assembly page: new 150 gal freshwater

lessons learned

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.
 
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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
 
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.
 
questions-answers

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.
 
I like The Tall Stand It Gives A Great Look Of A Monster .
 
more improvements, cycling week 3

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:

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Looking good!
 
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.
 
week three: signs of microbial life

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.

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