Putting together a 180gallon Tropheus Tank.
- Thread starter Mastiffman
- Start date
lynched13;4745937; said:
Thanks. I know there is not much to look at so far but I'm pretty excited as this is my First Large tank since my 150gal back... oooooh, 16years ago! I've only had a 75gal lately.
I'm going to pick up a FREE Marineland C360 tomorrow from some guy (chinese man named Trung) off of CL that says the filter works but leaks mildly from one of the clamps. FREE Though. Can't beat that! probably just needs new seals or has a simple crack that is repairable or can be replced by a part.
So as long it's repairable I will have a FX5 and C360 filtering this tank....
Mastiffman;4745908; said:
With "chocked" im mean the substrate (plain sand) will suffocate, because the tiny bits in the sand will block the bottom layer of sand, and the sand will start to rot, and gets a gray color under the top layer.
I got a sheet of foam laying under the rocks to prevent damage to the glass.
Because i got 9 ectodus descampsi witch like to dig in the sand, some of the corners of the sheet started to float and i had to cut them away.
If i have to do it again i will glue the sheet to the bottom, and glue some sand on the sheet.
Sorry for the bad photo, the fish just covered it back up with sand.
I've never heard of putting styrofoam inside the tank under the substrate. I've had a lot of tanks, and I've never worried about putting gravel/sand in the bottom.
You can avoid problems with the sand by regularly stirring it and keeping it vacuumed.
You can avoid problems with the sand by regularly stirring it and keeping it vacuumed.
The syrofoam is not for the substrate but for the heavy rocks.
You can alway stir up the sand but you'll always miss some spots.
You can alway stir up the sand but you'll always miss some spots.
Etunes;4748301; said:
Were i come from everybody with rock tanks uses styrofoam.
Couse of softness you don't have to worry about something stuck between the sheet and the glass.
Egg-crate shall be fine too i guess.
koopman;4748427; said:
Honestly I've never had issues with the heavy rocks. but then again I've always had ample amounts of substrate to avoid it even touching the bottom...
So is that play sand that you have in there? Or something else?
I don't like the idea of ahving to worry abuot sand choking... SHuold I go with something of 1.0 or larger?
I was thinking of usnig one of these types of Aragonite Substrate from CaribSea....
I like samples 2, 3 and 4 from the left. The first one, "Sugar Size" just seems to small and more like fine sand and I don't want that.
-Aragamax Select
-Sea Floor Special Grade Reef Sand
-Fiji Pink reef Sand.
So do you think that mixing one of these with some normal sand would be a bad idea?
I'm not going to have very many large rocks at all and only a few rocks other than the artifical ones that will be siliconed to the tank.
I also have another issue that I'm trying to find a resolution for. I'm debating on whether or not I should try and hide the FX5 intake and output or leave them out.
BUT, I need to find a way to allow water to flow through the rocks that will be siliconed to the back of the tank. I will Not have a "Full Tank length" 3D background But will instead have a large "Background Feature Rock" and a smaller 10" x 9" x 8" "Decorock" that will be siliconed right next to it and a 16" x16" x12" that will be on the further end of the tank. I can't just have them full of sitting water or no water as the preasure would crush them inward. So I was thinking of either having a powerhead inside the Large Rock with mesh inlets at the bottom or have my FX5 inlet inside the Large rock with inlets at the bottom and the FX5 outlet at the top of the Large Feture Rock with mesh waterflow spots on opposing, inconspicuous sides of the accent rock at the other end of the tank...
Something like this.....
This would a rock attached to the tank at the other end of the tank....
What kind of thoughts do you all have on this? What size mesh would be a good idea?
BUT, I need to find a way to allow water to flow through the rocks that will be siliconed to the back of the tank. I will Not have a "Full Tank length" 3D background But will instead have a large "Background Feature Rock" and a smaller 10" x 9" x 8" "Decorock" that will be siliconed right next to it and a 16" x16" x12" that will be on the further end of the tank. I can't just have them full of sitting water or no water as the preasure would crush them inward. So I was thinking of either having a powerhead inside the Large Rock with mesh inlets at the bottom or have my FX5 inlet inside the Large rock with inlets at the bottom and the FX5 outlet at the top of the Large Feture Rock with mesh waterflow spots on opposing, inconspicuous sides of the accent rock at the other end of the tank...
Something like this.....
This would a rock attached to the tank at the other end of the tank....
What kind of thoughts do you all have on this? What size mesh would be a good idea?
Mastiffman;4750198; said:
I would go with Aragamx select. looks the most natural to me.
If you stick with sand of 0.5-1.5 you won't have any problems.
Mix it with some small pebbles and you got the most natural looking sand.
Can't you seal the module shut with cement or something?
I guess when you install it you must seal it to the glass or fish will trap behind it, but when you seal it you maintain/clean your filter properly.
