trevorich Posted May 24, 2009 Report Share Posted May 24, 2009 (edited) Hi all, I'm finally moving along with my 300 gallon set up (96"x24"x30"). I'm trying to do a permanent tank (as in no mucking with it after its set up.....yeah, we've ALL sworn that before ) The stand is diy and as my dining room is where I want it to go, I am finishing up the framing of the basmement and the beam to support the 3000lb wieght. Being a carpenter has helped with this and, of course, I've over-engineered it. The tank will have a simple sand substrate with my current substrate mixed in from my 120 gallon. The 120 gallon has been setup for the last 5 years and has a very healthy ramshorn snail population. The ramshorns will spread through the sand and hopefully keep anaerobic conditions under control. For decoration I have put in 2 large grapevines with a half trunk grapevine in between that will house my only plants and provide shelter for my knifefish. I'm also seeking an appropriate sized rock to put on the right. If you folks want pics of the construction, I'll be happy to put them up for you. This tank will house: 1 african albino clawed frog 1 clown knifefish 2 gold severums 1 green severum 3 tinfoil barbs 1 fancy finned goldfish 2 black moors 1 senegal bichir 1 mango pleco 1 chocolate pleco 1 tiger datnoid I have blocked the sump holes as they are in the very middle of the tank and am running 2 fluval fx 5's. the fx 5's have been cycling on the 120 for a month now and combined with the mature substrate mixed with the new and the addition of bottled bacteria, i expect the tank to have little to no problems as far as new tank syndrom is concerned (i've done this type of setup before and found the cycled filters to be the key to an easy transition. But to be on the safe side, I am introducing the fish to thier new home a few at a time. one fx5 will be setup with a diy spray bar and the other will have the standard spray nozels. I am replacing the original in/out water lines with high pressure smooth lines. this will increase the water flow and efficiency. With the media and the new weater lines i expect the flow to be around 700gph per pump. there will be pictures uploaded soon. trev Edited June 5, 2009 by trevorich Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dmaan. Posted May 24, 2009 Report Share Posted May 24, 2009 lol we'll wait for the pictures, this is gonna be champ. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Master of Puppets Posted May 25, 2009 Report Share Posted May 25, 2009 Dats are brackish btw. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
trevorich Posted May 27, 2009 Author Report Share Posted May 27, 2009 Dats are brackish btw. not all dats are brackish, i have the species that is entirely fresh water. from what i understand there are 3 main types with 2 of them being brackish. hit a minor snag with the basement construction but nothing that can't be rectified so planning on having the tank running by the weekend. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hemi Posted May 30, 2009 Report Share Posted May 30, 2009 Can't wait for pics Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
trevorich Posted May 30, 2009 Author Report Share Posted May 30, 2009 So far so good. I just finished filling the monster tank and I am nervous but happy. Nervous as it's a used tank, happy that the 300 is up and running. Have to go into the hardware store in the morning and buy some decent clamps. The clamp i put on my fx 5 mod incoming water gave way about 5 minutes into operation so buying new ones and replacing all of em. Nothing major as far as leaks are concerned. I've been watching this like a hawk and caught it when it first started to drip. So some facts. I live in a town house in millwoods. The floors are 2x8 construction and this place was built 30 years ago. So as you can imagine, there's been a lot of sag over the years. To the point where the floors bounce when you walk. The challenge was to put the 300 gallon in the mainfloor dining room. There is no way the floor will sustain that wieght so I had to do some construction. I doubled the joists. With the tank against a wall thats supported by concrete I simply added a 2x12 beam with a 12"x 1 3/4" piece of timberstrand sandwiched by 2x12. The posts are every 4' and are 3 2x6 screwed together. This will enable the floor to sustain the load. It took a lot of work and time as I am currently off on wcb so did this with one arm essentially. ha ha After making sure it was perfectly level, I proceded to fill the tank, checking level and plumb every 75 gallons or so. The stand was made with pressure treated 4x4 posts and 2x4 frame. with lots of bolstering with miters. I have placed grapevine inthere wieghted with rock for a few months till the wood is properly soaked. I have elected to put a few plants on a beautiful half stump I found (all wood is grape vine from "just reptiles" on the west side by princess auto. I have 2 types of Crypto, and dwarf java fern. This will be the only plants in this aquarium. For now I have put the snake skin gourami in there to be the guinea pig as I just finished the plumbing this morning. If he's still alive in the morning he will be followed by the tin foil barbs and the jack dempsey. (the jack and snakeskin are available for trade for plants as I am converting my 120 to a heavy planted community tank. I am rather proud of my diy spray bar. I have set it so its on top of the euro bracing in the middle of the tank and have created a "waterfall" that eliminates the need for an air pump. Pics will be taken and up-loaded in the morning when the light is better. The canopy will be built on the 6th with the cabinet for the stand planned for the end of june. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rayfong Posted May 30, 2009 Report Share Posted May 30, 2009 I can't wait to see it Trev. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
trevorich Posted June 5, 2009 Author Report Share Posted June 5, 2009 just did my water tests and all is well. the new fish are enjoying thier new home quite swimmingly. I've decided against the elephant nose. I also lost a bichir, unfortunately he's been with me for 6 years and got curious about the siphon tube. I think he was nose first in there for about an hour as his snout was a blood red. he died 1/2 hour after getting him out of the pipe. sad. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
trevorich Posted June 5, 2009 Author Report Share Posted June 5, 2009 just did my water tests and all is well. the new fish are enjoying thier new home quite swimmingly. I've decided against the elephant nose. I also lost a bichir, unfortunately he's been with me for 6 years and got curious about the siphon tube. I think he was nose first in there for about an hour as his snout was a blood red. he died 1/2 hour after getting him out of the pipe. sad. for some strange reason i am getting "file too large" messages when i try to upload the pictures for this construction. the pics are around 2.5mb each Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NomiDemekin Posted June 5, 2009 Report Share Posted June 5, 2009 Sounds like a lovely tank! Though, as a goldfish fanatic, I have to tell you that goldfish are not compatible with any of the other fish listed. Besides the obvious issue of being eaten by other fish (most plecos will and usually do attach to and kill goldfish, and fancy goldfish are prone to fin-nipping by most other fish), goldfish are coldwater fish and should never be kept with tropicals. If kept with any fish at all they need very peaceful tankmates that are also suited to a coldwater environment. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
trevorich Posted June 5, 2009 Author Report Share Posted June 5, 2009 Sounds like a lovely tank! Though, as a goldfish fanatic, I have to tell you that goldfish are not compatible with any of the other fish listed. Besides the obvious issue of being eaten by other fish (most plecos will and usually do attach to and kill goldfish, and fancy goldfish are prone to fin-nipping by most other fish), goldfish are coldwater fish and should never be kept with tropicals. If kept with any fish at all they need very peaceful tankmates that are also suited to a coldwater environment. In these pics, I have "Burp" the comet. He has been in the tropical tank with the same/same type of fish for four years. he was 7" when i sold him a few weeks ago. He was my experiment fish. The black moor is named "lumpy" (yes, i have kids) and has been in that tank for 3 years. He's currently 5". I have had good experiences with mixing goldfish and tropicals. Yes the slightly higher temperatures causes a faster metabolic rate, however with proper feeding and tank maintenance I haven't had an issue. As for compatibility, the fish I have in this tank may be cichlids/predators, they are pretty benign with tankmates that are too big to eat. Though the jury is still out on the jack dempsey. In my experience, if a pleco doesn't have enough to eat, plecos will go after the slime coat on any fish. The key is to maintain a proper diet with pleco's to prevent this from occuring at all. Over the years I've had many people look in my tank and tell me "you can't do that" I just smile. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
trevorich Posted June 5, 2009 Author Report Share Posted June 5, 2009 Sounds like a lovely tank! Though, as a goldfish fanatic, I have to tell you that goldfish are not compatible with any of the other fish listed. Besides the obvious issue of being eaten by other fish (most plecos will and usually do attach to and kill goldfish, and fancy goldfish are prone to fin-nipping by most other fish), goldfish are coldwater fish and should never be kept with tropicals. If kept with any fish at all they need very peaceful tankmates that are also suited to a coldwater environment. In these pics, I have "Burp" the comet. He has been in the tropical tank with the same/same type of fish for four years. he was 7" when i sold him a few weeks ago. He was my experiment fish. The black moor is named "lumpy" (yes, i have kids) and has been in that tank for 3 years. He's currently 5". I have had good experiences with mixing goldfish and tropicals. Yes the slightly higher temperatures causes a faster metabolic rate, however with proper feeding and tank maintenance I haven't had an issue. As for compatibility, the fish I have in this tank may be cichlids/predators, they are pretty benign with tankmates that are too big to eat. Though the jury is still out on the jack dempsey. In my experience, if a pleco doesn't have enough to eat, plecos will go after the slime coat on any fish. The key is to maintain a proper diet with pleco's to prevent this from occuring at all. Over the years I've had many people look in my tank and tell me "you can't do that" I just smile. because of the colouration of the clown loaches being too similar to the tiger dat, i'm not putting them in the tank. I also opted for gravel instead of sand so passed on the elephant nose. Wierd that I can add pics of fish but any attempt to add pics of the construction doesn't work. I'm going to put these pics into an album on facebook. My facebook profile is under my name "Trevor Roehr". Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
trevorich Posted June 5, 2009 Author Report Share Posted June 5, 2009 here's the link to the pics http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=1153...mp;l=5d916f7166 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
trevorich Posted June 19, 2009 Author Report Share Posted June 19, 2009 So I have my FINAL stock list lol In this 300 gallon tank (8'x2'x30") I have: 1 clown knife 1 fancy finned goldfish 1 black moor 1 senegal Bichir 5 electric blue geophagus 3 f1 tin foil barbs (red fins with black tips and irredescent colouring of blue and pink through the scales) 2 red-speckled gold severums 1 green severum 1 mango pleco 1 chocolate pleco 1 eel 1 tiger datnoid 1 albino clawed african frog right now they are all young and i will be monitoring behaviour for quite awhile as they all grow together. Hopefully this generally peaceful make up will ensure a happy tank but we'll see. These fish can grow!! So i may be facing some territorial issues later. I feed a mixture of floating pellets, shrimp, minnows every 2 weeks, and occasionally insects. When I have my breeding program in the basement set up properly I am moving to feeder platies/guppies/swords. I am really suprised at the tiger dat. I seem to have gotten a timid one. We'll see what he's like after his surgery (waiting for him to grow a bit more to make surgery easier) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
letsgofishn Posted July 29, 2009 Report Share Posted July 29, 2009 Hey any updates on your tank? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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