My new 125 Gallon setup (pic heavy)

[Rass]

So I took some shots of my new setup and thought I'd share them! It is a TruVu acrylic tank (60"L x 18"W x 24"H) with a built in overflow and a 40 breeder as a sump. I built my own wet-dry, Durso standpipe, and I'm using a 1500 GPH pump that's rated around 1000 GPH at the tank height and it runs through a 'T' to twin return lines. The stand and canopy I built myself specifically for this project. The stand had to be slightly oversized to accomodate the 40 breeder since it is the same width as the main tank, but it's not that noticeable, and allows some space behind the main tank for my returns and such. I used 1/8" acrylic to make lids for the sump that fit around the plumbing and I painted one piece black on the back side to cover the open side of the overflow box. I also added acoustic foam inside the stand to tone down the trickling water noise form the wet-dry. It helped, although you can still hear it a little but this tank is surprisingly quiet considering the level of flitration I have on it. I have had HOB filters that were louder than this tank LOL! I'm running two 65W 8800K power compacts now but I'm adding two 48" 54W T5-HO colormax bulbs for the plants also, and if they are bright enough I'll probably take the power compacts out altogether to reduce the running cost. Sorry for the dark sump pics, but you'll get the idea. Let me know what you guys think!

 

[~ocean]

Good job! Looks nice!

 

[Rass]

The camera I'm using now sucks too, it's one of these cheap little camcorders that aldo takes pictures. My ex broke our good camera and I've yet to get another. I didn't realize how bad it was until I posted those pics LOL!

 

[deeda]

Very nice job on the aquascaping, I love that wood. The plumbing setup looks very well planned. Any plans on staining the canopy & stand?

 

[Rass]

Thank you. I have considered staining the the canopy and stand. If I do I think I'll go with a clear laquer or whatever it's called as I'm kind of liking the look of the raw wood. The stand was built to be incredibly strong and was just going to be a budget build out of 2x4's painted black, but once I got that part built I could'nt leave it alone LOL. I started adding the 1/8" birch sheets to cover it up, then the pine 1x4's, then the corner moldings. Each time I added something it looked a little better so I figured I would just go all out with it. I used leftover scrap material the build the canopy, it was very simple and cost effective. I ended spending more on this project than I originally intended but it came out looking way nicer also so I'm happy with it. I picked up the tank locally off of craigslist for $200 and the rest of the build was going to be done as cheaply as possible. I had the light, pump, and heaters already. The 40 breeder I got on sale at Petco for $40. The wood and rock was the most expensive single purchase at around $250, and I probably have $300 into the stand and canopy. After everything I estimate it to be around $1235 including the fish. Not bad conidering the main tank alone normally sells for around $950 new. The guy I bought it from said he took it as a trade because a friend owed him some money, and his friend supposedly paid around $900 for it. There were lots of little expenses where I could have cut corners like not adding the acoustic foam under the stand and making the acrylic lids for the sump and things like that but it wouldn't have saved me that much, and that price includes all the extras even, like buying a new test kit since I didn't have one anymore. Fish food, salt, dechlorinator. All that stuff, so it's not just the price of the tank, that's every dime I have spent on getting back into the hobby so the tank build itself was a lot less than that. So getting it used almost paid for everything else I have into it compared to buying it new!

Also, I wanted to add this for anyone who gets a tank that has a smaller square overflow box like this one and wants to use a Durso standpipe. You CAN cut down the 'T' fitting and the street 'L' fitting the make the standpipe narrower. I cut them down until there was only about 1/8" of the slip fitting holding the two pieces together and it still fits nice and snug. I still had to put the standpipe in at a 45 degree angle to make it fit within the square, but doing this allowed me to use the 1 1/4" PVC tapered down to the 1" BH fitting like the Durso site suggests and still have it fit it into the smaller overflow box.

 

[Rass]

Also the 1" BH handles this pump no problem. I was kind of concerned after reading what some people posted about that size of BH fitting only being able to handle 600GPH. With this standpipe I had to adjust the hole in the top cap just to keep it from draining the water too fast and sucking in air. So this setup could actually handle an even bigger pump! When split between the two return lines the flow in the tank is nice and gentle. I'm almost thinking I may need to add a powerhead down in the bottom of the tank to get better circulation and just let the returns agitate the surface better.

 

[Redearsunfish]

Looks great!!

 

[Darth Scohin]

Looks really good, you'll need a little bit more room in the future having three Oscars BUT it still looks nice

 

[Somethingfishyinc.net]

nice but forget live plants & oscars IMO. They like to move things, happy home wreckers.

 

[Rass]

I don't plan on having them in there forever. I'm using them to cycle this tank more or less. They are noticeably larger already and it's only been a week LOL!