225 Build - Funky Style

[Delphinus]

I'd be all Amazon rays. Or one heck of a planted setup. Could you imagine a school of say 30-40 cardinals in that tank? Come on, that'd be pretty slick too.

[lorenz0]

aww so your the lucky guy who got his tank

for sure will be watching this thread

[hillegom]

Its looking good. Keep up the good work

[rjengen]

Can't wait to see this one come alive...again

[lastlight]

Chris where did you buy the GE1200 btw? There was something weird about that silicone I bought off BRS...took forever to not be sticky and it seems some areas never properly cured.

FYI this was the stuff (I'll def be steering clear):

[Delphinus]

I know he's not your fave person to deal with but the only place I was ever able to find some GE1200 was from Mitch.

[Funky_Fish14]

Mitch is... well, I'll leave those words for private conversations :P Brett, Quinn, Ed and I had a real nice chat about him while we were loading the stuff into the truck, haha. - oh I also want to thank my buddies Quinn and Ed, and also my Dad, for helping me get this bad boy moved!

Tony: Thanks for the comment!

Brett: Haha, hey I never said it was your silicone job! I DID infact say that the resevoir is perfect! Lol. That silicone is weird stuff. Um, the GE1200 I got from aquarium illusions. I know people who have ordered it online somewhere and also through local plumbing or hardware supply places. If you want i can arrange to get you some if you need it for your next build, just PM me. Infact I'll give it to you.
Man that stand was death. I actually ruined my back (well I totalled it moving a full tank alone the next night) getting that thing in the door. We had to do a really weird lift (well I did) to help get it in... and we probably should have opted for a different way lol.

Mike: One of the walls (opposite the window) is actually finished and painted... im going to frame the far (left in pic) wall in and drywall the whole window bay and part of left wall by tuesday and have it painted. The floor will be finished after all the tanks in the room are set-up. The rest of the basement will come with time. We are still trying to landscape about 2 acres around the house and finish a workshop separate from the house... its comming along... slowly

GSP/Brett/Tony: Haha thaaaanks guys... im actually quite proud of my collection of cichlids :P

Lorenz0/Hillegom/rjengen: Thanks!



Today's Progress

I finally pulled my head out of the sand and figured out the darn plumbing to connect the union/ball to the sump. I didnt feel like 'emergency ordering' a TxT 2" bulkhead (lame I couldnt find any in town) so I got a shorty bulkhead and a coupler. I 'dry-fitted' the line from the sump to the pump. Got a few more plumbing parts and also picked up some Matala bio-media for the sump. I got some black sand the other day, but its way too fine. One of the bags also exploded in the back of my pathfinder. At least the stuff was CHEAP. Im going to exchange it for something thicker. Today was a bad progress day - had to work and then family is over right now. Just sneaking in some 'midnight canreef', lol.

Will have more pics tomorrow!

List to tackle tomorrow:

-Work on some more plumbing, dry-fitting and glueing what I can
-Try to get the gyprock up
-Install a baffle in the sump (which I just realized means pulling it back out of the stand I just put it in yesterday? Lol, smart).
-Spray the back of the styrofoam backing for the setup
-Install (but not connect) new water supply line for the system.

Cheers Everyone! And thanks for looking!

Chris

[Myka]

Originally Posted by Delphinus

I'd be all Amazon rays. Or one heck of a planted setup. Could you imagine a school of say 30-40 cardinals in that tank? Come on, that'd be pretty slick too.

More like 200 Cardinals. That'd be sweet. Cichlids are pretty awesome too though, I have considered setting up an African tank again...but only for a few moments of lapse.

[Funky_Fish14]

Then throw in a few indian flasher barbs and a school of lemons as well, then a few cool plecos, plants all across the bottom and a giant piece of driftwood, and it would look stellar! Haha.

Actually I will be getting a very large piece of driftwood for this thing hopefully!

Today's progress: First layer of mud and some dry plumbing. Also got partial wall framed where it will connect to the doorway. Other side will get done later.... I need this tank running first.
















To do tomorrow:

- Try to find some Tahitian moon sand in town. Its black, and thats what I want. According to the 'technical specs', the copper slag sand I picked up should be usable (it does not contain copper), but many people (though without proof) are saying it shouldnt be used. I think its too fine for my tank and the next size up is too coarse. I also think these grains might be too sharp.
- Pick up a bit a few more plumbing pieces I am still missing
- Actually get the water supply line started this time
- Second layer of plaster
- More dry plumbing

Hoping to have a pretty productive day but I have to squeeze my christmas shopping in tomorrow, haha. Oops.

Thanks for reading!

Cheers,

Chris

[Delphinus]

How fine or rough-edged is the Tahitian Moon? I have .. um .. I think it's called "Fluorite" in my FW, mixed with a couple bags of "Eco-Complete." I wanted a black substrate that was also good for plants, but it turns out to be way too harsh for my corycats. I want to find something finer but I'm having a heck of a time finding something suitable. Or is the trick maybe not going finer, but going smoother?