New 75 gallon

Orion

Orion

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#1
Feb 10, 2003
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Per Froggy, here is a pic of my new tank. There is just so much to see and take in with this picture. ;)



Tossed that filter on for water movement to make sure that the heater was working right. Perfect 75 degrees F this morning. Right now I have a 150w EBO in there, but will be adding another 150 just for good measure.

I'll probably end up with my Fluval 404 on this tank. (And Mrs.Orion had to ask why I wanted to buy such a big filter when I didn't have a tank to put it on last year. See, always thinking ahead. ;)) That and my Emperror 400 should be more than enough.

Going to Lowes in a little bit to get some eggcrate and sand. Getting either blasting sand or pool filter sand. I don't have any lights for it yet, so I may pick up some wood and a shop light to make a quick and dirty light for it.

Then off to the Landscaper's to hunt down some rocks for it.

With any luck as i boil and clean the rocks, I can talk Mrs.Orion into washing off some of that sand for me.

We didn't get home untill 9:30 last night and the tank was too heavy for her to help me with. Thank goodness for good neighbors. And when I told him that I was getting rid of some of my other tanks he offered to buy one off of me. I'm already making a little bit of money back on the 75 ;)

More pics to follow later today as I hopefully get it started!
 

Orion

Orion

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No kribs, Tangs only in this tank. ;) For now my brevis and julies. Planning on adding a school of cyps later on.

So I have a make-shift lighting up, and the eggcrate down. Rinsing the sand now, getting ready to start on cleaning rocks.

With the eggcrate and no flash:


With Flash:


My lighting system for now:
 

NoDeltaH2O

NoDeltaH2O

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Feb 17, 2005
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Awesome project Orion. I am glad to hear that your wife is agreeing with the tank consolidation idea of fewer larger tanks. So how many tangs are you thinking about having in there in the end? You're not talking about SW tangs are you?
 

FroggyFox

FroggyFox

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May 16, 2003
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HEY MY ROOMMATE has that same video rack thingy haha Is that all dogs go to heaven laying upside down on the floor? Oh...and the picture hanging over the tank is crooked...sheesh. ;)

Delta I'm pretty sure he means tanganyikan "tangs".

That is a gorgeous tank Orion...I really am jealous now. Great thought on the shop light with the hangars...it looks totally professional even though you called it makeshift or whatever.

HEY maybe you can sell your neighbor the brichardis too :D heh
 

depthC

depthC

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Feb 24, 2003
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Thats a pretty nice setup you've got there. That light idea is great, so simple I just have to incorporate it into my tank now :D . Your a genius.

Good luck with the setup. Keep the pictures rolling ... its exciting seeing the tank get setup. Almost as if it were mine, jeez i wish *SUPERSMIL .

Andrew
 

Orion

Orion

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lol, I can't take credit for the lights. When I went to Lowes this morning to get some stuff, I saw that they had some of there lights hanging like that and I thought "Hey thats not a bad idea!"

No SW for me! Well, at least not right now. All Tanganyikan's here. ;)

And yes Froggy, as odd as it is that is all dogs go to heaven. Honestly I didn't even know we had that movie. lol And thank you very much, I had to move the picture a little when I mounted the light hangers. :p

I don't think I would want to drop the brichardi on someone who does not know about them. That would just be mean. lol I spoke to one of the people at the LFS yesterday and he said that he would take all my brichardi once he gets his 60 gallon up and going. So thats cool.

Now I have the sand, and a few rocks in. I still didn't wash the sand good enough and after a large water change it probably needs it again.



Oh and when putting drywall anchors in, be sure that you have them where you need them BEFORE you tighen the anchor down. See the pic of the close up of the lights, there is an anchor just a tad bit further down that what I needed it to be. ;)
 

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Orion

Orion

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The eggcrate is to help distribute the weight of the rocks and keep any one pressure point from buliding on the bottom glass. Once I get all my rocks and do a finaly placement of them, I will also have them direcly on the eggcrate instead of sitting on top of the sand. This will help keep them more stable as the cichlids will not be able to dig under them at all then and topple any rock piles over.
 

Orion

Orion

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Whats the opinion on the filtration for this. At best my Fluval 404 is going to turn the water over 3 times per hour. More or less Im just paranoid with this tank. This is the first tank that I've bought both tank and stand new. More importantly this is where my cichlids are, and more going to be.

I have a Rena XP3 that has would turn it over 4.6 times per hour. I know the turn over per hour is just a rule of thumb mainly for HOB's, but like I said I'm paranoid with this. I figure adding both the Rena and Fluval would be a tad over kill for a 75 gallon.

Now that I am done rambling nonsence, I have the 404, and the large Whisper HOB filter on the tank right now. Think this would be enough filtration?
 

f8fan

f8fan

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#11
Nov 19, 2004
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New tanks are so exciting! Your's is looking great. *thumbsups

I must say, I really like what you have done with your end-table to the left of the tank...are those beer cans???? :)

Ok, now I understand the whole shop light thing. I think that looks darn professional! If I ever venture into needing more light for growing plants or something, that is the way to go!!!!
 

Orion

Orion

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Feb 10, 2003
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I've added some more rocks from the 45 gallon, and spread them out some to cover about 1/2 of the tank on the right side. Looking a little better.

I added some plants last night (you know I just couldn't resist ;)). Anubias 'nana' (Thanks Depthc!), Cryptocoryne spirallis, Cryptocoryne wendtii 'red' ,Green Tiger Lotus, and some vallis. I have no worries with the lotus or anubias. But the cypts and vallis are iffy at this point. I've had some vallis that has taken off if less than optimal conditions, and others totaly shrivel up and die at the mere thought of moving. The cypts are going to be a toss up, but these two that I choose seem to be rather quick at addapting to new conditions with minimal to no loss. No worries in they don't make it. I have PLENTY more where they came from.

I did screw up a little bit with all my plants. Monday I had to tear out most of the plants in the 45 to catch the remaining julie, and I left all the crypts I have floating for two days. The dang things started to 'bend' twords the light, and now that they are planted, their bent. lol Nothing a few good days of being planted will not fix.

I'll try and get some pics of both tanks by the weekend. I really like the new look of the 45. Still need more rocks for the 75, but I will find some eventualy.

I also swaped out the fluval 404 with an XP3. The XP has a higher flowrate. I may very well run both the fluval and XP3 on this before its all said and done. Still thinking about it. With all the money I'm going to put into the stock (plus what I already have in their) I want to provide the best possible home for them.

Here is the 75 before the plants. (were planted. you see some of the floating.)
 

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Orion

Orion

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Feb 10, 2003
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Update

I've since planted the plants, and a few more to boot. Turning out very nice I think.



I've 'upgraded' the lights as well. I added another light strip. So while I was at it, I figured I could do a little something more too.





Seeing as how I was already using the shelf braces to hold the lights, why not put a shelf on there? Dosen't look to bad IMO, and it adds a little more functionality to it. Of course I added a larger center brace out of my own paranioia. Probably would have been find without it. My only complaint about the lights is that they are high enough when I sit in my chair that is beside the tank, I get a lot of light. I may end up making a quazi canopy with no top to help keep the lights from spreading into the room.
 

Orion

Orion

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Feb 10, 2003
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That was one of the main reasons for the center brace. I lean tword too much than not enough most of the time. Better safe than sorry. Oh how lovley it would to come home to my wifes pictures floating in the tank. lol

But for now there is less than 10 pounds on the shelf, then I would imagine around 2 pounds for both lights. So its not much. Each drywall screw was rated at 30lbs downforce, and 20lbs straight out. 9 screws in total, so I say I'm good to go for a while.

I will however be adding a glass top in the near future. I would leave it open, but with the small fortune I'm going to pay for Cyps, I do not want those things jumping out of the tank.
 

Orion

Orion

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Update:
After I added the extra lighting and my water change, I dosed some ferts to help the plants along. Talk about a serious 'Doh' moment.

The plants are not growing enough yet, nor are there even enough of them to use up the full does I put in the tank. So genius me, now I'm looking at about three different types of algae ravaging the tank. I just got done wipeing off the anubias leaves. Going to test the water to see if anything there needs my attention, then a good ole water change to hopefully clear things up a bit.

Geez.
 

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