JayWho

Yeah, I've probably watched all his videos. Made a couple pvc overflows and a wet/dry filter, but don't have a pump to run them yet. I'm also going to be resealing the 75 gallon tank before I set it up, using his video on resealing an aquarium as a guide. I think I will be adding a diy overhead sump, based on his video on that too (the other reason I want 13" of space in between tank/stand - so I can fit it in between). I've been looking forward to building my own stand, because you can tell just by looking at his design it's going to be solid.

The stand in the video is 48 x 36 if I'm not mistaken (it's been a couple days since I watched it). The design is good as you scale up as long as you add centre supports if you go longer than 6 or 8 feet. There's just no mention of adding a second tank that's almost as heavy to the integrity of the stand. I really don't think it'll be an issue. Good call on the 3/4" plywood though. I was just going to use 1/2".

Having recently acquired a used 75 gallon aquarium off the boards, I'm going to be separating my South American/Asian and African fish. Living in an apartment, with space constraints, I am planning on building a 2x4 stand, using the same design as shown here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jN4Y9AYuwcQ I'm essentially going to build the stand to slightly larger than the dimensions of the 75 gallon (it's actually closer to 80 gallons - 48 x 16 x 24). I am going to make it - 50 x 21 so that it's wide enough to fit my 50 gallon tank (48 x 13 x 21) between the legs on the side of the stand and essentially occupy the bottom of the stand. I'm going to put plywood on both top and bottom of the stand for the aquariums to sit on as they won't be aligning properly with the 2x4's if I don't. My apartment is all concrete, so I'm not worried about the floors. My question is whether I'll have problems with the stand itself holding the weight. I don't think so, since the top tank will be supported by different 2x4's than the 2x4's supporting the weight of the bottom tank - but I'm not an engineer or much of a carpenter for that matter, so I figured I'd ask here to make sure. Should I add more lengthwise bracing somehow, or use 2x6's for the frame, or something else? Or is it ok? Also, how much space between the top of the bottom tank and the bottom of the top of the stand would you recommend? I was thinking 13" to allow for plenty of space for lights, power bars, plumbing, hands/arms, etc. Is that more than necessary?

I have cyprichromis microlepidotus "bulu pt." that I got from the forums.

My tank is a little mixed now, as I inherited some fish from a friend who's tank was leaking... (see my sig) I love watching the juli's swim (and the lelupis) - forward, backwards, upside-down. It's great. At some point I'll try and get some more and see if they start breeding for me. I am buying a used 75 gallon tank though and will be moving all my non-african fish into it, and keeping the 50 gallon as a pure tang setup. Then I can also put the 2 remaining cyprichromis I have left in with the africans, where they belong. The green terror ate one immediately when I first put them in the 50g.

Could always get some clown loaches. They'll eat them. I'll gladly take them off your hands if you want to retain the pure tanganyikan setup after you're done with them.

Looks good! I bought 6 cyprichromis from a board member, who actually gave me 8, and I have lost most of them, some with no trace of a body or remnants. Very frustrating. I feel your pain.

Crazy. Ammonia in the tap water? That's not good... Gonna have to do small water changes this week I guess.

Things had gotten too stable and they felt the need for adventure...

One of these days I will probably pull the pvc I have in the tank out and try the same thing, attaching gravel with silicone, to make it blend in a little better. It didn't seem to be a problem with the rubbermaid - I was just very liberal with silicone and used LOTS of gravel. (obviously in the pics you can see I did miss some spots though) Do you think if you sanded the pvc first to rough up the surface the silicone would adhere better?

I always save my "water change water" and use it to water house plants. Never thought of flushing toilets with it, but it's a neat idea!

I assume the compressiceps/calvus is in a different tank than the neons?

Ended up getting 8 cyprichromis fry. Decided to take a risk and put them in the 50 gallon. I now have 7 cyprichromis and a sated green terror... Moved the cyps to the 10 gallon. Haha They just look and act so much like... Food. On the lookout for a cheap 50-75 gallon tank... (stress - cheap)

Ask and thou shalt receive! I'm a fan of the GT - she's pretty. I'll be picking up the cyprichromis fry tonight (6 of them), so depending on their size, I may stick them in the 10g.

Update: Green Terror is doing great, and there have been no casualties. I am 99% sure it is a female, as it has no hump whatsoever. I may need to rehome it soon, as I'm supposed to be getting some cyprichromis fry, that will likely be too small to be with the GT (1", hopefully larger). We'll see - I may house the fry in a 10 gallon, but I don't know if they'll grow out much in a tank that small - I might need a 20 or 30 gallon tank to do that.

Thanks! I am happy with how it turned out. Most importantly, the pleco actually hangs out in it!

Haha, that's awesome. Here we go:

Ask and thou shalt receive! Nothing crazy, like I said, just a plastic shoe box with a few holes cut in it. This is pics of it in the tank - I'm going to take it out and make the openings larger - probably open up the entire long side, as long as it doesn't affect the integrity so much it collapses with a couple rocks on it.

The pleco isn't as inclined to dig a little as I'd hoped. Gonna have to make the holes larger, because it thinks it's too small. The cichlids have been having fun fighting over it though.

Cool. I didn't know there was an AA post about it. I did google it - I forget where I found the info I considered valid. Then I remembered that UaruJoey had a video where I knew he mentioned the kind he used - he mentions it within the first 30 seconds of his "How to build an aquarium" video and that was confirmation enough for me to head to Home Depot.

The stuff "The King of DIY" (UaruJoey) said to use for building aquariums. GE Silicone I, Window and Door.

lol, appreciate the sentiment. I don't care about feeling better, I just need to know if it's done curing if I can still smell it.

Soaking it will just cause any contaminants to leech out faster? Am I understanding right? The "globs" aren't as thick as I thought really - it's all hard. I'm just worried because it still smells of fresh silicone.

I made a cave that I'm hoping my pleco that I inherited will enjoy during the daytime, out of a rubbermaid shoe box that I cut some holes in, covered in silicone and coated with aquarium gravel to give it a more natural look (even though it still kinda looks like a Flintstones house). It says that the silicone should be safe after 12 hours on the tube, but I put it on thick in a few spots, so have been giving it longer to dry. It has been 4 days, and it still has a faint smell of fresh silicone. I'm assuming I need that smell to be gone before it's safe to go in the aquarium, and I need to keep waiting? I'm not worried about it having tensile strength; I just don't want chemicals leached into the water.

I moved it yesterday, and though it still hides when you open the lid, and tends to stay on the opposite side of the tank of a person nearby, it is absolutely more active and seems to be happier. If anything disappears, and I don't have another 50 gallon or bigger at that time, it's all yours jeremoose... lol Ideally, I have another 50 gallon (or larger) soon, and the south american fish can have their own tank. The GT is very nice, and I'm a fan of large plecos. My first one. Funnily enough, before I went to bed I couldn't find the smallest Dickfeldi, or female Compressiceps (she's also the smallest, by far - bigger than the Lelupi's or Dickfeldi's though), and was searching and searching...starting to get worried that the Green Terror may have already had a snack or two, when finally the Dickfeldi came out from some rocks, and I thought to check all the shells, and found the female comp holed up in one... What IS it about fish that make them think, "OH, a giant, scary fish! Perfect time for breeding!" lol Though, the male (all of them for that matter) was too busy trying to defend his territory to be interested I think, and she's already out and about today, so no luck.