630G TruView Acrylic AIO Aquasystem Build

[cigars]

Cigars,

The water level in the tank is higher than the bio chamber inlet so it should be okay. Also, no reactor, just planning on blocking the K1 in place in the two bioball chambers.

Update:

Slow going today and made little progress on removing the old protective paper. It’s been soaking in vegetable oil so I’ll give it another shot tomorrow. Any suggestions?

Also, the 800 grit wasn’t coarse enough for some of the deeper scratches in the acrylic so ordered 400 and 600. FYI, Lowe’s doesn’t carry anything finer than 320 grit for orbital sanders.

Also, received an email response from Mr. Tanner at Swiss Tropicals letting me know that Poret blocks in the “dead” space accessory chamber will not work without flow so that idea is out. He suggested K1 in the unfiltered accessory chambers since they’ll knock themselves clean so I may go that direction.

You should test fill the tank to make sure the filtration area works the way you think it will. I think you will find that once you start filling the tank the water level in the bio chamber area will be as high as in the tank having those holes drilled at the bottom, when the water level starts to reach the height of the first baffle in the accessory chamber (hole side) it will continue to fill the entire bio chamber area up to the weirs unless you block off the two holes at the bottom. JK47 can you look at the drawing closely and verify if I am correct here.

I would leave the holes turn those bio ball sections into k1 reactors and run some sort of closed loop filtration (ultima 2) it would be low maintenance you will only have to backwash the ultima, it would be a sweet setup.

 

[JK47]

Thanks JK47. I’ll give Michaels a shot tomorrow for that sheet! Also, leaving that paper on there will bug me forever. Might just have to bite the bullet and sand it off. Updates to follow after receiving the coarser grits.

You should test fill the tank to make sure the filtration area works the way you think it will. I think you will find that once you start filling the tank the water level in the bio chamber area will be as high as in the tank having those holes drilled at the bottom, when the water level starts to reach the height of the first baffle in the accessory chamber (hole side) it will continue to fill the entire bio chamber area up to the weirs unless you block off the two holes at the bottom. JK47 can you look at the drawing closely and verify if I am correct here.

I would leave the holes turn those bio ball sections into k1 reactors and run some sort of closed loop filtration (ultima 2) it would be low maintenance you will only have to backwash the ultima, it would be a sweet setup.

F FinalBoss i totally get that. OCD like crazy here too. Don’t use and chemical agents to remove it. Especially the black acrylic.

cigars the lower holes appear to just be to allow water to be drawn from the bottom as well. 48” towers are going to take some serious flow to keep mech in line. I would leave them if it were me. Assuming the leak test goes according to plan

 

[Backfromthedead]

Sweet fatboy tank! I love wide, semi-cube type tanks. So much open space and options for stocking.

Ive never been a fan of the all in one filtration setups. If it was me, and since youre refurbishing the thing already, id just turn that whole back section into a coast to coast overflow and install a sump. If that sort of thing was doable of course.

Good luck with your build.

 

[aldiaz33]

Awesome tank!

I'm guessing the holes towards the bottom were drilled in order to be able to increase flow while also being able to pull water/detritus from the bottom. Without the holes, I wouldn't be surprised if you couldn't run more than 2,000GPH through the overflow teeth. If they are 1" holes, you may be able to install .5" bulkheads and install elbows facing down so that they're literally sucking poop directly from the bottom of the tank. Or you could use one for that purpose and plumb the second one for an intake to a canister filter.

...I plan on adding two 300w heaters to the return pump chamber....

Your heaters should go in the accessory chambers (not the pump chamber), since they will always have a full water level (if I'm understanding your diagram correctly).

The water level in the return pump chamber will drop as water evaporates and if it gets low enough, you could potentially have problems (heaters could crack/explode if they power on and they aren't fully submerged). I've had a few tanks with this in-tank-filter (AIO) design trust me on this, the return pump chamber is not where you want to put your heaters.

In regards to the protective paper on the back black panel, there is no silver bullet to removing it. I have found that soaking it in GooGone and using an old plastic card to scrape is the most effective strategy, but it's still a really tedious time consuming process. I have personally never had any issues using GooGone on acrylic, however I have read on the interwebs people who have, so proceed at your own risk.

I think if you try to sand it off, your disc is going to get gooped up pretty quick, but I'm curious to hear how it worked out if you're already done.

Any updates?

 

[FinalBoss]

Aldiaz33,

I appreciate the insight. Progress has been slow due to the recent heat wave and busy work schedule. I wish I could just hire the work out, but haven’t found anyone locally yet. Hopefully I can get through most of it this weekend and provide a better update.

 

[FinalBoss]

Major Update:

I finally got the tank setup and running after months of delay due to work and a huge setback after moving my stock from the 150g to the 630g.

I had AcrylicPros come out and buff out the tank. It took a ridiculous number of hours spread out over a few days to get the inside and out crystal clear.



After buffing, the tank sat empty for 2 months due to work. Finally, I got the crew together and moved the tank into position.





After filling up the tank I filled the sump full of K1 and got the pump running. I got the temp to 80 degrees and dosed Sechem Safe. Next, I transferred my FX6 from the 150g over to the new tank and began transferring everything over after acclimating over the course of an hour. Matched water and temp. Bad move. Something went wrong. I should have waited and tested with goldfish or something. Within 24 hours I lost everything. I tested and no ammonia and hardly any nitrate. The readings were lower than the 150g everything came from. It was devastating to see each of my beautiful fish slowly go belly up. I wanted to upgrade their living conditions to something nicer and in the end whatever I did caused their death. New tank syndrome? Incorrect dose of Safe? Residue from the buffing? PH difference from all new water versus old tank? Plastic residue from brand new K1? I triple checked the dosage of Safe and I know the internal volume of the new tank so that's not likely. I cleaned the tank out with water/vinegar after buffing, but could I have rinsed it more? I don't know, but I was completely devastated and ready to give up. Luckily Eric convinced me to keep the tank running for a few weeks and Brandon was down to get into some monster fish.

So we got a bunch of goldfish and a couple baby Azuls to test the waters.



After another two weeks of testing and water changes we were ready for some new stock. Bahia Gold Kelberi and an Arapaima! Don't worry, he's colored up nicely now.



Niger!



Two Black and one Silver Arowana!



Payara, 8 x Red Hook Silver Dollars, Irwini, NTT, and a Tigrinus.



Full tank shot with LED lighting.



There's still a ton of adjusting and finishing work to do, but I'm glad I didn't leave the hobby after the huge losses earlier. We also moved the 150g to Brandon's garage and it's now cycling with guppies and minnows. Updates to follow. Spread the love!



Special thanks to Brandon for all the work the past few weeks, Eric for the encouragement and fish, and Joe for the beautiful fish.

 

[JK47]

All that effort was certainly worth it! That came out amazing. Well done man!

 

[DATCAVE]

Good work finalboss!!!
Your tank is so big it dwarfs the 3 large arowanas.

 

[FinalBoss]

A bit more work and a new addition tonight. We made a temporary holding tank out of a tub with holes drilled in it to house the Bahia Gold Kelberis, Azuls, Ocellaris, and a Bambusa until Brandon’s tank is cycled. Also, picked up a beautiful 22” high yellow Albino Silver Arowana from Joe. It’s almost orange along its back!

 

[phreeflow]

Nice aro! I’ve experienced a couple of weird losses using Safe to dechlorinate. Never had issues doing water changes before, but after I started using Safe, I would notice some fishes gills turn bright red and flip out. Just lost a handful of leopard frog plecos and some angelfish after doing a water change. The plecos ran out of their caves, flipped over, slammed into the glass and their gills turned bright red and they died not long after. They were going nuts and it looked like they were having a heart attack...pretty certain it was from chlorine. Anyways, sorry for the loss and great tank!