assembly page: new 150 gal freshwater

[ghostknife]

Hi All,

A couple of months ago i posted a hello and my existing 38 gal tank here; http://www.aquariacentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=90928&highlight=ghostknife

Here is my new 150 gal tank, empty, with the budget regulator standing in front of it.

I plan to make it a mixed planted/ stocked tank of peaceful tropicals. I have ordered all the equipment to get it started and I will list the stuff as assembly progresses. I appreciate any helpful advice and I hope that others can learn from my successes and failures.

[Mgamer20o0]

well looks nice.... maybe once it has some stuff in it might look a little better.

[5xevy]

I love assembly threads. Can't wait to see the progression.

Is that where the tank is going to be? If so, how often is that AC (looks like an air conditioner to me) used in the background?

Yes- definitely keep us posted!

[ghostknife]

thanks for the question, xv. Its located in Key West, Fl and that is its final location in the house. So its always hot down here, except maybe a couple days a year. The A/c and fishtank have been placed to cool the aquarium as well as the room. The a/c is left on most of the daytime and shut off at night, unless its needed at night to cool the aquarium further. I had the 38 gal in the same location and the system works great.

I just read up on cycling and fishless cycling in preparation for the equipment. What I will do is take some of the gravel from the existing tank and put it in the new one, as well as some water and run the old filter on the new tank. curious as to whether feeding an empty tank would help cycling.

One note about budgeting, this is much more expensive than i thought it would be. I felt better about it last week when i ran into a friend at the LFS who has a 125 gal reeftank. Looks fantastic, perhaps the best aquarium ive ever seen, but he spent $14,000.00 on it.

[fish_freak]

hmm you better get that fish in the water... haha
Looks like a nice tank cant wait to see it all set up.

[the Amazonian]

12, discus, Shoal of small Tetra,12 Panda Corries....

Lot a work to do:dog:

[5xevy]

Oh nice! Yeah, I've been to Key West and saying it's hot is an understatement (got severely sunburned while riding a rented scooter- good times though). Makes sense for the AC!

It is expensive but, in my opinion, worth it in the end.

(Is Hog's Breath still there?)

:)

[Rbishop]

Good sized tank, more pics as you progress!

[Mr.Goode]

I'm new to the board. That is a nice size tank I'm considering purchasing a 29 Gallon, leaning towards the fresh water side until I move, then I will purchase a 150 Gallon and go with the Salt Water habitat. Judging by the size or you 150 gallon. I think a 129 Gallon Tank will look very nice. Again nice tank!

[got2envy]

nice! can't wait to see it's progress!

[madroosta]

YOU SERIOUSLY NEED TO GET RID OF YOUR BUDGET REGULATOR QUICK OR IT WILL RUIN YOUR SETUP, OR PUT IT IN QUARANTINE ASAP FOR AT LEAST TEN YEARS!! OTHER THAN THAT............. GREAT TANK!!!!

[ghostknife]

The budget regulator is not connected to the tank so it does not operate in that capacity ;->

Seriously, I'll get a head start and tell you about the various things so far and to come.

The tank is quite heavy, even empty it weights about 600 lbs. Full it is estimated to weigh almost 3000 pounds. This necessitated reinforcing the stand with 2x4 beams and columns as well as adding a couple of beams underneath the house to support it down to the foundation. It occurred to me that a wooden house with an aquarium at its corners could better withstand a hurricane because of the weight. In my case, the tank will not improve the downforce of the house because it is not needed in that particular corner.

The tank has three ports in the base, about 14" spaced. these lead to a common hose with valves that runs to the outside of the house. It will eventually be connected to a pvc pipe that runs underneath the house and deck to the garden. That water is great for plants. It will also have a water hose hooked up and through the house near the top of the tank. The idea is simplicity itself; empty out the bottom, fill from the top. This will make water changes simple and easy and dry. It is also adaptable to connect a canister filter to the outbound hose and route it back into the tank. But for now, its going to be for water changes only, which is the most important thing. This will hopefully allow me to have a good mix of plants and fish together.

It will be equipped with an Ehiem Pro III filter, 2 whisper 100 air pumps, 4 penguin 1140 powerheads placed at the bottom, and an undergravel filter but not used in the traditional way. It will serve as an undergravel plenum to drain the water out through the bottom ports. I believe that aeration and circulation clean a tank as good or better than filtration alone.

The light im going to try is the Lunar Aqualights Compact 72" it has 2 white and two blue fluorescent strips and 3 LED moonlights. It comes with two built in fans, but Im going to have to add either more fans to my hood or vent ports. We'll see when it gets here. This is normally used for a saltwater tank so it may not work or it may work great. I figure sunlight is sunlight, whether it shines on the ocean or the lake or the river. And lets face it, the moonlights are just plain the coolest.

I drew up a plan for the aquascaping that calls for four terraces, two of which will be pure Laterite for plantings, and the other two will be foreground white crushed granite mixed with some other aggregate. The budget regulator cut a deal with me that I have to add a statue of Buddha and a japanese pagoda. Fine with me.

As for the background, there has been much discussion. I paint fine art as a hobby and it occurred to me that I could paint my own backround. So Im going to use acrylic on canvas and paint a carribean blue background with lightrays for the illusion of depth. I wanted to paint in some tree branches, etc but you-know-who didnt like that idea. perhaps it will come in time. I had thought of making a false rockscape on the outside of the tank to add depth but decided against it. A canvas can create any illusion and only take up 1" of space, plus they can be changed quickly and have several to choose from.

[Ghost_knife]

very nice tank! I would love to see it when it's stocked! very cool start

[J double R]

oooh youre getting a Eheim pro 3! if you get it and decide you don't like it, i'll take it. :D

[dogface]

Very nice! How much did that set up cost? I like the canopy and the stand. Is it pre-drilled?

[Rbishop]

Great plans!

Another idea I have found for backgrounds, is the use of tinted acrylic sheets cut to the tank size. You can swap them out easily for changing room decors/colors.

[ghostknife]

Hi again, I have made much progress and here are the pictures to show you. Here you see all of the components laid out for installation. I found that long power strip was ideal for the job because it allows enough room for the timers to be set side by side. I labeled each timer D for day, N for night and set them. The other power strip is for the four powerheads and the air pump. It is absolutely crucial to have a proper level in order to level the aquarium pripor to filling. I found the tank to be leaning back towards the wall and a bit to the left. I shimmed the stand so that it was level.

You will find that most aquariums are not more than 24" high. I was never happy with that lenght, always wanting a taller tank so that it would be more like a window into an underwater world. I quickly found out why tanks are not usually taller than that. above 24" is is very hard for one's arm to reach the bottom of the aquarium. I used that arm grip tool you see there to help out. Its still very clumsy to use, but it works with patience.

I also show the airstone and hose setup and the outside work of rinsing the gravel and bricks I used for the aquascaping.

[ghostknife]

This set shows the aquascaping and partial filling of the tank. A detail of the powerheads concealed in the decor. I filled the tank half way and then let it sit for a couple of hours to see if it would leak. Then while it was still half filled I placed the fake plants in the gravel and filled it to the top. Then I hooked up the Ehiem 3. Wow is that thing quiet and powerful. I have very good hearing and I have to put my ear right up to it before I can hear it.

[ghostknife]

Here are the pics of the tank as it is now, with the white, night, and blue lights on respectively. I threw in the chlorine remover, dropped the ph down to 7, checked the temp, and threw in 10 feeder goldfish to begin the cycle.

I had to modify the hood by drilling large vent holes that correspond to the fans in the light fixture. I also noticed that when the hood was open, it was putting strain on the hinges so i mounted sticky back bumpers along its length to correct that problem.

[ghostknife]

While the tank is cycling I have some things to do. I want to mount and better organize the power strips and electronics. I want to label them and coordinate the wiring so that it is all neat and organised.

The Ehiem 3 hoses are too short, so I have to cut longer lengths of hose and place them in better locations within the tank. The hood needs further modification to accept the hoses properly. I need much more live-plant gravel material so Im going to order that. The bricks I used are not the finished product. They are the supporting foundation for slate rocks that I will buy and place on top of the bricks.

I will begin painting the backdrop. The wife is already pestering me about the statue and the pagoda. Of course, there is still a long way to go. The slow addition of live plants and the subtraction of the plastic ones. The backdrop will undergo revisions. The undergravel filter tubes will be capped and abandonned. There may be a need for a CO2 injector and a UV filter. All along the way i will be stocking the tank one or two fish at a time.

[ghostknife]

just a quick jot down of important things I learned;

I wanted from the beginning to have the stand equipped with levelling screws. The builder refused to do it, i dont know why, but that left me shimming it up all over the place. It is also important to be aware of the total weight of the system and be sure that the floor can support it. Getting and keeping the tank true and level is critically important.

A tall tank is very beautiful, but it is hard or impossible to reach the bottom of it with just your arm. This causes many difficulties. I always wanted the tank to be narrow. I wanted a 15" wide tank and all the experts told me that i wouldn't be happy with it and to go at least 24". I found that a narrow tank is hard to decorate. There is a lesson in there somewhere, but I cant figure out what it is.

The valves underneath the tank are much larger than I anticipated, and unfortunately block the placement of the caniser filter. Luckily in my case, the filter is very quiet and there is a great place next to the tank to set it. I still would have rather had it inside the stand though.

assembling a custom aquarium such as this is a slow process and very expensive. I did not realise how much so. Still, the fun of such a thing is really in the building of it. Completing it will kind of be a letdown because it will be all maintenance from there on out and not an act of creation anymore. So I have learned to enjoy the slow pace of assembly and improvements.

[jm1212]

are you using chemicals to alter your pH? that will result in an unstable pH whcih isnt good for your fish. most fish can adapt to the pH of your water, as long as it is stable. i keep angelfish, a "soft water" Amazonian fish, in a pH of 8.0 and have not had any ill effects

[fish_freak]

Looking good. Leveling screw would create to much strain in one part of the stand which is while the builder would not put them in. Shims will distribute the weight evenly the way the stand is designed to suport it.
What do you plan to keep in there in the end? Also from what I read it apears you are not going to run the UGF but why put it in there? Only thing I can think is a place for the plants to get nutrients but I have never heard of this being done.
Looks great though and keep up the great work.

[ghostknife]

Hi JM1212,

I use PHDown to lower the PH. It comes out the tap at about 8.0. From experience, the fish Ive kept cannot live at that PH very comfortably, or for very long. If you know of another way to lower the PH, please tell me. I must admit that I dont know much about this issue. I know only from personal experience that my fish like the PH between 6.9 and 7.4. For instance, when I see my clown loaches swimming frantically up and down at the corner of the tank, it means the PH is out of balance, usually too high.

Fishfreak,

You are probably right about the levelling screws, but still if there were say 12 or 16 levelling screws the weight would be distributed evenly enough. I think perhaps the carpenter assumed I meant 4 and he refused. The UGF is to create a plenum under the gravel. This then allows the tank to be drained from the 3 predrilled drains in the bottom of the tank, otherwise, the gravel would clog the drains. I may keep the UGF operable, but I thought that this system had fallen out of favor amongst aquarists. I dont like the look of the tubes sticking out and the powerheads in full view.

As for what fish I plan to stock it with, I have to do a lot of research. I have two tanks and I have been planning to put Cichlids in the smaller tank, and assorted peaceful fish that can live with plants in the 150 gal tank, with a few Discus as the featured fish. I love clown loaches and I would never have a tank without a ghost knife in it. I would like to have a school of tetras and maybe some swordtails, but like I said, I havent done the research fully yet. I certainly appreciate any suggestions. Im even tempted to put cichlids in the 150, but from what Ive read they eat or destroy the plants, and though they come in every color, they all have the same shape, which is less interesting.

[kjenber]

I like The Tall Stand It Gives A Great Look Of A Monster .

[ghostknife]

Some updated pics with the buddha for the wife. I put wavemakers on two of the powerheads. The Eheim 3 gave me an issue but I corrected it easily enough. I mounted the power strips and labeled everything so that it is about as organised as it can get downstairs. Still looks like spaghetti wiring tho. I also tweaked the timers to get the lights in sync.

Week three of cycling the aquarium, it is now up to 9 feeder goldfish doing ok. Ive got driftwood soaking outside to get the tannins out and more plant gravel to add, plus the slate rock features to add late next week. Ill add three goldfish per week until I have about 30 goldfish total before i start replacing them with "real" fish. If all goes well in a few months I will start adding live plants and removing the plastic ones.

Siddhartha looks really nice in there. I hope to learn as much patience as he has. :Angel:

[Rbishop]

Looking good!

[jm1212]

^^^^

did you mean to start a new thread?

great looking tanks though

dwarf puffers are not good community fish and fig. 8s are brackish and need a bigger tank than 10 gallons

[lovesfish]

Thanks for the input. You are right about the 10 gal. I hate keeping anything in a 10 gal so I plan to get a 20 gal for the fig. 8.I have had much success with my dwarfs in a community tank, although could just be dumb luck. I will keep an eye on them. Thanks again.

[ghostknife]

Im well into week three of cycling the aquarium. Seemingly from one day to the next, the bottom became covered with green and brown algea. You can easily see the spots on the gravel and the rock formations. The feeder fish population stabilized at about 14.

Now, I may not have been paying much attention to the gravel for the past few days and thats why it seemed like it came on all of a sudden, but i can tell you that once it starts growing, it grows quick! its that whole exponential growth thing I studied in calculus so many years ago.

So I took out three feeders, (it was all i could catch in a reasonable amount of time) and introduced the worker fish population; Two foxes, 5 suckerfish, two striped plecos, and two cory cats. You can see them in the pictures below, but it is a bit like where's waldo. It gave me immense pleasure to see fishes working for a change, unlike those lazy feeders that are just blinged out poop machines. the two foxes hang out like lovers, and the suckerfish wasted no time working on the algea. By the very next day there was noticeably less visible algea.

Next up; The driftwood has been soaking now for ten days and its becoming much more clear. Another 5 days or so and it will be ready to put in. Modifications to the hood that will improve access, hose arrangements, and improve the longevity of the light fixture. Rock formations will come in last before the decorative inhabitants are introduced. Still working on a background. Also, live plants may be introduced shortly to compete with the algea.

[Rbishop]

Nice shots!

[SidRizal]

What kinda filtration do you have?

[ghostknife]

Eheim 3 and undergravel filter. 4 powerheads for circulation. large airpump for added circulation and aeration.

[colonfree]

you can use sodium biphosphate to lower ph. in my opinion it is much more effective than ph down. the tank is looking good!

[ghostknife]

Hey Colonfree,

Can you or someone explain the whole PH thing to me? I notice that every day I have to put PH down in. What is it in the tank that causes the ph to rise? With my last tank i put ph down in every day for a few days, then it needed it every week, and so forth until it stayed balanced more or less. of course, when the water is changed, the whole thing starts again, only not as drastic. It would be great to have a kind of driftwood or something that naturally lowers the PH.

As you can tell, I really dont know anything about it. Someone please help. Just direct me to the right page or article. Thanks in advance.

[jm1212]

there is no need to add pH down to your tank, and it is acctually advised against. the chemical creates a fluctuating pH that is stressful for the fish. most tank bred fish will be able to adapt to most pHs. i keep angels, which are considered "soft" water fish, in a pH of 8.0 without any ill effects.

there are also natural ways to lower pH, like adding driftwood, that also keep the tank stable.

[cweber]

Lookin good buddy! I also agree with jm1212. My tap water isnt very good at all, its hard and the ph is around 8. My fish do just fine.

[colonfree]

I could adapt to living in 20 to 30 degree temperature all year round, but I sure would not like it. If you intend on discus, make sure your water is the way they like it. Most fish do adapt, and I have never been one to add alot of chemicals of any sort, but for those guys I would. check this out http://www.aquahobby.com/articles/e_adjusting_pH.php

[ghostknife]

So yesterday I bought a ready-made high quality banner canvas and took it to my art studio down at the college. I painted it with acrylics and hung it to dry. See pic. Today I rushed home and just sloppily hung it behind the tank to see what it would look like. Pretty good I think! Take a look. Then, since I apparently dont have to worry about ph, RELEASE THE HOUNDS! or, in this case, transefered the Angels from my other tank. They will terminate the feeders with extreme predjudice.

This weekend the tank will go a radical remodel with the addition of driftwood and slate. Stay tuned...

[ghostknife]

One thing I like to do is set a pair of powerheads on the gravel or on a rock on the bottom, with the intake just slightly sucking in bubbles from the airstone. The powerhead turns the bubbles into micro bubbles and then expells them in a light cloud. I find this to be an extremely effective aeration technique and has the added benefit of keeping the powerhead from clogging. the microbubbles get pushed around the whole tank by the currents. Thats what you see in the right side of the aquarium.

[redcrane]

And the tank aint bad either!!!!!!

RedCrane:sim: :sim:

[ghostknife]

hooked up the drain to the garden. Emptied out half the tank in about 3 minutes. Also hooked up the water hose for refill, not shown. added more plant grade gravel, slate, and driftwood. Transferred all of the fish from the 38 gallon save the pleco. You can see my monster channel cat poor guy got really stressed from the move. Upsidedown cat, pair of angels I think the silver one is pregnant, bala shark, and if you look hard enough you can see the two foxes and some suckerfish. There are also 3 clown loaches, a large black ghost knife and all the fish I mentioned before.

[ghostknife]

Siddhartha started getting blisters. Apparently he's painted with acrylic so I had to take him out. I'll treat or sand him down so I can put him back.

Tomorrow I get to go buy some fish. Im going to get some blood parrots and cichlids for the 38 gallon tank, and if the 150 is healthy in the morning, im going to get some more stock for it too. That was a lot of work today. Im exhausted, but i think the 150 looks great. Let me know what you think.

[Rbishop]

Very nice!

[5xevy]

Looks great! And it seems you set it up so fast. Do you have any pictures of the BGK? (unless I missed it)

[ghostknife]

Looks great! And it seems you set it up so fast. Do you have any pictures of the BGK? (unless I missed it)

Thanks. I feel very gratified that it turned out so well and with no fish other than feeders dying. It went slow at first, waiting for the tank and stand. They were 2 months late. After that it was waiting for the carpenter to reinforce the floor but in the meantime I bought most everything else I would need and it went pretty fast. I cut some corners that I felt comfortable doing, but I would not recommend to others. For example, I added gravel after some fish were in, and I used ornaments and filter material from the 38 gal to jumpstart the cycle. Once I saw the algea on the bottom, I felt it was ok to stock it. Its funny how big my fish were in the 38 that they look big even in the new tank.

Picture of the BGK, well thats kind of tricky. He is a night owl and black on black isnt going to show in pics, also, he moves so erratically that a picture is near impossible. I'll try tho.

Right now my concern is over my big catfish. he is stressed from the move and not behaving as normal. Also, my clown loaches are stressed and going berzerk. Oddly enough, the fish I thought would handle the move the worst, handled it with ease; the Black Ghost Knife.

[aoscar]

i am setting up a 150 60x24x24, i have to know how you did the blue lights

[KingOfTheDeep]

looks great!

love the angels, the pictus and the syno, very cool

[ghostknife]

Thanks everyone, It is a pleasure to share this with you. My wife doesn't understand.

The blue lights are called moonlights and they are standard on any saltwater tank. You can buy them built in to the light fixutre, or you can buy them separately. Mine are built in, but the ones you buy separately are brighter and a little more purple and so are better, also because you can position them any way you please. They only draw 1 watt apiece but they cost about 40 bucks per.

[ghostknife]

hi 5XEVY,

Ask and you receive; here are a set of pics of my BGK. I cant believe I got her on film! But she is so comfy in her new tank after just 2 days. unheard of! The shot in the dark is to give you an idea of the true look of the tank at night. The BGK is in that pic somewhere. She (nothing that graceful and beautiful can be male) is about 5 1/2 inches long. She has grown a little over an inch since I got her 6 months ago. Enjoy.

[Germanman]

looks sweet man i love it!

[necigrad]

You said the wires all look like spaghetti. I didn't see any pics of the wires, but have you considered wire loom? I'm talking about that plastic sheathing that you can slip over the wires. I would think that you could sheath it all, and if you made sure the cut faces the outlets you could make small cuts in the material to allow the individual plugs to come out as needed.

[5xevy]

She (nothing that graceful and beautiful can be male)

HAHA!

Very nice. Thanks for taking the time to share your pictures with everyone and 'she' seems to be growing so fast! I'm glad she came out to pose for you. :D

[madkitty737]

Beautiful tank! Watching the progression was really neat. Thanks!

[ghostknife]

Well I guess its been another month now since the tank was set up. I wanted to update you on the fish and the status of things. (pictures to follow)

Fish stock so far;

2 upside down cats
1 lg pictus
1 black ghost knife
2 feeder goldfish
2 tiger plecos
4 common algea eaters
1 yellow algea eater
2 crayfish
20 shrimp
2 foxes
2 gold gouramis
1 paradise fish
2 mated pair of angels
1 bala shark


The aquarium is holding up great. 15-25% water changes are done in 15 minutes or less with no mess, nothing to hook up or nothing. Turn some valves. turn them off. It needs a water change about every two weeks to keep the water really clear. Added two live plants. Dont have my hopes up for keeping them alive, so far they dont look good.

The Eheim 3 is a marvel. It does however need to be primed like every other day because it gets air in it. dont know where its coming from, but its no big deal really. I put a nice strip light in the cabinet and it makes working on it so much nicer. Handles for the doors are here, but not yet installed.

Ive only had two deaths. 1 was a very small, pretty fish the LFS said was a scissortail but I looked it up and there is no such freshwater fish. Suspect it was just too small for its tankmates and was eaten. The other was a bala shark that had an adverse reaction to a water change. I learned not to change half the water. Its better to do 15-25%.

[ghostknife]

Here is a pic of the tank during refill after a water change.

[Rbishop]

Looking good!

[KingOfTheDeep]

looks great!

[ghostknife]

Some pics. Angel laid her eggs. I couldn't be bothered with trying to get them to hatch so the Angels ate them.

Other pics show the two new plants. I need major help with this. Although I think I am very good at keeping fish, I am the opposite with plants. You see the broad leafed plant and next to it a tall grass. those are the live plants. Any and all advice as to if and how I can keep plants alive would be greatly appreciated. The broad leaf seems to be doing ok so far, but the grass is losing or breaking off blades about 8 per day. wont have anything left by the end of the week at this rate.

[Rbishop]

Nice pics. Did the grass get too much handling while planting...?

[ghostknife]

I think the crayfish cut down the grass.

25% water change with no loss of life. timed it at 10 minutes. I forgot to mention the 2 clown loaches in the above list. and i got an elephant nose today. I really enjoy the nocturnal fish more.

This aquarium is so good its becoming spooky. I never thought it could be this great. here are some pics with the alternate night lighting.

[Rbishop]

Sharp!

[5xevy]

Always looking good!

[KingOfTheDeep]

sweet!

[necigrad]

That looks great. But I've got to ask. Do the fish enjoy watching the DVDs in the cabinet? :)

[ghostknife]

hehe. They might enjoy watching me play the ps2 video games in the cabinet, but I dont know.

Bought about 30 neons today. schooling nicely.

[Germanman]

sounds cool! pic of the school maybe?

[ghostknife]

neons school during daylight, but break formation at night. bad neons.

The upside down catfish are growing and becoming less shy. beautiful extended dorsal fin on this badboy. the pic doesnt do it justice, but you get a sense of the kewl energy in the aquarium.

Both plants are dead. I will try again, with something more hearty. maybe get another light.

[Rbishop]

Nice!

[Mgamer20o0]

looks good. keep updating.

[ct-death]

Fantastic Work man, and beautiful tank!!! :D

Enjoying the pics! - THANKS!!! ;)

[ghostknife]

The aquarium is now basically fully occupied, although there is a little bit of room left for a fish or two if I see one at the LFS i gotta have. Neons and headlite tetras are kind of a self destructing breed I notice. They fight with each other even though they got bigger problems than each other. They also break formation at night making them easy pickings. The population has stablilized tho.

Big change was the release into the wilds of the nearby koi pond of the pictus catfish. He was too big and eating neons and such. It was fun catching him and I ended up transporting him in a beer stein. Now the only real predator I have is the BGK, but she is staying no matter what. Also put statue back in. Sometimes one of the clown loaches will sit right in his lap.

Next on the list is figuring out how to have real plants. I have a lot of reading to do, but havent the time right now to do it.

Really really really love the water change system I have. I can do a water change in less than 10 minutes with no real work, no mess, no wasted water, and i dont even have to remove the hood, just open the lid.

[kjr928]

It's gorgeous. I love the BGK, wish one would fit in a 46g.

[madkitty737]

It did come together beautifully. Very zen. Love it!

[Cyberpaddy66]

Absolutly Amazing, I'm totally inspired for my 43x18x12 I'm setting up :D

[Rbishop]

Very nice!

[Germanman]

nice update!

[H3D]

Nice pics.

[catmandy]

Wow is some accomplishment. I am cycling my new 31euro tank as we speak and set up side by side makes my old 10 look small. I would hate to see mine next to yours :) Keep us posted on your progress.

[ghostknife]

It's gorgeous. I love the BGK, wish one would fit in a 46g.


you can put a BGK in a 46 gal no problem. just give her a good place to hide.

[ghostknife]

its been a year now since the new tank was up. I want to make some comments and share some experiences with you as well as give a general update.

One of the things that strikes me about a large tank is how the fish behave differently. the clown loaches, for example, hide and sleep most of the time and only scavenge for a little while per day. they used to be up and around all the time in the smaller tank. Also more fish tend to hide and inhabit small spaces. i think thats a good thing, but at the same time, my tank looks empty unless you know where to look. fish also grow bigger in big tanks.

i solved this with the addition of platties and some colorful mollies. they cheer up the place. they even seem to get the tetras more active.

i found the crayfish molt one day and thought it was dead. i was so confused when i saw both crayfish the following day until i realised what had happened.

my black ghost knife is going on year four as my pet. without her, the rest of the tank is just dirty water and noise.

i mentioned in an earlier post how the fun of an aquarium is in its building, but ive found out that even after a large tank is done, it still keeps changing. i placed all the decorations and such how i would like them, and time has made it even better. from time to time ill remove a plastic plant but thats it. there is endless variation in the changing currents all by itself.

the eheim pro 3 broke after only a couple of months of use. it may have been my fault, but still, it shouldnt have broken. turns out i dont need it. i continue using the water changing system and thats all it needs.

the aquarium is part of the house, and secretly my favorite part of the house. it makes me feel wealthy and it is spiritually uplifting to look at every day. i do recommend the taller tank design, in spite of the drawback.

If you wonder if i wonder what is next. i am hard on myself because i cant keep aquatic plants alive. ive always wanted my tank to be one of the most beautiful tanks, but i see that even a modest aquarium with real plants is light years ahead of mine. that is why i wont enter it in the tank of the month contest. still, i like mine. it has more fish than planted tanks and the fake plants look pretty good anyhow.

[satanpie]

Very nice, but i would have gone with a different feel for that tank, if i was you id take out everything that is fake, put some real rocks and some nice big peices of driftwood and some wild overgrown plants, id go with a more natural river bed feel, to me that is more "zen" than having a buddha statue in there

[mountain_webste]

the clown loaches, for example, hide and sleep most of the time and only scavenge for a little while per day. they used to be up and around all the time in the smaller tank.

As far as I could tell from the thread, you only had 2 loaches. Forgive me if you picked up more, and I missed the post. I've learded through the forum here that they thrive in larger schools. I think you mentioned you have room for more stock so you could always get some more; that might bring back their crazy loach antics.

Sweet tank and I enjoyed reading your tank journey.

[ghostknife]

here it is.

[Mgamer20o0]

still looking good.

[ghostknife]

1st pic came out too small. this should be better

[Rbishop]

Great looking tank!

[ChunkyMonkey]

stunning theme!

[gupman]

Wish I had a tank that size dont think the floor would hold it though..Nice Tank

[galen]

i just perused your thread. it is really interesting! i like the idea about building a plumbing system that uses the water from the aquarium to fertilize the garden during a water change. the tanks looks very nice and i love how the plastic plants look! my favorite part of your decor is the statue! it looks really cool!

this tank is awesome! very nice work!

[12 Volt Man]

looks great! what are the dimensions of that 150?

is it 72x18x28?

[Bnoble]

really good looking tank!

[ghostknife]

I was very happy to see the pictus catfish that i released into the koi pond. it hasnt grown much more, but it does seem to be enjoying itself. to think that i transported it there in a beer stein.

I put in those little ghost shrimp when the tank was new. to my surprise the other day I saw a very large one come out and swim around. Its amazing because they are so small and there are so many fish in the tank that predate on them.

The swordtails are reproducing, but i dont think any have survived because they get eaten. still, because of the shrimp, i think some will survive.

Its the little surprises that make the tank extra enjoyable.

[BigFishKeeper]

Nice tank GK!!

[Lady G]

Wow, very nice tank!!!

[ghostknife]

last week i changed about half the water like i do every week. when the tank was almost refilled, i noticed something odd. very odd. the center brace was floating in the water instead of bracing the tank from on top of the tank. uh oh!

I looked at the glass edge on and it was bowing out a couple of inches. So i immediately drained the tank down to about half way and studied the problem. Somehow the silicone had let go on the forward side of the center brace.

So how did this happen? well there are three ideas and i think they all had something to do with it. Learn from this.

1, i had set the powerhead with bubbles and they came up under the center brace. its possible that the constant water spray on the silicone, along with some algea growth could have weakened the silicone.

2, the weekly water changes caused undue stress on the silicone from the expansion and contraction. this is a very probable cause.

3, there was a suggestion made that heat from the aquarium light warmed up the glass brace. silicone weakens with even moderate warmth, at about 80-90 degrees.

Ill tell you about my solution in the next installment.

[ghostknife]

The dumb solution would be to clean up the old silicone and re-glue it. its a dumb solution because it is obvious, but also because it would be next to impossible to clean it up well enough, clean it up without getting acetone in the aquarium, and then regluing it with silicone and somehow applying pressure to it for a week. it would certainly fail again.

So what i did was i went down to the local metal shop and had them make me a u shaped bracket to a very exacting set of dimensions. it is made of 1/8" aluminum. I simply put it over the existing brace and it holds on to the sides. when the aquarium was filled, it applied pressure on the bracket and its going nowhere. all fixed. I thought about applying 5200 to the inside of it first, but i decided against it because its nice to be able to remove the bracket so that i can access the aquarium better. also, the existing silicone already worked as a kind of washer to cushion the glass against the metal.

So... dont empty and refill your tank more than 1/3 of the way down. you can empty it once in a while, but not every week as i did. I learned that glass does not fatigue, or at least not so much, so in the end it was repairable.

Hope this helps

[Rbishop]

I would think the water changes had nothing to do with it. I would be prone to think a combination of poor initial construction and lights.

[ghostknife]

I now believe that the cause was in fact, the heat from the lights. It is also a contributing factor that the tank is of an unusual dimension, being tall and thin. The metal plate gets very warm while the lights are on for a while. So maybe the real lesson here is to keep those lights off the tank and provide plenty of airflow/ cooling.

Like I said when I started this thread, i want everyone to learn from my failures and sucesses so they dont have to repeat the same mistakes. and isnt that the point of this whole website? i am not perfect, and this hobby is always a knowledge base growing, part science part art, part finesse. And all of us experiment with our little universes.

it was pretty terrifiying thinking of my 150 gal tank possibly blowing out in the middle of the night. I have a young daughter, and for those of you who are parents, you know what i mean. Besides, who wants 150 gallons and 100 dead fish all over their house. I had nightmares about it, but such is life. take risks, get rewards, get scared half to death in the process. Its been about a month now since the incident and everything is working fine again. relief.

Please let me know you all are out there and how your tank is doing.

Peace

[jpappy789]

nice tank!