500 Gallon Peacock Bass Aquarium

[jtalley]

That's awesome... how long does it take you clean?

Ever fall in?

It doesn't take too long, MagFloat only takes 5 minutes tops and vacuuming maybe 10 minutes...

Haven't fallen in yet, but sometimes its not so easy getting out of the tank once in there

 

[jtalley]

Spent time today cleaning out the equipment that has been setting unused since December, should be finished with that tomorrow. Planning to start removing the 200 lbs of pool filter sand tomorrow so that I can start the sanding process this week.

Based on the scratches present, I hope to start at 1000 grit, possibly 600 grit, going up to 2000 grit before using Novus 2 & 3. I will be doing the sanding by hand, but using an orbital buffer for the polish. I'm expecting this phase will take around 2 weeks to polish the roughly 50 square feet of area. At my job, we do a good amount of acrylic polishing so I may enlist a co-worker to help hurry this task along.

 

[PhinPhan]

Incredible tank, I love the fact that you're going with cichla. Any idea what species you're planning on stocking? Are you going grow smaller fish out in the tank or will you be looking for larger specimens?

 

[kulvero]

Spent time today cleaning out the equipment that has been setting unused since December, should be finished with that tomorrow. Planning to start removing the 200 lbs of pool filter sand tomorrow so that I can start the sanding process this week.

Based on the scratches present, I hope to start at 1000 grit, possibly 600 grit, going up to 2000 grit before using Novus 2 & 3. I will be doing the sanding by hand, but using an orbital buffer for the polish. I'm expecting this phase will take around 2 weeks to polish the roughly 50 square feet of area. At my job, we do a good amount of acrylic polishing so I may enlist a co-worker to help hurry this task along.

Sanding?? Is this an acrylic tank? Sorry, hope I didn't just offend you with that question. I've only ever kept glass tanks and judging from the photo, it looked like pretty thick material. Just out of curiosity how thick is it and about how much does the tank weigh when empty?

 

[jtalley]

Incredible tank, I love the fact that you're going with cichla. Any idea what species you're planning on stocking? Are you going grow smaller fish out in the tank or will you be looking for larger specimens?

Because of the 2.5' width, I plan to go with "smaller" species (mono or ocel). At the moment I am planning on 10-12 pbass only, no other species.

I plan to grow out in this tank, a little concerned about small fish in a large aquarium...it was a real pain to catch some of the previous African's to sell

 

[jtalley]

Sanding?? Is this an acrylic tank? Sorry, hope I didn't just offend you with that question. I've only ever kept glass tanks and judging from the photo, it looked like pretty thick material. Just out of curiosity how thick is it and about how much does the tank weigh when empty?

Yes, it is acrylic. The 48" tall panels are 1.5" thick, bottom is 1.25" and top bracing is 1". I previously estimated the empty weight to be roughly 900 lbs.

 

[kulvero]

Wow! What a beast!

Btw, sorry for my dumb questions... if I'd have read your original post more carefully instead of marveling at the images of your tank I might've saved you the trouble of retyping it.

In response to your original question, I'm afraid your aquarium skills far exceed my own and I probably have few suggestions of any value to you. But I'll take a shot at it anyway.
1) Simplicity of maintenance and cleaning (you already mentioned these);
2) Proximity to a water source for convenient weekly water changes;
3) Rain-water collection system (if you live in a municipal area like me) for a more natural water source - I've read mixed reviews about doing this, but considering the normally low pH reported in rain water this might create a more natural environment for the PBass that's also easier for you to maintain... just a thought.
4) Denitrator or Nitrate Reductor - had to add this as it's a recent point of interest to me.

 

[kulvero]

Where did you get this aquarium? I'm guessing it's custom???

 

[jtalley]

Where did you get this aquarium? I'm guessing it's custom???

Yes, the tank was custom built for a "casual hobbyist" salt water setup near NYC. I was able to purchase it off of Craigslist when they became bored with it.

 

[jtalley]

Wow! What a beast!

Btw, sorry for my dumb questions... if I'd have read your original post more carefully instead of marveling at the images of your tank I might've saved you the trouble of retyping it.

In response to your original question, I'm afraid your aquarium skills far exceed my own and I probably have few suggestions of any value to you. But I'll take a shot at it anyway.
1) Simplicity of maintenance and cleaning (you already mentioned these);
2) Proximity to a water source for convenient weekly water changes;
3) Rain-water collection system (if you live in a municipal area like me) for a more natural water source - I've read mixed reviews about doing this, but considering the normally low pH reported in rain water this might create a more natural environment for the PBass that's also easier for you to maintain... just a thought.
4) Denitrator or Nitrate Reductor - had to add this as it's a recent point of interest to me.

There are generally no bad questions, I am a firm believer you can learn something new from anyone.

In regards to your suggestions, I am aiming to make maitenence as easy as possible. My water source is the kitchen sink in my apartment less than 10 feet from the aquarium. With the apartment the rain storage idea is out and I simply rely on water changes for the last, or from time to time I used to run a bit of purigen. However, that was mostly for tannin reduction.