Boom

10 mm glass would be very minimum. That's 3/8". My 180 is built of 5/8" glass, or 15mm. Your weight sounds about right. I'm sure with rocks and sand, I'm easily over 2000 lbs for my 180. Boom :boom:

So how are you going to line it? I'd be concerned with the silicone bond to the wood as well. It's not the most durable, 3 tubes or not. Especially with very low grade plywood like you used. There is alot of voids in that wood that can colapse with not much pressure, and cause you alot of problems. A higher grade plywood would have reduced the chance of that happening. Just hope the lining is thick and can compensate for that. Boom :boom:

How 'bout a Tanganyikan eel? I always thought one of those would be cool... I think Spencer Jack has 'em. Greg are you wanting to breed and keep tropheus fry? If so, the syno's might cause you problems, they are real quick egg snatchers apparently. Boom :boom:

Hey Greg. I see your getting about as much help with this as I am with my frontosa tank question. :rofl: As you know I'm no expert on the subject, but I'll offer my quick 2 cents, for what it's worth. I tried putting a goldhead compreciseps in with my 2 black calvus in my 55 a while ago. He didn't stay long, he picked on the female calvus non stop. That being said, I am going to try them together in my 180 again. Along with fronts, leleupis, and a few juli's. I hope to see less problem with much more room. You'll have even more room yet, so I would expect the space would allow them to co-habitate peacefully. But thats just a guess at this point. If I have them together in the 180 before you have the 360, I'll let you know how it goes. My only other thought is that with only 1 calvus and 1 juli, they might feel overwhelmed (stressed) by the tropheus' high energy antics. You may consider adding a few more of each of these speces. Other than that, I think you'll have enough room to make that stock list work easily, with room to grow. Again, for what my opinion is worth... Boom :boom: Oh by the way, with us both doing large Tang tanks, we could always swap fish if we ever needed to. Just a thought.

On another note, I'm really thinking about getting rid of the overflow box in this tank. That would of coarse leave the drain and return line plumbing exposed and visible, but it would free up some tank space. I've got to take some measurements and do some calculations to figure out exactly how much, and see if it's worth it. I figure I could swap the plumbing out with black abs, so it's less visible. Also, with the durso standpipe, I figure I avoid the problems of too much water draining into the sump in the event of a power outage or pump failure. What I would beed to do do is add some type of screen device over the actual intake. I was actually thinking of the intake basket from an FX5. That might work. Thoughts on this?

I haven't had an update in a while. The tank is running well and I'm quite happy with everything. There are still some solid cherry trim pieces that I have to make and add. They keep getting put on the back burner as I start work on other projects. Since I stocked the tank, I have lost approx 10 - 15 various fish. Hard to say for sure. I've decided that the huge mix of mbuna and other fish in there is leading to this. I lost almost all of the salousi's, my really nice male OB peacock, and a few other mbuna. Some of the fish that are still there (still about 30 fish) have some damage that likely will lead to death if the setup is not changed. Others however are doing fantastic and I still have many beautiful fish in there. And so, I've decided to change what this tank is stocked with. As a result, almost everything currently in the tank is up for sale. Please see my post HERE What am I going to do with 180 gallons of free space? Frontosa's of coarse! I tossed around the idea of doing a tropheus tank, but ultimately decided that I want some bigger, slower, less aggressive fish. And as cool as the tropheus are, nice ones are hard to find and expensive. And you really can't beat the majesty of frontosa's. Besides, the wife likes fronts better, so who am I to argue? I'm hoping to get about 12 to 14 fronts to start with and once I can start sexing them, maybe weed a few males out. I'm still deciding on two different setups though. 1: Frontosa only, no other fish, with focus on breeding them. 2: Frontosa / tanganyikan community tank, with black calvus, goldhead compreciseps, firecracker leleupi's, some julidichromis, and synodontis petricolas. Both options seem great to me, but each has their own risks and rewards. So that's where I'm at right now with this tank. Selling everyting off and basically "starting fresh". So help me out and buy some fish so I can get my fronts, ok? Boom :boom:

Sounds great. Congrats. Keep us updated with pics once you get them! Boom :boom:

Hello, I am considering swapping out my current tank inhabitants (all males mix) in my 180 gallon, for Frontosa. I have the opportunity to get a WC pair of Blue Zaire Fronts, male and female, that are full grown. (Female is about 10", male is about 11 or 12") I'm told they are about 4 to 5 years old, of coarse being WC nobody can be real sure. They were caught and transported as juvy's though, so thats the best guess. I would prefer to have more than 2 fronts in a 180, so here are my questions: The current owner says they breed about twice a year, but haven't lately. If I get them, I would want them to breed and keep some of the fry. How old do fronts get and how long do they breed for? (till what age?) Can the fry stay in the 180 or should I seperate them? What tank mates can I have in the 180 and what are the chances of the Fronts still breeding with these tankmates? - 1 pair black calvus, 1 WC Goldhead Comp., group of firecracker lelupi's OR group of young electric yellows (would prefer the lelupi's to keep the tank Tanganyikan, but are they too aggressive?), how about Syn. petricolas? will they cause me problems (steal eggs/babies?) Other tangs that can go? What about other malawi fish, such as a large male Red Empress, or male peacocks? The tank has been established with many fish since October. It has a 33 gallon sump (with about 1400GPH flow) and 2 powerheads for filtration and flow. It stays at 78 to 80* and ph about 8.0. The tank has many rocks, sand substrate, a few pieces of driftwood, and fake plants. I would not be overly concerned with breeding anything other than the fronts, but would want them to breed hopefully repeatedly over several years. I do have several small tanks to seperate and grow out fry. Thanks for any help. Boom

Looks fantastic. I really like it! How many are you getting and do you mind I ask where your getting them from? The larger rocks and wood will be good to break up the swim lines for when they're chasing each other around. Something I hear the tropheus love to do. Boom :boom:

I just go by feel as well for temperature. Are you still worried that a 50% water change is not enough? You can always do it twice, so your effectively doing a 75% water change. The thing is, if your doing it regularly like you should, any more than 50% is a waste of time and not helping anything. On my 180 gallon, I add half the dose of prime to the tank before I start refilling, and another full dose to the water flow as the tank is filling back up (with a hose), so I'm generally using 1.5x the recommended amount of prime. Thats just what I do. On the other smaller tanks, I add a touch of Prime right to a 5 gallon bucket of water and dump it in the tank. Boom :boom:

Are you old enough to drink? I don't think so. That would also make it illegal for you to possess or serve it. :guns: And whats with starting a new post for every update? It's getting confusing.... Why couldn't you just put the whole project on one post??? Great project Dustin but it's hard to keep interested in it while trying to follow all the different posts. Boom :boom:

Dustin, that should work fine, but does it run on electricity? If so, it won't help you when the power goes out. As has been stated, have a look in my post there is a link to a pipe sizing calculator. You plug in some numbers and it tells you how big the pipes need to be. Boom :boom:

Thanks, I'm sure they're real nice, but not quite what I'm looking for. Boom :boom:

I have shopped here and had great experiences. Petsand Ponds They are in Canad and shipping is very fast and cheap (free over $100). They'll have what you need. Boom :boom:

I completely agree with BooUrns. With Aquagiant, as with many many other "budget" stores of all types, you get what you pay for. You were expecting promp service and a quality item at a greatly reduced price. It just doesn't work that way. There is a reason that the other places are so much more expensive. You get what you pay for. Dustin, I do a bit of business here and there with Crystal Glass on Fort Rd. They have always been good to me. Have you priced them out? Worth a try IMO. Good luck geting this thing done. Boom :boom:

I'm seriously considering switching my 180 gallon from all male mixed africans to a good size colony of Tropheus. I have narrowed the many choices down to 3 species. I would like to get one of these, hopefully from someone within the Edmonton area, but Calgary or anywhere else within a few hours drive is also acceptable if the price is right. I'll even ship if the source is highly reputable. I would like to start with juvies (1.5" to 2"). Don't care if they are WC or F1 or not, as long as they are pure species and good quality. The species I'm looking for are: 1. Tropheus moorii (Kasanga) "Red rainbow" 2. Tropheus moorii (Nkamba bay) "Ilangi" 3. Tropheus moorii (Kazumba) "Golden kazumba" Thanks. Boom :boom:

Yup. Might be a real scary example of "you get what you pay for". I personally would not cheap out on the glass. But to each his own. Best of luck Dustin. Boom :boom:

Congrats. They must be happy. From what I understand the calvus are quite secretive breeders. My pair has never tryed as far as I know.... Boom :boom:

Ha ha, thats awesome. I remember Mossman, I had one of those when I was a kid! Boom :boom:

Probably not the best mix, especially in a 29. But I'm with Jason, I think they'll be fine for a while. Boom :boom:

GNAW, it's been a month. Any updates??? Boom :boom:

Thanks everyone for the nice comments. I'm really happy with how it all turned out. The-influence, I got the rocks from Canar, I still have a really big one, and several smaller ones that I didn't use and am willing to part with for cheap. PM me if your interested. Also PM me if your serious about a stand. Boom

All right. This has been waaaayyy too long since the last picture update. Anyway, except for 2 pieces of trim that I still need to attach, this project is DONE! Yaaaahhhhhooooooooooo!!!!!!! I'll take some more pics of the fish a bit later. I've added some driftwood and fake plants and I really like how it looks now. Boom :boom:

I mentioned that for my wife's 30th Birthday (earlier this month) I'm building her a solid walnut bedroom suite. Here is the headboard completed. The panels are zebrawood. I still have to build two full size dressers ( a tall one and a long one), and 2 night tables. I'll start those hopefully soon. Boom :boom:

A co-worker of mine gave me some maple boards for free. To show my appreciation, I made him the box out of some of the maple, and cherry. I'm really very happy with this box. It's not quite done in these pictures. Once done, you won't see the brass pins sticking out the sides that the lid hinges on. I just love making these little boxes and they make a great gift. PM me if you would like one! Boom :boom: