'Cleveland' Rocks!
- Thread starter Parka
- Start date
I remember them! Cept I wasn't really a fan... So that thing is a snake? My next door neighbor, the one across the street and catty corner from my domicile, he tole me it was a White Fire Hose Eel and I says to him, 'I Know It! anyway, I have not done anything tank wise since the After Party... WOW!
I got a couple pics for your viewing pleasure, I gotta take em first! When did American aquariusts start calling the hoods, a Canopy? Is that British or something? For example, the British use words like BONNET to describe a car hood! And a Canopy, I'm gonna eat me some Crepes and sit under a Canvas Canopy, how very cosmopolitan! And Sophisticated!
Also, I looked at some other large tank builds and the HOODS were as big as the stand! What is going on with such enormous hood-canopies?
Pics will be posted AT MY convenience. Good Day!
Parka
at my convenience, With Pics!This is the top of the hoods and those corner braces, besides providing stiffness and added strength, these corner braces also square the structure too, as they are fastened in place.
The areas behind the doors have been left unfinished without floors. I do not plan to change that.
And this last picture is to show the drawers with plastic liners on the bottom.
So the Leak Test, I want to use that water to rinse the gravel and lava rock. I will be going with another DIY undergravel filter, and I have a plan for a DIY trickle type hydroponic filter also...
Monsters,
Parka
still has not fully recovered from the Great Reveal After Party! And I haven't got Jack S. done since then... GUILTY! But when things start taking shape, Pics Shall be Posted at ONCE!
And I am looking forward to learning about what others have in their tanks, filtration, plants, etc, especially from the Friendly Monsters that have been following my thread. Your interest absolutely strongly motivated me to hustle to the finish and The Monster After Party, WOW!
I'm ordering 20 more sheets of 3/4" plywood, The Big Apple Never Sleeps!
I want to build The 'NYC' of Plywood Aquariums...I am He-Man, Hear Me ROAR!
(sung to the tune, 'I Am Woman' by Helen Reddy
My filter designs wouldn't be of much interest to you, unfortunately, since I'm a "sumps all the way" guy. Just for kicks though, here are some ideas I've employed.
Graded Poret foam and filter floss mechanical sump filter:
Hydroponic expanded clay media biological filter:
DIY mechanical filters made from Sterilite boxes, egg crate light diffuser panels with poly filter roll media
And...a work in progress. Mechanical filter with SS strainer baskets that can be lined or stuffed with various media.
Graded Poret foam and filter floss mechanical sump filter:
Hydroponic expanded clay media biological filter:
DIY mechanical filters made from Sterilite boxes, egg crate light diffuser panels with poly filter roll media
And...a work in progress. Mechanical filter with SS strainer baskets that can be lined or stuffed with various media.
It might not interest me to use a sump, but I still am interested! All that plumbing, I'm not ready to embrace plumbing! Anyway, the under gravel will be the primary filter and I'm planning to try a trickle tower and stream out as a secondary filter using a 10' length of gutter for the stream which will also hold potted house plants, it's a plan that has not been tried by me yet. I hope it works...
That rack of stainless strainers is handsome! Thanks for showing those pics, all that plumbing makes me nervous!
Yesterday I got a bunch of lava rock rinsed for the under gravel filter bed but today I dint play because it is raw wet rainy cold all day long today. As soon as the weather dries up, I will rinse the pea gravel, next. I'm using the leak test water, which was a water change from Chicago, to clean the gravel and lava rocks. There is a thick film of sawdust on the surface of Cleveland! No more wood cutting indoors, NONE WHATSOEVER!
Look what I got delivered today! 28 sheets of plywood!!! I need to get it moved ASAP, so that my Land Lady can get her car in the garage, I got enough plywood for three NYC's of plywood aquariums, so eager! I started me a Wood Collection!
Look what else I collected!
That rack of stainless strainers is handsome! Thanks for showing those pics, all that plumbing makes me nervous!
Yesterday I got a bunch of lava rock rinsed for the under gravel filter bed but today I dint play because it is raw wet rainy cold all day long today. As soon as the weather dries up, I will rinse the pea gravel, next. I'm using the leak test water, which was a water change from Chicago, to clean the gravel and lava rocks. There is a thick film of sawdust on the surface of Cleveland! No more wood cutting indoors, NONE WHATSOEVER!
Look what I got delivered today! 28 sheets of plywood!!! I need to get it moved ASAP, so that my Land Lady can get her car in the garage, I got enough plywood for three NYC's of plywood aquariums, so eager! I started me a Wood Collection!
Look what else I collected!
Actually I am interested in how sumps work, but as I've alluded to, my Plumbing Skills are suspect at Best! And I am in NO mood to embrace plumbing to do the level of work you created. I can tell by the whole lot of pics that you have spent countless hours over the years developing your style of sump. It looks quite impressive and if I didn't already know you built it, it looks like a commercial set up that I have seen in other pictures.
Does your system use more than one pump? And do you run the pump(s) submerged or inline? And please tell me again the filter capacity and the tank too?
I am VERY interested in your filtration system!
Thanks for the positive comments. If you could see it close up in person, it would probably would look a lot less "commercial" 
The first two pics with the Poret foam and clay balls is on my 300 gal system/230 gal. display tank. I use only one pump at a time but every tank has two pumps. I alternate running them and switch out about every 3-4 months. Flow on this system is about 1800 gph. The pumps are Current USA eFlux models and can be external or submerged. I run all mine submerged.
The third picture with the plastic tub filters is my 425 gal. system,/325 gal. display tank. Same size pump and about the same flow rate. I let these filters go a long time between cleaning, only clean when water starts to back up over the filter media. With four filter units, I can clean a couple and leave the others dirty. Then when the "new" filters get charged up with bacteria after a week or so, I clean the other two. Keeps plenty of bacteria going since I don't have a dedicated biological section on this tanks filtration.
Last pic with the PVC frame and steel baskets is the first part of the filtration on my 900 gal. system/730 gal. display tank in the process of being set up. This will be the mechanical section and will receive dirty water as it drains down from the tank. Next will be a graded Poret foam section similar to the 230 gal. tank and followed by a expanded clay biological section. Maybe a good ole polyester batting section as well. Flow on this system is about 3000 gph, submerged pump.
Notice that I don't run super high flow systems. I shoot for about 4-6 tank volume turnovers per hour. This has worked well for me. I will have larger fish in the 730, so I did build in the overflow capacity to run up to 10 turnovers/hr. if I need to.
The first two pics with the Poret foam and clay balls is on my 300 gal system/230 gal. display tank. I use only one pump at a time but every tank has two pumps. I alternate running them and switch out about every 3-4 months. Flow on this system is about 1800 gph. The pumps are Current USA eFlux models and can be external or submerged. I run all mine submerged.
The third picture with the plastic tub filters is my 425 gal. system,/325 gal. display tank. Same size pump and about the same flow rate. I let these filters go a long time between cleaning, only clean when water starts to back up over the filter media. With four filter units, I can clean a couple and leave the others dirty. Then when the "new" filters get charged up with bacteria after a week or so, I clean the other two. Keeps plenty of bacteria going since I don't have a dedicated biological section on this tanks filtration.
Last pic with the PVC frame and steel baskets is the first part of the filtration on my 900 gal. system/730 gal. display tank in the process of being set up. This will be the mechanical section and will receive dirty water as it drains down from the tank. Next will be a graded Poret foam section similar to the 230 gal. tank and followed by a expanded clay biological section. Maybe a good ole polyester batting section as well. Flow on this system is about 3000 gph, submerged pump.
Notice that I don't run super high flow systems. I shoot for about 4-6 tank volume turnovers per hour. This has worked well for me. I will have larger fish in the 730, so I did build in the overflow capacity to run up to 10 turnovers/hr. if I need to.
Now that gives me a BIG idea! I'm gonna hook me up a whole Dish Washer for a filter! Great Idea, Frass, WOW! My Business will be Spotless!
But I also have a very worrisome problem... And I AM asking for Advice! No, I'm Demanding Advice!
So when and IF I decide to build the NYC of Plywood Aquariums, and BTW, it is a SUPER tiny 'if', minuscule even, almost invisible, too!
Should I start a new thread dedicated to the 'NYC' build or keep using this thread? I'm torn!
Man alive, I bought all that plywood on Thursday and it was delivered the next day. I also got 24 2x4's to build the stand.
It's not even on paper yet but the start of next tank could happen soon.
in my head now, I got it penciled in, inside dimensions:
168.5 long
44" depth
40" tall
The glass I'm planning on using, 1/2" tempered, 78" x 36", two panels
And the stand, I will build it first and then build the tank on the stand in my garage.
It's not even on paper yet but the start of next tank could happen soon.
in my head now, I got it penciled in, inside dimensions:
168.5 long
44" depth
40" tall
The glass I'm planning on using, 1/2" tempered, 78" x 36", two panels
And the stand, I will build it first and then build the tank on the stand in my garage.
