125gal tank build. Lots of pics beware.

[tidioute06]

So as promised a few pics of the updates.

This is the stand and hood. I still need to make doors for the front and trim it out. It will have 1 1/2" trim the same color as the doors on the cabinet and the door on the hood will also be that tanish looking color.

The cabinet maker is here this morning and is starting to build the room. I'm really excited. Things are coming together well if not slow, but hey whats the rush? lol This should be a amazing room once it's all put together.

These are the lights from ah supply. I still need to order one more 96 watt set but I need to wait till I can get some more $$ from the wife lol.

All in all I'm pleased with the progress. Hoping to have the tank set up this week in the garage to let it runn for a bit to test everything. We'll see how that goes.

 

[tidioute06]

Got the tank set up in garage last night and I have it running.

Here is a pic of my DIY trickle filter. I know it look ghetto but it will do the job I want it to and it only cost $12 to build. I'm hoping on getting a couple fluval filters later on but since I'm using Excel as my CO2 source I'm not too worried about the loss from the trickle filter.

Also the fish room is coming along well. I'm extremely pleased with the carpenters work. He's coming back out early next week to do the staining and final touches. I'm excited.

Overall the project is moving along quite well. I have one little leak I think in my plumbing. Getting a drip from the left side return. Not sure if it's a bad bulkhead seal or I just didnt get the tubing on snug enough. I'll dig into that tonight.
Hopefully I'll be getting my 160 lbs of eco complete early next week. Then I get it in the house setup and running and order my plants.

Thanks for reading@

 

[Mexican Racoon]

Sweeeeet.

And about those rocks, I would be concerned too. You might not need to fill the tank with solid rocks to get that look. Maybe you could make a cave. It would give you some height, but maybe with less weight. Plus, caves rock.

 

[tidioute06]

Well i modified the stand so that the entire bottom is supported. I'm hoping with a felt pad and some careful placement it should not be an issue. The guy I bought the tank from had 130lbs of live rock in it with out the stand reinforcements I've made.
We'll have to see...

 

[spunjin]

Impressive custom cabinets. Thread add to my subscribed list. Can't wait to see more.

 

[tidioute06]

substrate

ok so this weekend I'll be moving the tank in from the garage to it's permanent location. I'll be adding the rocks and substrate. I've been thinking about the substrate I want to use a lot the past couple days. Eco complete is sooo darn expensive. I haven't had great success with sand in the past. So here's my idea.
I'm going to put down a bed of peat moss, over this I plan on adding a mixture of pool filter sand and pea gravel. This will make the majority of the tank substrate. After reading an article in TFH magazine i decided to use regular play sand in the front of the tank as a decorative peice. (use a piece of posterboard to seperate it) the back and most of the sides will be planted pretty heavily. with the front not planted as much. It's hard to convey this idea in words lol My question is will the peatmoss/pea gravel/pool sand be an ok substrate?
I plan to dose excel and I am going to buy some fert from rex griggs so i'm not real worried about the lack of nutrients in the substrate itself.
Any opinions are highly welcomes be it good or bad!!

edit** oh i forgot to mention..i'm picking up this http://raleigh.craigslist.org/for/1056902438.html tomorrow and I plan on making this into my wet/dry trickle filter. The extra volume eases my fears of flooding. the last sump was retarded small for the tank.
thanks again.:werd:

 

[chefjamesscott]

man try clr calcium lime remover get it at the hardware store and hardcore rinsing an your good to go

 

[tidioute06]

i'm confused...CLR for what? the substrate? god i hope thats not what you mean...

 

[tidioute06]

big update

So it's been forever since I updated. A lot has happened. We finished the fishroom/library. It looks amazing. I got the tank in place and have it filled and started the cycle. Bought a way bigger sump and modified my wet/dry filter alot. I'm now getting about 700gph turnover which was what I was looking at. Plus the bigger sump give me more room for heaters ect hidden out of site.


Here's a pic of us filling the tank:

I used a substrate combination of peatmoss on the bottom and then pool filter sand on top. Once I get the plants in and rooted I'll be using pea gravel in certain places to make it look more interesting. Also I have some 3" pvc pipe i'm going to coat in the sand and gravel to make a couple caves.


Here's a pic of it fully filled with the make shift hood I built. I'm not a carpenter and I hate the way the hood looks but it will do for now.

And here's a pic of it tonight with the driftwood I got inside it.

Originally I had planned a rainbow tank with discus and angel fish but my wife went the local pet shop and was stunned by the colors of the cichlids. So it looks like I'll be a doing a cichlid community tank. Don't know much about them so any resources you folks have would be awesome.
I'm trying to decide what bottom feedings I can put in there with the raised PH.
Just another excuse to browse the forums all night.
So the light in pic is only one of the 4 I bought from Ahsupply. Seems I was sent 3 bum bulbs which they are sending out this week. I'm hoping next pay day to get the plants on order and get them in the tank. Things are moving along great and I hope you folks enjoyed the pics!

asdad

 

[Veloth]

Beautiful setup. :thm: