Tank plans/ideas

Regarding the honey gourami and shrimp - Google seems to have mixed tales, but most people say their shrimp have been fine with their honey gourami, especially in a decent sized tank (30+ gallons, with plants).
Ghosts and amanos are safest, but many people say their cherry shrimp populations grew even with the HGs in the tank.

Honey gourami are quite small and very peaceful. Very different to normal gourami or even dwarf gourami.

 

Do you find you need a specific ratio of male to female or is any mix fine? I was thinking maybe 1 male to 3 female. Or otherwise 1:1. I need to actually see them in person or at least a video where I can get a true visual representation of size to make a better judgment call.

I think that's so why I'll add new fish slowly - I need to see them in the tank to see exactly what the sizes and quantities look like and allow me to better gauge what to get etc.

 

After much moaning about really wanting to get started with my big community tank (the 4ft the goldfish are currently in), we have decided to make a move on getting the pond started.

Hubby is somewhat apprehensive about doing the big final pond before the building work on the house is completed (it hasn't even started, we're still waiting for approval from the city), so we decided to do a smaller temporary pond.

I first looked up splash pools again, but the size I'm looking at are all far too low (often only about 30-35cm high), and most other options work out as expensive, or even more so than the big pond I want to build.

So we've decided to make a smaller version of the above ground wooden pond. It can also double as a chance to figure out exactly how to build the final thing properly. Figure it out on a smaller scale so when we do the final one we have a better idea of exactly what we need to do.
And when we do finally switch them to the bigger pond, I can convert the smaller one into a planter for veggies or herbs or something, so it won't go to waste.

I'm looking at around 1m x 1m x 70 or 80cm (high).
Will send another email to the pole yard tomorrow to ask for a quote and advice etc.

Any idea what thickness pond liner I should be looking for?
And regarding the submersible pump - Google seems to think for ponds you want a pump that pushes through the total volume of water once every 2 hours. But tanks are usually recommended to do 4-6 times per hour.
Any advice on strength of pump for doing a biological filter like @RABUBI 's? The water volume of the pond would be around 600L.

 

Now that my big tank is finally empty of fish (can't say empty as there are a few ramshorns enjoying the freedom in there), I'm getting ready to revamp it for my planted community.

I plan to change the substrate to pfs (it's currently black fine gravely stuff), and then I want to put a backing on the tank. I'm not sure what it's called - vinyl? The stuff MD fish tanks always uses. I think the glass can be painted but I'd rather paste the stuff on rather. That window tinting stuff.

I'm tossing up between a really dark blue (I find black just too dark) and a frosted white.
Part of me loves the lightness of tanks with no backing, but at the same time a dark colour like black or dark blue adds depth and helps make the colors pop, so I'm very torn.

Does anyone know where I can buy that stuff though? Would a place like builders warehouse have it, or must I go to a glass shop?

 

I used a foam wall sticker and sprayed it blue. Will probably go black though as it looks better in my opinion

 

What type of paint do you use? Is it just normal indoor wall paint? Or acrylic paint?
I suggested paint but hubby thought it might wreck the tank. I'm kind of thinking it might make for easier application though? And have more colour options.

 

I'll keep this in mind as well, as another option. Thanks.

 

Used to be able to buy frosted vinyl at a few places, but I searched everywhere a few months ago - hardwares, glass places, etc. So, my suggestion would be to try any signage company, as they often stock numerous vinyls.
I'd try Martin Graphix for instance, if you're after some?

 

I've seen the window film also for sale at Builders Warehouse, seems a lot cheaper than the ADA for a lot more material. I can't find it on their online store though

 

I am pretty sure Maizeys plastics in PE stocks it, there is a Maizeys in CT, I would try them.

 

Thanks everyone.
I'll check out builders warehouse and there's also a plastics shop at willowbridge, so will check them out too. It's not maizey's but might also have if maizey's has.
Otherwise I'll see if I can find a maizey's close buy and will also check that Martin graphix that Cale suggested.

I was looking at my tanks last night after the lights went off and I might go with frosted white rather than a dark colour.
I find the black substrate makes the tank so dark I can't always see what's going on in it unless I'm really up close (even with lights on, some of the inhabitants are hard to see against the dark substrate).
Once the lights are off I can hardly see anything in the tank at all, whereas the QT tank I can still see into fairly clearly, and although the big tank currently has dark substrate it has hardly any plants and no background so I can see into it easily.
I'm thinking if I put a dark background, plus plants, even with pfs I'll start encountering the same issue I'm currently finding in my planted tank, where I can't see the fish once the tank lights go off.

I'm not overly sure about the light blue as a background colour, though I'll keep it in mind for sure, but I might just go with frosted white to keep things light.

Will try do some more googling of planted tank pics today to get a feel of what I like / don't like.