The natural themed monster fish tank build

[14crazychris]

Hey Everyone,

This will be my first monster tank build/setup and I’m super excited to get on with it. Thought it was finally time to start the build thread, although it will be a long one. I’m also open to a few ideas but I’m fairly set in stone with what I would like stocking/aesthetics wise. And also I’d like to mention straight away this tank will be a grow out. I plan to upgrade to something 1 foot longer and 6 inches wider and taller eventually.

so to start with the Tank/equipment-

I picked up the below 150cm long, 60cm tall and 80cm wide with a stand and filter.


The tank is now sitting in the garden before cleaning and the stand inside. The stand will need a little bit of reinforcement as it had some water damage on one side but should be fairly straight forward. Next job is to give it all a good clean and wipe down.


I plan to have the tank as a room divider, peninsula set up. I need to remove all the backing paint and sort out a couple of chips in one corner but have a plan on how to deal with that. Will keep it all updated as the thread goes on.

You may have also noticed the tank is drilled at one end for the Eheim 1200XLT filter. Strange set up but I can see how it would work well. I plan to wrap that side in black vinyl to hide all the pipe work. I’ll also be customising the filter to cope better with the bioload of the larger fish.

for lighting I plan to somehow hang a Hydra 26HD above the tank. I want the lighting to be fairly minimal, creating quite a dark look in the tank, creating some depth and a more natural environment.


Aquascape-

So now for the inside, I plan to have a central XL piece of bog wood, surrounded by some hardy Amazon swords and Vallis, maybe the fish will destroy them but I would like to find that out for myself. Maybe 6 Vallisnaria and 6-8 Amazon swords. Surrounding this will be a range of round river cobbles and then some medium and small size wedged in between the larger accent stones. I plan to use a tan coloured textured sand for the base of the tank (around 40kg) and then place a fine gravel (3mm) around all the river cobbles. I know the fish will slowly mix this all throughout the substrate but I think 10kg of fine gravel will create a nice naturalistic feel. I will aim to litter the sand with a small selection of dried oak leaves and alder cones to give the water a slight level of tannins which will help give a nice shimmer from the dim lighting I hope, plus I will add some Amazon frogbit to the surface, aiding the natural feel and also reducing my nitrates slightly.


Stocking-

1x Asian red tail golden arowana
1x datnoid
1x stingray (mini marble motoro probably)
a range of rarer plecos.

maybe a catfish or some dither fish….. that will be decided. Anyone got any ideas about stocking then feel free to chip in. Please remember this will be a grow out tank.


As I clean the aquarium and give it my DIY twist I will keep the thread updated. Any ideas or thoughts would be great! Can’t wait to get it in its final resting place and begin the aquascape!

many thanks
Chris

 

[pacu mom]

Is that an MDF stand?

 

[Ogertron3000]

Sounds like its going to be a cool tank, keep us updated.

 

[14crazychris]

Is that an MDF stand?

Yes I believe so

 

[14crazychris]

Sounds like its going to be a cool tank, keep us updated.

Thank you! Will do, I can't wait.

 

[14crazychris]

So next step was to find a suitable piece of drift wood. Managed to get this large piece that's around 3 food and should sit nicely in the centre of the tank. Currently soaking it well in advance but luckily this piece had already been used in an aquarium for many years so it isn't leaching out any tannins at all. This is good as I will now have control over the tannin level within the water.

 

[14crazychris]

So got round to the next step which was removing the horrible blue background, as I want to use this tank as a peninsula I will have one of the small sides black to hide the pipe work. Still havnt decided if I want to spray paint the background or use a piece of vinyl. Any ideas?

Heres a picture of the tank now, next job is to spray the inside with a 50/50 white vinegar to water mix and clean it all up, removing the lime scale.

 

[14crazychris]

So another update, vinegar went on the tank to give it a clean up which worked a little. Finally got the tank background and trim on. Think it looks nice and am happy with the result. The fish should be here soon and go into four week QT. They should hopefully finish just as the tank is set up and finished! Aiming to have it all done in the next four weeks. Next job is setting up/customising the filter and also fixing the stand.

 

[Matteus]

So another update, vinegar went on the tank to give it a clean up which worked a little. Finally got the tank background and trim on. Think it looks nice and am happy with the result. The fish should be here soon and go into four week QT. They should hopefully finish just as the tank is set up and finished! Aiming to have it all done in the next four weeks. Next job is setting up/customising the filter and also fixing the stand.
View attachment 1477440

The tank is looking good, great thread, great ideas.

not sure if you are open to feedback or not, seems like you already have a plan and are going full steam ahead.

when you say you were planning to modify the filtration, does that mean you are going to sump it? I would if I were you, considering it’s already drilled. A sump will give you much more bio load, which it sounds like you are planning to stock super heavy. So I would also use the eheim pro in tandem with the sump.

pacu mom has raised a good point here. Mdf stands are very weak and very susceptible to water damage even if it is coated with paint or what looks to be melamine in this case. I would seriously consider remaking a new stand that is more sturdy. It will add time to the build but the peace of mind is worth it to be honest. I had a 70 gal bow front with a stand like that and there was a minor leak from my canister filter that caused the entire one side of the stand to swell and warp. It was nerve wracking to say the least. I decided that I would would never use a stand so brittle again. Especially with a bigger tank.

one of the biggest concerns about that stand is that the corner support of the tank is on a horizontal surface and not a vertical which suggests that the weight of the tank is supported by screws (or whatever fasteners used) into an already weak wood. The idea of reinforcing the edges where the corners are supported sounds good on paper, but when the original structure of the stand is soft and flexible it seems kind of like a lost cause. It may not be in this condition as it is currently sitting there dry in perfect scenario, but unfortunately in this hobby we have to calculate worst case scenarios before hand in order to prevent disasters. Because let’s face it stuff happens.

good luck look forward to seeing you update

 

[14crazychris]

The tank is looking good, great thread, great ideas.

not sure if you are open to feedback or not, seems like you already have a plan and are going full steam ahead.

when you say you were planning to modify the filtration, does that mean you are going to sump it? I would if I were you, considering it’s already drilled. A sump will give you much more bio load, which it sounds like you are planning to stock super heavy. So I would also use the eheim pro in tandem with the sump.

pacu mom has raised a good point here. Mdf stands are very weak and very susceptible to water damage even if it is coated with paint or what looks to be melamine in this case. I would seriously consider remaking a new stand that is more sturdy. It will add time to the build but the peace of mind is worth it to be honest. I had a 70 gal bow front with a stand like that and there was a minor leak from my canister filter that caused the entire one side of the stand to swell and warp. It was nerve wracking to say the least. I decided that I would would never use a stand so brittle again. Especially with a bigger tank.

one of the biggest concerns about that stand is that the corner support of the tank is on a horizontal surface and not a vertical which suggests that the weight of the tank is supported by screws (or whatever fasteners used) into an already weak wood. The idea of reinforcing the edges where the corners are supported sounds good on paper, but when the original structure of the stand is soft and flexible it seems kind of like a lost cause. It may not be in this condition as it is currently sitting there dry in perfect scenario, but unfortunately in this hobby we have to calculate worst case scenarios before hand in order to prevent disasters. Because let’s face it stuff happens.

good luck look forward to seeing you update

Thank you so much for the feedback, really appreciate it. I haven't fully inspected the stand yet as I've been focused on getting the glass tank done so I will have a proper look this weekend to assess the damage etc. It didn't look too bad from first glance but I will have a good look around. I definitely like the idea of the sump as this is my favourite method of filtration. As this will likely be a grow out tank I plan to build a stand for the final tank. So if I did go down the route of building a stand I probably would just build the bigger one and get the larger tank orderd. But for now I will use the eheim pro full of biohome media. Will keep keep you updated on the stand, and see how it goes. Am hoping to collect a few fish this weekend to go into their four week Qt which is exciting ?

Thank you!