92 Gallon Corner Aquarium Build

supra1997

Large Fish
Feb 16, 2008
270
0
0
43
Oceanside, CA
www.rdubphoto.com
#1
Well I finally purchased my dream tank. I have had many tanks ranging in size from 2.5 gallons, all the way up to 125gallons. but I have always wanted a 92 gallon corner tank. So I decided to jump out of the saltwater world with the 29 gallon tank I owned and buy one.

I sold my tank, rocks, coral, and 1 fish (last survivor) quite quickly and found a 92 corner with stand and a pro clear aquatics 200 system sump to go with the pre-drilled tank for a fee of $525.00. I found this too good to be true, but I bought it yesterday and all is good. The tank is in perfect shape. Very nice people and they took great care of their equipment.

I have decided to do all african cichlids in the tank. I will be building a 3D black/charcoal rock wall around the sides and doing a sand base bottom with minimal plants.

I have owned some crazy cichlids before and have just decided to keep it a little easier and cleaner with a good amount of african cichlids instead of the crazy killer one's I have owned in the past.

I'm thinking I will add about 20-30 fish and a few cleaners all in due time.

Any suggestions from anyone?

I will be posting pics of the entire project and advice/comments/criticism is always welcome along the way. :)
 

supra1997

Large Fish
Feb 16, 2008
270
0
0
43
Oceanside, CA
www.rdubphoto.com
#3
I was thinking of getting them all at one time. Do you think that would be too much of a spike in the water params and screw some stuff up? I was thinking about 20-25 maybe even 30.

I figured if they were all introduced at the same time it would help cut down on the bullying possibly?
 

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nanu156

Large Fish
Mar 8, 2010
745
0
0
Detroit, Mi
#4
Honestly my African rule of thumb is 1/2 the # of gallons for the total stocking. (Some will argue this is way too many, in any event it is too many for the first day for sure)

How are you going to cycle? Fishless? Bacteria from another tank?

If you go bacteria from another tank (swish NASTY filter media into your tank) then I think 20 should be ok assuming that you are not a noobie and that you have some idea what you are doing.

These are the fish I would get if I were you;

-Pecock (males only)
-Venustratus
- Blue/Red (actually orange)/OB (calico)/white zebras
- Cobalt Afras/Hongi
-Socolofi
- Fire Island/other victorian rainbowish fish
- trewavasae (my personal favorite)
- Johani (electric blue)

And anything else that strikes your fancy

The yellow labs/ Electric yellows are the wimpy kids on the playground

Bumblebees, Kenyi, Jewels, aratus/chipokee tend to grow up mean, so keep that in mind.

Tropheous (kiser I & II, bemba, poilot, starry nights, rainbow etc) are vegetarians and need veggie only diets or they get Bloat and die.

Where are you planning to buy your fish?

If you do fish in cycle I would do 10 fish each week not to exceed 40

If you get a pleco I would get bushy nosed
 

supra1997

Large Fish
Feb 16, 2008
270
0
0
43
Oceanside, CA
www.rdubphoto.com
#5
Perfect! This is a great start for me. I'm no noobie to aquariums, but this will be the first african cichlid tank I'm keeping.

I think I will try to just cycle the tank without fish. I have no friends nearby I could grab some dirty filters or such from to help with the cycle. But I'm also in no rush.

I started building the cave walls for the sides last night. Using 1" pink foam, quickrete quick wall concrete with a charcoal die for color. I cut out a base wall to start and then temp glued the foam pieces onto the base shaping each with a sure form tool, knife, and other objects. I then poured the first coat of plain white concrete on last night and it is setting and drying now. Hopefully tonight I will add the second coats and then by the weekend the 3rd will be dry and I can install.

i also bought 100lbs of the Commercial grade quickrete sand for my substrate. I will wash this out and make sure it is clean before dumping in once the backgrounds are finished and installed. Then the filtration process will begin.

Do you think I could hit a LFS and maybe get some filter media from a african cichlid tank to help the cycle?

OH and BTW, I will start taking pics tonight. I've been slacking lately with the photos! Sorry guys!
 

nanu156

Large Fish
Mar 8, 2010
745
0
0
Detroit, Mi
#6
IT can be from any kind of tank as long as it's fresh. Some will some wont, deal is that the bacteria need to be added on the same day you add fish if you go that route.

Personally I like the idea of stocking over a month, doing an addition of 10 fish each weekend for 4 or so weekends (maybe just 3) that will give the tank time to work things out.

If you go fish in then only get 10 and wait.

If you do pure ammonia make sure you read the post on fishless cycling in the general section. (I have oddly enough never done a fish in cycle, I have always used my own bacteria form established filters OR a friends) IF you get goop at the fish store try to get the water as black/brown nasty as possible (maybe do 2-3 filters) and don't spill it in the car!!!! YETCH! bring a lid :)

As a side note most africans prefer gravel, I might suggest pea gravel from homedepot, runs about 3 a bag get 2 bags, plan to wash it for like an hour it's pretty dirty. They like to pick up rocks and move them around.

Also if you buy plants plan for them to be destroyed in short order.
 

supra1997

Large Fish
Feb 16, 2008
270
0
0
43
Oceanside, CA
www.rdubphoto.com
#7
Well I'm sticking with sand. I know my other cichlids in the past used to carry the rocks everywhere. But I do know that sand or rocks are both acceptable for african. I prefer the look and ease of clean sand gives. Plus it will make my background have an amazing contrast between the Black and natural sand color.

No live plants for me. I left saltwater for now to avoid the extra stress from corals and such, so NO LIVE PLANTS!!! HAHA
 

supra1997

Large Fish
Feb 16, 2008
270
0
0
43
Oceanside, CA
www.rdubphoto.com
#8
Well I finished all of the first coats of cement on the side rock wall panels. They are all white and I'm very happy with the look so far. Tonight I will apply coat 2 which will have a little bit of the charcoal coloring in it. Coat 3 should and will be completely black. I will post pics later tonight to show the progress.
 

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skjl47

Large Fish
Nov 13, 2010
712
0
0
Northeastern Tennessee.
#9
Hello; When I buy bulk sand from a local cement company, I sift it thru various homemade screen boxes or old colanders to separate out the fine material. It depends on the size grains that you want to use. The fine stuff will cloud water for days and clog up filter media for some time. I also seem to recall that even after it settles, the fine stuff packs and is not the best substrate for plants. You do not plan for plants, so that may not be a concern.
 

nanu156

Large Fish
Mar 8, 2010
745
0
0
Detroit, Mi
#11
yeah i mean if you have done sand before and you are comfy with it then go for it

plants are not a good plan with african cichlids unless you are just planting them as snacks
 

supra1997

Large Fish
Feb 16, 2008
270
0
0
43
Oceanside, CA
www.rdubphoto.com
#12
Ok so here are a few shots of the tank and the 2 cave sides I'm building. I should have the 3rd coat on tonight and then I will silicone them to the sides and add my sand substrate and water this weekend. The final coat will be a more pure black. I love the texture the concrete and the foam are creating with each coat I apply. I'm liking it so far!









 

supra1997

Large Fish
Feb 16, 2008
270
0
0
43
Oceanside, CA
www.rdubphoto.com
#13
Final day of the concrete went well. I waited until the next day for the concrete to dry and applied the silicone to the back of the foam. I placed each panel onto the glass and then went ahead and added the sand. I decided to do that because it actually helped the wall stay against the glass at the bottom. I know the water will actually help push the rock wall against the glass. Also when I add the water it will turn the concrete black instead of its dark grey look. I may find a resolution for the center black overflow piece. It might bother me and I will build something? Who knows.....










 

nanu156

Large Fish
Mar 8, 2010
745
0
0
Detroit, Mi
#19
yeah that wold be a good place to build slate stacks or concrete stacks, btw i now want to replace my slate stacks with one piece concrete stacks so that every time i go digging in my darn tank i don't topple them.
 

supra1997

Large Fish
Feb 16, 2008
270
0
0
43
Oceanside, CA
www.rdubphoto.com
#20
Well I went to fill it up and made the cardinal mistake! I never tested the bulkheads before filling. So needless to say I filled it to the top overflow (bottom is sealed) and heard leaking water. The previous owner told me he never messed with it, so I assumed it was fine! Now I need to remove all 90gallons or so of water and move it out from the wall and replace them. I could just maybe take them off and see what the problem is, but to be safe I will just replace both.

We all learn from our mistakes. The key is to learn from them and do it the right way to prevent problems in the future!