New 270.

[ikevi]

pretty sweet, glad to see I am not the only one who does not scrape back of tank...lol

Yah... well I normally do say every month... Flash pickes it up well and I actually haven't scraped the front of that tank since I am going to be changing it so much.

Now to Bgonz.

I thank you for your advice. And if you do notice I have in essence switched my sistem to rubbermaids... I mean the bulkhead is pvc to pvc (much like TheFishGuy did on his large tank). The only part where I in essence am actually rellying on silicon to hold plastic to plastic is where I join the flexible piping to the pvc via a joint. I do realize that it isn't the best setup, and I would have if I could have put in just one 55 tank. The problem again is that I just can't move the tank so I cant in from the back.

I wouldn't be surprised that when I move (likely in 4 months) I decide to just put in a 55 and switch the whole sump setup again. But well this is going to work for now and I am not worried about it. (I have used silicon to hold many plastic filters together without any problem.)

But again I do appreciate your advice/concern. And if it doesn't work then at least I will be able to say that I wasn't the only one that tried and failed. (But at the moment it by far looks like all is good.)

 

[ikevi]

Oh the beauty.

Anyways ~3 hours... No leaks. Tank has only 1/2 full. Though to test the filters I have been pumping water into the overflow box. IE the sump system is running 100% all but one filter pad is in, and still have a thing of biofilter (seachem) to put in. But I figure I should take some existing stuff from the 135, and then start some fresh in one of my xp3 on the 135.

Anyways water is being heated. I can't decide if I should just move all at once or what, but I was planning on taking most of the water from the 135 and putting it in this new tank since the discus need different water.

SO the pictures.

 

[ikevi]

And it is fully up and running. With lots of fish...

Anyways I wasn't patient enough to try with a few fish first, so I tossed in all my old bio media from the 135, put in most of the water from that tank and most of the fish. (Minus ~10 yellow labs... now this tank only have male yellow labs.)

Ok photos Note I chose to let them be blurry since I wanted to show the color of the tank... I like it but I might be tempted to bring in more red light eventually:

Final pump setup. Since it isn't enough in case I loose power I have a power backup for the pump. Though I likely will figure something out just in case say the pump dies.

Anyways 2 photos of that.

(There are 3 containers that filter, 2 with socks then filters, then biomedia. 1 with just bio media. All 3 have pumps. The final (4th container) is just a pump for now though I might put my UV pump setup in there too.)

It is pretty cool since if I hear water I know something has to be done. IE either add more water if water falling in the tank, or clean filters if water in the sump setup. But when running fully the loudest sound is from my bubblers. (The pump is isolated so it is very quite.)

Ok tank filling up... not pretty but I added rocks and such.

First fish:

My all time favorite fish... you can't tell me that Africans aren't monsters... He is over 10 inches now, and as you can see has some nice teeth.

Just more filling shots. (I think I put about 30 fish in there... I got tired counting how many times I was walking from room to room with a fish.)

Two other guys that I like a lot and took snaps of...

Almost full...

The 135 all the good water taken out... only yellow labs left in.

Some fish that may go in the big tank.

The guys that are getting the 135.

The big tank up and running, not was cloudy at the beginning but even as I was taking pictures you can see how it clears up.

Ok that is enough photos for now...

 

[AMG]

Great looking African set up.

 

[jonahonah]

great tank but what i find strange is that you went through all this and then you are moving in a short time and could have waited till then.

 

[ikevi]

great tank but what i find strange is that you went through all this and then you are moving in a short time and could have waited till then.

Well first I haven't for sure decided to move. I still need to find a place that would have all that I want.

Plus could you have sat with a tank like this and done nothing for ~5 months?

 

[ikevi]

So one last update... (All is good.)

First off the little leak that was is so slow that I can't even tell if the washcloth is damp...

Second because I was scared about a potential problem if somehow my pump died I got to thinking.... So if you didn't see I originally was drawing all my water strait from the bottom of the tank. But I recalled that people often had tubing going up to the top of there tank and complained about gurguling noises from it... And I realized I could put in stuff like that and the water wouldn't be able to get in past where I cut the tub. Or at least it would only slowly leak in. So I did it. (Of course I cut notches to make it so there would be little to no gurgling.)

And after cutting power to the pump it looks like I will have hit the jackpot. IE I have at least ~6 gallons of space left for any slow leaks that get around the tubing, and there wont suddenly be 270 gallons of water on the floor.

The only down side is that feces will likely build up down in the overflow box but I can clean that out easily.

Anyways some quick shots. (First the piping that I stuck in, then showing what my flow rate is. I would say at least 3-4 times more than I see in my fx5, though I don't have it spraying all over so it might actually be more. Then 2 more tank shots. From the front you can't tell that the water is a little cloudy, for the side you can see through the tank now but still can see cloudiness.)

Oh and as for moving... The more I am thinking the more I don't really want to anymore... I don't think I can really take care of any more tanks and well I like the location. Just a little scared about having so many tanks, and I would like some grass for the dog to run on... (I have what over 12 tanks, and likely will be picking up another 30 gallon soon.)

 

[BichirAddict]

Looks good even thou its an african cichlid tank

 

[johnny_1993]

Well first I haven't for sure decided to move. I still need to find a place that would have all that I want.

Plus could you have sat with a tank like this and done nothing for ~5 months?

lol waiting one weekend is torture hahahaa

 

[mike dunagan]

of course you will get more tanks.... It is a lot of work, but then you come up with ways to make it less and less work until you add another tank... maybe drip system...?