Putting together a 180gallon Tropheus Tank.

[Mastiffman]

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.

Feature Rock and filttration:

As far as sealing the Feature Rock to the tank, I would have to cut some type of flow grates in the bottom and use an Auquaclear 70 PH to pull water in, which would come through the grates in the bottom of the Rock and then blow out through the outlet which would be at the top of the Rock. I believe that the rock is closed at the top as well. but I could cut the top of it off just enough to replace and remove the AC 70 PH for cleaning purposes... Technically I guess I could cut a hole in the top of the Feature Rock, making the hole just big enough to hold the pipe. The pipes end would not have anything attached to it beign that the bottom of the Rock would have grates that would act as strainers..... I could place the outlet of the FX5 at the other end of the tank....
Correct, so leaving the Intake and outputs for the FX5, Outside fo the Background, being that it's only a partial background, would work best for cleaning.

This is what I'm seeing in my head....

How does this seem? Would I need soemthing inside the medium rock at the right end of the tank, like a Powerhead for the flow? Or should I leave the FX5 intake OUTside of the Feature rock and put the AC 70 Powerhead inside it with an access hole on top of the Feature rock?

Ideas? Thoughts?

 

[Clay]

It's a great plan, but it seems way overcomplicated for the project. I think you would have more flexibility by not carving into the fixtures you just purchased. If you ever change the tank to something else, you'll find that you're limited in what you can do with it if you start affixing things to random walls.

 

[Mastiffman]

It's a great plan, but it seems way overcomplicated for the project. I think you would have more flexibility by not carving into the fixtures you just purchased. If you ever change the tank to something else, you'll find that you're limited in what you can do with it if you start affixing things to random walls.

Overcomplicated in what sense though? Siliconing a couple of Rocks to a tank is not very complicated to me? lol- They can always be removed. Bout as you stated, "it's a plan". I'm planning this out so I won't want to change it. There will be no need once it's in place and serving the purpose that I wanted. BTW, the intake tube would go through a tight hole at the top and On the topside of the Rocks, in an inconspicuous spot.

The only other thing that I would consider mildly work intensive would be the carving of the Grate holes and then silconing them to the inside of the Rocks, over the holes. As well as siliconing the Rocks to the tank... That's all easy stuff. I did post this all in a DIY section too!

Should I settle for having an ugly ole intake and strainer just hanging out right there next to the Feature Rock? Or should I use a little bit of elbow grease and make the tank a show tank, Like I want to? I would like to hide the heaters as well inside the Large Rock. They will onlt have to sit on the glass. I will most likely be carving the top of the Rock off (also in an inconspicuous manner) for ease of access to the heaters and if I put a powerhead in there...

P.S. If I don't carve into the Rocks and create some grates fro water flow, how will I fill the tank with them inside? Have the Ricks filled with air? They are rubber and will get pushed in by the weight of the water. Sorry for asking, I'm just not usre what you were implying? Could you explain? I don't want Any stagnant water anywhere.... Every other 3D mackground that I've seen installed have the water flowing through the back of them with the Main filter or a Powerhead...

 

[Mastiffman]

Okay, here is the official plan on the tank. it's a little more proprtionate between the rocks and tank. I also picked up some things from the store today as far as the installation of the 3D Feature Rock BG goes (from this point forward we'll just name it 3D F/R BG).

Group Shot.

-Silicone
-2 Types of sand to hide any silicone (wil add directly after applying silicone)
-2 Types of grates being that I haven't decided what wouod be best to use.
-2 40lbs bags of CaribSea Aragonite
-4 shots of the same Carib Aragonite in another tank that I will be using for this build being that tank (40gal breeder with lithobates and Venustus) is being torn down for now and will used in the future for Tropheus Fry grow out tank.

Sand: 1 Finer grain, lighter color. 1 corser grain more natural color. Purchased these from Michaels Art Supplies Store for about $2/ bag. I know that i could have gotten a 50lbs bag from HD for the price of both of these but I don't have a need for 50lbs...

These are the 2 types of meterial that i'm considering for the grates.
- Plastic Gutter Guard with vinyl mesh on the back. ($1.94)
- 2 8.5." x 11" Sheets of Black plastic mesh and 2 of same in Brown. (4 @ .49Cts/pc = $3.96)

I had an idea when talking to someone at the LFs that i purchased the Substrate from, about siliconing the larger mesh (the gutter guard, after removing the vinyl mesh on the back of it) to the inside of the rocks and placing a very corse black (or brown) filter sponge in front of the mesh that would fit inside of the hole that was cut. So the Corse filter sponge would only be as thick as the Material that the Rocks were made of (about 3/8"). I will have to do a test fit, pre-install.... Or just cut some of the black or brown (whichever blends best with the Rocks) mesh to fit in that same hole. This way I can stop the fry from entering the Rocks but stil be able to rmove the front grates and clean any blockage that has gathered if needed. I stil haven't decided whether I will need to block the fry being that I might just strip the female before they are full term and spit the fry. This would be way easier for the whole setup...

The 2 40lbs bags of caribSea Aragonite sunstrate that I got from a LFS. I can tell you guys because I do this all of the time, DO NOT be affraid to ask for a discount on something if you buy 2 or more of them. You will be surprised at the responses that you get. it's not a ton but these were $40/ bag originally and I asked abuot a discount if I were to purchase 2 or more the other day when scoping them out fo this stuff. So when I went in there today I reminded them abuot them saying yes and they gave them to me for $35/ bag. That's $10 more that wil go towards something else.

IMO This stuff is better than sand and looks just as nice! it's functional as well. Let alone adjusting the water parameters, it leaves room for BB.... That's always a Plus and important in Any aquarium!

These are some shots of what the Aragonite looks like in water. It has nice color. It's not to white but is still bright enough to work with the lighting for the Tropheus colors. And still fine grained enough to Keep some elagance.... I have a colony of Venustus, 4 lithobates (1m/3f) and a Gold Alto in this 40gal breeder.

So things will start to progress more quickly come Tuesday, being that is the delivery date for the 3D F/R BG through UPS...

 

[Mastiffman]

You would think it would all be suspended in the water column, but the answer is no, it won't. It will find it's way into the smallest little area and accumulate. You should plan for a way to clean out the inside of the decoration.

In your diagram, you will certainly get detritus in the area on the extreme left, extreme right, and in between (and below) each grate. I'll go out on a limb and say the center rock as well, since it won't be a tremendous amount of flow through there.

I'm not trying to tear up your ideas. I'm just trying to assist in finding potential problem areas.

NO, NO, NO! It's all fine and dandy! I appreciate the help and brain storming...

So should I lower the grates and make them larger or would something along the lines of having a large space at the bottom of each of the Rocks and run a large grate along the entire stretch of the bottom of each of them?

 

[mike_sema]

this is gonna look great

 

[nes999]

 

[Mastiffman]

this is gonna look great

Yeah, I hope so! I've Never seen a tank like this done with a only a partial 3D background and the rest fading into Black... I'm Really excited about and it needs to look premium as it's going to be a show tank in the entrance Front Room of our house.

Here are some of the Future Residents...... 24 F1 T. Moorii Chaitika and F1 T. Sp. Black Ikola

Pictures were kind of quick. Sorry for the lack of quality....

LOLOL -Now I've seen that before and it's Hilarious!

 

[Mastiffman]

I'm Taking suggestions on this.....

Would something like this be better for water flow instead of the grates being at the bottom? Compared to the previous pic?

 

[Garlover]

definatly a unique design!! Good job on the creativity!!