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125 Gallon Acrylic project.
This mostly will be a photo journal until we get to the present day and stocking the tank. I been having long PM conversations with Tom (Iminit) and also visited his fish room. To say the least he is really into discus plus some other friendly companions. I liked his stand designs (solid as a rock) and the look of his minimalist but interesting BB tanks. They eye caching with those clean lines that make the fish the main attraction.
So I started to look for sales on Petsmart since the carry Clear For Life (Tom recommendation) and bingo a 20% off retail delivered free. Unfortunately a 6 weeks later they had 40% off and I was not going to buy another one and they don't honor price reductions but still the price was right.
So wile I wait 5 week for the delivery I start with the stand that pretty much I modeled from Toms 180 gallon since his was same length but wider.
Also Tom found an awesome deal on a WET/DRY Sump that I could not refuse.
WET/DRY picked up from Tom on my visit to NY with new Hygger pump:
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Next Materials for the build:
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So let's get started:
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Well my back would not hold up working on the floor. All supports triple studs and flooring in:
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Start to cover the studs:
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Lets see if the WET/DRY fits:
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Some primer:
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Now routed the edge on the top and a paint job:
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And the tank arrives:
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And after 4 week of seeding finally cycled, I introduce all my smaller fish including my 10 L046 zebras, 6 Boesemani rainbow fish from Tom, 5 Sterbai Cories and 8 rummy nose tetras.
The Discus come next. So here we are Today. Probably will need more Sterbai Cories.
Attachment 136056
All I need to add the barn doors on the stand and buy some discus. I will be looking what Chicago Discus is getting on their next shipment looking for some nice 5". It's to be continued and I hope I did not bore you.
Thanks for listening and thank Tom for all his help.
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Re: 125 Gallon Acrylic project.
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Re: 125 Gallon Acrylic project.
Coming along great! Next discus! Looks like the bosemani are growing. I’ve got some sterbai fry growing out. When they get bigger i can send some to you.
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Re: 125 Gallon Acrylic project.
Those Rainbow are hard to catch they are quick. I had to do a large maintenance on the 75 gallon tank that I had them in so I cleared the way to get them.
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Re: 125 Gallon Acrylic project.
Love what you've done with the stand to tie everything in and make it look like one whole piece.
Any plans for the L046s? Did you purchase them in order to get pairs for breeding? Some forum sourced zebras could be appealing. :D
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Re: 125 Gallon Acrylic project.
Yes, but they are young. I purchase 4 of them in January and they were about 6 months old so they are larger. The remining 6 purchase in February and they were a bit younger than the first ones. After two years there could be a possibility if I have males and females (luck of the draw). For the time being they will be in that tank growing out. Might eventually add some more.
Quote:
Originally Posted by
AquaticNerd
Love what you've done with the stand to tie everything in and make it look like one whole piece.
Any plans for the L046s? Did you purchase them in order to get pairs for breeding? Some forum sourced zebras could be appealing. :D
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Re: 125 Gallon Acrylic project.
Charly, Beautiful tanks! Love the new stand.
Do you have any opinion on glass vs acrylic? Acrylic tanks look stunning and your is a fine example. But, I have heard they scratch easy. What do you think?
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Re: 125 Gallon Acrylic project.
Quote:
Originally Posted by
Sandip
Charly, Beautiful tanks! Love the new stand.
Do you have any opinion on glass vs acrylic? Acrylic tanks look stunning and your is a fine example. But, I have heard they scratch easy. What do you think?
I have been really careful with what I use to clean but it's fairly new so time will tell. The one to ask is Iminit he has several acrylic tanks and I been following his advice on what to use to clean in and out.
Inside MR clean pads or Aqueon magnetic cleaner with acrylic insert. On the outside I picked up Novus acrylic cleaner spray and microfiber cloth. I think on a bare bottom the acrylic looks sharp and I liked the look. The plus scratches on a acrylic tan can be polished out if you ever needed to and they are light enough to handle on you own.
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Re: 125 Gallon Acrylic project.
Yes acrylic scratches! Can’t get past that. But just be careful. Bare bottom is so much better for acrylic. What scratches the most is the substrate. The novus scratch removal kit does work wonders. Acrylic tanks cost more than glass are super light. Once we got my 180 into the basement I did the rest. Try moving a 180 glass by yourself. I now have 7. 3 biggest I bought new all others used and cheap. Because so many scratch them up they’re sold cheap. A few hours with wet/sand sandpaper and the novus kit and they look new. I’ve bought and sold 2 over 30yrs old. Once cleaned I used them then sold for more than I paid.
This is my oldest and first acrylic. It’s a 90g bought in 17 and has had substrate as long as I’ve had it. First substrate was eco-compleat (crushed lava rock).it’s scratched. You can see during water changes. But with water.Attachment 136065. That magnaflow scraper is not the best and I’ve no clue how it got there!!:). Here’s my 125 bought in 19.Attachment 136066 and my 180 bought in 22Attachment 136067
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Re: 125 Gallon Acrylic project.
Magnet float scraper, the hobbyist doesn't know that the scraper is picking up gravel at the bottom of the tank.
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Re: 125 Gallon Acrylic project.
The fish I ordered from Pompa's 2 x Eruption, 1 x Leopard and 1 x Panda will be going out on Wednesday so somebody is home to receive them on Thursday. Here is a preliminary of what I picked and more pic's and video to come.
Per Oscar these two are laying eggs already I saw them kinda hang together so I thought get both why not. To my surprise the paired up.
Soon I will have some more video to share.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G2wi2nyLpq0
Attachment 136072 Attachment 136073
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Re: 125 Gallon Acrylic project.
Lol thought they were a pair! They all look great!
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Re: 125 Gallon Acrylic project.
Quote:
Originally Posted by
Iminit
Lol thought they were a pair! They all look great!
Yes they are a pair, the final videos of what I am getting.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OXEVci4QJLk
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lBAzB_HuQeg
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7Y2q0F_ThLo
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Re: 125 Gallon Acrylic project.
Wow Chuck ! Nice fish and a pair as well. Very very cool start to the project.
Really like the stand as well... my living room 125 gal is in dire need of replacement may have to copy you and Tom here.:) Tank looks great as well! Congrats on putting it all together!
al
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Re: 125 Gallon Acrylic project.
Very nice- what did you put on the bottom of the tank?
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Re: 125 Gallon Acrylic project.
Quote:
Originally Posted by
mleibowi
Very nice- what did you put on the bottom of the tank?
I painted the outside bottom white so the bare bottom would not look like a mirror. You would get the same effect if you don't peel the paper that is on the acrylic to protect the bottom.
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Re: 125 Gallon Acrylic project.
The shipment from Pompa's got delayed in Memphis TN due to weather no fault from Pompa's who new a tornado would mess-up the runway. But the arrived today 24 hrs. off schedule but in fine.
They were well wrapped and the bag temperature was about 80F.
They all seem heathy, and since I had to go back to work I did not get much time with them. I have a surveillance camera trained on them so I can still keep an eye on them.
So here are some of the preliminary pictures.
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Re: 125 Gallon Acrylic project.
Congrats Chuck! Glad they made it ok even with delays.. that speaks well of the way they were packed.
Look forward to more pics after they settle in.
Al
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Re: 125 Gallon Acrylic project.
I just wanted to add a video of my setup but it's constantly changing. Moved the Panda and Leopard to their own tank for now to see what happens with the pair of Eruptions.
If nothing happens I will rejoin them all and continue the QT for the remainder after the first week of observation. The seem to eat OK the frozen blood worms seem to be their preference for now. I will introduce other food later on. One of the Eruptions seems to shy to one side of the tank but looks OK.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FX2ealmzmtA
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Re: 125 Gallon Acrylic project.
Fish room looks great. All discus look great! I see the corys also arrived. Lots going on and those bosimani look to be enjoying that tank all to themselves!
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Re: 125 Gallon Acrylic project.
Quote:
Originally Posted by
Iminit
Fish room looks great. All discus look great! I see the corys also arrived. Lots going on and those bosimani look to be enjoying that tank all to themselves!
The Bosimani Rainbows are the boss for now.
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Re: 125 Gallon Acrylic project.
This one seems to be protecting something in the pot and he is really pissed off also turning black.
Attachment 136155
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Re: 125 Gallon Acrylic project.
Well they don’t protect their eggs! And they eat the fry. So it may be looking to mate. Why its colors are enhanced. If you add some floating westeria to the tank they will drop eggs in it.
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Re: 125 Gallon Acrylic project.
Sometimes stuff happens when you QT together.
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Re: 125 Gallon Acrylic project.
Wow that’s not the pair I thought. I thought your pair were the 2 spotted ones. Nice and so the fun begins! My 2 laid eggs again!Attachment 136188 got the cage ready and removed the pleco. This is at least the 10th time.
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Re: 125 Gallon Acrylic project.
The other two keep working at the cone but yes that took me by surprise
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Re: 125 Gallon Acrylic project.
Some of the eggs are turning white but I see some eyeballs when I zoom in real close.
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Re: 125 Gallon Acrylic project.
The eggs should batch out tomorrow.
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There were to many turning white so I let them have them and of course they ate them. It's ok so I can continue with the QT regimen so I can make them all safe. Breeding can wait, at least I know it's a pair.
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Re: 125 Gallon Acrylic project.
The TDS was about 100 so when I am ready I will drop to 70-80 ppm.
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Re: 125 Gallon Acrylic project.
OK into 3rd week now we start deworming and the Eruption pair decided to lay some eggs. Covered up some of the sponge filters and replaced the black heater. The background nothing I can do, I use to have this tank painted white but I removed the paint a wile back.
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Re: 125 Gallon Acrylic project.
Hopefully I will have some wiggles to confirm the pair. I don't no if the male did his job, since already some scattered white eggs.
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Re: 125 Gallon Acrylic project.
Ok looked this morning and I thought they were all white and when I got home I found the cone clean. I guess I have a bad papa or two females. I haven't seen them while they spawn so I don't know who is who. I think the one on the left is a female.
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Re: 125 Gallon Acrylic project.
Chuck they look great.. Im sure they will get it right in time. Question.. whats the reason for covering up the sponges and replacing the black heater?
Al
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Re: 125 Gallon Acrylic project.
Quote:
Originally Posted by
brewmaster15
Chuck they look great.. Im sure they will get it right in time. Question.. whats the reason for covering up the sponges and replacing the black heater?
Al
Incase they have free swimmers les distraction less dark areas to better find the parents. I don't know if it make a difference or not. Hopeful thinking or over kill?
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Re: 125 Gallon Acrylic project.
Overkill.:) plus its going to make those sponges harder to clean with zip ties. Elastic bands may work better if you chose this route. Most of the time the fry will find the parents ok even with black sponges but if it looks like they aren't you can just remove the sponge and put it in a zip lock bag until the fry attach. It usually is only a few hours or overnight. It can also be helpful to drop the water level down to above the parents backs. But most of the time these tactic are only needed for albinos and maybe some pigeons. The parents are pretty good at attracting the fry with their shimmying and movements. I usually turn down the airflow on the sponges though when fry go free swimming.
Hth,Al
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Re: 125 Gallon Acrylic project.
Great advice Al I will remove the filter cloth later on. I never tried to breed Discus and my pair of Marlboros never spawned. They are still a great pair and they are the two in my first tank in the video that I uploaded a page back. He is about 7 - 7 1/2 inches and she is a little bit smaller. There always playing and enjoying themselves so I never got other Discus for company. Now they are german from Hans so can't really mix.
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Re: 125 Gallon Acrylic project.
Chuck, although there is some truth to not mixing german and asian strains its kind of gotten blown out of proportion. I have had fish from both Kenny and Hans in my place at the same time and mixed them no issues. .. the key is quarantine. If you just plop discus from germany and discus from malaysia into the same tank theres a really good likelihood that one or the other or both will get sick. However if you take those two fish and quarantine them in the same home or room for a good solid 6 or more weeks.. theres a very good chance nothing will happen when you mix them. The reason is because most of the viruses and bacterias that cause the fish to break down when thrown together find their way into your tanks in water droplets .. but the amount is so small the fish deal with the immune response and get used to it.
At least thats been my experiences with mixing fish from multiple sources. Its really largely about taking your time with QT.
Hth,
Al
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Re: 125 Gallon Acrylic project.
Quote:
Originally Posted by
brewmaster15
Chuck, although there is some truth to not mixing german and asian strains its kind of gotten blown out of proportion. I have had fish from both Kenny and Hans in my place at the same time and mixed them no issues. .. the key is quarantine. If you just plop discus from germany and discus from malaysia into the same tank theres a really good likelihood that one or the other or both will get sick. However if you take those two fish and quarantine them in the same home or room for a good solid 6 or more weeks.. theres a very good chance nothing will happen when you mix them. The reason is because most of the viruses and bacterias that cause the fish to break down when thrown together find their way into your tanks in water droplets .. but the amount is so small the fish deal with the immune response and get used to it.
At least thats been my experiences with mixing fish from multiple sources. Its really largely about taking your time with QT.
Hth,
Al
Well Al you give me hope that maybe I can eventually down the line after my new one are settled I can move the Marlboros to my new tank. They been with me for about 2 1/2 years and I did not have many problems with them.