My turn, my turn! My 180!

[inmisawa]

After doing a lot of looking around for a couple of months, I finally settled on a 180 w/overflow I found at the first LFS I went to. I put it on a 36" stand and got a 10" canopy. I've stocked it with the following:

-40 gal sump
-- 2ea Sedra KSP-3500 pumps for 700 gph filerting
--3/4" hosing and two exit nozzles
-- Eheim Jager 3619 Heater (300W)
- 24" T5 lighting w/ 4 moonlights
- 100lbs Leslie's Pool Sand
- Misc 2" bulkhead fitting and associated PVC piping

So I hired a local fish guy, Mike, from SCV Aquarium to help me set this bad boy up. This was my first experience with a sump and he was happy to help me get it all together. We got it all running in a few hours. At first, the overflow was LOUD! I could hear it in every part of my house, and wife was super pissed. Mike said to hack off a piece of the leftover PVC and stove pipe the bulkhead which did the trick. I can still hear the water flowing, but it's a whisper and can only be heard in the room the tank is in.

The next day I threw in a couple of angels from my 55 to start cycling the 180. At first, they were really freaked out. I was afraid there was way too much current in the aquarium. The angels seemed to be pinned up against the overflow. I talked to Mike again, and he had me adjust the nozzle position. It cut down on the current a lot, but they still were pinned against the wall. Mike said they'd be fine, just give them time. So I went out and picked up some bottom feeders (8 corys and 4 yo-yo loaches) and some future discus shrimp cocktail ghost shrimp. Within an hour, the angels were out and about swimming all around. It came to my attention that I didn't do a good just transistioning them to the new tank, and that I had overstressed them.

So the tank is sand bottom right now as I am looking for some plants and manzanita wood. I've found the wood I want, just need to order it, but the local selection of plants suck so I'll have to drive into a place in LA to pick them up.

Here are some pics of the tank. I'll update more as I work on it.

[Second Hand Pat]

Very nice. I was thinking the 24 in light was too short and it actually looks pretty good. Love the stand and top. Suggest doing a fishless cycle and save the stress to your angels and other fish.

[Joander123]

Looks pretty good, but personally not a fan of the 24" light at all.

[BABYJIZAY]

I'm sure its going to look amazing. Keep us posted!!

[jball1125]

Nice! I like the way the 24 inch light looks.

[bonsai dave]

Great looking tank. But what are you using for filter media in the sump?

[dr6run]

looks good!
a few tips for ya, as for the sump noise, a cover might help muffle the little sound that's coming out after the stovepipe idea.
second (keep in mind I'm from the Midwest) I would use at least two heaters, one might be sufficient, but what do you do if that one breaks down.
depending on what you want to do with the layout (live plants, the wood) you may need more light than the 24" and IMO you'll need more sand to anchor the roots.

[jcardona1]

Off to a great start!!

If you want to make your overflow even quieter, make a Durso standpipe (google for the website). It will cost you $3 in fittings and is a genius little device!

[dielectric]

you're going to be really limited in plant choices with that light. nice start though!

[Herbicidal]

Beautiful tank, stand and hood. Looking forward to see how this comes together with the flora and fauna. :)

Oh, in one picture it looks like you can see a window behind the tank. Are you putting up some kind of background or painting the back to prevent the extra light coming in? Or maybe it's a bizarre reflection. :p Just curious!

[Eddie]

Awesome tank, not to be a party pooper but I would have done a fishless cycle for disease prevention. I throw lots of caution to the wind when it comes to fishes.

Eddie

[inmisawa]

For the media, I don't have anything in it. I figured I would since I've always used it in my canisters, but it wasn't mentioned when I started building this. I know common sense would dictate I need something. I'll take any suggestions!

With respect to the heater, I noticed a lot of people use two but I've never had an issue with heaters. I've decided to run with just the one for now.

For plants, i really don't plan on this aquarium being plant heavy. I actually get a lot of light in the living room being a resident of souther California, so I'm going to play the wait and see game. Truth be told, I actually like the 24" because it's given me some dark corners for the discus to hide in should they become frightened.

**Edit** Something I thought about on the car ride home was too add secondary lighting and have them run a few hours a day. That would help with the lighting for the plants during the day when no one is home anyway, and still give the look I like when I'm actually looking at the tank.

The window that you see in the tank is actually a reflection off the black back of the tank. It's a new house and the shutters haven't arrived for that room yet :D

My initial thought was to run a fishless cycle for about 2 weeks before I put anything in there, but I was advised throwing in a couple of angles would speed up the process. Truth be told, I wasn't overly crazy about the angels anyway so I figured I'd give it a shot. The discus won't be making a trip into the tank for a while, I don't expect them to be in until Christmas time. Even then, I may hold off on moving them.

PS, thanks for the sound buffereing tips, I'll check them out. And I appreciate everyones comments, they're definately giving me things to think about!

[inmisawa]

Well it's still work in progress. I ordered some wood from Manzman but I have only received partial delivery. I'm hoping the othe piece will show up soon. I'm heading out to find some amazon swords tomorrow. I'm also going to look for some river rocks at the local landscaping lot. I'm popping by LFS also to find some gold rams.

Can anyone suggest what type of media to add and how to put it in my sump. I think I read some people just throw it in pantyhose and pop it in. I'll take all the help I can get.

Also, I'm not having luck growing these juvies out. I've had them for a month and just upped their feading to 4 times a day 2 weeks ago after I discovered I wasn't feeding them enough. I think future purchases are going to be full sized fish, but I'm stuck with these little guys and I'd hte to stunt them. Thanks.

[inmisawa]

Pics are always good to add the first time...

[Jennie]

what moonlight do u use? Mine doesn't get quite as bright at night

[x2h]

nice tank thanks for sharing

[inmisawa]

Wow, it's been a while since I looked at this thread. Anyway, work and other things kept me busy, tank became neglected and it just went to poop. I had an unfortunate problem with a bad water change or an infection to my blue knight and lost $300 in fish within an hour. It was a bad day. But as I seem to have had some time to work with my daughter on this tank it's improved. I just hope I can make the discus I have in there happy again as the look miserable. The aquarium is under my 14 year old daughter's "full-time" care and we've been working on it together alot. This is the latest. I'm about to go on a long trip so I'm hoping it doesn't look like death again when I get back. I may have to take it down, we'll just have to see. Anyway, please enjoy. I plan on adding some more discus soon, but I think the stock is going to be limited to just blue diamonds and some other dither fish.

72539

[Rummy]

The tank looks beautiful. Nice and peaceful. I hope all goes well and please keep us updated.

[DiscusBR]

sorry to hear about your problems. Nice to hear your tank is back. The new setup looks really nice. Good job.

[frinklinduds]

looks good, sorry to hear about your problems but like with anything sh*^ happens u know, get some fish in there and post some pics ASAP

[inmisawa]

Thanks! I'm pretty sure I'm getting some fish from Kenny this month. Thanks to Bill, door to door service! LOL!

[sayitfast]

Looks really nice to me....

[tonytheboss1]

:bandana: FANTASTIC JOB !!!! Looks super. Thinking about Kenny discus also. Actually a toss up w/ Hans. Good luck this goround. :T"

[inmisawa]

You know for the most part most of my fish have come from Kenny albeit indirectly. I've had no issues with them at all. I've spoken with him a couple of times as well and he's very helpful.