NEW 240 gallon brackish tank

  • We are currently upgrading MFK. thanks! -neo

kdv9tb

Feeder Fish
MFK Member
Aug 15, 2009
36
0
6
Houton, TX
I took the plunge and decided to purchase a new aquarium. It is a 96x24x24 240 gallon tank. This is my new brackish water aquarium, to replace my current 90 gallon.

So far, I have finished the spray bars, custom tile background, and the steel stand.

Things I still need to do are:
Cycle aquarium
Move fish over
Finish skin on stand
weld canopy
Skin the canopy

Tank 1.JPG
tank 2.JPG

I will post more pictures as I get them done!

**NOTE: The stand is 42" high, so it can be seen from the formal dining room table.

Tank 1.JPG

tank 2.JPG
 
Awesome tank....really diggin the background!!
 
Looks great!

What fish are in the 90, and what will you be adding? What kind of filtration will you be using?

More pics!

I'd be much more comfortable with a few 45's/diagonals in the frame of the stand to prevent racking, but I may underestimate the strength of a good weld.
 
Looks amazing! Can't wait til you put your stock in there. any chance you could show us pics of the stock now before they are moved, then when they take the plunge into their new home we can see the difference
 
vary nice looking tank, i wish i had room for something that size :( i knew the city was a bad choice. my farm house had much much more room.

question though, could you post a picture of the type of tile your using? i really like the idea of it. and from the view in the picture it looks great!
 
Sorry for the long wait everyone! Right after I posted the first comment, I was put on bed rest, and hope to be off once my little girl decides she is ready to make an appearance!

So to answer evryones questions, here goes!

Fish are moved into the 240, and I didn't get before and after pictures. I can say that I haven't seen them this colorful in years, and am very happy with the decision. The fish that are in the 240 right now are:
4 Red scats
3 Green Scats
1 Lg. Mono Sebae
1 Sm. Mono Sebae
1 Lg. Columbian shark
3 sm. Columbian sharks

Since the 90 gallon was empty, I decided it would be a good place to QT a couple new fish I still wanted to add. Those fish are:
3 Silver Scats
3 Mono Argentus

The only other fish I am thinking about adding, has been on my wish list for the last 5 years, but has been eluding me... The African Scat! The one fish I want more than anything.

For filtration, I am using 2 Fluval FX5's, with custom spray bars. The spray bars are great, and I am happy I went the extra step to build them. They provide a nice flow, that isn't a huge jet stream for the fish. I thought about a sump for this system, but after dealing with my saltwater tank here in Houston, I just didn't want another tank to provide any more sleepless nights.

As far as racking on the stand, I am not concerned with it. I currently have it skined in 3/4 inch plywood, and it is bolted to the wall throught the steel stand. I can't think of anything that would knock it over!

As far as the background is constructed, and materials used, I will try to post some pictures about how I built it. I used the following materials:
3/4 inch blue styrofoam
12 inch square slate tile (frome Home Depot)(Please open up and pick out the best tile. I looked through boxes and boxes to find ones with great colors and patterns that I liked. I bought twice the Square footage that I was covering, so 32 sq. ft)
Aquarium safe silicone (4 tubes)
UGL paint (I bought white and then dyed it with concret dye)

As far as building the background, I just took a hammer and broke the tile up to the size I was going for. I cut the syrofoam into 4 pieces and made sure it fit like a puzzle in the tank. Painted the styrofoam with three coats of the dyed paint. Then I layed the background all out and started being creative with the tile. I used 2 layers, and made sure to number each panel. To get the panels to look like one whole piece, you have to have a one that will overlap two others, so you don't see any seams.

If you google search this, you can find lots of info online. I chose not to glue the background to the back of the aquarium, because it would have voided the warrenty.. That is something I did not want to do..

So, I will try to get some picture up, so you all can see the fish happily in the 240, and if I can find some of the builf=ding of the background, I will post them as well!

Any other questions or concerns, just let me know! I will try to answer in a faster manner!
 
photo 1.JPG
photo 2.JPG
photo 3.JPG

photo 1.JPG

photo 2.JPG

photo 3.JPG
 
MonsterFishKeepers.com