# 180 Gallon Renovation (A photojournal) PICS!!!



## JohnInFlorida (May 2, 2007)

Hi all, although I've had aquaria on and off all of my life, I just 

recently (April '07) began my journey down the road to "planted 

tank" heaven with a 29 gallon tank. That effort blossomed into a 29 

AND a 55. Learning the basics of light, co2 & ferts carried me 

through the agony of my first bigtime algae bloom as well as 

ongoing hair/thread/GDA/GSA etc. and led me to the point where 

the bug RE-bit me with a vengence. :help: 

Obviously, there's still LOTS to learn but, even so, I went looking for 

something bigger.

Checking classified ads and craigslist and eBay within 200 miles, etc, etc, 

and I discovered what $100 and a 140 mile trip to Orlando will 

buy... a really nasty looking 180 gallon acrylic.










































To say it was in "rough shape" would be an understatement but I 

thought "the bones" were there to bring this tank back.roud: 

Removing the salt encrustation and the corals? or whatever 

growing on the acrylic was interesting to say the least as well as 

replacing the rusted/corroded door hinges and other metal bits 

and pieces.










The use of some steel wool to remove the growing things on the 

acrylic and multiple rinses brought me to a clean inside (clean but 

foggy/scratched).










I used a sanding block with 350, then 600, then 1500grit wet&dry 

sandpaper to handsand the entire interior of the tank (except for 

the bottom and back). This was followed by an automotive polisher 

with a terry bonnet using Novus#3 Heavy Scratch Remover. Then a 

couple of sessions with a cloth buffing wheel and Novus#2 Light 

Scratch Remover. Final interior polishing was done with Novus#1 

Acrylic Polish and a soft cotton cloth. The exterior of the tank was 

in much better shape than the interior and I did spot 

sanding/buffing/polishing in a number of spots and then Novus#1 on 

the entire exterior. I've no experience with acrylic scratch 

removal/buffing/polishing products so I can't compare the Novus 

stuff to any other products out there but I found the Novus 

products to do a good job of buffing out the scratches and 

polishing the acrylic.

A good scrubbing, followed by two coats of semi-gloss latex took 

care of the exterior of the stand, while the interior of the stand is 

white laminate that was acceptable after a good scrub.

I then moved on to the interior of the canopy which was just a shell 

when purchased. I retrofitted AH Supply CF brite kits into the 

canopy ... 2 x 55 and 2 x 96, wired in such a way that I can bring 

them on as "~100W" or "~200W" or "~300W".

This is the canopy up against the wall atop the tank:









while this is the canopy in position but open atop the tank:









Moving right along ... under the tank/inside the stand.
The tank was pre-drilled/bulkheaded with 7 holes in the bottom. 

Two (one 1" & one 3/4") bulkheads within the overflow box 
& 
One 3/4" and Four 1/2" bulkheads in the body of the tank
as illustrated below:










I'm using the 3/4" bulkhead within the overflow box as a drain for 

the autowaterchanger system, while the 1" bulkhead in the box is 

tied into the four 1/2" bulkheads in the body of the aquarium 

through the use of a common manifold (the 1" pvc across the 

inside top of the stand) . This manifold acts as the filter intake and 

feeds the two Rena xp3 canister filters that you can see on either 

side of the stand. The last bulkhead in the body of the aquarium 

connects to the ball valve/hose connector that you see in the 

upper right inside of the stand and drains to waste with the 

addition of a garden hose.










Also in the right side of the stand you can see the co2 reactor & 

Fabco 55 needle valve which connects to my 10lb co2 

tank/regulator which is located elsewhere in the room.










I know I said I'd be brief when I started this entry and while this 

hasn't been brief, I hope I haven't bored too many of you with my 

journey. 

Here's a picture of the first fill ... no leaks ... hooray! :bounce: Once I got the 

substrate in, I decided to lose the sponges over the plastic 

strainers at the bulkheads. They're black and as you will see, they 

pretty much disappear into the black background/hardscape.










I drained the tank and added about 80lbs of SoilMaster Select 

(charcoal) into the tank (unwashed). I added driftwood/rocks and 

did an initial planting by raiding both the 29 and 55 which I've been 

using as farm tanks in anticipation of planting this 180. I then did a 

VERY slow fill of the tank by inserting my python into the overflow 

box. The common manifold connection allowed the tank to fill mega 

slowly by dividing the already slow python flow among the four 1/2" 

bulkheads in the body of the aquarium and as a result, the water 

was surprising clean and dust free when the fill was complete. 


































At the moment there are a handful of ramshorn snails (came in on 

the plants from the 29/55), one oto and two baby guppies (about 

1/2" long) swimming around in this tank. I'm not planning on raiding 

any other fish from the 29 or the 55 except for a King Tiger Pleco 

now residing in the 55. I'm making a buy from the LFS (as part of 

his weekly order) for my initial stocking which will consist of :

12 otos
12 pygmy corys
12 julii corys

with their arrival expected at the end of next week.

Other schooling fish, centerpiece fish, other livestock are up in the 

air right now, but there's no rush. I've been down the discus road 

in the past (altho not in a planted tank) and I don't think that's the 

way I want to go this time so at this point I'm still anticipating the 

thrill of selecting and adding more livestock and plants as things 

progress.


So, that's where things stand as of today. I'm working out the kinks 

of my autowaterchanger design and awaiting the inevitable 

challenges of cycle and photoperiod selection and all the other 

bumps that will arise as this tank matures ... ain't we got fun?

Thanks for looking and I'll be updating as things progress.

Keep Smilin'
John :icon_smil


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## Jessica (Mar 1, 2007)

WONDERFUL! The acrylic looks great, you did a great job on the repairs -- I definitely wouldn't have the guts to sand like that. but it paid off and you're off to a wonderful start. I look forward to seeing how this will progress!


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## Gatekeeper (Feb 20, 2007)

roud: Outstanding restoration!!! No matter what happens from here you still got the "Tank of the Month" in my eyes. Well done.

P.S. Get yourself a nice hunk of driftwood for that baby...


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## footbeat (Sep 16, 2004)

What is the device that looks like a doorbell button next to the CO2 reactor?


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## macclellan (Dec 22, 2006)

that is the fabco needle-valve mounted on a piece of plastic I think.

Nice work John. Yes, you do have the planted tank bug quite bad I'd say.

Excellent restoration and deal of the century!

I hope two XP3's is enough flow for you.

Can I suggest dwarf SA cichlids for the tank? Sorry, that is what I like... they are beautiful, tons of personality and great with plants. gl which ever way you go.


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## zergling (May 16, 2007)

nice work! roud:


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## JohnInFlorida (May 2, 2007)

Thanks all for the kind words.

footbeat/Macclellan, yes that is the knob for the Fabco needle valve. I've found that having it mounted is so much nicer than chasing it around loose on the airline.  

Macclellan: In addition to the 2 xp3's there are 2 MJ900 powerheads with small sponges on the intakes ... lots of flow ... in fact I'm considering taking one of them out but I'll wait till more planting done and things grow in before I decide for good.

Keep Smilin'
John :icon_smil


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## BigB (Oct 14, 2005)

wow that doesnt even look anything like the what you paid for LOL. awsome job!! I was going buy a used acrylic that was all scratched but didnt think it would turn out nice, maybe i will now!


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## cleekdafish (Jun 13, 2007)

wow dude , wat a fantastic deal , u can resale it for 1,999,837 to be exact!

U did a great job in repairing it. It looks fantastic, be proud of urself! :drool:


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## MARIMOBALL (Mar 18, 2007)

Good job on the tank. Looks very promising. IMO I would like to see one species of small schooling fish. With all that space you can see their behavior as if in their natural habitat. Inverts like RCS and green neons (if you can find them)would be my choice.


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## natx (Jun 6, 2006)

Looking forward to watching this one progress. Nice find!


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## ikuzo (Jul 11, 2006)

great effort John! how much time did you spend for all of these works?


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## JohnInFlorida (May 2, 2007)

ikuzo, 

I picked up the tank and brought it home on 6.28.07 and "first fill" was 7.26.07. 

Yikes! It sure felt like it took longer than that to get it up and running.

Keep Smilin'
John


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## Robg32 (May 16, 2007)

John, It looks amazing and what a deal. I would love to have a tank that large. You may have mentioned it in the first post but what are the dimensions of that tank? Can't wait to see it grown out a bit.


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## JohnInFlorida (May 2, 2007)

Robg32:it's 72" x 24" x 24"

Keep Smilin'
John


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## JohnInFlorida (May 2, 2007)

It's the morning of the third day and things are clearing up nicely. I'm adding bits and pieces of greenery stolen from the other tanks. Also, I've moved the new pleco (L-066?) from the 55 gal and that's him/her just to the right of top center :fish: 

I mentioned in the original post that the initial stocking would be 12 oto, 12 pygmy corys & 12 julii corys. Well, one of my pet peeves is people who do not do what they say they will. Last Thursday, I spoke with the owner of the LFS where I was going to get the initial stock from. we discussed the "what" and he said he'd call me Thurs nite with the "how much" after he looked at his suppliers price list. Well, no call on Thurs nite ... I called him about 2 pm on Fri and he did not have prices yet but promised to call me back "within the hour". Well, on Saturday I purchased some fish from another LFS's instore stock and had the pleasure of calling the original LFS owner late on Sat afternoon to say "don't bother I've made other arrangements". I can deal with whatever you tell me you're going to do ... I may be disappointed that it's not what I want, but I can deal. What I cannot abide is when you tell me something and then don't follow through. I know, in the overall scheme of the world, it's no big deal, but it really is a pet peeve of mine. So anyway, the initial stocking is a little different. As I mentioned earlier, the pleco from the 55 is now in the 180 and in addition I've added 12 more otos, 3 false julii corys & 3 peppered corys. I also bought 4 clown loaches but they went into the 55 to clear up some of the juvenile snails there. I also didn't want to overdo the fish in the 180 till it's a bit more mature. They will be transferred into the 180 a little further down the road.

Again, thanks for all the nice comments and for looking.

Keep Smilin'
John


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## mott (Nov 23, 2006)

Fantastic job!! What a great deal for 100.00 dollars.It looked like a lot of work but you did an AWESOME job.
Congrats...


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## jt20194 (Oct 16, 2006)

*Thanks for sharing... great job*

John,

You have done a great job and should be very proud of the results! You took what could only be described as a disaster and made this a remarkable fish tank! Keep us posted on the automatic water change system, I would be interested in how you solve that one as well. 

Jim


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## cleekdafish (Jun 13, 2007)

I would add some big disuss , would look awesome in dat setup


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## natx (Jun 6, 2006)

> I've been down the discus road
> 
> in the past (altho not in a planted tank) and I don't think that's the
> 
> way I want to go this time so at this point


From the first post...


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## cleekdafish (Jun 13, 2007)

o:icon_neut


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## supaflyz (Apr 4, 2006)

Hey nice work! The glass cleaning is superior. You got a great deal and did a great job. Keep us in progress later on.


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## JohnInFlorida (May 2, 2007)

jt20194 Jim, After looking at your thread, my "autochanger" plans are VERY low-tech ... but then, I'm a low-tech kinda guy  

It's pretty basic but I can't find any flaw in the concept so I'm trying it out and it seems to be working fine. Only time will show me if the backup drain will, in fact, keep the water off the floor if something goes wrong.

Basically, I'm using one of the bulkheads in the bottom of the overflow box to feed a 1/2" drain line that goes thru the wall to a piece of 1/2 pvc that goes up the EXTERIOR of the house behind the bushes. At the level I want the waterline in the tank I've installed a 1/2" pvc tee and a stub of pipe out the side. The top of the tee is the siphon break. When the water in the tank rises, the water in the pipe outside rises and the excess flows out the tee/stub. Pretty simple, really. To my way of thinking, the only danger is a clog in the pipe. I've reduced the danger of this by using a standpipe inside the overflow box with a tee 6" from the bottom. The primary drain point is a stub at that tee and is covered by a foam sponge. The top of the standpipe is 1/4" above the desired waterline and is open to provide a backup drain point just in case the primary drain point becomes clogged. 

Water is put into the tank on a continuous basis. An icemaker kit provided all of the necessary parts (except a needle valve). Saddle tap under the sink in the adjacent bathroom, 1/4" poly tubing to the stand, feeding water to a needle valve, then on to drip into the tank. I'm on well water so I've no worry about chlorine/chloramine and the needle valve is set to just a tic less than 2 drops/second. (i.e. 4 oz every 3 mins or about 105 gallons/week).

As I said, pretty low-tech ... and not for everyone as I'm sure there are lots of people who are not interested in drilling holes thru the outside wall for the overflow. Also, those in colder climes would need to worry about the drain freezing/backing up, but here in Florida, that's not a problem.

Anyone who has thoughts about other possible problems with this changer design, I'l love to hear your ideas.



Thanks to all who have commented about this thread, I do appreciate the kind words.

Keep Smilin'
John :icon_smil


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## natx (Jun 6, 2006)

I would describe that solution as elegant, not low-tech, often the best way to do things! I had to do a little sketch to make sure I understood your setup, but it sounds like a real smart way of accomplishing continuous water changes.


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## styxx (Jul 2, 2003)

natx said:


> I would describe that solution as elegant, not low-tech, often the best way to do things! I had to do a little sketch to make sure I understood your setup, but it sounds like a real smart way of accomplishing continuous water changes.


Agreed. I have to say that the simpler the plant the better. To be candid I have to say I truly am impressed - scratches on Acrylic are notoriously difficult to eliminate and it would appear that you've accomplished a remarkable improvement! I can't wait to see where this tank goes from here...maybe some larger driftwood or hardscape?


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## jaidexl (Sep 18, 2006)

Well, this is one serious deal. Great work on the acrylic. After seeing the SMS in there it really adds scale to the pics, it looks like sand in that behemoth, lol!


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## Subotaj (Oct 16, 2006)

wonderful work.
add some more plants


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## JohnInFlorida (May 2, 2007)

Just an update re: progress of this tank since it began in July.

Here's the initial pic from July 29, 2007












September 10, 2007












October 9. 2007












November 12, 2007











Between the September and October pics I did a _little_ rearranging ... I took all the hardscape and plants out, vacuumed the SMS really well and then reinstalled everything in the same places as before ... sorta ... 

The vacuuming made a major difference in the clarity of the water overall and proved to me that originally installing the SMS without rinsing it first was a mistake, even when filling it very slowly caused it to start out mostly clear. Well, "mostly clear" never got any clearer until I did the vacuuming and reinstalled everything. The only thing that stayed in the tank was the substrate and the fish and I wound up doing 4 or 5 50-60% waterchanges with my python as I vacuumed out the muck from the SMS. If I had to do it over again, cleaning the SMS before filling is definitely the way to go.

I like the way it looks, I think it's grown in pretty nicely and overall I'm pleased.

Thanks for looking, hope you enjoyed what you saw.

Keep Smilin'
John


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## ikuzo (Jul 11, 2006)

John, i love those blyxa. how many puntius denisoni do you have? what happened to those clown loaches?


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## JohnInFlorida (May 2, 2007)

There are 6 Puntius denisonii and they've grown quite a bit since I first got them.

The clowns are fine, fat and happy ... they sure like to dig!








They've grown quite a bit as well. 

Don't forget, there are just 4 clowns in that tank. The Sept 10 picture was a panorama stitched together from 3 pictures taken just seconds apart, but in those seconds, the clowns moved from the left to the center and wound up in the picture twice, making it look like I've got 8 clowns in there. 

EVERYONE got shy for the Nov 12 pic except for the denisonii ... The stocking for that tank right now is:
~ Neon Rainbow (Melanotaenia praecox) x 15
~ Oto (Otocinclus sp.) x 12?
~ Pearl Gourami (Trichogaster leeri) x 9
~ Red Line Torpedo Barb (Puntius denisonii) x 6
~ Skunk Cory (Corydoras arcuatus) x 6
~ Peppered Cory (Corydoras paleatus) x 6
~ Spotted Cory (Corydoras trilineatus) x 6
~ Clown Loach (Chromobotia macracanthus) x 4
~ Kribinsis (Pelvicachromis pulcher) x 2
~ Rainbow Shark (Epalzeorhynchos frenatus)

Keep Smilin'
John


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## AquaNerd (Dec 13, 2004)

Incredible tank, I have to say I am amazed at the restoration that you did.
A very hardy applause to you. :thumbsup: 

The Clowns look great, so does the scape!


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## ikuzo (Jul 11, 2006)

i'm interested in the Rainbow Shark but i get a lot of info on it's bad behaviour towards other fish. how's yours John? is it eating algae in your tank also like SAE?


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## JohnInFlorida (May 2, 2007)

He's ok with everybody except the clowns. He will chase any clown that gets close that is by itself. But, he doesn't bother them when there are 2 or more together. It never seems to go beyond chasing ... no one seems to get hurt, just exercised ... :icon_redf 

And yes, he's a good algae eater.

Keep Smilin'
John


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## ikuzo (Jul 11, 2006)

allright!!
i'm gonna buy one Rainbow Shark.
do you have a close up picture of it John?


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## Gatekeeper (Feb 20, 2007)

Rainbow shark, also is called the Red tail Shark and yes it eats algae just like an SAE. BUT...they get up to 6" big...lol. But they are cool looking.


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## JohnInFlorida (May 2, 2007)

Now if I could just get the algae to hide when I take pictures ... :icon_redf 

Keep Smilin'
John


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## ikuzo (Jul 11, 2006)

beautiful shark John. the fins are so red more than what i imagine it would be. thanks for the pics. when they get up to 6", does it still eat algae?


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## A Hill (Jul 25, 2005)

Amazing restoration on that tank... just wow!

Not my ideal stock personally, but it looks great anyways.

I thought you had 8 loaches as well was like... WOW!

-Andrew


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## JohnInFlorida (May 2, 2007)

ikuzo, I guess we'll both find out if he still eats algae when he gets big ... when he does ... he's not quite 4" long now.

Thanks again, all, for the nice comments, they're appreciated.

Keep Smilin'
John


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## Gatekeeper (Feb 20, 2007)

ikuzo said:


> beautiful shark John. the fins are so red more than what i imagine it would be. thanks for the pics. when they get up to 6", does it still eat algae?


From what I understand yes. They are scavengers, so they will continue to scan for anything to eat.

John, killer pics, I tried for an hour last night to get a pic of mine...lol. Bugger just wouldn't sit still.


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## JohnInFlorida (May 2, 2007)

gmccreedy said:


> ... John, killer pics, I tried for an hour last night to get a pic of mine...lol. Bugger just wouldn't sit still.


re: "killer pics" ... Thanks, but you know the proverb about the blind pig and the acorn:

"Even a blind pig finds an acorn once in a while"

In my case, I've found the secret to getting "killer pics" is taking LOTS and LOTS of pics. Most of the pics I take are in the 180 g tank. When I'm in the mood for taking pics, I make sure all 300watts are on AND I set up 3 flash units over the tank ...



















... slaved to each other and the camera. The flash units are set to flash up, into the white canopy (once the cover is closed), to minimize "hot spots". That way I have enough light EVERYWHERE I might be able to get a picture. This also enables me to set the shutter fairly fast (125-500) to prevent blur and the aperture small (f6.3 - f8.0) to give me as much depth of field as possible. EVEN SO, I'm happy to get 3 or 4 "good" pics from a session (50 - 80 shots, or until the flash batteries quit). :icon_roll And if I get ONE pic that makes me say "WOW" I consider myself extremely lucky. 

Some people have and rely on talent ... for me it's persistence. 

Now, if I could just get ALL of the glass clean, inside and out, at the same time ... :icon_redf ... oh well, I can dream ...

Keep Smilin'
John


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## tazcrash69 (Sep 27, 2005)

John, really nice pics, and really nice flash set-up you have there! :thumbsup: 
The tank has come a long way. :thumbsup:


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## jinx© (Oct 17, 2007)

Always nice to see a project turn out so nice. 

I've seen a few old/neglected acrylic tanks cheap, but was always afraid there would be no hope. Its good to know that with some work (That should most likely read "ALOT of WORK"...lol) that it can be done.

Looks great John, well done.


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## ikuzo (Jul 11, 2006)

bought one juvenila last night at a fish night market. jumped out during the drip acclimation period. i'm so stupid that i didn't put something to cover the bucket. poor fish, it's not his fault that he jumped. i blame myself for it and feel really terrible after that happened. i've read before that this fish is a notorious jumper but didn't do anything to prevent that. oh well...


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## JohnInFlorida (May 2, 2007)

I'm so sorry, ikuzo ... that's not a good way to start with a new addition.

We all learn from our mistakes.

Keep Smilin'
John


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## 24fps (Oct 12, 2007)

Ok, number 1...
AMAZING JOB!!! holy smokes John. you definitely deserve a tank of the month award for that beautiful restoration job to what most would call a tank/stand/canopy ready for the trash heap. Kudos to you work your hard work, persistence and dedication to (one of) your (presumable many) hobby(ies). Flipping phenomenal. a big thumbs up to you for this. nice to see it come along and that oyu are satisfied. I really like it.
only thing I would say is, go for 8 loaches! hahahaha. they looked cool together. (twice)
Really neat behavior picture of the loaches digging in your substrate. great job documenting this sweet restoration. keep it up!


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## ikuzo (Jul 11, 2006)

i know John, i felt like a moron. i mean searching and reading infos about the fish, but then bad thing happened because i messed up. anyway my tank is a full open aquarium. will rainbow shark still jump out after established?


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## JohnInFlorida (May 2, 2007)

Someone else will have to answer that question, I have no experience with "open top" aquariums. Good luck.

Keep Smilin'
John


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## Gatekeeper (Feb 20, 2007)

ikuzo said:


> will rainbow shark still jump out after established?


they are bottom dwellers, and not really near the surface. I find it unlikly, but any fish can jump if they are distressed. I would say that their demeanor is that of an SAE for comparison purposes if that helps at all.

i run open top on my 72 and have had very few jumpers (and the ones that did were all top dwellers.)


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## medicineman (Sep 28, 2005)

A great way to shot a tank, John.

I wish I had that many flash for a proper light box, but I'm never serious enough into that yet to own 3 flashes :hihi:

The rainbow shark on 3rd pic turns out crisp. Nice.

I just rely some patience, sure hands, some luck and powerful tank lighting. Here is mine, taken from last year.









It was fully grown and pot-bellied. Now that the tank is a lot cleaner from algae and with several mates of several added algae squad, the fish become a lot slimmer.
It does still graze on leaves now (looking for algae and bits of fish food) after passing adulthood.

Fish never jump out of my tank after 2 yrs.


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## JohnInFlorida (May 2, 2007)

medicineman said:


> I wish I had that many flash for a proper light box, but I'm never serious enough into that yet to own 3 flashes :hihi:


That's one of the benefits of "cheap" flashes and buying used on eBay :icon_redf 

When I saw the price of a Canon EX580 flash unit, my first reaction was *"THAT'S MORE THAN I PAID FOR THE @&)%*# CAMERA !!!"* (a Canon PowerShot S5)

Then I discovered websites like The Strobist and articles like SB24 and 285HV and I realized there was a less expensive way. Over the next month or so, I wound up buying 3 "new or like-new", non-TTL, non-ETTL, Sunpak 4000AF PowerZoom Flash units for $20.50, $20.50 & $8.82 on eBay ... a far cry from the $400-$500 needed for an EX580. 
NO, they don't have the capabilities of the ex580 re: being controlled by the camera and auto-setting everything but, 
YES, they put a lot of light where I need it for fast shutter, tight aperture, manually controlled pictures in my aquariums, and 
*they do it CHEAP!*

Keep Smilin'
John


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## Architect1 (Feb 19, 2006)

wow love your tank, nice work on cleaning it up. It turned out amazing, now all you need are some wild discus. LOL


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## khoile (Jan 27, 2005)

Wow, wonderful tank and great restoration... I really wish I have the skill like you... one question, how did you like the overflow, do you have hardtime keeping co2 up?


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## JohnInFlorida (May 2, 2007)

according to the drop checker, co2 stays up in the green with the bubble rate at ~2bps

Keep Smilin'
John


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## scolley (Apr 4, 2004)

Great tank, and great restoration John! That had to be a huge job, and you clearly saw it through. The results speak for themselves.

Well done! :thumbsup: And thanks for taking the time to document your journey.


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## JohnInFlorida (May 2, 2007)

Well, thank you, Steve. Coming from you that's high praise. I've been a fan of Kahuna, Son of Kahuna, et al since I first arrived @ PTF. Again, thanks everyone for all the nice comments.

Keep Smilin'
John


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## cleekdafish (Jun 13, 2007)

man i luv those loaches


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## crazy loaches (Sep 29, 2006)

Wow nice tank! That must have been some work buffing that sucker up early on, and it did turn out very nice. And only 2bps??? Wow unless those are really large bubbles that is half of what I put in my 75g! My 240 with overflows is probably in the ballpark of closer to 20bps lol.


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## JohnInFlorida (May 2, 2007)

crazy loaches: Unless my drop checker is lying to me ... 2-3 bps is doing the job. 

If you've seen other threads I've posted, I was having huge GSA/GDA problems in the past. At that time, I had 300w over the 180g, was EI dosing, and needed to scrape EVERY OTHER DAY just to be able to see into the tank. I was very confused/pis**d! I stopped dosing, stopped co2, and changed the lighting to just 100w. The algae went away and the only apparent downside was that the blyxa got pale/yellow.

Hmmm, interesting ...

Now, I'm tinkering. I'm running the lights at 100w from 9a to 9p with a burst at 300w from 11a to 2p. I've the co2 set at 2-3bps and am dosing the same dose as I was using with EI but only 1x weekly instead of 3x weekly. The blyxa is recovering slowly, the algae is not problematic (I'm scrubbing 1x weekly instead of every other day and because I want to, not because I HAVE TO), and the new regimen seems to be working (fingers crossed). 

APC has their advanced forums labeled "Science of xxxx" and "Science of yyyy", etc. Well, there may be a lot of science in how to make this hobby work, but it seems there is some "art" to it as well. While reading on the forums, one often reads the comments IMO, IMHO, IME, YMMV, etc. All of these comments say the same thing to me, "MY way works for ME, it may not work for you." That's the "art" part. 

And, what all of this says to me is that I'm just a noob. That's why I keep reading, and tinkering, and being confused, and pis**d and why I remain the "arcane malcontent".

Keep Smilin'
John


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## Jeff5614 (Dec 29, 2005)

JohnInFlorida said:


> APC has their advanced forums labeled "Science of xxxx" and "Science of yyyy", etc. Well, there may be a lot of science in how to make this hobby work, but it seems there is some "art" to it as well. While reading on the forums, one often reads the comments IMO, IMHO, IME, YMMV, etc. All of these comments say the same thing to me, "MY way works for ME, it may not work for you." That's the "art" part.
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> ...



I completely agree with you, John. EI, PPS, etc are all good starting points but somewhere along the way you have to start noticing what's going on in your tank ( if and what kind of algae do I have growing, are my plants deformed, yellow leaves, etc ) and adjust your dosing based on that because things do change as a tank matures.

After a year or so with my current setup I started having some GDA. After some reading here and on APC and some experimenting with my dosing I've cut my KNO3 down to 1/3 of what I had originally dosed. The plants still grow, look good and GDA is becoming a thing of the past.

So, as you said everyone has to figure out what works best in their situation.


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## sneaker (Sep 27, 2007)

John
your tank and thread are great ,I am setting up a 180 gallon and am getting my lights from ah supply as well, my question is to get 4 96watt lights or the 2 55 and 2 96 watt.Whats your opinon?


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## JohnInFlorida (May 2, 2007)

Well, when I built this one, I wondered the about same thing. Now that I've lived with it for awhile, with 2x55 + 2x96 I think it's more than enough. It's a balancing act between plants and algae and right now I'm only running the 2x96 for 3 hrs per day. That is working out pretty well for me. 

Keep Smilin'
John


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## Johnnnn_h (Apr 14, 2007)

I have a 135 gal. 

96x2 rear
55x2 front

Set up for about two weeks, and the red plants are red, and I am thinking about cutting the lights back a little
My tank has the big glass brace in the middle, and I was thinking if more light is needed add another 55 in front to have three across.


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## LondonDragon (Mar 15, 2007)

That is amazing work on the restoration, if I attempeted something like that I would have ended up with no tank LOL
Its coming along great  keep us posted with new photos


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## Got Fish? (Apr 25, 2007)

great job, tank lloks great but i'm still amazed how u were bale to restore that tank gzz


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## edandujo (Mar 24, 2008)

Hi, just registered to tell you I followed your instructions on a 180 badly scratched acrylic tank. Everything came out great, I used a hand sander and breezed through the steps of sanding and completed everything in about 3 hours. Thanks for taking the time to post this, it really helped me attack my project and I am very satisfied as well as the wife. If anyone might have questions email me at [email protected]. Thanks again.


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## Mr_ed (May 24, 2011)

sorry to dig up an old thread... but it's this very thread which inspired me to have confidence to completely sand out and re-polish a used 90G tank I picked up on Craigslist. now it's like new. Amazing. Thanks!


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## 150EH (Dec 6, 2004)

It was a very nice job on the clean up, at first I saw it back on the stand and thought oh no but the next photo was a spotless tank.


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