Tank resealing w/no silicon at all- 1700 Gallons

[spiff44]

[video=youtube_share;TyMZeZ0ipKc]http://youtu.be/TyMZeZ0ipKc[/video]

Here is an inside shroud shot of the lights.. they’re just stuck onto pieces of paneling and just lay on top of interior support rods. This makes it really easy to move them around. You can also see the new resurfacing using pink Styrofoam instead of bare wood treated with Drylock. The bare wood provided to much texture for mold.. but it’s a non-issue now anyway with the new lights as I don’t have the heat issue now that generated so much humidity inside the shroud in the first place. Everything stays dry now… but still the Styrofoam is easier to spray and wipe down now if it ever does need it for any reason. And a shot of the exhaust port. Black rubber sheeting forms the doors for access around the perimeter.

 

[spiff44]

[video=youtube_share;czMrNK-aXrg]http://youtu.be/czMrNK-aXrg[/video]


This video catches a bit of schooling, and closer to the end of it there is some good fish porno… caught some spawning behavior of the silver dollars. That’s my biggest fish right now, about an 8inch silver dollar female about 3 years old.

 

[spiff44]

[video=youtube_share;VRhRFshw0Uk]http://youtu.be/VRhRFshw0Uk[/video]

These are the two predatory comet goldfish that I used to cycle the tank. I had to learn my lesson that these don’t play well in a community tank with small fish. I lost entire schools of smaller tetra’s to these two. Probably around 50 fish in two months. It became clear when I would witness them voraciously chasing the smaller fish around… they wouldn’t be doing that if they weren’t having some success eating them. I think they were vacuuming them up when they were sleeping at night and that gave them a taste for small fish. I'd have a lot more fish if not for these guys.

 

[isde02]

Looking good spiff

 

[Egon]

great update!

 

[spiff44]

Thanks guys.


Forgot to mention that the reason that the light power supplies were routed upstairs with the water and air pumps was because they're forced air cooled.. they're even louder than the water pumps.

 

[spiff44]

Raw supplies

Finished box wrapped in more plant vines.

in the tank


Here is a few pictures of that fry refuge I was talking about. Basically a large two chamber hollow plastic plant box. It was more expensive than I would have liked so this will be the only one for now. If I start seeing it pay off then I’ll make more.

 

[spiff44]

Major thanks to Pacumom for a giant bunch of cool plastic plants! I pre-soaked them first and then used hydraulic cement to make bases for them. Now I see the pictures look like crap though...

 

[pacu mom]

Looking really good Rob!! The grasses look short in your tall tank.

 

[spiff44]

Thanks again Susan! The fish are loving it... the pictures don't do it justice.. but now each back corner is a nice leafy refuge of thick plants.

Also a couple of the smaller clown loaches seem to really like the grass reeds... they like to wedge their heads down into the stalks and just sit there like that.. it almost make is look like its growing little fish berries. Goofy fish.

I'm a believer of UV filters now too.. I took your advise and put in my UV filter that I have been sitting on.. and I bought another one.. so two UV filters dumping into a 4 liter bag of Purigen... the water is super clear now and hopefully this will make the tank immune to diseases.