Steeldrifter 0 Report post Posted January 2, 2012 Finally some updated pics..... The last side panel is all done so now the background itself is pretty much finished and ready to install into the tank in the next day or two after a good cleaning and some painting of the bottom of the tank is done. Side panel... Filling the tank fully to double check there are no leaks as well as to test out the new water changer... Some equipment that is ready for the tank.... 50ft Vacuum&hose water changer Blue Cold Cathode lighting (pair of 20" bars and pair of 12" bars) for the cave openings Dual T5 HO lights Hydor inline heater Lifeguard digital temp gauge with alarm Normal in tank thermometer LED Moonlight strips Timer power strip Water test kit Cleaning tools & nets Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Steeldrifter 0 Report post Posted January 3, 2012 First coat of white paint on the bottom (outside of tank). I painted the bottom white because I plan on using white sand so I figure this will help to keep them digging fish from exposing the bottom of the tank a bit. And after 2nd coat is dry, tank flipped over and glass all cleaned. Will be siliconing in the background tomorrow. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
TitanFlies 0 Report post Posted January 3, 2012 Wow this is really cool stuff! Admirable dedication. Is this going to be salt or freshwater? P.S. I, too, think black coffee is the only way to drink it. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Stippled Popper 0 Report post Posted January 3, 2012 When I was breeding Freshwater Angel Fish years ago I had a 55 gal, 2-30gal, and 2-10gal tanks going. I've not kept up with the technology since then. Has something replaced the under gravel filters so common back when? Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Steeldrifter 0 Report post Posted January 3, 2012 Wow this is really cool stuff! Admirable dedication. Is this going to be salt or freshwater? P.S. I, too, think black coffee is the only way to drink it. Titan it is going to be freshwater. I'm going to stock it with around 12-14 Peacock Cichlids. To me there's only one kind of coffee, and that's Maxwell house black! Real men drink coffee that can peel the paint off your wall and enjoy it Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Steeldrifter 0 Report post Posted January 3, 2012 When I was breeding Freshwater Angel Fish years ago I had a 55 gal, 2-30gal, and 2-10gal tanks going. I've not kept up with the technology since then. Has something replaced the under gravel filters so common back when? Yep now days the best filtration system is a canister style filter such as Rena or Fulval. Canisters only use an intake and then a spraybar return and do a much better job of filtering tanks now a days. Some people still use UGF systems like you mentioned but they are dying out pretty quickly. Mainly because the whole idea of how they function is in contrast to what keeps a tank clean. When a UGF is in a tank it pulls the debris into the sand and it gets stuck there. It "looks" like the tank is clean because you can't see the debris but that's only because it is embedded in the sand rather than floating into the filter. This is what most larger tanks are using now a days http://www.amazon.com/Rena-722-Filstar-Canister-Filter/dp/B000260FX4 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
TitanFlies 0 Report post Posted January 3, 2012 To me there's only one kind of coffee, and that's Maxwell house black! Real men drink coffee that can peel the paint off your wall and enjoy it For me, I prefer Tully's 10% Kona Blend... black of course. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Steeldrifter 0 Report post Posted January 3, 2012 Some big steps forward today. Did the final test fit of the background to see if any other small pieces need to be made (a couple small ones do). Also got the new light in position (dual T5 HO bulbs 1 white 1 Actinic Blue). And also tested out all four of the "Open water" cold cathode lighting for the cave openings on both sides. Still have to monkey around with where the spacing & distance of those to get the exact effect I'm looking for but I think I'm pretty close right now. Lit up with just the dual T5 light With the Open water cold cathode lighting on... Steve Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
bluegill576 0 Report post Posted January 3, 2012 the tank is really coming along. It looks great and good luck with the rest. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Stippled Popper 0 Report post Posted January 4, 2012 When I was breeding Freshwater Angel Fish years ago I had a 55 gal, 2-30gal, and 2-10gal tanks going. I've not kept up with the technology since then. Has something replaced the under gravel filters so common back when? Yep now days the best filtration system is a canister style filter such as Rena or Fulval. Canisters only use an intake and then a spraybar return and do a much better job of filtering tanks now a days. Some people still use UGF systems like you mentioned but they are dying out pretty quickly. Mainly because the whole idea of how they function is in contrast to what keeps a tank clean. When a UGF is in a tank it pulls the debris into the sand and it gets stuck there. It "looks" like the tank is clean because you can't see the debris but that's only because it is embedded in the sand rather than floating into the filter. This is what most larger tanks are using now a days http://www.amazon.co...r/dp/B000260FX4 Glad they came up with something better. Eventually the debris worked it's way under the gravel to the UGF and it would start coming up through the lift tube into the tank and it was time to take the whole thing down to rinse the gravel and set it back up. . . no fun with a large tank. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Mini Hub 0 Report post Posted January 5, 2012 It looks awsome. I can not wait to see it when it has fish in it. I like coffee black too. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
smokinprice 0 Report post Posted January 17, 2012 Very nice man. You need to come to the dark side and go with the salt. I have a 46g bow front reef and I love it. I could sit in front of that thing for hours! Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
bluegill576 0 Report post Posted January 17, 2012 Very nice man. You need to come to the dark side and go with the salt. I have a 46g bow front reef and I love it. I could sit in front of that thing for hours! salt tanks are pretty cool. We have a 20 gallon tank that is salt. You can watch those things for hours, there are always things that you didn't notice before, and one good thing about salt is that everything is living, the rocks have coral on them and the sand has all kinds of things in it. Also I think the fish are prettier. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Steeldrifter 0 Report post Posted January 17, 2012 I love the looks of saltwater tanks, but I don't love the cost & maintenance By the time you get everything set up with tank/coral/live rock/skimmer/sump it's easy to drop a couple grand on one. That's pretty much why I haven't gone to salt. Some of the more recent Malawi & Peacock cichlids that are popular now are just as colorful as saltwater species now a days so I'll be sticking with cichlids for now. Not ruling out ever having a salt tank but just not right now. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Peterjay 0 Report post Posted January 17, 2012 Nice job Steve - It looks great. Can't wait to see it finished. Good luck with the stocking, those Rift Lake rascals can be brutal. I'll be breaking down my 90G soon, since we're moving from CT to VA. I'm thinking about cichlids as well, but I'm gonna have to wait and see what the water parameters are like there. Always better to go with the flow. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
