Leon71

Welcome to the forum Dan. And Happy New Year to you.

Well done, Boom. Great looking setup. Makes me think that I better get the stand and tank to my basement before I drywall the stairway. Leon

The threaded end of the Python is the same as garden hose.

Tap water..........add PRIME...............that's it, that's all. One cap full does 50gal. Way cheaper than distilled and buffers. Leon

Awesome job on the stand and canopy. The tank looks great.

You can get it at Sil Industrial Minerals on the east side of the city. Telephone: (780) 478-7171 Location Address 7331, 18th St NW EDMONTON, Alberta T6P 1P9 I use the Sil #9 as it is a bit coarser. And very natural looking. HTH, Leon

I think this was a rare occasion. Keep in mind that the tank was dead level side to side and front to back. There is no way that the stand twisted either. A little bit off level is ok. It is more important that the tank is supported evenly at each end with no twisting. Leon

Wow. That's pretty impressive Nick. Well done.

Firestorm, The tank was in my study on the main floor. It was raining in the basement right by one of the floor vents. Good thing the sump is also in that corner of the basement. I figure that 80 gal of water hit the floor. I was also lucky that I had not finished the drywall and ceilings in the basement. All is good. Leon

UPDATE!!!! All-Glass is going to cover me for the price of the new tank. :thumbs: I am very impressed with everyone involved. Thank you Big Al's (especially Jeff) for coming through on this one. It took a while, but the outcome is great. Next will be the 210 gal inwall down in the basement. Thanks, Leon

Wow. That's pretty damn impressive. Well done, Kyle. Leon

They are not that hard to make. Check www.Cichlid-Forum.com and do a search for UGJ. I use a Maxi-Jet 1200 to run mine, and it has four jets in a closed loop. And the big tank has six jets with two 1200's on it.+ HTH, Leon

There is a huge difference between being supported at the ends and supported in the middle. That's a scary one all right.

Kyle, Add the extra legs. You have four weak spots at the cuts. Sure they are pegged together, but only for the length of the peg. If it is going to bend, it will be just above or below the extent of the peg. And while you are at it, span a piece across the back to tie the legs together. HTH, Leon

This will be similar to the White Top http://www.cichlid-forum.com/profiles/species.php?id=1734 And this is the Perlmutt http://www.cichlid-forum.com/profiles/species.php?id=741 HTH, Leon

Some pictures of the crack in my tank. Not very good, but you get the idea. Thanks, Leon

I did take some pictures, but I haven't downloaded them yet. The aquarium is an All-Glass, not a Perfecto. That is why I bought an All-Glass, because of the reputation of being rock solid. I still think that they are, I just happened to get one that had a flaw. I believe that they will put it right and honor the warranty. As soon as the basement is finished, the new tank will go downstairs. And I already have the fishroom framed to hold a 210 gal. in-wall tank. It will be picture framed to face the Family room.

They are checking into warranty on the tank. The crack is very strange, almost like some type of delamination. I am not going to go through house insurance as really all that I lost was the underlay, maybe the carpet, and a tank if it is not covered under warranty. I sure am glad that my basement isn't finished yet. I am literally a couple of days from drywall installation down there. Neil, the new tank is an Aqueon, so I hope it will be better. I know about the warranty thing and the tank has to be on their stands. But with a persistent, and thorough, explanation of my stand build, the guys down at BA's were pretty convinced that the stand was not an issue. Fingers crossed, maybe Aqueon will cover it. Thanks, Leon

It was an All-Glass 150 gal. 72"l x18"w x29"h. I set the tank up in April 2007. It is on a custom stand that I made. The stand would hold a truck. It is perfectly straight and level. And the tank was on 1/2" styro just for good measure. I checked it for level every couple of weeks for the first six months, and about once a month since then. It has never moved.

I'll try to make this short, but what a weekend. I was abruptly waken on Saturday morning to my 150 gal. tank dumping all over my study floor. At least half of the water was already out of the tank. It has a crack on the back from the bottom left corner all the way to 12" from the top right corner. I scrambled to get all 38 fish into various buckets, pails, or whatever I could find. Remove all the rocks and gravel. Rip up the carpet and underlay. Call up a couple of buddies with wet vacs to help out. Load the tank on my truck. So now what? I call up Big Al's and they have a new tank in stock. Awesome. I get there, and they already have the tank at the front door. I unload the broken tank and load up the new one. Thanks to Jeff and Mike at the store. Set up the new aquarium, filled it with water, added all the fish back in. And I only lost one female Fryeri out of all the chaos. It really could have went a lot worse. Thanks again to BA's and to all that helped out. Leon

The third picture does not look like a venustus. Is it the same fish in the fourth picture? If you look at the profiles on cichlid forum the Livingstonii gets all blue in breeding dress, but the Venustus gets a blue face and yellow body. Take a look at the attached picture with a male and female Venustus in my tank.

:welcome: to the club. I say Malawi's for the 130gal. But my opinion is bias. I am sure whatever you put in there, it will be awesome. Leon

Boom, you seem to know your stuff when it comes to strength of the wood. I work for a drafting company and deal with Engineers and structural steel. It is amazing at how much load something will take before it fails. If it was possible, my stand would probably hold up my truck. The trick is knowing how forces pass through materials and different configurations. If you look at almost every microwave stand, tv stand, or wall unit, the back is always covered by a sheet of hardboard. This takes the wiggle out and keeps everything square. Then the cheap particle board is always vertical. And the compression resistance of that material is incredible. But, bend it on its side and it breaks very easily. I hope this helps. Don't let it discourage you. Cover all the bases, and be safe. I've considered doing it in the past and just didn't have the time. As far as the Red Empress, I have a few. And a lot of other wonderful fish from various people on here. What a great place and a great bunch of enthiusiasts. Leon

Chris said it all. The stands are engineered. But if it is going in my house, it is "over-engineered". Just one of many so called faults. My stand has a few extras that most will not have. The center drawer is a pull-out with a 10 outlet switch box. The doors are all hung with removable cupboard hinges (blum). And it can be turned sideways to divide a room as it is almost identical on the other (rear) side. That being said, I have about $750 invested in the stand and canopy. That does not include the electrical switches, timers, tank, heaters, or lights.

I know, I know..........my stand is fugly. :cry: But I am only a joe homeowner. Lol. But then again, if you can find a market for them, fill your boots. And I have to agree that the "store bought" stands appear to be weak as anything. All the best. Leon