The WILD side! - 100gal build thread (56k Warning)

Well, I finally bit the bullet! I put the deposit down on the tank today, so I guess i'm into it now. It should be noted first that this is an evolving project that will take time to complete (Though I hope to have it complete come mid wild season!). This is my rome, and i'm NOT building it in a day. All criticisms, suggestions, comments are welcome. I was greatly inspired by Ouscazz's Nhamunda tank seen in this thread and decided I wanted one based off of his setup. This is a long thread, and I will continue to update it as progress is made, lots of pictures too.

Here is the rundown:
Tank: 48x24x20 Rimless/braceless with 1/2" glass with polished edges. Approx 100gal
Stand: Homemade 2x4 and 2x6 as usual. Skinned and stained in a darker walnut.
Filtration: 2x Eheim Classic 2217
Lighting: DIY LED fixture
Substrate: Pool filter sand
Decor: Manzanita wood, small rocks, maybe a little leaf litter?, and possibly some floating plants
Fish: See Below

The Tank - As said above its going to be a 48x24x20 (100gal approx) custom rimless tank that will be made by a Canadian company and shipped to me. Surprisingly US companies charge almost twice as much for tank and freight as this Canadian company, and it has a good rep among reefers (good quality and service). It will have Starphire front and side panels and all edges will be polished smooth. Kind of stoked about it. I debated going with a 60x20x20 like Ouscazz has, but I really wanted to be able to utalize 3 visible sides, and the 48" tank afforded me that. Also I find the increased width adds more to the tank then say adding more height, thats why I chose the 48x24x20. I wanted to stay as low on gallons as possible, but still have a big tank. So I opted to go 100gals and not 120gal. Still should be a very nice footprint to work with regardless and offer plenty of room for the fish.

The Stand - Home built from the usual suspects, 2x4 and 2x6. Will be my first attempt at skinning a stand with plywood, I usually leave them bare skeletons. I'd like to skin it and then stain the wood a nice darker tone...like a walnut. Still not 100% sure, as I don't have much experience doing this and don't have a lot of tools at my disposal. Things like doors are still being thought out, might just make a whole panel removable and use magnets.

Filtration - 2 Eheim 2217 classics. Simple and easy, will be getting clear tubes for them so they will become almost invisible. I figure I can always tweak them and turn them down, you can always decrease flow, never increase. I really didn't want to mess with a sump for this tank, thats why its not drilled and there is no overflow. Like I said, simple and easy....thats the best way to keep discus. I might regret my decision if I ever turn this into a reef....but as of now, meh.

Lighting - This will be the biggest project of the build, and the area I have the least amount of experience on. But what better way to learn. This is sort of based off Ouscazz's lighting. I want the same effect, or close to it. I'd like just a little more light then he has so i'm adding a few more LEDs. The good thing about this setup is that I'll be wiring 4 whites together, 2 blues together, then another 4 whites together. So I can choose to use all 8 at once, or just 4 whites at once. And the blues will be moonlights. All of these are dimmable too so I can adjust brightness as I want. This is a project in itself. Between this, the stand, football on Saturday, and school i'll have my hands full!

Fish - This is the part that is the most up in the air at this point. Wild discus will be in there, obviously...i'm thinking around 6-8 as i'd like to have more fish in the tank. I don't mind overstocking a little as I don't mind the matinence, but will the fish? Will 8 discus plus a few other fish be to crowded? The type of wild discus will come later, I haven't decided and quite honestly it depends on what is on the supplier's stocklists when I am ready for them. The tank layout will be pretty similar regardless of type. As far as other fish I'm thinking some Mesonauta for the top, and maybe a couple Biotodoma for the bottom? I would really like some Satanoperca, but they might outgrow my tank. I'm open to suggestions for species to use, going for as close to biotype as I can (Without getting to crazy with type localities and stuff) but as long as the discus don't mind I won't mind. Whats the opinion on the Satanoperca?
Would a small group of Biotodoma fit the bill better then Satanoperca or Geos?

I can't guarantee the exact replication of the pictures below, my design work is better then my carpentry or DIY work. However I will try my hardest. Not worried about the skeleton of the stand, the part that worries me is the skin around it, never really skinned a stand, attached molding, or doors, or made anything fancy before so it should be interesting. The LED fixture should be a challenge too, never done a real electrical project before. There's a first time for everything! This tank will be in my bedroom, here's a almost to scale replica to show its position against the wall, next to my rack of breeders. (The bottom of my bed is not wood...I just thought it looked better that way. Easier to distinguish.
http://i27.photobucket.com/albums/c1...wtankroom2.jpg

You'll notice I did not add any trim or doors to the stand, to lazy. And the light bar is made from bent electrical conduit, easy DIY. It will be attached with brackets to the back of the stand, or the wall. The controls on the left side is the power center. Just an array of switches so i can flip a switch instead of unplugging a heater for water changes, or to turn certain lights on, etc. I recommend these to everyone, its like a power strip with switches.
http://i27.photobucket.com/albums/c1...lshowtank6.jpg
http://i27.photobucket.com/albums/c1...lshowtank4.jpg
http://i27.photobucket.com/albums/c1...lshowtank5.jpg

LEDs mounted on a heatsink hung above the tank. The 2 blue will be wired separate from the whites, and the 4 whites straight across the middle will be one array, while the other 4 in a square shape will be another array. All will be dimmable, and all arrays will be able to be turned on/off separately. You will notice these do not span the width of the tank. The reason is I want it to be natural lighting, take a look at Ouscazz's Nhamunda tank and you will see what I am talking about. I want some spotlighting effect and the sides to be somewhat shadowed. Should give me a nice ripple effect too.
http://i27.photobucket.com/albums/c1...lshowtank3.jpg

Well, thats it for now. Thats my plans as they stand. Feel free to add any input you might have. And stay tuned, this is just the start!! I'm excited. Hans always says if you don't have room for more fish, make some. I initially contacted Hans about wilds with his past Hudson shipment but backed off due to the fact that I really had no where good to put them and it wouldn't be worth squeezing them somewhere that would not do them justice. Well Hans, i'm making room now. haha

Nice pics. How will you get to the filter you don't have doors on the bottom.

Personaly longer would be better. 60x20x20 would be great if you can aford it and have the space do it. Your fish will thank you for the extra space.

No doors were designed into the sketches, but they have been throught about. My other option is to use magnets on panels of plywood, that just come off the skeleton of the stand. Will give it a very clean look. Still looking into all of this.

I wanted to go longer, but I didn't want to give up the extra width, and I wanted to see the sides of the tank. A longer tank would not have given me this so I went for the shorter length, but wider tank.

Are you worried with a rimless about Jumpers? Expensive floor tiles.:(

I've kept open top tanks for years, and the only time i've had a discus jump is when the tank was covered. However I will probably be making a net type of top to sit on the top that I can use when i'm out of the house or at night. So not really worried, but will take a step to prevent it if i'm not home.

This is a cover i have made for my tank that i Put on at night. Very easy to make. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F0Czo...layer_embedded

Thanks Danny, thats exactly what I was talking about.

Matt Thats a cool setup ! Can't wait to see it all unfold. Have fun with it! If you go with some Mesonauta in there ....let me know.. I usually have more than I need.:)

BTW.. I almost never had Discus jump out of my tanks.....except if they were my best or favorites;);):(

-al

Thanks Al, when it comes time for the Mesonauta I was gonna talk to you. Knew you were still working with them.

I only had one jump out and I was lucky. Somehow it jumped out of a covered tank into another smaller tank. My growout/pairing tank is open currently, has been since I set it up....never had a problem. I don't expect a problem with this tank, but I think i'll play it safe with one of those net covers. Easy to take off and put on.

Amazing plans :) I have something similar now, a 4x2x2 (120 gal) running 2x 2217 and 1x 2028. Try the Eheim installation kits for the inlet/outlet. They're muted grey and not very obvious against a black background.

My tank is a Rio Negro biotope, so aside from Heckels I have B. wavrini, S. daemon as the cichlids in the tank. L183 is the algae crew. Also have Corydoras duplicareus and Cardinal tetras as dithers (even though I know strictly speaking they aren't found in discus biotopes). It's a little on the overcrowded side, but that's why I overfiltrate (outflow on the 2028 is turned down so as not to create too much flow, which I can tell you Heckels dislike! They like things calm in there) as well as do 2x 50% water changes per week with pure RO water. The TDS is, on average 30-50 and the pH is 5.3-5.6.

I am also inspired by Ouscazz's light setup, and will be doing a LED setup using 6 3W daylight white (6700K) LEDs as the main light and 2 1W proper white (10000k) LEDs as the moonlight, since in freshwater setups the moon should actually appear white and not blue :) I also have ordered blue LEDs just in case I prefer blue moonlights. Got 2 potentiometers too to do manual dimming. My initial plan was to get a controller and program the light set to be fully automatic (including auto-dimming), but I think I will put that on hold and just do a static mechanical set up first, as the t5hos are really too blinding!!

Matt looks good.Where did you get the program to make the plans?

Thanks. Dave, the program is Google Sketchup. A free download. ;)

Very cool Matt! I have been playing with the idea of a wild tank myself. Looking at what your doing makes me want to start it up even more! I know its more work to do one but, it would be nice to have one.

Congratulations friend for the beautiful project.

I believe that it will be very good, and it is clear if you has some space for some of my Wilds, it will be more beautiful, kkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkk:D:D
Hudson:thumbsup:

Thanks Turbo, you should! ;)

Thank you Hudson, your pictures and video have inspired me a lot. I think any tank graced with your fish would be amazing. I look forward to what this new season brings us for wilds, especially to the United States.