My Masterpiece! (Come in & see my pics!)

[krichardson]

Thats quite an elaborate filtration system for a tank and bio load of that size but theres nothing like DIY.That background cave structure rocks.

 

[Oreo]

I don't like tank maintenance so I over-designed & over-built the filtration system. A week after putting in new hard wood floors our old 20gal tank leaked & ruined a good section of floor. I was so pissed I put this setup into high gear. I knew it had to be solvent welded PVC the whole way with plumbed & valved water changes to give more protection against leaks & splashes- at least upstairs.

I'm not interested in going brackish yet. I want to refine my aquaculture skills first. When I'm really good at getting those plants to grow healthy & after some of the fresh water fish die off then maybe I'll go brackish. But actually, I'm hoping the brackish fish go first 'cause I'd like to have some cichlids eventually. That may all be a moot point 'cause one day I'd like to scale this up to a 1,000gal version.

The bio-load of this tank will surely grow. As I said in the OP, we have a bad habit of over-stocking. We're better now but I'm pretty sure there's still room for a few more fish in this tank.

Someone asked about the background build pics... they're being uploaded as I type.

 

[chefjamesscott]

They are Scats, or Scattophagusaf;lkasdfka something or other. They are supposed to be brackish fish, as well as the columbian shark I believe. But we've had them for a couple years now & they're doing fine. As I understand it, it may be more of an issue for them when they get older but I'll deal with that when the time comes. At my LFS, there's a scat as big as a dinner plate so apparently they get quite large.

first let me say killer looking tank thats a nice filtration set up as well kudos

? for you whats the difference in a scat that dies as a adult and one that dies of old age

one live in fresh the other made its move to saltwater

my scats were moving past juvi to young adult to i moved them a full sw all my research said that for these fish to live the fullest an best of lives they have to be in sw when they reach adult hood

i know that when i moved my scats to the full sw stage that they totally came alive and i mean totally you i would recommend that you put the goldie in its own tank and turn that tank at least to brackish if not go full sw

 

[chefjamesscott]

, I'm hoping the brackish fish go first 'cause I'd like to have some cichlids eventually. That may all be a moot point 'cause one day I'd like to scale this up to a 1,000gal version.

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no way dude that is a totally bad way to look at fish

i think the object is to give them the best life they can have in your care not hope for them to die

if you want to go cichlids then rehome those scats but please dont bring them to an unecessarily early death due to bad fish keeping

 

[Steve_89]

Stunning looking tank. The setup is awesome.

You should do it on a bigger scale

 

[Oreo]

I may rehome the scats eventually. They're very agressive towards each other & the smaller one has the scars to show for it. They're the least well suited to the direction I'd like the tank to go. With that said, over the last few years I've somehow managed to make everything that isn't supposed to work, work. Who knows, these particular scats may just go 20 years with the luck i've had.

Rest assured though, I do care for my critters & they are & will be well taken care of regardless of what that may mean in the future.

I'd LOVE to do it on a larger scale. Like I said, next time around I'm doing a 1k gal build. But that's gotta wait till I get a bigger house first.

 

[artemis1]

very nice tank! we need a diy thread of background and filter system

 

[haynchinook334]

very nice tank! we need a diy thread of background and filter system

X10

AWESOME Tank.

 

[cassharper]

I do like the idea of using RO filter canisters as a filter.

 

[2004exrider]

you know, ive looked over that filtration setup and decided its the first thing you need to get rid of........

better send it to my house lol

Jimmy