135 Gallon Cube Build

[pantherlax]

Thought I would stop lurking and post some pics of my work in progress. This is my first tank that I've done the plumbing on so I'm not trying to do anything too complicated, just simple and effective. Right now it's basically just a skeleton, nothing even glued yet. Just mocked up for gluing this weekend so I decided to snap some pics.

135 Gallon Cube 36"L X 36"W X 24"H
- 2, 1.5" Drains
- ~42 Gallon Sump 30"L X 20"W X 16"H
- Herbie Overflow Design
- Eheim 5000+ Compact
- Universal Rocks Background
- Zoo Med T5-HO Light
- Manzanita driftwood from MFK member Manzman

Still need:
- Titanium heater/s
- Battery backups
- Check valve

With the 1.5" drain being able to handle around 2400gph and my eheim only rated to 1300gph max I figure I'm going to have to keep that gate valve pretty much all the way closed. Also, anyone know where I can pick up some suction cup brackets big enough to hold a 1" spray bar? I'm still not sure how I'm going to attach that in the tank at this point. If anyone has any tips or advice I'd appreciate all the help I can get!

 

[cozmo]

Very nice! Can't wait till it's filled and running.

 

[tigercat]

Very nice, what type of fish do you plan to put in it.

 

[PDRed302]

Awesome tank and setup, I love that footprint!

Whats the stock list?

As far as suction cups: Petco sells heater clips (2 pack clear) for a buck or two around me, they are what I use to hold my spray bar made from 3/4" PVC which has a 1" o.d.

Keep us updated

 

[pantherlax]

Thanks for all the positive feedback. I really don't know about the stock list at this point, I keep going back and forth...can't make up my mind. Right now it's between an Amazonian type stock or CA cichlid/s. I still have some time as even when I finish with the plumbing and fill testing I have a lot of finish work left to do on the stand, plus cycle time and all that...

Thanks PDRed! I'll have to have a second look at the Petco near me. I did try a spare heater clip I had lying around, but it was way too small. If I can't find anything at Petco, I'm thinking about just zip tying it to the front of the background and then using a spare piece of the background to cover the PVC. Too much going on this and next weekend so I'll probably be updating again in 2 weeks or so, thanks again!

 

[GrantA94]

I have pretty much the same setup! Same dims of tank, but my sump is 30"x18"x18" and I have a central overflow box. You can check the build-ish thread in my sig (I say ish because I didn't document it too greatly). I run a 2" standpipe durso (I believe) system with a 1" return pipe. Pushing about 2,500 lph, which is 5x turnover every hour.

I will prewarn you that stocking agressive cichlids is pretty hard because of the dimensions. I have True GTs which are a challenge to keep.

However, I really look forward to the build and look forward to seeing it scaped and stocked.

I hope you don't mind me posting pictures, but here is my tank at current.


here are some pictures of it when I first set it up:
First put into positionThe sumpThe overflow.

 

[rwellbaum]

nice! hope to see pics of it all set up with fish!

 

[pantherlax]

- Grant - Thanks for adding the pics, bro, of course they are welcome! It's always good to get some different perspective. Yea, honestly I'm really not sure about the CA cichlids, especially because my tank is acrylic and I'm worried they may scratch it...we'll see though. You have a beautiful setup, I reallly like the aquascaping, simple and clean so it doesn't detract from the fish yet very visually appealing. Definitely gave me some good ideas for my own project