My 185gal build in progress (lots of pics)

:jaw: that is going to be one heck of an awesome tank....can't wait till it is finished and we see all the blood, sweat, and tears ya put into it....looking great so far.....
 
cvermeulen said:
Yeah I looked at those... I couldn't find any at HD. I'm still on the fence with the plugs. I'm tempted to take back the oak plugs and get birch ones. The grain of this wood is so curly and striated that anything will be hard to hide. It might look nicer if they appear to intentionally stand out rather than being badly hidden.
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you wil ever gat a good match with pre-made plugs....buy a cheapie plug cutter, and make your own with your scraps...



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cvermeulen said:
Cichlids are exactly what I was thinking. I started out thinking of Oscars... I've had them before, but they're tough to find tank mates for, and finding a pretty oscar isn't always easy. After oscars, my next choice would be a big pleco, and a big snail, with a bunch of brightly colored 4-6" cichlids. I want fish with some personality, who will greet me when I come into the room, and do intersting things like dig, and interact with each other.
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I have a RTC with my oscars and they have a great personallity together.
 
redswi said:
you wil ever gat a good match with pre-made plugs....buy a cheapie plug cutter, and make your own with your scraps...



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Click to expand...

Thanks for the suggestion! Unfortunately I'm lazy... and I have over 300 screw holes to fill, so I just bought cheap home depot plugs. I don't mind if you can see them there: I measured out the holes very carefully so they form an eye-pleasing pattern.

That's some really pretty wood in that photo, is it purpleheart? I would have LOVED to get my hands on purpleheart for the front of this thing, but in my neck of the woods, for whatever reason, nice hardwoods seem to be PRICEY.
 
Okay, so I was feeling a bit sluggish tonight, so not a lot got done, but I'm getting excited; I think it's going to look reallly nice.

Bit the bullet and siliconed in the slip/threaded 2" couplers for my overflow and filter returns. Man I hope these seal nicely! I even took the extra step of drilling in from the side, like a grease fitting, so I could inject silicone into the joint while turning the coupling, till silicone oozed out the ends, so I KNEW all the voids were full.

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I also tapped in a bunch of the oak plugs, and sawed them off flush, then did a bit of sanding to see how it would look. overall I'm pretty happy with the outcome:

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I also figured out a pattern that will work for the top panel. I need to design the light fixture and the rest of the hood, but I think there was really no way around a center support to help with any bowing. Obviously I'll have to wait to install this until after my glass arrives and is installed.

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That's about it for tonight!
 
:mwave: cant wait for the finshed tank, already it looks awsome,keep them photies coming
 
That's certainly a much easier way to drill holes for a sump than drilling a premade glass tank. That thing looks awesome man. Definitely keep us informed on how its coming along, and plenty of pics as it is completed and filled. :D
 
You are doing well on this project!
 
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