My new tank (first real MONSTER)

[koop171]

what fish are you getting on the 16th ??

also, i know we had talked about you getting a RCK, but you couldnt find any... this guy is in Ohio (although im not sure exactly where)
http://www.aquabid.com/cgi-bin/auction/auction.cgi?fw&1226425138

I'm not saying yet. lol I saw a RCK today in marion. but they wanted like 90 bucks for it. I was not going to pay 90 for a 8"RCK. I can say this though If I didn't have to fix my brakes on my truck SOON. I would get a aquabid account and possibly buy that royal. But saying that I need to cash to go to other places. Next week I can say that I am picking up 5 fish. And this weekend I got 2 so As of next weekend My second 125 will be stocked. At least as a growout for this tank. I'll do a small pic post here next weekend and a big all inclusive fish pic thread in the photo forum. If I have time.



Ok tank update.........

I got my tops built. I am making them in two big pieces. Both made out of 1/2" plywood. And they each have 4 12"x12"x.25" acrylic holes. I am also thinking of adding an additional 9"x24" hole so I can add big fish without having to take the whole top off. I got brushable appliance epoxy in white to paint and seal the top. I still need to get a router so I can make the acrylic flush with the top. then the top will be done. I will paint half of the top today and the other half tomorrow. I will end up needing to do some touchup painting when I get the wood routered. but that's ok b/c it will only need new paint on the top side.

I also picked up two 4' shop lights from menards. They are dual bulb fixtures. They were on sale for $12 and the bulbs were on sale for $4 for a pack of two. With the tops on and unpainted the lights work great. really lights up the tank. When I get the top painted it should look alot better. Hopefully the paint will reflect the light back into the tank.

Lastly I have to totally rethink my plumbing. I was going to run it over the top of the tank and around the rim on the bracing but now that the tops are done I think I am going to use the hole provided (the right way) and make it look alot cleaner. I am only still stuck on where/how I want to place the second spraybar. The first is a no brainer. At the far end of the tank facing the Overflow. The other Idk if I want it in the center facing the overflow also or If I want it to acctually go down the center seem of the tank and have the water flowing from the side instead of the top. If I run it from the top it will look alot cleaner. If I don't I think I will get better water flow thoughout the tank. So it's cleanlyness vs. function. But I will be slowly doing the plumbing throughout the week.


So keep looking I'll get more pics hopefully before I get the fish next sunday.




P.S. hey justin. Did you see snookin had 5 10"+ Wild caught Pbass for $100 Thought You might be interested.

 

[new2natives]

got a link?
i dont really need 5 ... but 3 or so would be nice

 

[koop171]

http://www.monsterfishkeepers.com/forums/showthread.php?t=187159

there's your link. 100+shipping.

 

[moneygetter1]

Congrats!! This has been an amazing journey!! (just read from beginning to now & yes I need a nap ) Thanx so much for the ride. Don't know if I'm too late for input but my brother's 375g basment pond is heated w/ 2 of these http://www.aquacave.com/pro-heat-digital-1000wbr-titanium-aquarium-heater-368.html# Continued success & looking forward to the finished product. "T"

 

[koop171]

Congrats!! This has been an amazing journey!! (just read from beginning to now & yes I need a nap ) Thanx so much for the ride. Don't know if I'm too late for input but my brother's 375g basment pond is heated w/ 2 of these http://www.aquacave.com/pro-heat-digital-1000wbr-titanium-aquarium-heater-368.html# Continued success & looking forward to the finished product. "T"

thats about the same heater setup I WAS going to go with but b/c I was kinda pressed for time and cahs I got 3 400 watt Theos. I know some people do not like those heaters but I got a few in the house and they all work fine so far. But In the future I will change to a better 1000watt heater setup.





I got one of my returns plumbed today. Man was I dissapointed when I saw how much head loss I had. I thought I would only losse about 200GPh but I bet I lost 600. Which sucks but All together To make it look nice there is 6 90 elbows and 2 45 elbows and about 12-15 feet of PVC. Now the second one will be shorter and have alot less bends so I hope get still get around 1800 GPH now. But If I don't then some time in the future I will change that also. (prolly when I move)

I also got my heater plugged in tonight I hope they heat the water pretty fast. Maybe 24 hours and they should have it heated. I will look tomorrow when I plumb the other return. Also suction cups do NOT like to stick to rubbermaid stock tanks. I had to put a small piece of acrylic in the bottom of the stock tank to get the heaters to stick to something.

Ny only problem is how I want my spray bars. I tried to make one allready but it didn't come out right at all. So That's back to step one. I will figure something out.

 

[crowconor]

hey man this tank is going to be awesome i cant wait to see man

 

[koop171]

Ok FINALLY I got some new pics. Sorry it's taken so long. I got ALL of the plumbing done last night I have had one return line done for awhile but I never got off my butt to get the other done till last night. lol I know cutting it close on my deadline. It's all made out of 3/4 PVC. I did two spraybars for the return with both of them being placed Above the water line. That would make it possible for me to not use the check valves I bought ( Oh well I can use them later). And it will add more areation (sp) back to the tank. And I won't need any air stones or pumps yet. I lost ALOT of pressure with the long distance I had to run the one return. But I made the other considerable shorter. and I got it back to I would say at least 1800GPh totall after head loss on the two pumps. I will upgrade the pumps some other time. Right now I don't have the cash to get two bigger pumps. Unless someone needs some smaller ones and wants to trade lol. Also the return spraybars are not cemented. b/c If I need to drill bigger holes later for bigger pumps they can be easily removed. and reworked.

the third pump in the sump is just a backup pump that I got with the tank. I think I might just use it for WCs. Or for a backup if one fails. I did NOT cement the first section of PVC to the fitting on the pump. Two reasons. One If a pump fails I can easily remove and replace it without having to cut my returns up. Two I didn't want to have to totally submerge anymore cement and purple primer then I had to.

the heaters in the sump are 3 400watt theos. I wanted to get two 1000 watt jehmco heaters but time and money came into play alot fast then I wanted to. Someday they will get upgraded and these will get used for other things. Also suction cups do NOT stick to the bottom of stock tanks. So If you are doing a sump like mine. Li You might want to do this with yours if you read this. Cut a small peice or acrylic and then use that to attach your heaters so they don't float around.

I will also make another section to this sump for submerged media it will be large enough that I will not have tons of room anymore for my pumps and heaters. I will make the diveders for that out of eggcrate. I picked up 9 sheets of it from work the other day for $3 That's right 9 2'x4' sheets of eggcrate for THREE BUCKS. lol I love it when we get rid of crap the company doesn't need.

The top is comming along nicley. the olnly problem I have is that it soaks up the paint SOOOOO bad. I think it will take easily 5 coats to get a solid white look I want. The holes in the top are all 12"x12" and I have 8 12"x12"x.220" acrylic squares to put in the hols for the light to get through. I know it doesn't look like much room for the light to get throught but with the 2 dual bulb 4' shop lights I got it really looks good. I tried it out before painting. Now I know that some of you are thinking that the top is either to big or will sag. And yes it is a big top BUT I do not plan on using anything to hole the acrylic in place. I was going to silicone them but then I thought I would like to be able to get in the tank through the top so I would leave them go so I have 8 12" access holes when needed. And it's somewhat heavy being this large and that should stop any jumpers from leaving the tank. that's why I made it in two pieces instead of four. Now for the sagging. I am either going to get small pieces of acrylic and make them into "H" shapes and attach them to the bracing for support. Or I am going to get some 2"x2" boards and use them as extra bracing and then they will be semi handels when I have to remove the top.



Oh yes and for the net. That's what you need when you get big fish like I am getting. (sunday) Now some of you know and some don't so if you know plz don't say anything. I want it to be a suprise. lol I think a what's in the box thread is comming this weekend from me. Since I hate them. lol
The net is a fine mesh landing net I picked up from Dunhams sports for $23 it's 16"x16"x24" also with a 4' handle which I cut down to 3'





I do think that down the road I will be looking into some big pwoerheads. I an thinking the koralias. b/c I can place them wherever. This way I can get more water circulation right now it's not anywhere near what I would like to see. but enough to keep things moving to the overflow box.

 

[koop171]

I would now like to just thank everyone that has been with this thread and read it. Either from the begining or just seeing it. it's been really fun. From the first time I went to the LFS I got this bad boy from and I knew I wanted it till now I am getting fish for it in my own home it's great. It just goes to show us that if you want something and are willing to do some leg work and take your time you can have these ]V[onster tanks. The only problem now is the monster montra.

"I NEED A BIGGER TANK"

lol.


I will do prolly one more post here about this bad boy then it's time for me to move my big tank to the pics forum. So After this weekend since it will have fish All pics will go into a new thread about the fish of this tank in the pics area.


Again thanks to everyone who's been on this wild ride. It's been fun and it's great to see it finally together.

 

[andyjs]

This is such a sweet tank. I can't wait to see it with fish.

I'm still pretty mad I couldn't get the other big tank that AA was getting rid of. It would have made such a cool display tank...

 

[zennzzo]

you putting fish in there this weekend?