# Freeman's 125 (Some fish are in!)



## Freemananana (Jan 2, 2015)

It's the new year and that means a new project! I decided to recap my adventures over the past couple years in the hobby, more for me to view the progression.

My first tank was actually never stocked with fish. It was going to be a 5 gallon acrylic aquarium with glowlight tetras and neon plants. During my research process, I decided to use real plants and prior to stocking ended up ditching glowlight tetras since the tank was far too small.












5G Puffer Tank Journal
http://www.plantedtank.net/forums/12-tank-journals/808978-5g-dwarf-puffer-tank-pic-heavy.html

My second tank was a 30G tall tank that was given to me by a coworker. I built that stand out of a couple 2x4s and scrap wood. It was a very budget build and ended up being a great learning experience overall. 














Planted Community Tank Journal:
http://www.plantedtank.net/forums/12-tank-journals/796650-planted-community-tank-adventure.html

My next tank was a 75g tank with a DIY overflow and 55g sump. There were a ton of hurdles and it was, again, quite the learning experience. I ended up running this tank until I realized I was going to move! So I set out to give away/sell everything I could. I had never built a full stand like that and it turned out alright, but I know I can improve moving forward.















75G with 55G Journal:
http://www.plantedtank.net/forums/12-tank-journals/858145-freemans-75g-tank-rip-retired-sold-11.html

At the same time, I started a shrimp only 20g tank. I had previously housed my shrimp in my sump but wanted to put them on display.













Shrimp Stump Journal:
http://www.plantedtank.net/forums/12-tank-journals/944458-underwater-shrimp-stump.html



After selling my 75g and all the plants, I still needed something! I set up the 55g sump as an all in one aquarium to house a few tiger barbs until I moved. I eventually brought this tank with me to my new house.













55G Tiger Barb Journal:
http://www.plantedtank.net/forums/1...rb-species-tank-55g-diy-all-one-aquarium.html

That pretty much brings us up to speed. I’ve been kicking around the idea of a custom tank for a long time and it seems like the budget won’t be there for a few more years. So, in the meantime, I’ve been casually searching Craigslist for tanks. I stumbled upon an acrylic tank that met my requirements; 1- Large, 2-Cheap! 

In comes a 125G (ish) acrylic tank. The tank measures approximately 72”x18”x24” (LxHxW). The tank is made from ½” acrylic with a 3/8” brace around the top. It had center overflows made from acrylic as well. The tank was quite dirty and will require a bit of work to say the least. But at less than $0.50 a gallon, it was a project I was willing to take.

I had it sitting upside down outside between a few chairs while I sprayed out some of the debris.














After that was done, it was time to start tackling those old overflows I don’t plan on using.












I taped the acrylic around the overflows just to give myself a visual indication more than protecting the acrylic. It took me awhile to sand these down.












Initial sanding out of the way and tape removed.












Wiped back. I’m not worried about the clarity here. I will cap the holes with 6”x12” pieces of acrylic held down with some Weld-on 16. Won’t be able to see them after the substrate is put down.














Here’s the tank full of sanding dust. I’ll clean it out some more, adhere the patches, and water test the tank.













I’m actually not sure if it will hold water yet. I imagine it will though. I plan on tackling a crack on the top center brace as well as the exterior overflow box.

The exterior overflow box will be something like this:












The idea is to cut a slit towards the top of the side of the tank and mount an external overflow box made from ¼” acrylic. I’ll have to support the PVC, but that won’t be an issue. I am still trying to work out a viable and pretty way to keep floating plants out of the overflow. Something I could not achieve previously.

If everything goes smoothly, and the tank holds water, I will be working on the stand in the next week or so. The plan is something similar to this:











I want to hide the side overflow with a cabinet of sorts. The stand will be about 40” tall, giving me approximately a foot above the sump to work in before I hit the 2x6” horizontal supports. I have a 55g and a 75g tank available for the sump. I am leaning towards the latter but it will require some work before being used as well. 


The next couple updates should just be patching the tank, drilling the side overflow, making the overflow box, repairing the brace, and then testing the system. After that, I'll sand and buff the acrylic viewing panels, paint the sides that won't be visible, and start on the stand.


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## Freemananana (Jan 2, 2015)

Today I built my acrylic overflow out of some scrap 1/4" acrylic I had from a previous project.



Not pictured would be the lid. The scrap bits are for supporting the lid.



Try to ignore the filth on the tank. Drilling and sanding and not cleaning does that. The exterior overflow measures 16"x6"x4". It will house 3 1.5" downpipes and be connected to the main tank with a 15"x1" slot that will have some gutter guard to keep the fish out.



I haven't finished cutting out the slot, but you can see the drilled 1" holes.


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## Freemananana (Jan 2, 2015)

*My winter project tank (Running!)*

Very little work today. I am clamping a portion of the overflow and letting the weld-on 16 dry until tomorrow after work. I did finish cutting out the slot. Not perfect, still a bit of clean up left. But after that is finished, I'll scrub the tank out and remove all the debris.



I decided to show some of my Google Sketch Up drawings I had made. Initially I had planned to drill the side with an internal overflow box. But it would either have to be extremely low or extremely deep to work in due to the 4" side brace there.



So I changed it up and made it an external overflow.



It is just a 2x6 stand that is missing quite a bit of the support. I will have a diagonal support as well for a tank this size.



I'll make a 2x4 stand for the 75g sump most likely. 



The plan is to use some 45* elbows and not use 90* elbows at all. The baffles are just a brain storm. They will be 1/8" panes most likely. The plan isn't set in stone, but I'll be using foam as a mechanical filter and then some porous rocks for mechanical followed by a heating chamber and then the majority of the sump will be for the return pump and evaporation. 



The return will go a long way, but I plan on using a larger than necessary return pump. Horizontal runs don't really detract from flow very much. I'll try and maximize tubing in the return as well. I'll likely make my own spray bar and do more experimenting with slots.



I added something similar to the initial drawing I had found in terms of the stand finish. I am planning on using spiral CFL bulbs but may opt for a lower powered LED and a shallower hood. I have a 24/7 I am going to use as well, primarily for the sunrise and sunset. 



And the rear will be largely left open because it will be in a corner. Not sure how I'll do the framing yet, but I'm still brainstorming. The stand will be wrapped in 3/4" birch plywood most likely, since it is fairly cheap. I'll stain it to some what match the furniture in the kitchen/dining room/living room where it will be located.


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## Greggz (May 19, 2008)

Wow those are some serious plans! I really appreciate the thought and engineering that goes into something like that.

Looking forward to seeing how it all plays out. Looks like you have plenty to keep you busy for the foreseeable future!

Keep the updates coming.


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## Freemananana (Jan 2, 2015)

Greggz said:


> Wow those are some serious plans! I really appreciate the thought and engineering that goes into something like that.
> 
> Looking forward to seeing how it all plays out. Looks like you have plenty to keep you busy for the foreseeable future!
> 
> Keep the updates coming.




I'm actually an engineer by day and this sort of stuff just interests the pants off of me! I've always loved designing things like this and it's even more fun when it is something I can do. Wood working has been a 'cheap' hobby for me that keeps me busy in the evenings and this new acrylic tank is very similar. Glass isn't user friendly in comparison. 


For those who are wondering, Google Sketch Up is EXTREMELY user friendly! I highly recommend it. Plus, it is free. I think it is more fun than hand drawn sketches as well. The 3 dimensional models are super neat and it is easy to keep the scale accurate to see potential issues, like my overflow box idea.


The next week or so will just be water testing and hopefully everything goes smoothly. I do have some repairs to do on this old 75g I have lying around. It is drilled in the corner, so I'll have to patch that. But, if it still holds water, it will be a perfect sump.


I can't express how ecstatic I am to have another decent sized tank. I may (big MAY) opt for automatic water changes. But I would likely need a whole house water filter ran in line to achieve that since I am on city water. Anyway, I plan on stocking some rainbow fish, Denison barbs, rummy nose, cardinals, cherries, cories, etc. My family really enjoyed the community look most, so I'll be mixing some schools. I should have plenty of space with nearly 200 gallons of water to work with.


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## Svynx (Nov 8, 2010)

Freemananana said:


>


I'll throw in my two cents...

I love everything I see, except for one thing. You only need one gate valve. In this pic, the drain on the left and on the right don't need them. The center, which would be a full siphon, does. If you are following Beananimal's (SP?) design, the middle pipe would need controlled. The left one takes care of the little extra that the center one doesn't. if something happens and the center one gets clogged a little, the left one can become a full siphon. Then, worst case and the left one gets clogged, the right one becomes a full siphon. The right one should be high enough that under normal operation, it never sees water.


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## Freemananana (Jan 2, 2015)

Svynx said:


> I'll throw in my two cents...
> 
> I love everything I see, except for one thing. You only need one gate valve. In this pic, the drain on the left and on the right don't need them. The center, which would be a full siphon, does. If you are following Beananimal's (SP?) design, the middle pipe would need controlled. The left one takes care of the little extra that the center one doesn't. if something happens and the center one gets clogged a little, the left one can become a full siphon. Then, worst case and the left one gets clogged, the right one becomes a full siphon. The right one should be high enough that under normal operation, it never sees water.



+1, Agreed. I am following the bean animal design and only plan on having a gate valve on one (full siphon) along with unions. I MAY have been copying and pasting stuff and it ended up with three gate valves... You are, absolutely, correct. What I drew was purely a mistake while I was copying things. I'm a big fan of the bean animal design. Sadly, it took me much more research to finally grasp it entirely and trust it.


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## Svynx (Nov 8, 2010)

Freemananana said:


> +1, Agreed. I am following the bean animal design and only plan on having a gate valve on one (full siphon) along with unions. I MAY have been copying and pasting stuff and it ended up with three gate valves... You are, absolutely, correct. What I drew was purely a mistake while I was copying things. I'm a big fan of the bean animal design. Sadly, it took me much more research to finally grasp it entirely and trust it.


I used his system on two of my reef tanks, and then on a planted fresh water tank. If I have the room for an external overflow and a sump, it will always have this system on it.


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## Freemananana (Jan 2, 2015)

Svynx said:


> I used his system on two of my reef tanks, and then on a planted fresh water tank. If I have the room for an external overflow and a sump, it will always have this system on it.




Always glad to hear it! I was skeptical once upon a time. I really should have drilled my last tank, but that is a discussion for another time. I don't believe I will every go back to a single drain or a HOB overflow after having a bean animal myself. I have plenty of space where this tank is going. My only size limitation is the length of plywood. I can't have a 3' deep overflow because my 8' sheet won't cover it in one span. The 4" I've allotted myself should be enough to mess with the stand pipes. I plan on leaving about 8" beyond the overflow inside of the stand as well.


I may be opting for a cheap LED array over this tank and a 12" hood instead of the drawn 24" hood. Just to cut down on the tremendous size of this behemoth!


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## Freemananana (Jan 2, 2015)

Today was a fairly short, yet productive one!

Starting with the dried, and very strong, overflow box. This 1/4" overflow box feels pretty good.



I moved the tank to the back porch to start my clean up. Can you tell I have a 3 year old daughter? This half price shop vac does some serious work! Cleaned up all the dust from grinding and sanding in seconds.



The plan was to go to town with a couple packs of Mr. Clean magic erasers. I read this on a reefing forum as a suggestion for acrylic tanks. I've ever heard it is reef safe! So I may keep these handy for algae clean up as well.



Front pane cleaned up. The can of spray paint is for clarity clarification. It isn't super clear, but it cleaned up pretty well. I will water test it before I move to 1000/2000 sand paper and polish. 



The mist obstructs the view. It does need to be polished at the very least.



Here it is nearly cleaned up. There are a few spots that need to be cleaned up before it can be called 'done', but it was getting dark and was good enough for now.



Some more clarity shots.



The bottom is the most damaged panel and with the mist cleared away, it is fairly clear. There are a couple larger scratches, but nothing overly concerning. 



Tomorrow brings capping the bottom and attaching the overflow! After that, filling it (if I can find a darn exterior level surface) and water testing.


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## Freemananana (Jan 2, 2015)

Well, it is tomorrow! Actually, the day after tomorrow most likely. I had ordered a 12"x12"x1/2" piece of acrylic and it came in. This is to patch the old overflow in the center.



5 seconds later on the table saw and I have my 6"x12" patches.



I took them outside, applied a generous amount of Weld-On 16 (enough to create a layer between both pieces when pushed together). I set some brake rotors on top to sandwich them down.





Not exactly pretty, but pretty sure it will be enough and it will be covered by sand.



I also had some Weld-On 4 that I used to repair the hairline crack in the brace.



After letting the crack setup, I patched over it with some spare acrylic.



The whole reason this is upright in these photos is so I can attach the overflow box.



After about 12 hours, here it sits.





I'm going to wait a few days before I water test it. Still looking for a spot I can lay this down on that is outside of the home. It MAY end up being the garage, which is less than ideal. I'd much prefer the porch. But the porch is sloped toward the yard for runoff that gets inside. Regardless, that is where I sit.

I was at a few fish stores looking for some loaches and saw a rope fish. I really do enjoy their weird eel-ness.


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## Daniel12490 (Jul 30, 2014)

Looking good so far! I remember the sanding and polishing was the worst. But once that is done, the clarity is amazing! Looking forward to the success of your tank.


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## Freemananana (Jan 2, 2015)

Daniel12490 said:


> Looking good so far! I remember the sanding and polishing was the worst. But once that is done, the clarity is amazing! Looking forward to the success of your tank.


Thanks! I imagine it will be a lengthy, multi day, process for me. I need to go to an autobody store and find some 1000+ grit sand paper since my local hardware stores only had more abrasive sand paper available. And I'll pick up some novas polish as well. I only need to polish 2 panels and I don't plan on doing the brace, bottom, overflow side, or rear. So I'm hoping the 24 sq ft that I have to polish isn't bad! [(6'+2')(1.5')(2)] [(length+width)(height)(front/back)]. I'm still thinking of how I want to do the backing on this tank. Probably just paint it black with krylon. Any suggestions on what I should do on the inside of the overflow box? It may not even be visible though.


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## monkey4life (Oct 31, 2013)

Freemananana said:


> Thanks! I imagine it will be a lengthy, multi day, process for me. I need to go to an autobody store and find some 1000+ grit sand paper since my local hardware stores only had more abrasive sand paper available. And I'll pick up some novas polish as well. I only need to polish 2 panels and I don't plan on doing the brace, bottom, overflow side, or rear. So I'm hoping the 24 sq ft that I have to polish isn't bad! [(6'+2')(1.5')(2)] [(length+width)(height)(front/back)]. I'm still thinking of how I want to do the backing on this tank. Probably just paint it black with krylon. Any suggestions on what I should do on the inside of the overflow box? It may not even be visible though.


Most auto shops have high grit sandpaper. Love the concept and implementation so far!

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G891A using Tapatalk


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## Freemananana (Jan 2, 2015)

monkey4life said:


> Most auto shops have high grit sandpaper. Love the concept and implementation so far!
> 
> Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G891A using Tapatalk


Thank you! I'll make a stop and pick some up.

I actually did a small water test and found 3 leaks. One is going to take some effort to repair, but it was VERY slow. So I have hope still. I have a call into the local plastic company to pick up some 1/2" square stock. So I'll reinforce the trouble corner and get back at it. The other two are from me. I went a little light in the corners of the overflow and two points had small drips. Nothing I didn't expect, but I did, of course, have hopes that nothing would happen.


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## monkeyruler90 (Apr 13, 2008)

Hey, great thread!

I bought a used 125 and I'm doing the same restoration on it
can't wait till you get to the polishing portion  keep posting pics


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## Freemananana (Jan 2, 2015)

monkeyruler90 said:


> Hey, great thread!
> 
> I bought a used 125 and I'm doing the same restoration on it
> can't wait till you get to the polishing portion  keep posting pics


Thank you! 

I hope your 125 is in slightly better condition than mine is. This restoration is taking a hot minute! I made the mistake of picking up plant deals along the way and my 55g holding tank is fuuuuuuuuuuuuuuull now!

I'm installing the 1/2" square joint bracing right now and I will fix up my overflow leak this weekend as well.

EDIT: Some update photos.

Here's the half inch stock I'm using to reinforce the inside of the tank and deal with my leak.



I actually water tested this old, gross, 75g tank I got for free today. It holds water LIKE A CHAMP. The interior silicone looks pretty darn good. The overflow leaked a little bit, but that's not what I was worried about.



My only concern is the corner behind the overflow is chipped.





Worth noting that this bad boy is definitely 3/8" glass and is incredibly heavy. I plan on cleaning it up, repairing the cracked portion of the bottom trim (weldon works with polystyrene) and gluing in baffles. Due to the cost of 1/4" plate glass ($20 a baffle locally) I am going to tweak my design to use lighting diffuser to hold the foam in place and only have 2 baffles or so to get water to flow through the bio media and over top the heaters.

EDIT: 1/15/17

Cleaned up the sump! I scraped off most of the old silicone for the overflow and started to prep the tank for use. I'll be siliconing a plate over the overflow holes here as well.



Here's the 125 bracing I put in.



Ugly bubbles, but weld-on 16 is said to do that and this will be covered by the stand trim.



Here's the half in bracing I've been putting in around the seams and half inch plate.


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## Freemananana (Jan 2, 2015)

I've pretty much finished the seams now and I'm just waiting to let it cure. 



A little heads up for the next project.



It is the next thing I'll be working on. It probably won't be pretty, but it will get the job done! Tomorrow I will fill both of the tanks (1/2" plate siliconed in place on the sump not shown) and begin another leak test. If things go well, I'll start buying some stuff for this tank and start the stand.


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## monkeyruler90 (Apr 13, 2008)

hmm, you're adding lights? nice!


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## Freemananana (Jan 2, 2015)

monkeyruler90 said:


> hmm, you're adding lights? nice!


I'm actually going to wire them up and run them on my current tank. Plus work out the spread/height so I can plan the canopy of the 125. Also hoping to dial them in somewhat over the course of the next month. It's not the logical next step, but it is the one I am taking. I may have sold my Finnex planted+ 24/7 preemptively. I didn't think it would go so fast.

EDIT: 5:04 PM local time

Just a reference photo. I have had luck with 13-23w CFLs in the past and want to transition that to LED bulbs.



I have to make a temporary light for my 55g since I sold my 24/7. So I started with a frame. It will need some modification moving forward.



Added the ceiling bulb receptacles.



Nice and easy wiring access on the back side.



Ran some 16 gauge wire with the lights ran in parallel.



The receptacles have two screws on both the positive and neutral. 



Shazam. 



These 9w LEDs will be ran on my 55g until my next set of lights get here and I can start working with the timer. I will have to rewire this setup for the 125 obviously, but that isn't a big deal. I think the receptacles were $2 each and the extension cord I used was $3, so less than $10 for the light setup minus bulbs. I will be using different bulbs for the 125 as well. This is more of a 'feeler' type of thing. 

I've picked up some fish and started my quarantine process.


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## Freemananana (Jan 2, 2015)

Today is a pretty big day! It's the start of another water test. First off, the 75g sump I received for free! After removing the corner overflow and patching it with 1/2" plate and silicone, it is holding water to the rim!



Next came the very tense process of filling the 125 again.



Looks like success thus far!



Clarity really isn't that bad all things considered. I can read boxes through it before sanding and polishing.



Overflow is holding wter as well. This should be about the 'running' level of the tank. 



Front of the tank. I don't believe there is any bowing despite the picture.



A picture of both sides. Doesn't appear to be bowing. I will take a straight edge to the front and rear panels to double check though.



Anyone have any idea what this brand/sticker is? I was thinking it may be the tank manufacturer.



And that's all there is for now. I'll be letting the tanks set for a week or so. I'll probably get antsy and order some pieces.


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## Riza1990 (Aug 11, 2016)

Exciting stuff! Waiting is always the hardest part for me. And the logo/make is Sealife Systems. 

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G920A using Tapatalk


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## Freemananana (Jan 2, 2015)

Riza1990 said:


> Exciting stuff! Waiting is always the hardest part for me. And the logo/make is Sealife Systems.
> 
> Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G920A using Tapatalk


Thanks! That takes care of that! Makes sense, I live pretty close to Jacksonville Florida. Seems they have gone out of business though.


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## Freemananana (Jan 2, 2015)

I will preface this post with a statement: My plan has changed and these weren't the lights I ordered.

I ordered some 18w Par38 bulbs due to only having a 18" depth to the tank. These showed up:



They are 13w bulbs. Not sure if it would have mattered because my main issue is my 24" width and the spread of these bulbs.



Plugged in and compared to a 9w LED bulb. It is obviously much narrower, which I expected. Not a whole lot of par data to be had from viewing light. But I am worried about the spread at my width and depth.



Giving myself a 12" hood (small) and mounting the lights near the top of that, you can see the spread wouldn't be very good at the surface.



Moving the lights back to reflect the depth of the tank and the spread isn't bad at the substrate. But there isn't a lot of extra spread. So dimming the lights would leave more dark spots.



So I have decided to go with a different lighting setup. On the plus, my tanks are still holding water in the garage.



:grin2:


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## Freemananana (Jan 2, 2015)

Today comes with a whole slew of packages at my door, some good news and some bad news. I made the classic mistake of picking up some fish without researching them. Needless to say, I returned them for credit. The good part is I bought a big net!



About two days ago I ordered some Ken's Fish Food. My last bag of tropical flakes ended up as a kids toy slung across my living room. I bought a variety of foods since they were all only a couple dollars a piece.



I also ordered some 20 ppi foam mats that were only about $10 each. I'm going to use them in the sump.



And I bought a DJ audio rack to use instead of a large power strip. I'll segregate it to the side of the stand and tuck my wires up top.



And my return pump came in! It's incredibly powerful and the flow adjustments are exactly what I wanted. I hope I can get enough flow out of it at my minuscule 6' of head height.



I'll pick up lumber for the stand tomorrow and some more parts and pieces.

EDIT: Just some ideas. I have changed the sump layout due to cost. Glass panels run $20+ a piece so I decided to cut a few of the baffle out and use light diffuser and large pieces of foam. The only portion segregated will be the bio media so the water passes through it. I'll suspend the bio media with more lighting diffuser and some poret foam as well. With this flow pattern I can also roll out some filter floss on top of the bio media to filter some of the finer particles. The placement will make it easy to change. I'll place the two 300w heaters (possibly a 3rd) on the bottom pane before the return pump. The whole thing will be topped with some lids of unknown material. I doubt I'll do glass since it doesn't need to be clear. I'll probably experiment with corrugated plastic since I have sheets lying around (white). 



It's a pretty basic idea and I think it'll work just fine. I also am changing the lighting up a bit. I've purchased a 72" LED light that I will run along side my Finnex 24/7 to achieve a sunrise/sunset as well as decent coverage on my 24" wide tank. I will supplement it if necessary, but the par data I've found says the 72" LED will be enough for low light at 24" to substrate by itself. So I'll mess with the spacing to get the visual effect I want. This also allows a 12" hood, which will be more visually pleasing than a 24"+ hood on a 18" tall tank.



The plan for the stand is to make it 40" tall with the 75g sump sitting on 2x4s instead of 2x6s. That should give me 10" of space between the top of the sump and the bottom of the horizontal support. I am going to try and do some more research on a removable center support for the stand so I can place the 4' sump under it. That or try and wiggle it into position with a center support.


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## Tanks! (Dec 16, 2013)

Wow! Great build. Subscribed!


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## Freemananana (Jan 2, 2015)

Tanks! said:


> Wow! Great build. Subscribed!


Oh! That's means a lot to me. I've been eyeing your fish up quite a bit. I am planning on keeping some rainbows, denison barbs, and clown loaches. Possibly some corey cats as well. Progress should be coming in faster now.


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## PEdwards (Oct 31, 2016)

Looking good man! That's quite the project.


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## Nordic (Nov 11, 2003)

Lol, you are probably not looking forward to buffing out all those scratches....
Don't worry, I have to polish the car today.


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## Tanks! (Dec 16, 2013)

Freemananana said:


> Oh! That's means a lot to me. I've been eyeing your fish up quite a bit. I am planning on keeping some rainbows, denison barbs, and clown loaches. Possibly some corey cats as well. Progress should be coming in faster now.


 I started with the idea of more of a varied community tank. What I really wanted to get the beginning was a rainbow shark, since I had never had a tank big enough for one before. So I was looking at a semi-aggressive community, which included golden Gourami, Dennison Barbs, and clown loaches. As I got along and realized that rainbowfish existed and that my water from the tap has perfect parameters for them, I switched direction. If I recall correctly the clown loaches can grow huge: up to 1 foot! Somewhere along the line I decided that I wanted smaller fish, so that I could have more of them. Your plans sound great! I envy your skills in building! And I have always wanted to do a Herbie, external overflow. I didn't have the space for a sump on this build, so I have to look at all the equipment inside the tank.

I wish you well with it, and I am cheering you from the sidelines! :grin2:


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## Brian Rodgers (Oct 15, 2016)

Amazing project, thank for sharing.


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## Greggz (May 19, 2008)

Nice update. Are you also building the stand?

If so, this might become the "Spring Project".:grin2::grin2:

I'm enjoying following this build. Love this type of DIY big project.

Looking forward to seeing the end result. Has the makings of something special.


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## Freemananana (Jan 2, 2015)

PEdwards said:


> Looking good man! That's quite the project.


Thanks! I've got plenty to do now that some things have come in and I had a day to go shopping.



Nordic said:


> Lol, you are probably not looking forward to buffing out all those scratches....
> Don't worry, I have to polish the car today.


It's not the work that I'm worried about, it's messing it up! I am probably going to do the buffing by hand since I'm only going to do two panels. 



Tanks! said:


> I started with the idea of more of a varied community tank. What I really wanted to get the beginning was a rainbow shark, since I had never had a tank big enough for one before. So I was looking at a semi-aggressive community, which included golden Gourami, Dennison Barbs, and clown loaches. As I got along and realized that rainbowfish existed and that my water from the tap has perfect parameters for them, I switched direction. If I recall correctly the clown loaches can grow huge: up to 1 foot! Somewhere along the line I decided that I wanted smaller fish, so that I could have more of them. Your plans sound great! I envy your skills in building! And I have always wanted to do a Herbie, external overflow. I didn't have the space for a sump on this build, so I have to look at all the equipment inside the tank.
> 
> I wish you well with it, and I am cheering you from the sidelines! :grin2:


Rainbow sharks are cool and I've been debating one or a red tail. But I'm just not sold on them being good in a community environment and I'd hate to chance it. Clown loaches do get big! They are great fish though, from what I've been told. So hopefully I can pick up some small ones and keep them for a few years and trade them in if I have to. Don't envy my skills too much, they aren't that great. I just enjoy the process. The external overflow is pretty convenient and the herbie/bean animal is definitely the way to go. If something changes, a sump is amazing!



Brian Rodgers said:


> Amazing project, thank for sharing.


Thanks and not a problem. Posting updates is fun!



Greggz said:


> Nice update. Are you also building the stand?
> 
> If so, this might become the "Spring Project".:grin2::grin2:
> 
> ...


I am building the stand. Just picked up all the lumber today to frame it out. Still not sure how I'm going to wrap it. It may end up being a spring project as well. For us, here in Florida, winter hasn't even arrived! Big DIY projects are my favorite. I enjoy trying new things and researching possibilities. I hope it turns out as well as I have envisioned.

Edit:Small update.

I don't have a truck, so I tend to rent the $15 Uhaul trailers when I purchase larger quantities of lumber. For half a dozen 2x4s, I can put my seats down in the Fit and put them inside. But I picked up a dozen 2x6s, some 2x4s, some 1x2s and a sheet of plywood that I had them cut down to 72"x48" while I was in the store.



Here was my hectic brainstorm this morning before I went to pick up my rental trailer. I forgot to do this math last night.



I finally got around to making cuts right before dusk. I have a cheap Harbor Freight table saw and a compound sliding miter saw. Nothing fancy, but it makes the job a whole lot easier. I still don't have my garage setup post move, so I do most of my construction on the back porch. Also, due to size of the stand, it would have to be made here since it won't navigate through my kitchen from the garage.



And everything stacked up and ready for assembly tomorrow. 



There are 4 84" boards for the horizontals. The extra foot is for the overflow bow to be hidden by the stand. There are 4 39" boards for the upright spacing. There are 12 29" boards for the upright supports. And there are 8 21" boards for the braces between the horizontals. I plan on topping the stand with a 3/4" plywood sheet for now. I'll work on getting the system running before I skin the whole thing. I'm still in the air on how I want to wrap the stand. 

Tomorrow I will assemble what I have and hopefully put together the canopy as well.


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## Freemananana (Jan 2, 2015)

Another day and some progress. I started by draining the tanks because I had thought I'd get around to buffing the tank. I learned that the output on my pump is closer to 1.25" than 1.5", at least according to the 1.5" spa house I picked up. 



I set the 125 on top of the 75 to bring it up to a more manageable height to buff. I did not get around to buffing it today though, so I'll likely start on that tomorrow.



What I did get around to today was building the stand. I used a cheap square, wood glue, and 2.5" screws.



And here's the finished product THUS far. This is the skeleton structure for the stand. The tape measure is where the 75g sump will end for reference.



I marked the height of the sump as well in this photo. This leaves me 12" before the horizontal and 18" before the plywood. Plenty of height to work in and enough recess to mount cords and lighting.



I left a 3/4" gap below the upright mounts to attach a piece of plywood. This will give me an even place to put the sump that is as low as possible. A small area to hang tools, place food, and possibly some extra equipment.



The center beam is removable. It only needs to come out to place the sump inside the stand.



And there are several braces under the top plywood with some more bracing between them. 



I'll be working on painting the stand to make it water resistant as well as polishing the tank.


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## Svynx (Nov 8, 2010)

That stand is a beast. Way overkill. I love it.


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## Freemananana (Jan 2, 2015)

Svynx said:


> That stand is a beast. Way overkill. I love it.


Until I get that 180g! Haha! It should be stout enough to make up for some imperfections in the wood and my skill. I really wanted to support the acrylic tank well since I've had to reseal the corners and I really don't trust my skills 100%. This is my first time and I'm sure there are defects. So I'm trying to overbuild where I can to make up for that. I do have to shim one side though. I placed it in the proposed location and it's not perfectly level.


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## travis424 (Oct 7, 2016)

Looks great. I went overkill on the supports for my stand also. Are you an engineer by chance? The engineer in me kept telling me that more support was better! I ended up with a stand for a 37 gallon that weighs about 75lbs. It's probably strong enough to hold up a car lol.


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## Freemananana (Jan 2, 2015)

travis424 said:


> Looks great. I went overkill on the supports for my stand also. Are you an engineer by chance? The engineer in me kept telling me that more support was better! I ended up with a stand for a 37 gallon that weighs about 75lbs. It's probably strong enough to hold up a car lol.


I'm pretty close to an engineer! I do a lot of design work for power lines. I've always enjoyed wood working and stuff like this though. It never hurts to overbuild. I know my tank isn't perfect, so I'm trying to compensate for that.


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## Freemananana (Jan 2, 2015)

A couple quick things. I've been working on the tank and there isn't a lot to show! It's just time consuming.

I did pick up a 16ft LED strip for under the cabinet. It's strictly white and has 300 LED chips. It should go down the back of my 6' tank, around the 2' side, and back up the 6' side to give me light everywhere under the stand at the click of a button!





I also bought a beamswork LED pent light, 72". I'll raise it 6" off the top of the tank and supplement the spread with my 24/7. This will also give me a sunrise/sunset with the 24/7 I have and plenty of par for my needs.



So, I started to polish the tank. It's tough to really tell, but I believe this is the side POST buffing.



There were a few scratches I missed. I only bought the 2oz kits. So when I did the inside, I missed a few scratches that I ended up seeing after I did the outside. This was due to the blurriness of the acrylic. I ended up running out of the Novus 2. The only thing I could do was fill the tank and decide if it was good enough for me.







It's tough to tell from the photos, but it looks GOOD. It's hard to tell it is the same tank. The trouble with the photos is the back panel isn't polished at all. It's actually pretty scuffed up. But I plan on painting it black, so that doesn't matter to me. The viewing panels (front and one side) are pretty clear. They aren't perfect, but considering the tank looked like this:



Just a few weeks ago, I'm not too sad. For $80, these two tanks have turned out pretty well so far.


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## KayakJimW (Aug 12, 2016)

Lookin' good man!


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## Freemananana (Jan 2, 2015)

KayakJimW said:


> Lookin' good man!


Thanks! Not positive on what I'm going to do in what ordered, but I'm hoping to move it inside this weekend.


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## SingAlongWithTsing (Jun 11, 2015)

Freemananana said:


> I did pick up a 16ft LED strip for under the cabinet. It's strictly white and has 300 LED chips. It should go down the back of my 6' tank, around the 2' side, and back up the 6' side to give me light everywhere under the stand at the click of a button!


Where'd you get the 16' led and how much did it set you back?


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## Freemananana (Jan 2, 2015)

SingAlongWithTsing said:


> Where'd you get the 16' led and how much did it set you back?


https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01MQTAXD4/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

$20.00
'Waterproof'

It's 600 LEDs, not 300. I chose it over the other ones I found because it had more strictly white chips than the other color changing ones. It comes with the power supply and has some sort of water proof rating. 67/68 is better, but 65 won't be damaged by splashing and such.

IP Rating Chart | DSMT.com

I always shop Amazon for the fast shipping and no hassle return policy.


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## Freemananana (Jan 2, 2015)

@SingAlongWithTsing, note sure if my edit quote will work for you. See the post above.

I do have an update from today.

I stared by picking up my planned substrate, soil with a pool filter sand cap. I'm just using some topsoil that meets the qualifications that I've found. I have a ton of O+ left that I plan on using as well. I wanted to go with pool filter sand over blasting sand for a few reason, mostly the color. I also felt like trying something new. I have some salt and pepper marble I've used in the past as well. I plan on using it, in mesh bags, to form some hills.



I took a trip to the local rock yard! 





Tons to choose from, I went with this stack:



The rock was $0.20 a pound, not a bad price from what I've seen at fish stores. I bought about 200 pounds of it. It may be tough to tell, but the largest rock I took was a little over 18" long. I may not use all of it, but I picked some stones with interesting shapes to me. I'll combine it with some manzanita to form a scape that appeals to me.



After scrubbing them in the drive way with some bleach solution, I hosed them off, then I put them in a bucket to continuously fill and dump.



I was outside for a few hours, dumping and filling the bucket while I worked on other things. When I was finished for the day, I filled it up and put a ton of Prime in it. Probably 300-400 gallons of prime worth. I'll let it soak over night and repeat the process.



I also found some eggcrate while I was at the hardware store. $12 a panel was a fair price for 2'x4' sections, so I bought 3. Here's a panel to hold up the sponge mechanical media I have picked out. There is also 2 1/4" panels to seperate the bio media. The last chamber will be the return section to house the pump and the heaters.



Just a close up. It's pretty basic.



Last thing I started was painting the back panel and overflow side. 



I still have a lot to do, to include drilling the overflow. I'll probably tackle that tomorrow along with the canopy and lighting arrangement.


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## ounderfla69 (Sep 29, 2015)

Hey great tank I picked up a 75 gallon acrylic Tank for $130 and I picked up a stand and canopy that's a foot longer then the tank, but I only paid $20 for it. It needs a little work and has to e modified so i can get the 40 gallon breeder sump in it, but its very well made. I love the work you done on yours so far but have you considered the height of the baffles and the amount of water that will drain into sump in a power outage?


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## Freemananana (Jan 2, 2015)

ounderfla69 said:


> Hey great tank I picked up a 75 gallon acrylic Tank for $130 and I picked up a stand and canopy that's a foot longer then the tank, but I only paid $20 for it. It needs a little work and has to e modified so i can get the 40 gallon breeder sump in it, but its very well made. I love the work you done on yours so far but have you considered the height of the baffles and the amount of water that will drain into sump in a power outage?


Not a bad deal! I picked this one up, with the 75g glass tank, for $80. But it needed quite a bit of work. Reinforcing a stand isn't a big deal. The trouble is getting a sump that is as wide as your main tank under the stand. That is almost impossible. I struggle with sumps that are 6" less wide. For instance, my 75g will BARELY fit under the stand for the 24" wide 125g. It has the footprint of a 180g. 

On the topic of sumps and power outtages, I see this a lot. The baffles are an inch from the top, so the sump can overflow and fill to the rim if it needs to before it will overflow. With that said, when I fill my tank and sump up, they are in the same state as if a power outage had just occurred. It's almost impossible to not plan for a power outage. The level in the sump will decrease slightly when you turn the return pump on. My overflow box is quite small as well. I'll do some videos of the plumbing when it is running. 

I've done some weir math and my sump, with a 1.5"x18" weir can flow more than double my return pump's max rating. My 1"x14" main tank weir will limit the flow more so. I have 1.5" drains all around that can handle the max my return pump can offer as well.

What I do worry about is how I'm going to set up the return. I'm not sure if an a single output, a spray bar, or loc-whatever fittings are the way to go.


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## Brian Rodgers (Oct 15, 2016)

Thanks for the mention of Bean Animals designs. I searched and found his site right away. BeanAnimal's Bar and Grill - Silent and Fail-Safe Overflow System Incredible stuff over there too.


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## Freemananana (Jan 2, 2015)

Brian Rodgers said:


> Thanks for the mention of Bean Animals designs. I searched and found his site right away. BeanAnimal's Bar and Grill - Silent and Fail-Safe Overflow System Incredible stuff over there too.


Bean Animal (His screen name) has become the standard for overflow design. It is definitely worth the time to read up on his articles on his website and get some background information on the design and the reasoning for certain things.


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## Freemananana (Jan 2, 2015)

I've been water testing my overflow after drilling the bulkheads and leveling the stand. Nothing impressive or even photo worthy. I did finish painting the back and overflow side of the tank black though.



I had some extra maps from work that are 24"x36", so I placed two side by side to form the 24"x72" of my tank. I like the stacked feature on the right. The rest is just sitting there so don't worry about that. But I am thinking of doing something like that with the stacked rocks. Opinions?


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## ScubaSteve (Jun 30, 2012)

Great job so far....excited to follow along! I might have to use your ideas when I set up my sump!


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## Freemananana (Jan 2, 2015)

ScubaSteve said:


> Great job so far....excited to follow along! I might have to use your ideas when I set up my sump!


Wait for me to test it and see if it's a total failure haha. But thanks. :grin2:


I bought some new return piping. I had planned on 1.5" PVC, but the hose barb for my pump is 1.25" at max and I ended up disliking the look of 1.5" PVC. It was just too bulky to run a 20' piece over to the side, up and back to the fair end of the tank.


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## Freemananana (Jan 2, 2015)

I didn't take a photo of the sand after I capped the soil. But this is my hardcase setup. I also drilled the 1" bulkhead for the return piping. Surprisingly, it's all level! Pretty happy about that. Debating CO2 at this point. Trying to find a local tank through airgas. If I can, I'll go with pressurized co2 and pick up another light to give me about 60 par across the whole tank.


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## BettaBettas (Aug 21, 2016)

wow I haven't checked on this journal since the actual first post! glad I looked!  it seems you have quite the crafty thumb, good job and keep up the magnificent work!


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## Freemananana (Jan 2, 2015)

BettaBettas said:


> wow I haven't checked on this journal since the actual first post! glad I looked!
> 
> 
> 
> ...


Thanks! I appreciate the feedback. I haven't come as far as I would like. I have been trying to figure a few things out and ordering pieces I forgot online is time consuming. But I think I have most of it figured out! I ordered some clear corrugated green house panels to use for lids this time around. Lowes can't seem to cut me glass without it cracking.


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## Freemananana (Jan 2, 2015)

Not a lot to update, but I did get a few things taken care of. 

First off, here's the shot with the sand cap on. It is 150 lbs of pool filter sand.



That will be the final hardscape. I figured out a potential lid idea. I will be using green house corrugated CLEAR panels. Sort of like clear plastic cardboard. I bought a 2'x6' piece for about $25 shipped. Shipping killed the price, but it is what it is. About 1/4 of the price of glass panels from my local shop and at least half the price of Lowes (they couldn't cut me sheets in this size actually). I expect it to bow, but not as much as solid pieces. There will be quite a bit of overlap and they boast a very minimal sun blockage. We will see! This is the same material I plan on using to cover the sump, but in clear instead of white.

I also bought a gram scale to do my dry ferts. 

I am working on a way to clean up the area where I drilled the overflow box. It isn't perfectly clean. There are some shavings that melted as I drilled it and they are preventing a good bulkhead seal. Ideas/Suggestions? 

I have to get a creeper/dolly thing to move my sump. My wife is too pregnant and I can't seem to get a helping hand. Manhandling the 75g isn't on my to do list. I should be flooding the display tank any day now, at least partially. I have soaked the manzanita a few times in the tub and it started to run clear. The rate at which it leaks tannins has depreciated. 

I am also thinking of changing up my stocking. I do want to get a large school of smaller fish, most likely cherry barbs or harlequin rasboras. Possibly lemon/bloodfin tetras though. Depends on what I can find in stock locally and in large quantities. Probably shooting for 40+ initially.


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## Freemananana (Jan 2, 2015)

I got the interior painted as well as moved the sump into the stand. The sump overflows the first piece of glass, so ignore the fact that the foam doesn't reach the bottom of the sump. That was so mismeasuring on yours truely's part.



Here's 15 lbs of pumice and a $1 store bag.



It sits on some egg crate. The water will flow under the second baffle.



I'll have to round up the other 300w heater or two I have around, but this is the majority of the sump with the LED lights strung up.



The LEDs are just attached to the supports with the tape and staples.



Lastly, I filled most of the tank up with water. Just to see how it leeches from the manzanita and the soil under the cap. I still have to do the plumbing.



Unfortunately I've been sick, but there isn't a ton left before it will be 'running'. I have reached out to a local hatchery and ordered 40 harlequin rasboras and a dozen denison barbs. I have a bit of filter media ready and cycled, so I will seed the sump material and dose some ammonia in the mean time.


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## Freemananana (Jan 2, 2015)

Another minor update. I had a lot of unexpected stuff come up last night that pulled me away from my dream of plumbing the tank! That SHOULD be on today's list though. I didn't take any pictures, but I began to work on the lids and I'm already impressed and excited about the corrugated clear plastic greenhouse panels. I did layout my plumbing setup as well.

Sort of a counter clockwise explanation from the top. I have some stainless steel hose clamps as well as steel conduit straps. Inside the box will be an elbow strainer, emergency standpipe and the full siphon with a strainer. I'll use the 1.5" bulkheads in the overflow box glued to hose adapters as a 'union' of sorts. I had to grind down the barb adapters to fit through the bulkhead nuts though. I could NOT find a better way to do this so the bulkheads could be removed from the box. I will then go into a foot or so of spa flex PVC with the hose adapter on one side and 45* elbows on the other. A short angled run under the stand to another set of 45* elbows. Then straight down into the sump. The center bulkhead will have the 1.5" gate valve. From the return pump I have a 1.25" flex hose to a barb/threaded adapter to a thread to slip adapter. I'm using street 90s on the return. It will exit the top of the sump, 90* to the far side of the tank, 90* up, union, run to the top of the tank, union, 90* back, 90* down into the bulkhead on top of the tank, 90* inside the tank to the spray bar with an end cap. It will be a 24" spray back with two sets of holes. A larger set to flow straight across the tank and a smaller set angled downward into the tank.



I also cannot recommend Rain or Shine enough, it is the best PVC cement around. We use it in the water utility and it sets up fast, handles pressure quickly and just works.



That's the goal for this evening, to finish the plumbing. After that, I'll start testing the tank and plant it this weekend. I will make the hood to suspend the lights but it isn't mandatory yet. I want to get the plumbing going so I can seed my new media with my existing cycled media as well as start running the water through the filter floss I bought to clean out the thicker tannins, sand, dirt from the media, etc. Should be a fun weekend!


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## Nordic (Nov 11, 2003)

Those denison's are going to be awesome, they take about a year to get to full size and colour but they are really something. In my top 5 freshwater fish.
Remeber not to run the tank too hot and allow a cool down period for a few days over winter, choose tank mates that can hang with fish from temperate zones.
I have fish that can survive from less than 10C to close to 40C for short periods as this reflects their environment. They would really be nice with those denis, but those are like $15 a pop over here and wild harvested.


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## Freemananana (Jan 2, 2015)

Nordic said:


> Those denison's are going to be awesome, they take about a year to get to full size and colour but they are really something. In my top 5 freshwater fish.
> Remeber not to run the tank too hot and allow a cool down period for a few days over winter, choose tank mates that can hang with fish from temperate zones.
> I have fish that can survive from less than 10C to close to 40C for short periods as this reflects their environment. They would really be nice with those denis, but those are like $15 a pop over here and wild harvested.




I had Denisons previously and can't say anything but good things about them. I purchased about 10 of them for $5 each from Petsmart and lost a few though. The colors are spectacular. They are about $10-15 here as well and very few places breed, or claim to breed, them. Mostly wild caught as well. Definitely want to get 10-15 of them, 10 Bos. Rainbows, a few yoyo loaches, and a huge harlequin rasbora school (40-50+). I live in Florida and the coldest the water would ever get is about 70 degrees. The bigger worry is summer temps if I can't circulate air around the tank well.


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## Greggz (May 19, 2008)

I'm really enjoying following this thread. Love a good stand build and plumbing project.

I took at look at your old 75G, and based on that this should be a really beautiful planted tank when it's finished.

And nice work on detailing the build. I'm sure others will get some great ideas from that.


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## Freemananana (Jan 2, 2015)

Greggz said:


> I'm really enjoying following this thread. Love a good stand build and plumbing project.
> 
> I took at look at your old 75G, and based on that this should be a really beautiful planted tank when it's finished.
> 
> And nice work on detailing the build. I'm sure others will get some great ideas from that.


Thanks! I do like to catalog things and my results. It really helps when you try and give people anecdotal advice as well. Pictures and actual results really help others along. That's really the whole point of a journal; to either ask questions or share the progress with others. 

My wood working is slightly better than it was when I built the last stand. I will say my budget is like a thousand times higher than it was when I was doing that, so raw materials will be better. I'm still a stickler, but the salary difference between engineer and minimum wage is nice. I plan to finish the plumbing and probably the hood skeleton this weekend. I should be planting everything tomorrow. My hope is I have found the issue with my water and fixed it. I haven't had luck with plants since I moved.


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## Nordic (Nov 11, 2003)

At least you got that fancy heater controller. Over summer I just disconnect heaters and let the temp fall where it will overnight.
Tends to keep the thermostat in the green zone.


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## Freemananana (Jan 2, 2015)

Nordic said:


> At least you got that fancy heater controller. Over summer I just disconnect heaters and let the temp fall where it will overnight.
> Tends to keep the thermostat in the green zone.


Very true! I tend to keep mine pretty consistent. The heaters run every now and again and the tank stays pretty consistent. I keep my house around 77*F in the summer. The winter rarely drops the house below 68*F at night, so the tank shouldn't see any real fluctuation. I have 600w of heaters right now and can easily add a third for 900w without issue. 

I have a pretty sizable update along with a couple concerns. There is this weird tea colored junk that has acumilated at the bottom of the tank. It is towards the front glass only (lowest point). I think it is heavy tannins? It sucks out or stirs up without much trouble.



The tank is verrrrry unclear. Can barely see into it.



For comparison, below and above. The camera is a little out of focus, but the water is dark.



I cut a piece of 2x4 to run the length between the horizontal support and the to be canopy. I then cut out about half of it for my DJ rack. It's a pretty nice fit and offers a lot more organization!



I knew I needed to put some sort of fish guard up for the overflow and I went with the same gutter guard I used on my 75g overflow. It's $2.50 from the hardware store for a 4' piece. I only used a 15"x3" piece and some silicone to hold it in place. 



Clamped it in place and a couple dabs of silicone around the perimeter hold it in place. Enough for small fish but doesn't impede flow.



I set up the drains as well. From left to right: trickle, siphon, emergency. I have the barb fittings to act as a disconnect. I shaved them down to fit through the bulkheads. 



They drain into the first chamber. I actually water tested my baffles for the first time as well. The first one is filled to the brim and holding without any issue! Very glad because the silicone seem is larger than I would like it to be. You can also see the flexible hose I used for the return pump. It is sitting on a couple pieces of silicone mat as well.



The return does have a couple traditional unions because space wasn't an issue. 





And it comes clear across the top of the tank to the far side.



And here is the spray bar I am using at the moment. May redesign it or try a couple different patterns/sizes out since I have a couple extra pieces of pipe lying around.



I made some very cheap plastic lids for the sump. Not completed sealed but they do keep evaporation down considerably. I will see what I can do to make a better fit for the drains though, since the bubbles from the overflow do pop and splatter a bit.



Here's the return pump hole. I guess I could have rounded it pretty easily.



And a close up of the drains. The straps are just attached to a piece of wood to slightly weight them down. They were popping up because the flex hose had a considerable curve to it.



Here is the 6'x2' greenhouse panel I had planned on using as a lid.



And my very extravagant plans that are very well rounded. One panel will slide overtop of the other panel and have some spacers under it. 



And here they are. Nothing crazy fancy. The handles are recycled as well. I have to add a couple of pieces of acrylic as 'tracks' on the side, but they keep evaporation down nicely as is.



They boast a very good pass through rate but this angle makes them look much less translucent. 



I moved my 72" beamswork LED into place as well. I have to make the canopy still and suspend it 6"-12" above the surface, but I'm pretty happy with the current light spread anyway!



I wish it had cleared up more than it has. You can barely see my vals I got from Ed in the background!



I should have the canopy together without much issue and move the rest of my plants into the tank tomorrow. That means I'll be able to suspend all my lighting as well. As it sits, the light is probably putting out double the par I would like it to. I found a place to order some YoYo loaches from as well. So I'll have rasboras, yoyos, denisons and rainbows. I saw a 12 pack of corys at my LFS that I really would like to adopt as well. They look like they were brought it as an exchange due to their size. They also schooled extremely tightly, which was adorable.


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## Nordic (Nov 11, 2003)

Your house temperatures seem to be in the ideal range, good fish choice!

It is a shame you couldn't put the pipe leading to the spray bar in through a hole in the rear, would have hidden it nicely.


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## Freemananana (Jan 2, 2015)

Nordic said:


> Your house temperatures seem to be in the ideal range, good fish choice!
> 
> It is a shame you couldn't put the pipe leading to the spray bar in through a hole in the rear, would have hidden it nicely.


It's pretty ideal for tropical fish! It's awesome.

The spray bar will be inside the hood. I still have to wrap the tank stand in plywood and stain it. So you won't be able to see any of the plumbing when it is all said and done. There is a couple inches in the rear I could run wires, but definitely not enough for plumbing.


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## Nordic (Nov 11, 2003)

Can't wait till the fish is in so I can get a better idea of the scale.... All tanks always look the same size in photos.


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## Freemananana (Jan 2, 2015)

Nordic said:


> Can't wait till the fish is in so I can get a better idea of the scale.... All tanks always look the same size in photos.


Me as well. I am very excited for the fish. The plants help give it some scale though. Despite having 30-40 lb boulders in it, it still looks small. Photos really don't do the size of tanks over 4' justice. They all look like 75g tanks in close up photos.

I had some down time while things were going on today, so I did some water testing. I started with the PH of my tap water since I knew I had been having issues with my new house that I didn't have in the past. The PH looked good on the low range test, but when I did the high range test, I realized it was close to 8.0-8.2 and not the 7.4-7.6 that I am use to. It's a tad higher than I would like, any real issues here with plants? I usually stick to hardier fish and they adapt to the change of PH well as long as it is constant. 



I also did some nitrate testing. Pictured is distilled water (0 ppm), my fridge filter water (5ppm), my tap water (10 ppm) and tap water after it sits out for a day (10ppm). I'm sad to see nitrates in my water, it isn't something I've dealt with in the past. I means I won't be cutting my water with 0ppm nitrates when I do water changes.



EDIT: I did GH and KH tests today, nothing crazy there. Glad to see there are pretty normal for what I am use to in the past.

Onward to the work I did today. I had to go back and find my original sketches for the project to see what I had planned for the canopy.



Made myself a cut sheet.



For reference, this is the webpage I use when I do my cut sheet calculations. I take my drawing and tally up the number of each length, punch it in and it does the math to figure out the most efficient use of your wood.



While I was working, I brainstormed a simple way to suspend the lights. It included measuring between the feet of the lights, the width of the lights and suspending them about 9" above the top of the tank.



So here is everything cut out of the 1x2s I had picked up. 



And assembled. There were a few modifications to be made post this stage that I didn't picture. The bulkhead hit one of the uprights, so I moved it. The brace bracing I did hit another, so I trimmed that upright 1/4". I also added a couple more uprights. The canopy brace on the bottom from front to back hit my brace bracing as well so I flipped it over to clear the 1/2" overlap. 



Here it is inside the house, on the tank, with the two lights in place. 





The lights slide in from either end (ignore screws that are exposed, I will cap them for safety) and have a lip that stops them from sliding either way. So I use that lip to secure the lights to some scrap 1x2. Both lights have a frame portion on the ends that are about an inch anyway, so it worked out well.



I scrap piece of plywood made for a decent shelf for the power supplies from the lights. They both have short runs to the plug, so they needed to be close to the DJ rack.



The beamswork pent 0.5w LED is on a timer, 6 hours for now. The finnex 24/7 is running in 24/7 mode. 



To give you an idea of the space I have to work with. It's about 12" from top brace to bottom brace and 9" between the light and the lids.



The lids open and slide without obstruction for feeding and maintenance. The canopy isn't great for initial scaping though. So I did that prior to putting it in place.



And a full shot of the canopy. You can see my planting thus far as well. Unfortunately, it still has quite the cloud to it from both the driftwood tannis and the soil. I have jungle vals, spiral vals, crypts, sag, and java fern. There are a two other plants I got in a RAOK that you can barely see and their names escape me because I've never grown them before.



I took some shots of the tank after I turned the pump on, but before it was at operating level so you can see the movement from the spray bar. I was surprised it shoots about 3' out. This is running the pump on max too. I don't know what my head height is, but the pump is rated at 2100 gph without head. So it's still pushing a ton out!





Another full tank shot. I cannot wait for it to clear up.



And a picture of the dining room where it sits. I have my back to our living room, I'll have to get a better shot of it. I'm really glad with it thus far.



And here's just the finnex. I'm fairly impressed with the spread for being a 4' light 26" to substrate. It will definitely be the accent light I want and accomplish the sunset/sunrise/moonlighting ambiance. 



And around the corner sits the abandoned 55g all in one aquarium. I donated the tiger barb population to the LFS. I'm not sure what I'll do with this tank now. My wife mentioned a reptile of sorts or a hamster type of animal for our daughter. I've gotten my use out of it and it surely will clean up well for a non-aquatic tank.



Last thing I did today was start my 'fishless cycle'. I took the Seachem Matrix I had in my 55g and spread it on top of the media in my 75g sump. I then added 100g worth of Tetra SafeStart, just because I've wanted to try it. The established media should seed quickly. I am going to dose to 2ppm with my Ace ammonia and do some readings tomorrow to see where I stand.


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## BettaBettas (Aug 21, 2016)

omg this journal just got, a ca-jil-ion times better!


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## Freemananana (Jan 2, 2015)

According to my math, 10ml of my ammonia should put me at 2ppm ammonia in my roughly 175g of water I'm currently running.



BettaBettas said:


> omg this journal just got, a ca-jil-ion times better!


Hey, thanks! I'm surprised the plants filled up as much space as they did actually. I had that all stuffed in my 55g. :grin2: Give it a year and I'm sure it will grow in and look much better. I'm onto cycling the seeded media and I'll be ordering fish in a few weeks.


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## Freemananana (Jan 2, 2015)

I woke up to quite a change in clarity! I dosed some ferts along with the Tetra safe start and ammonia last night, so I was quite surprised. Here's the Finnex sunrise this morning.



A more traditional full tank shot, I turned the main light on.



Some close ups from right to left.







I need to wipe down some of the dust from the substrate and the gunk from having the tank sit half full. I also need to paint the spray bar since I'm pretty happy with it.


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## ScubaSteve (Jun 30, 2012)

This is getting exciting! Looking great so far!


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## Nordic (Nov 11, 2003)

Id use a large water bottle filled with floss or batting, connected to the intake of a powerhead to start scrubbing the fine dust from the water, it will be kinder on your equipment with less of it in circulation.


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## Freemananana (Jan 2, 2015)

ScubaSteve said:


> This is getting exciting! Looking great so far!




Thanks! Everything pending, I'll be adding fish in the coming weeks.



Nordic said:


> Id use a large water bottle filled with floss or batting, connected to the intake of a powerhead to start scrubbing the fine dust from the water, it will be kinder on your equipment with less of it in circulation.




Do you mean floss like this? 





I've been cleaning/replacing it daily since I got the tank up and running. I did a partial water change twice as well. After my media is established, I'm going to tear down and vacuum out the sump. The floss is before my bio media and I plan to always run some there since it is easy enough to pull up and replace.


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## Nordic (Nov 11, 2003)

Yeah. was thinking it would be better to get the dust out rather than into the sump.


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## Freemananana (Jan 2, 2015)

Nordic said:


> Yeah. was thinking it would be better to get the dust out rather than into the sump.




I do know whatcha mean. I have my powerhead from my 55g. I'll make a little water polisher this afternoon and run it inside the display tank. Even just the floss in the sump has done quite a bit already. Nearly 2000gph is quite a lot.


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## Greggz (May 19, 2008)

Nice update and a thorough cataloging of all the steps (of which there are many!). 

I like the early scape and look forward to seeing it grow in.

Have you decided how you are going to finish the stand?


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## Freemananana (Jan 2, 2015)

Greggz said:


> Nice update and a thorough cataloging of all the steps (of which there are many!).
> 
> I like the early scape and look forward to seeing it grow in.
> 
> Have you decided how you are going to finish the stand?


Thanks! I have decided. I plan to wrap it with some thinner birch plywood from the local home improvement store and stain it. Nothing crazy or fancy, but I'll take my time with it. I am still looking for trim pieces that will stain a similar color. I may opt to just rip down plywood and route it for trim though. I am still figuring out the door possibilities though. I'll be starting in on this while I wait for the tank to cycle, at least the design aspect.


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## wading_in (Feb 20, 2017)

Loving your Story!

This will be gorgeous when it is finished 

So looking forward to seeing more


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## Freemananana (Jan 2, 2015)

wading_in said:


> Loving your Story!
> 
> This will be gorgeous when it is finished
> 
> So looking forward to seeing more


Thank you! There is plenty more to come. Right now I am focusing on making sure I'm happy with the equipment layout and whatnot. I am going to pick up some high output fans to mount in the canopy above my lights just in case. Other than that, I'm designing the cabinetry and waiting on the cycle. I have about 100 fish picked out and waiting to be ordered. I'm going with a much larger school of fish than I have in the past.

This is what has me the most excited:

Filled-


Yesterday-


The clarity increased dramatically in just a few days. I can't wait for the driftwood to get done with it's thing and actually be able to view the tank.


EDIT: 

Stumbled upon an idea I meant to try out, a Purigen reactor. That's on my list for water clarity post cycle. I found a $20 reactor that I'll be using to fluidize the Purigen in the sump.


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## Freemananana (Jan 2, 2015)

Came home to some even more tea colored water. These branches are the tannins masters. That or the soil is really putting out some color.



If someone could decipher this for me, I'd appreciate it. I'm color...inhibited. I also know these tests are not the easiest to read anyway. What is my PH? I did both the regular and high PH tests. This is from the water inside the tank this time, not my tap water. 



I also stuffed some drawers and a bin for my wet tools under the stand. The drawers don't open all the way, but it is mostly uncommon aquarium supplies like excess ferts and such.



I wanted to give everyone an idea of how the corner bracing turned out. This is 1/2" square acrylic stock that is held on by Weld-On.



Not a perfect seam, but not bad for my first and only time using acrylic cement. You can see the bubbles in the joint as well as the crazing the tank had. It's nothing major.



Here's my beautiful cascade of uneven water. The far side is a bit lower than the near side in this photo. I guess I didn't square the piece up very well! It still flows nearly 2000 gph with a thin sheet.



The fuzzy knobs on the end of the driftwood are the bacteria bloom if memory serves me right. Glad to see it, I'll be even more glad when it is gone.



And a full tank shot for good measure. I'm enjoying it already.



I probably won't have much over the next couple days as I slowly wait for the media to seed. I guess the couple fish I had in my 55g weren't a high bio load. I dosed this tank to 2ppm ammonia Sunday evening.


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## BettaBettas (Aug 21, 2016)

loving your light setup...


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## Freemananana (Jan 2, 2015)

BettaBettas said:


> loving your light setup...


Thanks! It's sort of ghetto fabulous. It's not fancy and beautiful like many you see, but it will be covered up so it's all about function at this point. Plus, it was freeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee after the initial cost of canopy materials. I am incredibly impatient and want to order fish. This tank needs to be cycled by Thursday.


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## longgonedaddy (Dec 9, 2012)

I love the scape! Looking forward to fish and filled in plants.


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## ibebian (Jan 11, 2016)

Your pH looks to be 7.4-7.6 which is somewhat surprising due to tannins. Do you know the pH and kH coming out of your tap?


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


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## Freemananana (Jan 2, 2015)

longgonedaddy said:


> I love the scape! Looking forward to fish and filled in plants.



Thanks! I'm pretty proud of the rocks on the right to be honest. It's over a hundred pounds of boulders. And the manzanita looks exactly how I wanted it to, for once. I'm hoping to avoid some of my previous mistakes with this setup. 



ibebian said:


> Your pH looks to be 7.4-7.6 which is somewhat surprising due to tannins. Do you know the pH and kH coming out of your tap?
> 
> 
> Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk




Thank you! It is around 8.0-8.2 out of the tap from what my previous test said and my GH and KH are both ~6. For reference, here is my tap water test from a few days back and the KH bottle is right there beside it. Color changed at 6 drops per API's instructions.


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## Freemananana (Jan 2, 2015)

Minor update! The cycling is continuing, I'm already reading nitrites. The ammonia went down 1.5ppm+ overnight, so that's pretty good. I'm reading about 1ppm nitrites. I expect a couple more days is all there will be in this cycle and I'll be dosing 4ppm ammonia daily to keep the filter seeded. That means next weekend is fish weekend!

I did purchase a media reactor that was on sale via Amazon with some brownie bucks I had on the site, just to give it a shot.



Initial setup wasn't exactly straight forward, but it wasn't overly complicated. It did take a big longer than I had hoped, but here's the final result.



And the media is pretty well fluidized.



It isn't exactly cheap ($38), but it's a 2.5"x15" reactor. Compared to the 2.5"x10" whole house filters, it is a similar cost. It should flow plenty through the purigen, maybe 40-50 gph, to see results. I don't plan on using it until the tank is cycled and I've performed my big 90% water change and vacuumed out the sump. It tumbles roughly 100ml of purigen.


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## d33pVI (Oct 28, 2015)

Sweet build! Everything is looking great, although:




Freemananana said:


> I may opt to just rip down plywood and route it for trim though.




Please don't! You should be able to find some stock baseboard or moulding trim, or route down some 1x hardwood strips. Routed and stained plywood edges look terribad!


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## Freemananana (Jan 2, 2015)

d33pVI said:


> Sweet build! Everything is looking great, although:
> Please don't! You should be able to find some stock baseboard or moulding trim, or route down some 1x hardwood strips. Routed and stained plywood edges look terribad!


First off, terribad. HILARIOUS. I thought I was the only one who said such foolery. Anyway, thanks. I will keep that in mind. My local Lowes has 1x in whiteboard and that is pretty much it. I have been giving it some more thought and consideration, I may opt for a painted finish instead of stain. Mixed woods often clash when stained. Depends on what you use. I plan on thinking hard and long about this decision and that's why I've decided to keep it separate from getting the tank running.


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## Freemananana (Jan 2, 2015)

Small update, nitrites are climbing fast and about 1ppm of ammonia is dissipating over night at this point.



I received my bulk head strainers as well. I'm using these on my main siphon and trickle overflow.



I did a little maintenance today. I had to clean up the filter floss.



I just hose it down with hot water in the sink.



Terrible quality video shot with a cell phone. But it is 2 minutes long and does a fair job of show casing the sound level of the tank. I don't have a breather tube or anything on my stand pipe in the overflow because I enjoy a slight running of water sound.


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## BettaBettas (Aug 21, 2016)

every time I see your setup, the more inspiration it gives off. and the more I love it. 
I wish I had that tank lol


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## Freemananana (Jan 2, 2015)

BettaBettas said:


> every time I see your setup, the more inspiration it gives off. and the more I love it.
> I wish I had that tank lol


Craigslist my friend! $80 in a back yard! I tried to buy a 300g acrylic tank at the same time, but it was sold before I could even get to it. I don't know why this is inspirational though. It's pretty basic. It's not the super fancy high tech auto everything tank. I appreciate the compliment and it's pretty much the best thing you could even say, but I never expected it! It caught me off guard. Thank you.


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## BettaBettas (Aug 21, 2016)

Freemananana said:


> Craigslist my friend! $80 in a back yard! I tried to buy a 300g acrylic tank at the same time, but it was sold before I could even get to it. I don't know why this is inspirational though. It's pretty basic. It's not the super fancy high tech auto everything tank. I appreciate the compliment and it's pretty much the best thing you could even say, but I never expected it! It caught me off guard. Thank you.


 My God im glad you mentioned craigslist! I recently picked up glass from a builder, renovating a house that was 57" wide by 76" long (5 pieces of that) Half inch thick! little pieces where 37 by the same length basically. Idk if ill make an aquarium with them but omg I was so excited, got them in the truck just have to find out how to unload them as they are about 300lbs each lol little ones are about 100lbs or so (do-able) and we also got some plexiglass, dk what im going to do with that but why not take it with? has the word glass in it right lol! Craigslist in my rural area doesn't really have a busy section, usually the closest thing is about 3 hours away, spend more gas than saving money. And no problem for the compliment


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## Freemananana (Jan 2, 2015)

BettaBettas said:


> My God im glad you mentioned craigslist! I recently picked up glass from a builder, renovating a house that was 57" wide by 76" long (5 pieces of that) Half inch thick! little pieces where 37 by the same length basically. Idk if ill make an aquarium with them but omg I was so excited, got them in the truck just have to find out how to unload them as they are about 300lbs each lol little ones are about 100lbs or so (do-able) and we also got some plexiglass, dk what im going to do with that but why not take it with? has the word glass in it right lol! Craigslist in my rural area doesn't really have a busy section, usually the closest thing is about 3 hours away, spend more gas than saving money. And no problem for the compliment


I did drive a hour to look at this tank and decided I could clean it up and give it a shot for the price. I probably have $150 into the tank after buying the half inch square stock and Novus polish. If you get into big tanks, used ones on craigslist can potentially save you a lot of money. My local petco has 75g tanks for the dollar per gallon sale, so anything bigger than that. Those pieces can be cut down and make a nice tank. Half inch glass could do 24"+ deep with proper bracing on the top. I'd pay the pros to cut it though, if possible. You could go very wide as well. Depth is the main limiting factor in glass thickness. Long runs can bow as well, like the 6' length of my tank. That's why most have a sizable middle brace.


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## BettaBettas (Aug 21, 2016)

Freemananana said:


> I did drive a hour to look at this tank and decided I could clean it up and give it a shot for the price. I probably have $150 into the tank after buying the half inch square stock and Novus polish. If you get into big tanks, used ones on craigslist can potentially save you a lot of money. My local petco has 75g tanks for the dollar per gallon sale, so anything bigger than that. Those pieces can be cut down and make a nice tank. Half inch glass could do 24"+ deep with proper bracing on the top. I'd pay the pros to cut it though, if possible. You could go very wide as well. Depth is the main limiting factor in glass thickness. Long runs can bow as well, like the 6' length of my tank. That's why most have a sizable middle brace.


 Primarily i got these pieces of glass to make another underground greenhouse with lol, i guess i'll have to save a little piece for a nano tank or something


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## Freemananana (Jan 2, 2015)

BettaBettas said:


> Freemananana said:
> 
> 
> > I did drive a hour to look at this tank and decided I could clean it up and give it a shot for the price. I probably have $150 into the tank after buying the half inch square stock and Novus polish. If you get into big tanks, used ones on craigslist can potentially save you a lot of money. My local petco has 75g tanks for the dollar per gallon sale, so anything bigger than that. Those pieces can be cut down and make a nice tank. Half inch glass could do 24"+ deep with proper bracing on the top. I'd pay the pros to cut it though, if possible. You could go very wide as well. Depth is the main limiting factor in glass thickness. Long runs can bow as well, like the 6' length of my tank. That's why most have a sizable middle brace.
> ...


A nano tank!? I'll let the underground green house slide though. That sounds pretty cool.


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## BettaBettas (Aug 21, 2016)

Freemananana said:


> A nano tank!? I'll let the underground green house slide though. That sounds pretty cool.


 Yea I am a heavy farmer  But yes a nano tank :wink2: im a large fan of nanos, cheaper (for the most part!) and more interesting when done correctly IMO. But I would one day like a huge 200 gallon aquarium at the least, dutch style, something I can waste all my money on. lmao :fish:


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## Freemananana (Jan 2, 2015)

BettaBettas said:


> Yea I am a heavy farmer  But yes a nano tank :wink2: im a large fan of nanos, cheaper (for the most part!) and more interesting when done correctly IMO. But I would one day like a huge 200 gallon aquarium at the least, dutch style, something I can waste all my money on. lmao :fish:


Shucks! My opposite! I like to have one, large, tank. Something basic and jungle themed. I'm into the DIY money saving side of it as well. I hope to venture into a larger aquarium in a few years and maybe keep some discus as well. But I'll have to figure out a drip system well before I go that route. This tank will last me for awhile, until it becomes a sump for my next project. :grin2:

Small update shot just because. I got some more sag and a few misc. crypts! There's a TON of sag in this tank actually. It won't take long for it to fill in and be a loose carpet. I have been sucking up every sag offer I've gotten and didn't realize how much I ended up with.


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## BettaBettas (Aug 21, 2016)

Just thought you would be interested in hearing this, but when I was unloading this 500lb glass from the truck... 3/5 broke... woops. Small ones are ok though


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## Freemananana (Jan 2, 2015)

BettaBettas said:


> Just thought you would be interested in hearing this, but when I was unloading this 500lb glass from the truck... 3/5 broke... woops. Small ones are ok though


NOOOOOOOOOOOOO. The saddest thing I've heard in awhile. I bought a large 3/4" glass tank and chipped the corner while moving it myself. I know the pain. It stinks. My smallest tank I've stocked was my 20g shrimp tank. I've never actually had a nano tank, like a sub 5g tank. I may build one though. A really long, shallow, shrimp tank. We shall see.


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## BettaBettas (Aug 21, 2016)

Freemananana said:


> NOOOOOOOOOOOOO. The saddest thing I've heard in awhile. I bought a large 3/4" glass tank and chipped the corner while moving it myself. I know the pain. It stinks. My smallest tank I've stocked was my 20g shrimp tank. I've never actually had a nano tank, like a sub 5g tank. I may build one though. A really long, shallow, shrimp tank. We shall see.


 long ones are the best ones :angel:


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## Freemananana (Jan 2, 2015)

I think I have decided on how I'll finish my stand. I am throwing around the idea of using 1/4" plywood with 1x3's to frame out the doors. I'll pick up some trim from the local surplus store and paint the whole thing if I go this route. I picked up some color splotches while I was at Lowe's thinking. I like to walk isles and look at stuff to give me ideas. The kitchen was painted this color when I bought the house and I don't hate it. So I left it. Opinions on stand color? I plan on going with a very minimalist approach to the stand. 



The tank is also nearly cycled. Ammonia dissipates over night and the nitrites are currently sky high. I expect them to disappear in the next couple days. I'm in process of ordering fish for this weekend.


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## BettaBettas (Aug 21, 2016)

black or dark colored stands IMO are nice, makes the actual tank and plants or fish stand out more


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## Freemananana (Jan 2, 2015)

Note worthy! The back is painted black.


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## DigityDog70 (Jan 20, 2017)

Freemananana said:


> Very little work today. I am clamping a portion of the overflow and letting the weld-on 16 dry until tomorrow after work. I did finish cutting out the slot. Not perfect, still a bit of clean up left. But after that is finished, I'll scrub the tank out and remove all the debris.
> 
> 
> 
> ...


I like that way your tank is planned to look, very nice. Did you happen to use Visio to digram those plans? I use Visio myself and love it, so I'm curious. Looks like Visio anyhow. 

Again, nice work and keep it up!

Cheers,
DD


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## Freemananana (Jan 2, 2015)

DigityDog70 said:


> I like that way your tank is planned to look, very nice. Did you happen to use Visio to digram those plans? I use Visio myself and love it, so I'm curious. Looks like Visio anyhow.
> 
> Again, nice work and keep it up!
> 
> ...


It is actually Google Sketchup, a free program. Much easier than the AutoCad MAP 3D I use at work. The stand looks better in the designs than it will probably look after I get done with my handy work. :grin2:


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## DigityDog70 (Jan 20, 2017)

Freemananana said:


> It is actually Google Sketchup, a free program. Much easier than the AutoCad MAP 3D I use at work. The stand looks better in the designs than it will probably look after I get done with my handy work. :grin2:




Another day, and another lesson ! Cheers Freemanana 


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


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## DigityDog70 (Jan 20, 2017)

Thanks FM, I just have to check it out! Appreciate you spreading the knowledge. Cheers! To awesome Planted Tanks! 


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk


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## BettaBettas (Aug 21, 2016)

Now im going to try this google sketchup thing to design another aquaponics system. Thanks for saying it or else I would know of it :O


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## Nordic (Nov 11, 2003)

Id build in the python or whatever you plan to use to service the sump with while you are still penciling in things.


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## Freemananana (Jan 2, 2015)

BettaBettas said:


> Now im going to try this google sketchup thing to design another aquaponics system. Thanks for saying it or else I would know of it :O


No worries! I had mentioned it somewhere in this thread before. I love it and use it for a lot of stuff. For a free program, there isn't much more you can ask.



Nordic said:


> Id build in the python or whatever you plan to use to service the sump with while you are still penciling in things.


I don't plan to do my water changes through the sump, I'll be draining the main display tank. I thought of including a ball valve about half way down the side of the tank, but opted not to because I would still have to attach a hose to it and I'd rather just siphon it up over the edge. 

Another small update today. Nitrites are sky high. I'll probably do a water change today just to see where the clarity is at. A lot of tannins have been removed. Ammonia goes from ~2ppm to 0ppm overnight. I'm on the tail end of cycling. 

I saw a thread here with an overflow floating plant blocker and I thought, hey, I can do that! I also cut a piece of 30ppm foam out to go inside the overflow groove in the tank. I am having a bit of melt and leaves find there way into the gutter guard and are kind of a pain to pull out if they wrap around it. So this should make it easier. It may be a permanent addition to the tank. 



Installed in the tank. With this I can add in frogbit, one of my favorite plants.





A shot of the tank running to compare the water level. You can also see the additional suction cups at the top of the guard. I wanted to keep it high.



I'm also very happy with my spray bar so I am painting it with Krylon matte black.



And my temporary return. Based on the plant sway and the overflow box height, flow is just a tad higher than the spray bar. I'm quite excited about that. It means I'm losing flow, but not a ton, through the spray bar.



Next step is finishing the cycle, letting the spray bar dry for 48 hours, and adding a check valve to the return pump. I'm not worried about it leaking. The return just makes a ton of noise when I turn the pump off and I'd like to lessen that since I'll turn the return off for daily feedings. I just don't want to spook my fish. With that said, I have my fish order in! They are checking their stock and setting it up for weekend delivery. Should I medicate (deworm) the tank at all? Opinions on that? Or just wait and see?

EDIT: Update - Full tank shot after the water change. Quite clear!


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## timwag2001 (Jul 3, 2009)

So yeah... I spent the last hour reading this thread. Love it. Great build!

Any chance I could get some pics of the completed overflow?


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## Freemananana (Jan 2, 2015)

timwag2001 said:


> So yeah... I spent the last hour reading this thread. Love it. Great build!
> 
> Any chance I could get some pics of the completed overflow?


Thanks! For you, I'll snag some new pictures. They aren't the best, but here's what I managed to snag.

I have a 1" tall by 14" slot that I drilled and cut out of the side of the acrylic tank. It's a weir and can handle thousands upon thousands of gallons, more than my return pump will ever pump. I have a piece of 30 ppi foam in front of it as well as a guard made from gutter guard to keep floating plants out.



I used the same gutter guard, siliconed in place, as a fish guard originally. My overflow box is 6" deep, 4" wide, and 16" long. I have 3 1.5" bulkheads. From left to right: trickle, siphon, emergency stand pipe. Both the trickle and full siphon have bulkhead guards over them. They reduce the flow very slightly. The stand pipe doesn't have a guard. I glued in scrap pieces of acrylic to hold a lid to keep evaporation down in this compartment.



The bottom side of the bulkheads are attached to barb fittings and flex PVC or spa pipe. I have a full PVC gate valve on the full siphon to dial in the flow rate. A single on of these pipes flows more than my return pump, so this combo is truly quiet and fail proof. 



Aside from the straight drop, there are only 2 45* elbows in the drains. This keeps the flow unrestricted. Simple geometry netted me the length of the diagonal pipe to go the distance to the sump under the stand.



The drains are slightly angled to allow the return line to pass through the opening on the side of the sump. The 24" sounds like a lot, but 11" are taken up by the 2x6 uprights. A final 45* bend puts the return pipes into the sump.



Each pipe has a scrap piece of PVC to make sure the water exits below the water surface. This keeps down on sound and splashing.



The water flows through two pieces of foam that are held in place by egg crate. It only skims the surface, but I plan on adding a sheet of glass to force the water under and through the entirety of the foam. Still, for mechanical filtration, it is plenty. The water overflows a baffle onto filter floss. I keep this emerged to keep down on sound again and it just happened to be the running height of the sump I settled on. Under the filter floss is 5 gallons of pumice, roughly. It is very similar to seachem matrix.



The water runs under the last baffle, past a couple heaters, to the return pump. Pictured is a purigen media reactor that isn't running because the nitrite cycle isn't finished and purigen would be counter productive at this point. The return pump sits on silicone pot pads and has a flex hose to eliminate vibration and the noise that comes with it.



I hope that helps. If there is anything else you want to know, just let me know.


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## timwag2001 (Jul 3, 2009)

Thank you!! 

Whats the purpose of having 3 sections of pvc? You mentioned that there was someone that had a design, do you have a link to it?


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## Freemananana (Jan 2, 2015)

timwag2001 said:


> Thank you!!
> 
> Whats the purpose of having 3 sections of pvc? You mentioned that there was someone that had a design, do you have a link to it?


BeanAnimal's Bar and Grill - Silent and Fail-Safe Overflow System

Proven design. It's a good read. Nothing I can add to his article. Bean Animal is his username on some other forums as well.


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## Freemananana (Jan 2, 2015)

Back at it again with small update. I returned my spray bar back into the tank. I was actually surprisenly pleased with the straight up elbow dump. I may be looking into that some more... but here's the black spray bar.



I also installed a check valve. It's not ideal, but it's better than what you pick up at the hardware store. Reasoning? The siphon break was annoyingly loud and I thought it might spook the fish. So it's literally there to make feeding time less stressful for the new fish. I have plenty of space in the sump for the return line to completely back flow.



I also picked up a 3' extension cord for the media reactor. I've filled up my DJ rack actually. :grin2:

EDIT: Update. I have the pump running now and the valve doesn't open all the way. The water level in the tank isn't as high as it was before and the sump level isn't as low as it normally is. I think I'm running into head issues with this valve. Displeasing...


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## TropicalAquarist (Jun 9, 2015)

Just read through the entire build, wow, I'm impressed! That's an awesome design on the stand, love the canopy as well! Are you still planning to cover it up with wood like in this pic?http://s39.photobucket.com/user/stinkylinkz/media/7 finish front_zpsexbqvuvj.jpg.html

Also I might have missed it, but I'm curious what happened to the other lights you had ordered? Are you still planning on using co2?

What fish did you order?


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## Freemananana (Jan 2, 2015)

TropicalAquarist said:


> Just read through the entire build, wow, I'm impressed! That's an awesome design on the stand, love the canopy as well! Are you still planning to cover it up with wood like in this pic?7 finish front_zpsexbqvuvj.jpg Photo by stinkylinkz | Photobucket
> 
> Also I might have missed it, but I'm curious what happened to the other lights you had ordered? Are you still planning on using co2?
> 
> What fish did you order?


Thank you! I do plan on covering it up, I'm just deciding how though. I'm not quite sold on anything yet, which is a problem. I'm figuring out the doors. I can't just split it in half because 3' doors would hit the table. I thought of doing according doors like closets, but I would (personally) prefer the gaps to be covered by a trim piece and that may look too bulky. So I'm deciding! That picture is flat and is very unlikely to actually represent the final product. My stand won't be that smooth, even though I would love it to be. 


The other light, if I recall correctly, will not be used. I was tossing the idea of CO2 around, but sourcing a local bottle didn't work out like I wanted it to. So I will likely stay low tech, non CO2 injected, for now. It's one less complexity and one of the major reasons I was looking into CO2 had to do with a potential plant choice, but that didn't work out either. I'm currently running a beamswork LED and a Finnex 24/7 on the tank. Mid day, when the finnex cycle is at max, it is probably 40 par. I mounted the lights quite high with the ability to lower them if needed in the future. I have about 24" to substrate MAX at this time. That puts my beamswork LED at 36 par at the substrate and the Finnex is a little less than that. The lids have a 80% penetration rate by the manufacturer. So I'm all over the place. I like the height and I'll experiment with the photo period. I have it pretty high right now to spark some algae growth. After I see some, I'll dial it back. I want to introduce otos is all.


I was planning on keeping my stocking a surprised, but it's close enough. I ordered 10 Boesemani Rainbows, 70 harlequin rasboras, 20 peppered cory cats, and 10 amano shrimp. It leaves me some room to stock more in the future if needed. I plan on getting 10-20 oto cats in the future as well. I think the colors will look good together.


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## KayakJimW (Aug 12, 2016)

Freemananana said:


> I was planning on keeping my stocking a surprised, but it's close enough. I ordered 10 Boesemani Rainbows, 70 harlequin rasboras, 20 peppered cory cats, and 10 amano shrimp. It leaves me some room to stock more in the future if needed. I plan on getting 10-20 oto cats in the future as well. I think the colors will look good together.


That's gonna be awesome:thumbsup:


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## Freemananana (Jan 2, 2015)

KayakJimW said:


> That's gonna be awesome:thumbsup:


:grin2: Thanks! That's the hope. The wife is quite excited for some shrimp, even if it isn't nearly as many as I've housed in the past. The rainbows should be small enough to leave them alone. I'm counting down the days, patiently waiting.


Also, side note: I figured out the difference in my water level. The 30 ppi foam is harder to penetrate and my overflow weir was running slightly higher in my display tank. It makes sense. This Friday will be a bulky tank maintenance in preparation for the fish. I'll clean out the sump, renew the filter floss, ass my last mat of foam, and start up the purigen reactor.

EDIT:

Well today's the day. Nitrite and ammonia down to zero over night. Not sure if it was the 'seeded' filter media (sort of have my doubts) or the Tetra safestart. 



Tomorrow I will dose ammonia again. Then Friday afternoon I'll do a big 90%+ water change, scrub the sump down, set the temp at 76*F and just add ferts. Saturday is fish day!


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## PEdwards (Oct 31, 2016)

Great job and a major improvement over the previous build. Keep it up! Now your tank is bigger than mine.


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## Freemananana (Jan 2, 2015)

PEdwards said:


> Great job and a major improvement over the previous build. Keep it up! Now your tank is bigger than mine.


Thanks!  I'm always trying to have the biggest tank around. I just have to finish it off in an appealing way now.

Bump:


PEdwards said:


> Great job and a major improvement over the previous build. Keep it up! Now your tank is bigger than mine.


Thanks!  I'm always trying to have the biggest tank around. I just have to finish it off in an appealing way now.


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## Greggz (May 19, 2008)

Freemananana said:


> I was planning on keeping my stocking a surprised, but it's close enough. I ordered 10 Boesemani Rainbows, 70 harlequin rasboras, 20 peppered cory cats, and 10 amano shrimp. It leaves me some room to stock more in the future if needed. I plan on getting 10-20 oto cats in the future as well. I think the colors will look good together.


The stocking sounds great. You must be excited. Looking forward to seeing them all in the tank.

Good luck with everything, and keep a close on your parameters. You might get some small spikes.

And of course, post some pictures once they settle in.


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## Freemananana (Jan 2, 2015)

Greggz said:


> The stocking sounds great. You must be excited. Looking forward to seeing them all in the tank.
> 
> Good luck with everything, and keep a close on your parameters. You might get some small spikes.
> 
> And of course, post some pictures once they settle in.


Thanks! I'm hoping the school of rainbows is large enough. I wish I could say money wasn't an issue for me, but 10 rainbows was about my limit. I will keep an eye on my parameters. I've never had issues with a fishless cycle into heavy stocking. I have had issues with seeding bigger tanks though. Nothing prime and water changes can't take care of. I will take plenty of photos.


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## Freemananana (Jan 2, 2015)

The countdown is on! One more working day before my fish arrive. The tank is definitely cycled and I'm very happy with the nitrate levels. It looks pretty close to 20ppm in person, which is low for the week+ of 4ppm ammonia dosing I've been doing. I think it has been two weeks but I did a 50% water change in the middle. 



Tomorrow I'll do a big 90% water change, scrub the sump, and dose ferts. Then it's waiting for fish! This is the most excited I've been for a package in a long time.


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## Freemananana (Jan 2, 2015)

Here's the sump, pre cleaning. The water istill pretty tea colored. I swapepd the filter floss out, hosed down the foam, and scrubbed the bottom of the sump.



While I was filling it up, I got some shots of my spray bar in action outside of the water. There are three directions that the bar sprays. The one across the top is the largest and most plentiful holes. There is about half as many that spray down at a 45* angle and 3-5 that spray against the glass behind it.





The tank is looking very clear at this point! You can't even see the scratches in the acrylic when it is filled.



So my box arrive at noon today, filled with fish! I only received half of my order though, another species is completely missing. I turned the tank down to moon light only, just enough to view what i was doing. I turned the room lights completely off.



They came very well packaged!





Unfortunately, two of my amano shrimp were DOA (one seems to be a cherry shrimp anyway).





I did the simple float technique and added half a cup of water every 5 minutes until the bag was full, dumped half the water out and did it again.



The fish bags were black, so I couldn't see if any were actually DOA.



I ordered some crypt spiralis as well! I got a lot more than 5 and there were much larger than anticipated. For $2 a piece, I'm very pleased.



And here's a crummy, dark, photo of the fish in the tank. The glare from the outside is harsh. In a few hours, when I can turn the lights on, I'll get some better photos. 



EDIT: Several hours have gone by and I had the 24/7 ramp up as a sunrise to slowly acclimate them to light again. The peppered cory cats are adorable, as planned. 



There are several of them that stay together at a time. It isn't a full school of all 20 of them, but they usually stick by a couple others.



The rainbows are showing some color. I know they will really color up in time. 



And to finally give the tank some scale, here's a full tank shot with the 10 rainbows and 20 corys. 



I'm still waiting on my 70 harlequin rasbora school, which is scheduled for delivery next Saturday since I don't want to leave fish in a box on my porch for hours while I'm at work.


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## sdwindansea (Oct 28, 2016)

Looking great and it is an impressive setup! Cannot wait to see it with the Rasboras (I'm sure you feel the same way). Did you contact the seller about the DOA shrimp and did they make it right? Are you happy with the seller?


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## Freemananana (Jan 2, 2015)

sdwindansea said:


> Looking great and it is an impressive setup! Cannot wait to see it with the Rasboras (I'm sure you feel the same way). Did you contact the seller about the DOA shrimp and did they make it right? Are you happy with the seller?


I do feel the same way! I can't wait. I sent the seller an email so they had photos and have not heard back from them. I really am not worried. I believe they will send them with the rasboras as replacements. If they don't, I'm out $5. The $200 of fish I received today were in good health though.


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## Greggz (May 19, 2008)

It's been fun watching your progress, and it must be exciting to see the fish in the tank.

It's funny those Bows look small in that big tank right now, but they will grow, just give it time.

The boys will color up quickly, it's more of a matter of them getting to feel comfortable in the tank.

I've never kept a big school of small fish like you have coming, but I bet it is going to look spectacular.


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## Freemananana (Jan 2, 2015)

Greggz said:


> It's been fun watching your progress, and it must be exciting to see the fish in the tank.
> 
> It's funny those Bows look small in that big tank right now, but they will grow, just give it time.
> 
> ...


Thanks! It is exciting to have something in the tank finally. They definitely look small in the tank. I'm not in a rush for them to get big, but I would like to see them color up. They are spooked by the lids moving and the pump turning off. They do eat quite viciously when I drop flakes on the surface. It's fun watching them dart to the top of the tank and swim back down to the group. I am very excited to see the 70 harlequin rasboras in here that I ordered. It's surprisingly active with just the cory cats exploring and the rainbows swimming around. 

Here's some shots of them, quite yellow/white when they are spooked. But they have started to eat already.





I did have to cut some of the light out of the finnex. It was too much light side by side with the beamswork LED. I've started to get some algae on the wood bits.


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## BettaBettas (Aug 21, 2016)

#orderabout200amanoshrimp


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## Freemananana (Jan 2, 2015)

BettaBettas said:


> #orderabout200amanoshrimp


I have 10 and plan on getting 10-20 otos to round out my stocking. I plan on hunting the core cause and not addressing the issue. I'm fine with a bit of algae and prefer to have some. I just need to dial things in so it doesn't become an issue.


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## BettaBettas (Aug 21, 2016)

Freemananana said:


> I have 10 and plan on getting 10-20 otos to round out my stocking. I plan on hunting the core cause and not addressing the issue. I'm fine with a bit of algae and prefer to have some. I just need to dial things in so it doesn't become an issue.


 that's smarter than what I suggested lol! now I feel dumb... Jk, 15 otos (example) would look really good in there. a big ol' school of them just swimming around. :fish:


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## Freemananana (Jan 2, 2015)

BettaBettas said:


> that's smarter than what I suggested lol! now I feel dumb... Jk, 15 otos (example) would look really good in there. a big ol' school of them just swimming around. :fish:


No worries man! I cranked the lighting up because I ordered amanos and wanted there to be some algae. I also know I want otos and was super tempted to order them at the beginning, but decided not to. I have 20 cory cats and you can hardly tell, otos will probably be even harder to spot. As much as I like otos, there are a lot of hiding spots to run to and die in, which is only going to become more of an issue as plants grow in.


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## BettaBettas (Aug 21, 2016)

Freemananana said:


> No worries man! I cranked the lighting up because I ordered amanos and wanted there to be some algae. I also know I want otos and was super tempted to order them at the beginning, but decided not to. I have 20 cory cats and you can hardly tell, otos will probably be even harder to spot. As much as I like otos, there are a lot of hiding spots to run to and die in, which is only going to become more of an issue as plants grow in.


 Ramshorn snails eat dead fish I believe, but im confident you wouldn't want those in that tank lol next thing ya know you wont be able to see through the glass lol btw, what is your exact fish list you want? I saw you had rainbows and they look nice  when there color kicks in a bit more they will look even better. You have a point with the otos dying though. also do the corys form a big school and hang out with each other a lot? if they do try to get a good picture of the in a big group, that would be interesting to see. I don't recall ever seeing a pic of an actual large school. (yea 20 is large to me lol)


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## Freemananana (Jan 2, 2015)

BettaBettas said:


> Ramshorn snails eat dead fish I believe, but im confident you wouldn't want those in that tank lol next thing ya know you wont be able to see through the glass lol btw, what is your exact fish list you want? I saw you had rainbows and they look nice  when there color kicks in a bit more they will look even better. You have a point with the otos dying though. also do the corys form a big school and hang out with each other a lot? if they do try to get a good picture of the in a big group, that would be interesting to see. I don't recall ever seeing a pic of an actual large school. (yea 20 is large to me lol)


I personally don't mind snails all that much. But I do prefer not having them :grin2: I have 10 boesemani rainbow fish, 20 peppered cory cats, 10 amano shrimp and 70 harlequin rasboras coming still. I want to pick up 10-20 oto cat fish to finish it off. The rainbows look kind of sad being all yellow/white haha. I can't wait for some of the blue to show through. My corys sort of school in a big pack and a few of them break off and go do their own thing. I'll see if I can get a picture. They are so small that it hardly looks like much though. The rainbows are always by each other in the middle of the tank.


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## Nordic (Nov 11, 2003)

If said it many times before a tank with a school of peppered corys is all you need, especially if the tank is positioned low so you see more floor than surface.
I also have a peppered cory species tank with sand substrate.


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## Freemananana (Jan 2, 2015)

Nordic said:


> If said it many times before a tank with a school of peppered corys is all you need, especially if the tank is positioned low so you see more floor than surface.
> I also have a peppered cory species tank with sand substrate.


Probably could have been an amazing cory only tank, but cost would become a big factor quickly. Even on sale, these peppered cory cats were about $5 each. Most species are $10 each. I could probably house a hundred of them easily in this tank, which is $1,000 in fish. I can't do that! :wink2:


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## Nordic (Nov 11, 2003)

They really do breed prolifically if kept as a species own tank (otherwise the eggs get eaten).
I started with 6, must have like 40 now.

I should take a pic of the danio tank, I must have over 100 danios in there, but I have to catch the rest from the pond tonight, so the number will probably double.


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## Freemananana (Jan 2, 2015)

Nordic said:


> They really do breed prolifically if kept as a species own tank (otherwise the eggs get eaten).
> I started with 6, must have like 40 now.
> 
> I should take a pic of the danio tank, I must have over 100 danios in there, but I have to catch the rest from the pond tonight, so the number will probably double.


My water is also a little hard for cory cats and I don't think they would spawn unless I took some measures to make it better for them. I'm not really looking to be a dad again anyway, I've got enough trouble with one baby! :grin2: You may be seeing more cory cats from me. I plan to set up another shrimp tank sooner than later.


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## Nordic (Nov 11, 2003)

They are some of the easiest fish to raise, you just scrape eggs off the glass and deposit in a guppy breeding net with some plants. 
Feed crumbed food and BBS, large corys keep the net clean by sucking it from below. once they look like tiny corys, they can be let out with the adults, although feeding them becomes harder then.


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## Freemananana (Jan 2, 2015)

Nordic said:


> They are some of the easiest fish to raise, you just scrape eggs off the glass and deposit in a guppy breeding net with some plants.
> Feed crumbed food and BBS, large corys keep the net clean by sucking it from below. once they look like tiny corys, they can be let out with the adults, although feeding them becomes harder then.


There shouldn't be anything particularly aggressive in this tank, if I see eggs, I'll snatch them up! I'd love to add some more home grown corys to the mix.

EDIT: 

A few pictures from today. The lid on my overflow was bowing obnoxiously and would not sit flush. So I tossed the acrylic lid and put a corrugated plastic one on that I put together in all of 5 minutes. Ugly? Yes, but it overlaps and seals very well. 



I was very concerned that I had a worm issue when I saw this guy swimming around. I waited about 10 minutes and watched. It fell off. Turns out it was just poop. 



Here's my pack of cory cats doing their rounds. They explore into the java fern more than the rainbows.



They pick through the substrate as the flow across the tank.



Surprise! It's an algae wafer. I broke one into thirds and drop a piece in, they went crazy over it for quite awhile as it dissolved and broke up. I know the general rule is something like "feed what your fish can eat in five minutes" but it took them like half a hour to eat this. I've fed these before to my cory cats and never had issues with this method.



Just another angle of most of the corys eating the algae wafer.



Lastly, a short video. This is the sound level of my aquarium as well. The hum is basically the surface agitation, overflow, and return pump. It's quite quiet. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FTBzGYUon

I'll have to get a better camera and take some real footage some day.


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## BettaBettas (Aug 21, 2016)

when I feed my corys in my shrimp tank, they also tend to go at the algae wafers I give the shrimp. No harm done!


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## Freemananana (Jan 2, 2015)

BettaBettas said:


> when I feed my corys in my shrimp tank, they also tend to go at the algae wafers I give the shrimp. No harm done!


I got the wafers for the corys! haha. I've never fed my shrimp. I had some shrimp food and never had much success. I just grow algae instead.


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## Freemananana (Jan 2, 2015)

I've had some major fish issues. So here's some shaky phone camera shots of the boesemani rainbows since the cory cats are mostly...gone.

https://youtu.be/zYw88PBIUw8


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## Stevie Irawan (Feb 7, 2017)

Oh no, what happened?
I just got some Corydoras sterbai a few days ago, cute little fish.


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## Freemananana (Jan 2, 2015)

Stevie Irawan said:


> Oh no, what happened?
> I just got some Corydoras sterbai a few days ago, cute little fish.


Unfortunately, I have no idea. The corys weren't in the best shape, but I'm going through my setup in an attempt to find an obvious issue.


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## BettaBettas (Aug 21, 2016)

hmmm, sounds maybe like a person you shouldn't buy fish from again to me. Sorry for your losses, that's like a good amount of money down the drain. I cant say ik what is going on with your fish, because I don't.


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## Freemananana (Jan 2, 2015)

BettaBettas said:


> hmmm, sounds maybe like a person you shouldn't buy fish from again to me. Sorry for your losses, that's like a good amount of money down the drain. I cant say ik what is going on with your fish, because I don't.


If it is in fact money down the drain, I will blast them as much as I can through other media. They have a warranty for two weeks and it has only been 4-6 days (depending on which losses you go by). Me, Paypal, and the seller are going to go around and around most likely. Cory cats aren't cheap and a dozen of them is no small loss. I do want to make sure it isn't my fault. If I killed them with negligence, I'll eat it.


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## BettaBettas (Aug 21, 2016)

Freemananana said:


> If it is in fact money down the drain, I will blast them as much as I can through other media. They have a warranty for two weeks and it has only been 4-6 days (depending on which losses you go by). Me, Paypal, and the seller are going to go around and around most likely. Cory cats aren't cheap and a dozen of them is no small loss. I do want to make sure it isn't my fault. If I killed them with negligence, I'll eat it.


 that sounds tough :surprise: lol. If you do need to find another seller though, this one has a live arrival guarantee and some other good warranty's that I don't even know cause I haven't read them. ordered my 3 blackfin corys from there a while back
100% dank condition 
https://aquaticarts.com/collections/freshwater-plants
heres the panda I got
https://aquaticarts.com/collections/bottom-dwellers-scavengers/products/panda-cory-catfish
school of 9 is 27$


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## Nordic (Nov 11, 2003)

See if you can get the long finned version of the peppered cories when you order new stock. They are amazing
Some of mine have a wingspan wider than the fish is long.

My main female longfin is huge compared to the average size, and I got at least one equally good looking male from her fry of last year, can't wait to breed them when autumn rolls in again.

I suspect they are a hybrid of some sort, they have a noticably darker dorsal fin, with a black spot at the tip of the fin, that can trail to the tip of the tail.


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## Mattb126 (Nov 13, 2016)

Nordic said:


> See if you can get the long finned version of the peppered cories when you order new stock. They are amazing
> Some of mine have a wingspan wider than the fish is long.
> 
> My main female longfin is huge compared to the average size, and I got at least one equally good looking male from her fry of last year, can't wait to breed them when autumn rolls in again.
> ...


Pictures?

Sent from my Moto Z using Tapatalk


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## BettaBettas (Aug 21, 2016)

Nordic said:


> See if you can get the long finned version of the peppered cories when you order new stock. They are amazing
> Some of mine have a wingspan wider than the fish is long.
> 
> My main female longfin is huge compared to the average size, and I got at least one equally good looking male from her fry of last year, can't wait to breed them when autumn rolls in again.
> ...


 pictures rn gotta see this cory! never heard of it!


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## Nordic (Nov 11, 2003)

Will put big mamma in a jug or something later to photograph...
She is very good at hiding from the camera, despite normally hanging out an inch from the front glass.
Take out a camera and she is all over the place.


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## Nordic (Nov 11, 2003)

Sorry it is not the best pic, but she just won't sit still.
It does not capture the pectorals well, they are somewhere between 2 and 3 times the normal lenght.

That one with the crooked dorsal also mated with her, have some long finned ones with the crooked hook too... funny looking little guys.


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## BettaBettas (Aug 21, 2016)

eh, think I like straight up or back fins better lol I was never a for say "veiltail" kind of guy when it comes to fish. idk why.


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## Nordic (Nov 11, 2003)

As I said it is not a god pic, the fin is loose and flowing like a betta's or veiled pleco.
I noticed earlier one of the younger ones has one one long pectoral, the other is normal size, swims just fine though.


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## BettaBettas (Aug 21, 2016)

Nordic said:


> As I said it is not a god pic, the fin is loose and flowing like a betta's or veiled pleco.
> I noticed earlier one of the younger ones has one one long pectoral, the other is normal size, swims just fine though.


 its just my taste, I have had veiltail "Kinds of fish" come and go long ago. Beautiful fish but I just don't have that "go with the wind" fin kind of taste lol


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## Nordic (Nov 11, 2003)

Its like I can't stand vailed or sailfin platies and swordtails. But you have to give the fish credit for being quite majestic, I mean just look how much more she grabs your attention in the photo compared to the normal ones.
She was an unusual find in an ordinary purchase, so, feel compelled to work with the genes. The real test is when I breed the son back to the mother. The fry will either be very tiny and frail or they will grow wings and fly. At the moment the long finned ones are maybe one in 8 offspring.


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## BettaBettas (Aug 21, 2016)

sounds super scientific! I never have breed fish! or on purpose that is, something else ill have to give-a-go later on in the hobby. I hear people doing it all the time but im more of a plant guy sos


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## Nordic (Nov 11, 2003)

My plants are only there for the fishes' convenience. I rip whole leaves off if I find any eggs on them.
The corys are really easy to raise, but they can be touch and go when they want to breed.
Unlike danios and many tetras, you can make spawn same day, when you want to.


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## Freemananana (Jan 2, 2015)

Small update, nothing great. My order of corys went terribly and I've lost them all. I picked up some Sterbai cory cats from my LFS. They are much more active and their fins are intact. 





I also decided I had enough algae that I could turn my lights down and pick up some oto cats. I took everything they had, 6.



My last addition was a small pack of tiger nerite snails.



I need to do some trimming on the java fern, some of the leaves are dying off from being transplanted a dozen times. But here's an amano shrimp grazing. The rainbows harass them when they swim through the middle of the tank, but leave them alone otherwise.



I picked up some carbon, because of my issues I've had with my fish and dropped it in a media bag around the intake of my pump.





I'll be avoiding the company who I purchased fish from online. Aside from that, the tank is progressing more or less as scheduled. A few more weeks and I'll wrap it.


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## BettaBettas (Aug 21, 2016)

All I have to say
Click me... you wont regret this.


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## Redneck tenner (Aug 21, 2016)

Looks good I bet these cories do well 

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## Freemananana (Jan 2, 2015)

BettaBettas said:


> All I have to say
> Click me... you wont regret this.


Thanks, unfortunately I have looked into them. I wish I could pay the extra 50% cost plus shipping compared to the company I purchased these fish from, but it's just not an option. My LFS is actually cheaper. One of the draws to ordering online, for me, was a bulk discount and netting free shipping. 



******* tenner said:


> Looks good I bet these cories do well
> 
> Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G890A using Tapatalk


I sure hope so, thanks. Only time will tell.


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## PEdwards (Oct 31, 2016)

Freemananana said:


> ..was a bulk discount and netting free shipping.



HAHAHA, you said netting. I see what you did there.


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## Freemananana (Jan 2, 2015)

PEdwards said:


> HAHAHA, you said netting. I see what you did there.


Aye! The punmiester.


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## Freemananana (Jan 2, 2015)

Here's a crooked full tank shot. I took some close ups, but they all look like trash. I have 10 Boesemani Rainbowfish, 10 Turquoise Rainbowfish, 20 Congo Tetra, 15 Sterbei Cory cats, 15 Oto cats and 5 Zebra Nerite snails. I've cranked the lights way up! The otos and nerites have torn through the algae I had growing all over the wood and plants. 



This is the completion of my stocking. I haven't really had any issues aside from "how much to feed". I have 40 1"~1.5" fish that eat flakes actively as well as sinking pellets. The corys fish for scraps and the otos and snails feed on algae primarily. I've been feeding several pinches of flakes and a couple pinches of sinking pellets. I feed for a minute or two straight and the fish eat it all. I'll just keep track of them and try to get some better shots.


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## Redneck tenner (Aug 21, 2016)

Looks great... That set up is a beast. Looks even bigger. 

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## shamrock62081 (Jan 29, 2006)

Looking good. Can't wait to see how everything fills in.


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## Freemananana (Jan 2, 2015)

******* tenner said:


> Looks great... That set up is a beast. Looks even bigger.
> 
> Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G890A using Tapatalk


Thanks! Now that I actually have fish in it, the size is starting to make sense. It doesn't look like a 20 gallon long anymore.



shamrock62081 said:


> Looking good. Can't wait to see how everything fills in.


Thanks, the dwarf sag looks like it has grown. Most of the crypts are starting to bounce back after the melt. I'm waiting for everything to root in, which takes me a few months usually. It took my 75g about 6 months to start growing but then it took off. Maybe it is the way I do things, but I have very slow growth initially. It could be how I do my lighting and such as well. I bet it starts looking good around summer. 


The turquoise rainbows are showing color as well as the congos. They are both very neat. My camera is bad though and getting good shots is impossible with how quick they flutter by.


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## ScubaSteve (Jun 30, 2012)

So nice. I love how natural the hardscape and plants look with the sand...reminds me of a riverbank or something. And the tank is filling in nicely! Can't wait to see everything completed.


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## Freemananana (Jan 2, 2015)

ScubaSteve said:


> So nice. I love how natural the hardscape and plants look with the sand...reminds me of a riverbank or something. And the tank is filling in nicely! Can't wait to see everything completed.


Thanks! I don't know what to call it either, but I was aiming for something natural. Hopefully things will start to fill in and the vals will spread. The frogbit is slowly propogating as well and will start to cover more and more of the surface in due time. The fish should start to really color up in a few months as they become use to everything and grow out.


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## Shan4404 (Jan 6, 2017)

I'm sure it's been said but what lighting do you have? I'm in the process of getting my 125 planted as well and have been trying to get good ideas


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## Freemananana (Jan 2, 2015)

Shan4404 said:


> I'm sure it's been said but what lighting do you have? I'm in the process of getting my 125 planted as well and have been trying to get good ideas
> 
> 
> Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


Beamswork pent 0.5w LED 72". It puts out about 35 par at 24" and covers the typical 18" width of the 125. I have a 24" wide, 18" deep 125 so the front and back are probably a little dim up top. It looks good and seems to be growing plants thus far.


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## Doogy262 (Aug 11, 2013)

Hi freeman,tanks looking great and plants look great too lol


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## Freemananana (Jan 2, 2015)

Doogy262 said:


> Hi freeman,tanks looking great and plants look great too lol


Thanks! Even those huge crypts you sent me look small inside this tank. They looked big in the 55g because they could almost touch the front and back glass, but they look small again in here.


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## BettaBettas (Aug 21, 2016)

Are you going for a full carpet? That will be neat to see


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## Freemananana (Jan 2, 2015)

BettaBettas said:


> Are you going for a full carpet? That will be neat to see


About as full as dwarf sag really gets. I plan on letting the val spread as much as it wants but keep it within a couple inches of the edge of the tank. Then the rest will be sag.

EDIT: Update-

Another full tank shot.


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## Greggz (May 19, 2008)

Looking good! It's going to look completely different once the plants and Bows fill in. 

Glad to see you can actually spend some time enjoying the tank now. Nice execution of the whole project.


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## Freemananana (Jan 2, 2015)

Greggz said:


> Looking good! It's going to look completely different once the plants and Bows fill in.
> 
> Glad to see you can actually spend some time enjoying the tank now. Nice execution of the whole project.


I'm very excited for the fish to fill in and show color! I have bows and turquoise rainbows. It's been filling in more than I had anticipated. It has taken awhile, but the crypts are growing new leaves and the emersed sword growth has melted. I do need to finish the stand, but I've already started thinking about my next project. Typical! :grin2:


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## shamrock62081 (Jan 29, 2006)

This was too funny to me because I'm still working the kinks on my new 55gal, but already thinking about my next tank. Nice looking tank man. 



Freemananana said:


> I'm very excited for the fish to fill in and show color! I have bows and turquoise rainbows. It's been filling in more than I had anticipated. It has taken awhile, but the crypts are growing new leaves and the emersed sword growth has melted. I do need to finish the stand, but I've already started thinking about my next project. Typical! :grin2:


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## Freemananana (Jan 2, 2015)

shamrock62081 said:


> This was too funny to me because I'm still working the kinks on my new 55gal, but already thinking about my next tank. Nice looking tank man.


My next build is the build I had planned but I stumbled upon this tank. It's going to take awhile since I plan on building a tank.


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## Freemananana (Jan 2, 2015)

I did my normal weekend water change and it still amazes me how active everyone is during a water change. The otos school much better while the tank is drained.



I'm still having issues that I cannot seem to really pinpoint. My rainbows start acting weird from time to time, swimming slowly at the surface, and then they end up dead in a few hours. I do know the rainbows have been fairly aggressive towards each other and the other tank mates. The congos stick together and don't take their crap, but the corys get picked on when they dash to the surface.



I think that may be why my corys end up missing their tails, the rainbows think they are food when they run to the surface.



My bows are really aggressive towards each other, compared to the fish I've kept in the past. One will be a really deep blue and nip at the side of every fish that comes near it. They seem to get quite defensive of the java fern area on the right. I don't know what to do. I may just let things work themselves out and not add any more fish to the tank.


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## Greggz (May 19, 2008)

Freemananana said:


> I did my normal weekend water change and it still amazes me how active everyone is during a water change. The otos school much better while the tank is drained.


That's interesing. My Oto's do exactly the same thing during a water change. I won't see them at all, but during a water change they all get together in the same left front corner of the tank.



Freemananana said:


> I'm still having issues that I cannot seem to really pinpoint. My rainbows start acting weird from time to time, swimming slowly at the surface, and then they end up dead in a few hours.


I'm really sorry to hear this. Rainbows are generally easy to care for and long lived, so something more must be going on there more than meets the eye. I really hope you get it solved soon, as this is not normal at all.



Freemananana said:


> I think that may be why my corys end up missing their tails, the rainbows think they are food when they run to the surface.


In all my years, I've never seen a Rainbow take the tail off of another fish. Not saying it can't happen, but I've never seen it. How big are the Corys? Rainbows have small throats, and in general won't attack fish even as small as Otos. Unless those Corys are really tiny, I'd be looking for some other explanation.



Freemananana said:


> My bows are really aggressive towards each other, compared to the fish I've kept in the past. One will be a really deep blue and nip at the side of every fish that comes near it.


That's normal behavior. Male Rainbows will spar/flash/display on a daily basis. It's part of the mating ritual, and while it may seem aggressive, I've never seen anyone get injured from it. In fact, I enjoy it watching it as the colors are super intense. Also, in this case more fish may be better than less, to better spread around the sparring.

And I really hope things begin going better for you. You've had a rough start.


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## BettaBettas (Aug 21, 2016)

hope your issues get resolved, and your tank inhabitants are better than ever before  
Good luck!


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## Freemananana (Jan 2, 2015)

Greggz said:


> I'm really sorry to hear this. Rainbows are generally easy to care for and long lived, so something more must be going on there more than meets the eye. I really hope you get it solved soon, as this is not normal at all.
> 
> In all my years, I've never seen a Rainbow take the tail off of another fish. Not saying it can't happen, but I've never seen it. How big are the Corys? Rainbows have small throats, and in general won't attack fish even as small as Otos. Unless those Corys are really tiny, I'd be looking for some other explanation.
> 
> And I really hope things begin going better for you. You've had a rough start.


Pretty much what I've heard. I see them nip at the corys though and thought that could be the issue. Maybe I have some sort of weird fin rot that I'm just not picking up on. 

The corys are about 3/4" long or so. I have had no issues with my otos at all, mostly the cory cats. I will keep watching and looking. 

It has been rough primarily for the fish. Algae, plant growth, etc have all been smooth sailing. The cory cats and rainbows have just been giving me issues. The congos haven't seen any losses and I have 20+ of them. 



BettaBettas said:


> hope your issues get resolved, and your tank inhabitants are better than ever before
> Good luck!


Thanks, I'm just motoring on. I do have my eye on my next project, so I'll likely wrap this up and just enjoy it for awhile. Hopefully the fish losses cease. Until then, I'll just keep my eyes open and try and keep the losses down.


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## sdwindansea (Oct 28, 2016)

Best of luck, I'm sure it has all been really frustrating the last couple of weeks. Makes a little staghorn algae seem not so bad.


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## Freemananana (Jan 2, 2015)

sdwindansea said:


> Best of luck, I'm sure it has all been really frustrating the last couple of weeks. Makes a little staghorn algae seem not so bad.


I'm not really complaining, I've seen much worse. I just don't have the keen eye to find my own, little, problem. I haven't had issues in about a week though, so maybe the storm has passed.


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## sohankpatel (Jul 10, 2015)

I can't help with your rainbow issues, although it seems odd that they just die, I had the same thing happen to me with Praecox, and it was just terrible quality from the seller. 
If you are looking for a cool fish, Diamond Tetras are nice, I just got myself some and they are quite large at about 2", but they are peaceful and are gorgeous fish.


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## sdwindansea (Oct 28, 2016)

Freemananana said:


> I'm not really complaining, I've seen much worse. I just don't have the keen eye to find my own, little, problem. I haven't had issues in about a week though, so maybe the storm has passed.


I haven't seen any complaining from you, you've handled each "punch" really well (better than most would). Glad all has been well for the last week and I have my fingers crossed that you are over the hump. I have a batch of fish arriving tomorrow, I'm definitely a bit nervous but hoping for the bset.


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## PEdwards (Oct 31, 2016)

Those Vals and Sag are going to be righteous, and a righteous pain when they grow in. That's going to be a slick looking tank when all's said and done.


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## SingAlongWithTsing (Jun 11, 2015)

Freemananana said:


> I also installed a check valve. It's not ideal, but it's better than what you pick up at the hardware store. Reasoning? The siphon break was annoyingly loud and I thought it might spook the fish. So it's literally there to make feeding time less stressful for the new fish. I have plenty of space in the sump for the return line to completely back flow.
> 
> 
> 
> EDIT: Update. I have the pump running now and the valve doesn't open all the way. The water level in the tank isn't as high as it was before and the sump level isn't as low as it normally is. I think I'm running into head issues with this valve. Displeasing...


does it have a spring in it? i think that might be why it's not opening all the way.


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## Freemananana (Jan 2, 2015)

sohankpatel said:


> I can't help with your rainbow issues, although it seems odd that they just die, I had the same thing happen to me with Praecox, and it was just terrible quality from the seller.
> If you are looking for a cool fish, Diamond Tetras are nice, I just got myself some and they are quite large at about 2", but they are peaceful and are gorgeous fish.


I'm pretty well stocked, but thanks! If I get more fish, it will be Denison barbs from the local Petsmart when they are on sale and I'll quarantine them for quite awhile.



sdwindansea said:


> I haven't seen any complaining from you, you've handled each "punch" really well (better than most would). Glad all has been well for the last week and I have my fingers crossed that you are over the hump. I have a batch of fish arriving tomorrow, I'm definitely a bit nervous but hoping for the bset.


Thanks! Good luck as well. I've given up on ordering fish and decided that going down to the LFS is much more reliable. I'll just have to work with the stock they have.



PEdwards said:


> Those Vals and Sag are going to be righteous, and a righteous pain when they grow in. That's going to be a slick looking tank when all's said and done.


Yup! They have started to sprout runners which means they have finally set in. I'm sure the tank will be full in no time. I am aiming for the jungle theme, so I can only hope they tank over!



SingAlongWithTsing said:


> does it have a spring in it? i think that might be why it's not opening all the way.


It does have a spring, I think. I wish I could have justified the $50 for one of the Y-shaped ones, but I couldn't. So I went with something in the middle. The flow doesn't seem to be much different. It didn't change my setting on my gate valve for the main drain or the height in the overflow a noticeable amount.


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## Freemananana (Jan 2, 2015)

Just a regular update! This is really going to put the tank in perspective. I've had quite a bit of growth and didn't even know it. :grin2:

Here's the day I got fish, not too long after I planted the tank and the tannins subsided. 



Here's this last week:



The full tank shot with the fish after I added them:



The full tank shot this past week:



I'm much happier with the tank now that I can see the side by side progress. It is filling in quicker than I was thinking, because the changes were so subtle over time. I can't wait for it all to continue to grow in. The jungle is on it's way. I planted some vals right in the middle by accident. I thought it was dwarg sag. Not that it will matter in the grand scheme of things, I just noticed it is like a foot tall.


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## sdwindansea (Oct 28, 2016)

Wow, the changes are impressive. They are tough to notice when you are looking at your tank multiple times per day. Has everything stabilized with the fish?


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## BettaBettas (Aug 21, 2016)

Have to agree, the changes are tremendous  in just a week! Also your school of rainbows is beautiful. Im not a "big fish" fan so im glad you didn't go down that route of having one ginormous fish rather than a school of smaller ones that draw more attention. Anyway, Great progression  plants look good to!


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## Freemananana (Jan 2, 2015)

sdwindansea said:


> Wow, the changes are impressive. They are tough to notice when you are looking at your tank multiple times per day. Has everything stabilized with the fish?


It is tough to notice without stepping back and looking at old photos. I think it has stabilized, more or less. I haven't had any visual losses recently. 



BettaBettas said:


> Have to agree, the changes are tremendous  in just a week! Also your school of rainbows is beautiful. Im not a "big fish" fan so im glad you didn't go down that route of having one ginormous fish rather than a school of smaller ones that draw more attention. Anyway, Great progression  plants look good to!


Thanks! I was planning on 70-100 harlequins, but the original company dropped the ball on that. So I settled for 20 congo tetras and a mix of rainbows. I like the idea of a large school, but it is nice to have some decent sized fish for a change. I need to wrap this stand up though! Too bad I've started a separate venture.


I'll be posting updates from time to time and I will wrap the stand, but that's all I have planned on this build. I have MegaCon Orlando coming up, so that tends to eat up my time building up to it. Probably wrap the stand in the summer.


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## BettaBettas (Aug 21, 2016)

update? must see pictures over the course of 20 days or so lol!


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## forrestcook (Jan 25, 2008)

sub'd! Nice progress. I'm setting up a 125G soon and plan on a low-tech-ish jungle look. I really like your rocks, my old 75g had a huge boulder in it, weirdly one of my favorite parts of the tank...

I've taken a few ideas from your build to possibly incorporate into mine. The DJ power switch seems like a nice idea and the finnex 24/7 seems cool as well. I had been planning on a Current brand light, did you look at those at all when you were shopping? the finnex boasts about "true 660nm red LEDs" but I don't really know much about that vs what the current has to offer.

I hope the fish calm down for you soon!


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## Freemananana (Jan 2, 2015)

BettaBettas said:


> update? must see pictures over the course of 20 days or so lol!



Ooops! I'll get some photos this weekend. It's just been daily feeding, weekly water changes, and picking out the occasional pest snail. I do need to wipe the inside of the tank down and adjust my lighting period slightly. I'll have an update come Saturday!



forrestcook said:


> sub'd! Nice progress. I'm setting up a 125G soon and plan on a low-tech-ish jungle look. I really like your rocks, my old 75g had a huge boulder in it, weirdly one of my favorite parts of the tank...
> 
> I've taken a few ideas from your build to possibly incorporate into mine. The DJ power switch seems like a nice idea and the finnex 24/7 seems cool as well. I had been planning on a Current brand light, did you look at those at all when you were shopping? the finnex boasts about "true 660nm red LEDs" but I don't really know much about that vs what the current has to offer.
> 
> I hope the fish calm down for you soon!


Not weird at all in my opinion! The huge rocks and java fern was the only 'planned' portion of my tank and I do love it. The DJ power rack is awesome, definitely plan on using one or two on all my future builds. A lot cleaner than multiple power strips or unplugging equipment during maintenance. The finnex 24/7 was something I had lying around, if you are buying new, look into the Vivagrow 24/7 light. I have had a current USA Sat+ in the past and considered them briefly for this tank as well. The issue with lighting, for me, comes down to cost, appearance of the tank, and growth. Cost is self explanatory and any light with about 30 par at your substrate will grow just like my tank here. The physical appearance of the light wasn't a factor since I plan on having an enclosed canopy, but the height of the canopy led me to LEDs instead of my fabled spiral CFLs.


For a standard 125g, that is 24" tall, I would DEFINITELY recommend the 72" beamswork pent 0.5w LED light that I have. It struggles with my 24" width a bit, but a 18" wide tank would be much more easily lit. I have mine suspended a foot or so off the tank, so the extra height on the standard 125 wouldn't be an issue. The light I have is very similar to the Finnex Ray 2 as far as the par. So the new Finnex 24/7 SE would work as well as the Ray2 as a replacement. The Sat+ would be too weak, but the Sat+ pro by Current would work well. The issue is the cost of those lights. You would need two of the 36" lights. 


I don't, personally, care about true 660nm reds or any of that jazz. Plain white has worked well for my low tech tanks since the dawn of my immersion in the hobby. I had 5000K & 6500K spiral CFLs, 10000K and 6500K beamswork lights, Finnex planted + 24/7, Current USA Sat+, and even a small adventure into DIY LEDs. Keeping it simple has worked best for me. 


Lastly, I haven't had any losses in a the past weeks. Seems like it has calmed. The Congos are starting to get very pretty. I plan on picking up a mix mash of local rainbows in the future. Time to clean out a temporary holding tank!


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## sdwindansea (Oct 28, 2016)

@Freemananana, how are you using timers on the DJ power rack? I'm assuming there isn't room for the space that timers use up on the plug. Really happy to hear that everything has stabilized with your fish.


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## Freemananana (Jan 2, 2015)

sdwindansea said:


> @Freemananana, how are you using timers on the DJ power rack? I'm assuming there isn't room for the space that timers use up on the plug. Really happy to hear that everything has stabilized with your fish.


I sacrificed the top two outlets for a timer and I am using a 1' extension cord for the other timer. Adding 1-2' extension cords to the rack allows you to run bulky plugs without much issue.

Here's a much blurrier than anticipated full tank shot:



Here's a close up:



While I was looking at the tank, I noticed something interesting in the sump. I have fry! hahaha. :grin2: Probably 20 or so 1/4-1/2" little somethings in my sump. I have no clue how the eggs got to the last chamber, but there are a whole bunch of fry in there. I know some of the flake probably makes it's way down there, so I'll just put off sump maintenance until they are large enough to identify and add to the display tank.


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## BettaBettas (Aug 21, 2016)

sounds cool! also the tank is filling in quite nicely


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## Freemananana (Jan 2, 2015)

BettaBettas said:


> sounds cool! also the tank is filling in quite nicely


Thanks! It's pretty obvious where the lights overlapped and the plants were growing much faster. :grin2: It will take some time before it fills in the corners. I may uproot and move some plants.


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## clownplanted (Mar 3, 2017)

Good stuff I just checked every page in your journal. Awesome 125 setup for sure. Wish I never sold my 125 gallon acrylic tank I had. Had to though due to financial situation last year. Now to look for another one lol.


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## Freemananana (Jan 2, 2015)

clownplanted said:


> Good stuff I just checked every page in your journal. Awesome 125 setup for sure. Wish I never sold my 125 gallon acrylic tank I had. Had to though due to financial situation last year. Now to look for another one lol.


I'm shopping for 3/4" sheets of acrylic for a much larger tank already! haha. I'm going to make my next one I think. That's the next step in DIY fish keeping.


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## Freemananana (Jan 2, 2015)

The tank WAS doing great until today.





Unfortunately, while doing my weekly water change, the top brace snapped off some how.



I may just keel over and die from the stress though.


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## Jaye (Mar 11, 2015)

Oh, no! Can you clamp it?


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## Freemananana (Jan 2, 2015)

Jaye said:


> Oh, no! Can you clamp it?


That's the temporary plan. I'm going to clamp it and try and reweld the seam. Maybe it was epoxied or something and not attached with weldon.


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## Freemananana (Jan 2, 2015)

The seams have been rewelded, a large brace installed, etc. I'm putting together a new tank. More on that in another thread I supposed. The brace in 2x4s with a 2x6 in the rear. Lots of beef on the ends, diagonal bracing on the top, etc. It's fairly strong, strong enough to hold if the reweld doesn't. It isn't going to be a permanent fix, but it will due for now.


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## The Dude1 (Jun 17, 2016)

Any updates?? Photobucket obviously pulled everyone's photos so I'd like to see how it looked


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## Freemananana (Jan 2, 2015)

I do apologize for photobucket changing their policy. I do have an update. I missed my opportunity to buy a 540g tank marked down, so I STILL have this tank despite wanted to get a different tank. The repair seems to be holding fine. I see no deflection but I've left the bracing in place just in case. I haven't finished wrapping the stand because I want to change tanks to a 180g at the minimum. The 180 and even a 210 (maybe? 6'x2' footprint) will fit on this stand and can use the same canopy. But I don't want to invest if I can't find a tank that will use the same stand. 

The tank is running without issue. I have some jungle vals that span the entire height and length of the tank, nearly 8' long. No fish deaths and I've kept the bio load fairly low for the 180+ gallons of water in the system. 

I included some photos of the lighting since I receive questions about the beamswork light. A single 6', 6500K, pent, light is amazing IMO for a low tech tank. Mine is right at 30' to substrate and hasn't struggled to grow anything, obviously :grin2:

I've been less than active on the forum as I look for a new tank and work on the rest of my household projects. I'm renovating my garage workshop.


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## Freemananana (Jan 2, 2015)

2 Years later and I can't live without having a fish tank! Looking at picking up a brand new 125H instead of the wide version I had before. I kept a lot of my 6' equipment from this tank after it burst. I'll be making a new thread in the coming days as I start making progress.


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