blainep Posted October 11, 2006 Report Share Posted October 11, 2006 I guess this fits as a DIY project. This took up most of my spare time for about 2 months and ended up costing quite a bit more than I planned to spend, but I'm happy with the results and I guess that's what really matters. It started with getting lucky and managing to grab a few tanks from the Sunridge Petland renos (My thanks to Petland). After spending the better end of a month cleaning, repairing and resealing tanks, I ended up with about twenty 15 and 20 gallon tanks. The next question is putting the tanks to use. I wanted to attempt my first sump system and I really had no idea what I was about to jump into ! The tank cleaning operation . The Tanks, all lined up. Pump Testing. Construction day. Making sure the tanks fit on the shelves. Assembly, Does it fit ? And it holds the tanks and water. The first tenants. Decorating the tanks with the goodies I picked up at the CAS auction ! Pictures of the finished product to follow. I've scince added the center supports and tied up the wiring so it is off the floor and away from the tanks to prevent them from getting wet. Also added small shelves on the sides for air pumps . The filtration is handled by 2 20 gallon drilled tanks to act as the sump. Along with 2 of the corner drip filters that were used by Petland and 4 (so far) large air driven sponge filters. The lids for the tanks I made out of difuser panels. The shelves are 4 2x6's lengthwise and cross braced, with 5/8ths plywood on top (each), all glued, screwed and bolted together. All the tanks are valved, so any tank can be separated from the rest, the downflows are all covered with AC 20 HOB foam filters to prevent livestock transfer. And alot more I can't think of right now. Anyway, thought I'd share Phase 1 of the fishroom with everyone. Blaine Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
skinless Posted October 11, 2006 Report Share Posted October 11, 2006 that is so cool. looking good, sounds well planned. the quick tank isolation is pretty slick. what do you have planned for your rack? lotsa options at first i thought these were the pics of the new shop in cal lol. nicely done Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jvision Posted October 11, 2006 Report Share Posted October 11, 2006 Well done, Blaine! :thumbs: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nevchewy Posted October 11, 2006 Report Share Posted October 11, 2006 Very Cool! if you don't mind me asking... why all 10 and 15 gallon tanks? why not put a 6 foot tank on one row and then the smaller tanks? nev Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
a1foxes Posted October 11, 2006 Report Share Posted October 11, 2006 Very Cool!if you don't mind me asking... why all 10 and 15 gallon tanks? why not put a 6 foot tank on one row and then the smaller tanks? nev Might have something to do with free/cheap tanks from Petland?lol got my share of those too, but also got some 55 gals. I use the big ones for my cichs and the smaller ones suit guppies, bettas and most plecos just fine! I didn't use a sump system, I'm sticking with individual filtration. Costs a bit more to set up, but at least I don't have to worry about 'sick tanks' spreading nasties about. I guess I have to get some pictures now too? Most of my room is set up, got to do a couple things still. Not all the tanks are full, mostly cause I don't have fish to fill them all so I don't see the point of running empty tanks for months. Free beer to anyone who can come help me finish! (involves moving an old fridge) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nevchewy Posted October 11, 2006 Report Share Posted October 11, 2006 Might have something to do with free/cheap tanks from Petland?lol Makes sense! so what do you charge for rent? I have a small group of Saulosi babies that are looking for immediate possession. I think I may have to evict them from my tank as they are getting too rowdy... :P nev Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vapor Posted October 11, 2006 Report Share Posted October 11, 2006 Looks really good :thumbs: . By the way, looking at the second picture your pond water has evaporated. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
blainep Posted October 11, 2006 Author Report Share Posted October 11, 2006 I went with the 15 gallon tanks on the rack just because I had so many of them. So this is my 'little fish' condo. Currently it's housing my Endlers, Heterandria formosa, Ameca Splenden fry, Orange tail Goodied fry, Crystal and Cherry red shrimps, Zebra Danio fry and a few of those cool snails from Melody. As you can tell, I like little fish and livebearers. There are a couple of errors in my design, but nothing I can't work around. Most of the tanks are already spoken for, I have a big box of rare livebearers coming in soon, enough that I will have to step up production of 'Phase 2' ( all the 20 gal tanks, 8 of them, done in a similar fashon). I was freaked out for sure when it came time to fill the tanks, would it leak? would I suddenly have 2200 plus pounds of water on the floor ? Thankfully only 1 dripper (the painted tank on the bottom row), a quick replacement with another tank and all was good. The thing is way bigger than I had pictured in my mind , 80 inches high and 8 feet 3 inches long and nearly 3 feet wide, but much like standing in a fishstore. Phase 3 is going to include larger 50ish gallon tanks, hoping to finish the room with one or two huge tanks, but thats quite a long way off yet. Next spring I gotta redo my pond, sprung a leak in Aug. I decided just to let it drain for this year. Blaine Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheGr8Blade Posted October 12, 2006 Report Share Posted October 12, 2006 IT LOOKS AWSEOME! Would love something like that for my livebearers! Very or TRES cool! Thanks for sharing and the ideas. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FishGeek Posted October 15, 2006 Report Share Posted October 15, 2006 I'm amazed that you were able to get those tanks that clean. Man those things were bad. You must of put some major elbow grease into play there. The setup looks great! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
blainep Posted October 15, 2006 Author Report Share Posted October 15, 2006 I'm amazed that you were able to get those tanks that clean. Man those things were bad. You must of put some major elbow grease into play there. The setup looks great! Those tanks were nasty, I set up a 'production line' for cleaning. By soaking them in tubs with vinegar and water overnight most of the goo and grunge was gone, then a wipe down and rinse got them pretty clean. Thats also why I decided to have the tanks sit on the shelves the way they do, the fronts of the tanks are very cloudy from abrasive cleaning pads . So the viewing window is smaller, but clear, so you can accutally see the fish. Looks also like I will need to increase the drainage ability. The drain pipe is handling the flow, but if something happens to slow down the flow, I may have a small flood happen. So I'm going to 'T' into the drain hose in a couple of places and add a second hose. That will increase the amount of water that can travel thru and give me a backup in case one of hoses fail or get plugged. A little more tweaking and I think things should be perfect (or as close as I'll get to perfect). Blaine Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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