from the front.

p.s. for those that have nocturnals and love them, home brew LED setup is the best! cost me a few bucks and a couple hours, and i can watch my fish at night now without them darting under rocks and plants...definatly worth the cash and effort.

Much improved.

Take care of the visible equipment and I'd say you're good to go .

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update...the tank is now set up a little differant, also added some java moss and a few corys. and yes, i know this pic sucks, for one, i didnt set the shutter speed fast enough to catch the corys, so they are all blurry, second i didnt hide the thermometer or the filter tube,lol.this was just a quick snap and update as i have to get up for work in 7 hours, so, this is how it looks currently:

not as bad as the first try but still bad

and, the most important, i can now spy on my nocturnal fish without waking everyone up and having the pleco and cats dart for the closest cave...new LED set up...total cost was under 7 bucks, i had the 9v power adapter already...its not very bright, but i didnt want it to be. its just enough so i can see everything clearly. the LED's are hiding under the regular bulb:

ooo...pretty

well, there it is

Last edited by Reun at 18-Nov-2005 23:21

You did a great job & both tanks are very nice.


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I like the open space concept too...some say that it's not a good representation of what their natural habitat is but if we were to be doing that it'd be really hard to see them !

So in order to draw the eye down to that open area where the fish are you want the aquascape to do just that! If you have the plants set so that they're lower as you get in towards the middle (the base of the V) the eye will travel along the diagonals till it gets to that open area. With how they are now you've got that one random plant interupting that flow.

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thanks for the advice,ill move the plant slightly behind the rock, and get a smaller plant to put in the middle close to where the taller one is now.

i want a large open center space for my barbs and corys, yet still a ton of folage for the corys and such to hide in

Great improvement....then again just about anything short of filling it with lava would have been an improvement ...

I also agree with solid backgrounds, most poeple jump to suggest black, I suggest anything but black, especially if the tank is anywhere in the mid to lower light range as often the tank light will be overpowered by the room lights causing glare on the glass and combined with a black background the inside of the tank becomes harder to see with the room lights on.

As for the scapes, you've got a conflict of interest on the 29, for the most part it's a V scape except for that one bit of green plant almost dead center just to the left of the red one. I'd move it further to the right on the other side of the cave, maybe even behind the cave. or have it join the group on the left of the tank

10 is doing okay, I'd just move the taller plants either from the tank (they're a bit on the too tall side) or to one side or the other to block either filter intake or heater.

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ah yes, one of the drawbacks to MDF...it is an irratant to the lungs. once finished MDF does not have any "harmfull vapors"...when drilling, eyegoggles and mask are a must, the dust can be bad...well, the glue from the dust,lol.

anyway, I have had experience with MDF a bit with speaker enclosures ect, so i have workeds with it before, hence how i was able to tell it apart from the particle board they normally use.

anyway, once varnished(its sealed and painted now) it no longer releases the formaldahides(i cant spell it, i can say it, and thats it,lol). the main concern is to not do any sawing on the enclosure while the lid of the fishtank is open,lol.

anyway, i set up the stand in my parents garage and the fish tank was no where near it. also, if there is any concern for the fish, the vapors themselves dont travel through laminated surfaces like glass, it isnt porus enough. the vapors are actually released from the glue, and once the MDF is sealed there is no danger.

p.s. the danger from mdf is very exaderated to say the least. people i know that work in stereo shops do custom installs and make subwoofer boxes for people out of mdf on a daily basis with no masks or eyewear,lol. also, the formaldahides are released far to slowly to harm man or fish. subwoofer enclosers bought new that are made out of MDF have only carpeting over them, they are not sealed or laminated, and people put them in there trucks and cars with glee and have no side affects.

for those of you that read other forums, you will know I am a noob that asks a ton of questions ... and that i am upgrading from a 10 gallon to a 29 gallon tank. the tank hasnt cycled yet, and i cant wait till it does.

i bought the tank used from a coworker, and boy was it used...the picture of it before hand was AFTER i had scrubbed the main stuff off the inside with a pad and some vinager and water. lets just say the condition he told me the tank was in and the condition i got it in were quite differant, lol. this pic was after i dumped the nasty gravel, got rid of the under gravel filter, rinsed it out, and scrubbed on it for 15 minutes.

EWWWWWW

now, wanna hear something sick? he had a fish alive in that thing....

this is the finished product, i just dumped a little aquarium salt and ph buffer in, so the water is nice and cloudy in this pic,lol, but here it is anyway...and yes, i know the decor is in bad taste prolly, but o well.

TADA!

oh, and this is the tank i have right now that my barbs,corys,and cats are crowded into:

Ten

there it sits, flame away /:'

Wow!! You certainly did a brilliant job!!

hrm...i could try a black backround, just to see how it would look.

and its sort of real wood,lol. its MDF (wierd stuff to build a stand out of,lol), so at least it isnt particle board, still not real wood though.

and, this is what sucks...he used to care for fish at a pet store, he just didnt bother to clean it cause he didnt care i guess?

Make you wonder why they wanted to give up that tank??

That person was probably frustrated and vowed to never keep fish again because of the headache. Just an asumption though (followed up by a funny simley)

Last edited by openwater at 16-Nov-2005 13:18

reun,

Good job on fixing up that sucker .

You know, I hear about fish being raised in thanks like this (I mean before you got it). If they have been in there for a while they get used to their environment, as long as it isn’t too much. The problems usually occur when the fish gets a new, healthy home. They cannot adjust back that quickly and succumb.

Your new setup is very nice, glad you found tall plants to fill the sides of this tall baby. It the wood real?

If I may make one suggestion: I would try a black or very dark blue background to highlight your tank interior more rather then having the viewer focus on the landscape on the background. If you have some black foil or something uniform dark in the house then just try to see how that would look. Maybe you like it too.

Otherwise, very nice,

Ingo

---

Proud Member of the New Jersey Aquatic Gardeners Club

lol...the stand(you can see it at the bottom of the finished pic) was one of the things that needed work. I had to mount the door, put a handle on it, put a lock on it,touch up paint, and put trim on the bottom of it, it also needed a thurough scrubbing, but at least i could use real cleaners on it,lol.

i know, cheesy plastic plants...but i had a hard time finding anything that would give some over all height to this very tall 29 gallon. eventually i will most likely change it up, but, for now this will have to work.

the pump and lines that i got with the tank are still in the process of being cleaned, i am scrubbing on them little by little. in the mean time i purchased a regular over the back 50 gallon filter and will use that instead. once it is clean i am hoping i may be able to sell the magnum 350 or save it for when i get a bigger tank when i eventually move into a house

p.s. thats a nice setup...i have the tools to build a tank, but lack the knowlege, and most importantly, the time to do so! well done

I think you are telling a bif FIB here no way could it be the same tank unless you put many hours of thought and work into it. Well done very good effort.

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Wow, thats quite an improvement. Give yourself a pat on the back. I also have fake plants and they look alright.