Introducing myself and my $100 75G

FrankDMann

FrankDMann

Medium Fish
#1
May 5, 2003
86
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48
Va Beach
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#1
Hello everyone....

I've made a few posts, but thought that I'd introduce myself and my project formally....

I'm putting together a 75 gallon freshwater tank. Currently, I've got a 46 gallon bow front (for sale in the classifieds section :)) and a 15 gallon hex.

This 75 is the first tank that I'm doing by myself. With the other two, I had a lot of help from my buddy, who was a "fish head". But, he's moved away now, so this one is all up to me.

I'm trying to put this thing together for less than $100. I bought the tank and stand for $50 from a buddy. I wasn't looking into another tank, but I just couldn't pass it up for that price, you know? For my money, I got the tank, stand, 2 lights (but no hood), a Penguin 330, and some assorted junk. This is a pretty good start to my $100 tank, I guess.

I've got another slight advantage in my quest for the $100 tank. My 46 gallon is up and running, so I can use much of the equipment for the 75.

I'll continue to post responses to this to let you know about my progress, to amuse myself and to keep the 1 or 2 of you who are actually INTERESTED *laughingc up to date!

I'm glad I found this place. You guys have already been a big help both in the forum AND with the great info on the site. Keep up the outstanding work, and take care!

***************
Expendetures:
Tank/stand/stuff $50.00
100 lbs River Rock $ 5.00
Bleach $ .88
Plexiglass for hood FREE! - (found some scrap)

****************

Frank
 

Last edited:
FrankDMann

FrankDMann

Medium Fish
#5
May 5, 2003
86
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48
Va Beach
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#5
Originally posted by caveman
Welcome to myfishtank. Fifty bucks for all that? Good deal man.
What type of fish are planning on keeping in your 75 gallon?
Click to expand...
Well, Currently I've got:
1 bala shark
3 zebra danios
2 algae eaters (don't remember which types)
3 "lamp eye's"
2 "black skirts"
1 ghost cat
1 albino cat
1 male beta

sorry, I don't know the "official" names of the lamp eye's and black skirts, or even if anyone knows what I'm talking about *laughingc.

I'd like to add a few more to the collection w/the bigger tank. I haven't decided what to get yet, but I'd like to get some neons for sure, and perhaps something a little different like an angel or something else. Does anyone have any suggestions about what else would go with this "collection"??
 

FrankDMann

FrankDMann

Medium Fish
#7
May 5, 2003
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48
Va Beach
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#7
Here is the tank!

In this pic, you can see the tank/stand. Also got 2 19-inch lights and the Penguin filter to the right. The filter on the left is from my 46. I put it in there to help start the cycle. Also, to the far left, you can see my plexiglass, which is covered by a brown coating. That's going to be the basis for my hood. I'm going to use a plane saw and a jig saw to custom-cut the plexi, and will use a router on the edges so I can get it to lay in the groove at the top. I plan on boring out holes for feeding and air tubes.





In this pic, you can see the river rocks that I bough at Wal-Mart. I got 2 50 lb. bags for a total of $5.00. Thanks to colesea for the instructions on cleaning them. The water got slightly cloudy, but cleared right up in no time. Currently, there is about 65 lbs of rock in there.



I plan on custom-cutting the plexi tomorrow, and will show pictures of it completely cut. I'm trying to leave as little air as possible to reduce evaporation (the wife gets on me when the tank gets loud, lol).

Since I have the river rock, I think I'm going to do an "under the creek" scene with the tank. I realize that the bala and the beta probably don't go well with that
*laughingc but I'm going to stick some driftwood and a couple of large boulders in there, then backfill with live plants.

Thanks for all of the welcomes, everyone!!! I really enjoy this forum!

Frank
 

FrankDMann

FrankDMann

Medium Fish
#11
May 5, 2003
86
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48
Va Beach
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#11
Originally posted by Wormo3188
How thick is that plexi? mine is 1/8th inch and it bows in every day from the weight+heat of the lights. I am gonna replace it with thicker stuff, but I was just wondering what thickness you got yours in.
Click to expand...
It's 1/2 inch thick. you bring up a good point about the lights causing it to heat up and sort of "melt". I don't know what kind of lights you have, but I may just cut out "windows" in the plexi for the lights. I'm going to use the two 19'' lights, and since they've got little sealed windows themselves, that will probably dispurse a whole bunch of heat. Depending on what type of fixtures you have, it may be beneficial to you too....

I appreciate all of the great comments!! I'll be sure to post some more pictures tomorrow when I get some more stuff in there.
 

FrankDMann

FrankDMann

Medium Fish
#12
May 5, 2003
86
0
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48
Va Beach
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#12
Plexiglass Cut Job

I got the plexi cut today!!! I needed to buy a new blade for the jig, so that cost me 2 bucks. Here's the glass with the paper coating still on it. I cut the feeding hole with a 2-1/2 inch boaring bit and my drill.




In this pic, you can see the glass uncovered and on the top of the tank. You can also see how the feeding hole is in the back and the center. Although it would have been optimal to have the hole near the front so I could see the fish, I decided to put it in back for asthetic purposes.



I bought some other stuff for the tank, such as new bulbs, a plant, and some F I S H !! I'm dumping my 46 water into the 75 tonight, and I'll post some more pics when that gets all done. Got it at the LFS with a discount (saved me 3 bucks), so I guess I'm up to $73.81. Gettin' close to $100, and I still haven't DECORATED the tank fully yet!!

I don't plan on spending too much on decorations. I'm going to get a couple of large sized rocks out of the local stream. I'll clean them as I did the other river rocks. Also, I want to get a nice piece of driftwood, but they're so DANG expensive!!! Does anyone have any ideas on how to "cure" your own? We've got miles of streams and so forth around here, and I hope to find a nice-looking, relatively clean piece. Any help would be greatly appreciated!

Take Care!
Frank
 

1979camaro

1979camaro

Ultimate Fish
#13
Oct 22, 2002
5,862
2
0
42
San Ramon, CA
#13
just boil it....only problem is getting it to sink, i think they usually put some sort of sealing agent on the ones at the store to help with that....others may know, probably could find something in the general freshwater section

KB
 

FrankDMann

FrankDMann

Medium Fish
#14
May 5, 2003
86
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48
Va Beach
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#14
Tank Update

Well, I pumped in all of the H2O from the old tank into the new, and also threw in the fish the heater, some air stones, and a couple of plants. Here's the pic:



Budget Update:

$50.00 - Tank/Stand
$ 5.00 - Rocks
$ .88 - Bleach
$15.93 - 4 fish, 1 plant, 4 bulbs
$ 2.00 - Jigsaw Blade
$ 2.00 - Exterior thermometer (a supplement)
---------
$75.81 - Total so far

I plan on adding some decorations (home made variety), then will burn the other 24 bucks on plants and fish, and any other odds/ends I might need.

Frank
 

FrankDMann

FrankDMann

Medium Fish
#15
May 5, 2003
86
0
0
48
Va Beach
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#15
Pricing update!?!??

Well, I thought that I would mention that I downloaded the 46 gallon bowfront/stand/extras for $125 this past weekend. You COULD subtract that from my 70 some-odd dollars and say that I was about $50 in the black, because I wanted to upgrade from my 46 to the 75 for $100, but I won't say that, because the wife spent the money :( already.

I've got some more pics of the tank that I'll throw up tonight. Does anyone have any suggestions as to plant life for this thing? I want to get some stuff in varying heights that will hold up in:

78* temp
7.2 pH

Thanks everyone!
 

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