RDFISHGUY

Some pics of the top and sump

Basically I built it & got everything except for the stand for the same price as the tank alone from a supplier. I was quoted $2700 for the tank alone.

I'll build you one. Thanks. Just router out the top to the size you want and get glass tops. That's what I did. The openings are 24x24 on each side and 16x 24 in the middle.

I never took too many pictures because its been done before. There are lots of links. Here are 2 of the ones I used http://www.aquarticles.com/articles/management/Gopi_Making_an_Acrylic_Aquarium.html http://www.cichlid-forum.com/articles/diy_acrylic_aquarium.php Here's some pics of the sides glued to the back: . If you want to build a tank this size you will need 2 other sets of hands. When I glued the pieces together there was a lot of air that I couldn't get rid of no matter how fast, or how many times I went over it with the solvent. So when I finished gluing all of the pieces, except the top, together I went over all of the seams with a paste that I made. Basically I saved all of the shavings from where I drilled the holes for the overflows and returns and mixed it with solvent to make a syrup. Next I lifted one end at a time and sealed the seams with this mixture which I applied with a syringe. Here's the end result: The plus side to an acrylic tank is that it is crystal clear. I have a glass tank in the same room and there is a huge difference when looking from one to the other. Also you get to play with a torch as you have to flame the edges. There is also lots of dry time which can be used to drink beer or finish the honey do list. This is where the friends come in handy as it is impolite to leave your friends while doing other chores. This build cost : $1400 acrylic and solvent $300 for sump $300 for heater and pump $500 for the stand $200 lights? Can't remember for sure. $150 for gravel $100 plumbing parts $160 for glass tops and knobs $60 for a guy to come and router the holes for the top.

He is a gem! Very clean lookin fish. Good pearlies.

Lookin good Scott. Flagtail seems to be working out good with the rays. Great cleaners. I like the gouramis too.

Brett has a sailfin pleco he was looking to get rid of. He asked me if I wanted it the other day. I don't want any plecos in my acrylic tank as they are reported to scratch the acrylic while feeding leaving a hazy look over time.

Congrats on the new additions!

This is good info. Simple, safe, effective. I am going to try adding some to my 180 to try to get my XB arowana eating again.

I have a large aro and stigray in my 180. Filtered with 2 ac 110 and fluval 404. If you keep up with the water changes you should be fine. AC 110 is one of the best hob filters on the market. I had an FX5 (2 of them actually) and they were over-rated IMO. You can keep a male motoro in a 180. Females get much bigger. Diet is also going to play a huge role in your bio-load. If you are feeding a bunch of prawns and fish etc, then a sump filter might be a better option. If you feed strickly pellets less water changes are required. Whatever you decide I wish you luck.

Thanks! She looks amazing on this substrate and the move didn't phase her at all. The male hasn't eaten yet, but hopefully he'll settle in over the next few days. The arowana took a poke at him so he's sulking and stressed a bit.

The darker one is a mo-pearl and the lighter one is a marble mo-pearl. These guys are only about 7" disc. They just moved, out of their rubbermaid ,to this tank last night. Tank is 84x22x30. Thanks can't wait until they are big and fat like your motoro.

Some more:

Some pics for Scott:

Thanks here's a few more And a loach for good measure

lol, it's still not as neat as it should be but a guy gets a little impatient and does a few shortcuts, the rest of my you house can still tell I'm an electrician because all the electrical is half finished. Thanks again for the huge piece of driftwood I went for a swim last night with the rays and started to do a little aquascaping but really needed someone on the outside to tell me how it looked, so it's not exactly what I wanted yet. Spent almost an hour in there moving stuff around and playing with the rays, quite a cool experience. Also put in the air stones but need to find some suction cups to hold them in place. I definitely owe you a couple favours now. Just pay it forward we're all here to help each other. I got it from Brett anyways. So you can thank him. I got the tig from him also. Traded for a sunshine pleco. I think I did OK on that deal also. Maybe now that the tank is done you can focus on the rest of the house. I am just as bad.

Nice tank and fish and pics!

The only chipped scales that never recovered were a couple of pearlies by his tail otherwise you'd never know he had chipped scales.

Nice job on the mechanical and filtration. Very neat work. If the companies I work for saw what mine looks like I'd be outta work. My new set-up will be much neater. Thanks for raising the bar. I can't wait to see it aquascaped. Its so big it looks bare even with all the monsters you have in it.

Thanks Wayne. The wound on his head is from trying to jump through the lid of the rubbermaid he was temporarily placed in while I moved his tank. Making room for the new 360 gallon.

Just be patient it'll come. This guy is doing well considering 6 weeks ago he was missing half his tail and was almost dried out on the floor.

Personally I think they are a waste of time. You have to buffer some of the filtered water back or add trace elements to get it to where its useful for your tank. You are better off just using a couple of canisters with sediment filters in them and treating the water with chlorine remover. I ran my autowater changer through 2 sediment filters and 2 different carbon type filters before I finally decided to just run sediment filters and treat with chloramine remover via a dosing pump on a timer. I even had the check valves block and dosing pump couldn't pump chemical for a few days and it had zero effect on my tank. I have 300 gallons in the system and was adding 50 gallons fresh water via drip when the dosing pump became "clogged". It ran for several days before I realized my dosing reservoir wasn't going down ( I was gone for 15 days and came back and the level had barely dropped). I have chloramine in my water so I thought the end result would've been catastrophic. RD was over at the time and we added a brand new ammonia test strip and the results were pretty much 0ppm. If you are adding such a little amount over an entire 24hr period the organics in the system, if well established, will deal with the ammonia. The chlorine will evaporate with the appropriate amount of agitation. Would I recommend an auto water change system without a dosing pump? No. Is it necessary on my system? Apparently not. Is RO necessary? NO! Is Ph an important part of the aquarium? Yes. Consistency is the most important part. Whether its at 7 or 8.3 doesn't matter as much as that it stays consistant. Obviously ammonia is more toxic at higher ph levels but the biggest thing is to keep it simple and keep it consistant.

MORE PICS PLEASE! Stock, tank, filtration, etc.