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125G work log

5K views 58 replies 17 participants last post by  jnick 
#1 ·
Afer only jumping into the cichid hobby in August, I have upgraded my 55G to a 125G! Many of you have helped me through my first steps (a special thanks to sub-mariner, razorbackfan, and zimmy) so I figured I'd share my build journey to my second aquarium!

Here she is in all her empty glory... The day she came home!



The first thing I did was fill her up to verify no leaks...no leaks!



This was the last time she would see water for going on two weeks now.

The first thing I noticed was that the stand, while made for a 125G tank, was made out of particle board. I was feeling a bit uneasy with that and decided to reinforce it. Note, I am not handy in the slightest so this was going to be a bit of a challenge :)

Taking it over with a friend who is into wood working, he suggests I build I-beams for under the cabinet. The first problem though is that the cabinet bottom did not touch the floor. This would in turn transfer all the weight onto even more particle board! Instead, I built the bottom out with strips of 3.5x18" 2x4 and 3/8 plywood. This brings the wood perfectly flush with the bottom trim of the stand and the carpet.



Next, I constructed the I-beams out of 2x4. Six I total. Painted them with some rust oleum and out them in place.



As you may have seen from the first picture, one door had ripped off of its hinge. Using some toothpicks, I was able to resurface the stripped screw holes and secure the door back in place. Likewise, the cabinet magnets were all rusted and didn't really keep the doors closed. A quick trip to home depot solved this problem. I replaced the double magnets and all of them plates on the doors. Now they secure shut without a problem!

I knew I wanted a black background and decided to give painting it a go. Again, using rust oleum, I rolled on some semi-gloss paint! This was the first coat...



Six coats later, the back is mostly solid black. There are MANY spots that simply will not adhere paint. I've even tried it with a brush and with heavy applications. Therefore, today I went out and got some black foam board that I will cut into 2x36" pieces to slide in the back. This will cause any uncovered "specks" to be hidden.

I will measure and cut the board tomorrow. The next challenge is finding something to act as clips. What I would like to do is "install" 8 "clips" so I can slide the foam board in and out as I please. Almost like making a track. Since I do not have HOB filters, I cannot rely on them to hold the board up. Also, the board is a bit curved due to its packaging. I would be using the clips to keep the bend out of it as well. Any ideas for creating or buying these clips is welcome! I frigid I could affix theti the b,ack plastic trim running along the top and bottom of the tank.

As far as hardware goes, I will be running an FX5 with a Hydor ETH300 inline heater. I already have them in house, Long with tubing reducer to get the pair to work nicely together. Along with those are two Koralia 4 power heads.

I picked up two bags of Leslie's PFS for the substrate and am itching to get it in the tank and filling it up!

The next project after the foam board is a custom spray bar. Black PVC will be arriving Tuesday so I can make a custom spray bar for the FX5.

This has been quite the ride so far! Never knew how much DIY work it would entail, it I'm sure it will be worth it in the end! More pics and progress to come!

Thanks for reading!
 
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#3 ·
jnick said:
Therefore, today I went out and got some black foam board that I will cut into 2x36" pieces to slide in the back. This will cause any uncovered "specks" to be hidden.

I will measure and cut the board tomorrow. The next challenge is finding something to act as clips. What I would like to do is "install" 8 "clips" so I can slide the foam board in and out as I please. Almost like making a track. Since I do not have HOB filters, I cannot rely on them to hold the board up. Also, the board is a bit curved due to its packaging. I would be using the clips to keep the bend out of it as well. Any ideas for creating or buying these clips is welcome! I frigid I could affix theti the b,ack plastic trim running along the top and bottom of the tank.
Maybe it's too late now but it might be easier to just tape some black garbage bags to the back of the tank to "fill in" the unpainted spots. You could avoid the trouble of figuring out how to clip the foam board in place. Some people actually just use garbage bags instead of painting the back of their tanks.

I'm looking forward to seeing pics of the finished project.
 
#4 ·
I like the setup!! Reminds me so much of my 125G upgrade. I also went from a 55 to a 125 and man it is so much nicer!

You are going to want more sand haha, 100 LB's is no where near enough, I'm running 140 LBS in mine and it's perfect! I would have just used a black background and used cooking oil to adhere it to the back of the tank. I did that about 3 weeks ago and it hasn't moved at all and still looks amazing!

Here's my thread if you need any suggestions. Also below that is a link to the thread i made about building my FX5 Spray Bar.

http://www.cichlid-forum.com/phpBB/view ... highlight=

http://www.cichlid-forum.com/phpBB/view ... p?t=239826
 
#5 ·
Thanks man! I remember that trick you had mentioned...I was just afraid that after a bit of time it would come off and then be a REAL pain to get it back on. Not to mention, I would have to cut the background in a straight line which may be asking a bit too much! :p

I thought painting would be easier, but I guess not!

Thanks for the sand recommendation. Once I throw in the 100lbs, I'll gauge it then possibly head out to buy another bag :thumb:

As for stocking, I'm mainly going to be having male Peacocks/Haps. I was also thinking about adding some yellow labs, but haven't fully decided on that yet. If I did, should I do all male, or a 1:3 ratio?

I'm also contemplating, while I know it's against the unwritten rules, on adding a Frontosa to the mix. I've been reading people having success with a Front/Peacock/Hap tank. Granted, I would get him at a younger age so he doesn't snack on my peacocks ;).

Right now I have the following living in the 55G until the 125G is complete:

Lithobates Zimbabwe
Ngara Flametail (starting to think it's female :/)
Ruby Red Male
Possible Red shoulder? (male)

I just picked up the red shoulder on Saturday. The coloring looked very nice, but the worker there wasn't sure of the species. I'll be posting a pic up in the correct forum for identification.

My girlfriend also got what I believe is an Albino peacock, which is in the 55G right now. It may be relocated to the 125G should our Mbuna pick on it.
 
#6 ·
The back is complete! Since the paint was being temperamental, I cut black foam board to size and created a track for the board to slide in and out of, using vertical strips of foam board and industrial strength Velcro! Therefore the entire contraption is completely reversible!



I also created the 4ft DIY spraybar, however I don't have any pics of it just yet! More to come tomorrow!
 
#7 ·
The spray bar is finished!







Next up is the custom intake for the filter and then connecting the vinyl tubing. Then on to adding the sand and water!

[edit] whoops! Was doing reorganization in photobucket and temporarily broke it! All fixed now, sorry!
 
#11 ·
Nice, glad to see you got the spraybar made. Everything is coming along nicely!! :thumb:
 
#12 ·
It looks awesome! Nice job on the spraybar! They do an amazing job at moving the water for sure!
 
#13 ·
Thanks guys! I'm hoping to have the intake and vinyl tubing completed this weekend. If I'm lucky, I'll even get sand and water in!
 
#14 ·
So I called over some troops today and dropped a rule - no one leaves until there was water in my tank! On deck we had my girlfriend, myself, my dad and my uncle who has a 140G reef tank! So the fun began at 11am.

First off, we had a huge problem with the in-line Hydor Heater. No matter what we did, the plumbing would not work. It kept kinking beyond belief. Even when I help it perfectly stright, it killed all flow in the system. Therefore, I opted to return it and go with an Aqueon Pro, in-tank heater.

Once we re-plumbed the tank using just the 1" tubing, the water started flowing! Right now, I only have two baskets filled with bio media. I plan to use the other center basket to use some sponges from our 55G to see the new filter. The glass tops are holding the custom PVC spraybar and intake in the perfect spot!

Here is a shot when we filled her up!



Here is a full shot with some lace rock just randomly thrown in! Oddly enough, I like the placement!



Right now I'm running the six sponges and the 2 baskets of biomax. I figured I will not add poly fil until at least tomorrow to make sure all of the sand is settled. As of 7pm, everything was up and running. as of now it is still crazy cloudy. However I suspect this is normal as I do not have an micro-filtration.

Here is a side shot. You can see how cloudy the water is right now as well as the flow the spraybar is putting out!



My to-do list now is to get a heater tomorrow for the tank, begin cycling by transferring over my girlfriends media, get the polyfil cut and inserted in the filter. If all goes well, I'm shooting for re-homing my peackcoks/hap from the 55G to this tank by Friday.

Let me know what you think! Thanks!
 
#16 ·
I haven't seeded it yet. I am going to wait until tomorrow when I can get the heater. This will allow me to seed it with the right temperature :)
 
#19 ·
Picked up an Aqueon Pro 250w heater to start with. Hopefully that will be enough. Does the placement matter? Right now i have it on the OPPOSITE end of the tank that the intake is on. I was thinking about possibly putting it beside the intake this way it heats up water going into the filter. This will, in-turn, make use of the spray bar dispersing heated water.

I also stole some biomax and a sponge from our 55G and am beginning to cycle the tank. I was SO close to pouring ammonia with 'surfactant' in it. Luckily I shook it right before pouring and saw it foam up! I'm using the 29% ammonia that I got from a colleague but MAN is that stuff strong! I'll have the ammonia up to 2ppm-4ppm by time I go to bed tonight.
 
#20 ·
Placement shouldn't be that big a deal if you have good water movement. The 250w should work fine. I love mine. I love seeing the green versus red light to know even when it is not heating that it is still on and receiving power. I also love the composite shell....I banged into it again last night..if I had my old glass one it would have shattered for the second time in a few months.
 
#21 ·
Yup! I love this thing. I have a 150w in my 55. It's been great thus far!
 
#23 ·
Thanks!

I have started the cycling process last night! I brought the ammonia up to 2-3ppm. This was around 11pm. As of now, it's still at 2ppm. This is with transferring some biomedia from the 55G over. I will test it again tomorrow and see where we stand!

I also cleaned the two power heads as they were CAKED with salts/minerals. a 24hr soak in vinegar + water (heavier on the vinegar) made it oh so easy to clean! They are now soaking in a bucket of hot water. I will change out the water tomorrow and let them soak again for another 24 hours in just water to get rid of any lingering vinegar.
 
#24 ·
I checked ammonia today and it doesn't look like it's changed at all. Maybe the [/i]smallest bit. However, when I open the lid, I still smell a decently strong odor of Chlorine. Do you think this could be hindering the cycling process? Should I do a water change then re-start cycling or just leave be?

On top of that, I just noticed traces of ICH in our 55G tonight. The bummer is, I had just used the biomedia from that tank to seed my 125G :/.
 
#25 ·
Water still showing 1ppm of ammonia. Something doesn't seem right. Thought this would be quicker since I seeded it from a established tank.
 
#26 ·
jnick said:
Water still showing 1ppm of ammonia. Something doesn't seem right. Thought this would be quicker since I seeded it from a established tank.
How well seeded was the biomedia you moved over? How much biomedia total and from what filter to what filter? I am sure you posted it in the thread somewhere but too lazy to sort through it right now.
 
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