After the meeting today, I purchased this 225 Gallon tank from Blake. I appreciate him helping me load it. I dunno how we did it, but we did. I decided to start this build thread at the beginning, so here is the tank, still in my vehicle. It's 72" long, 24" wide, and 30" tall. I put those numbers in some online calculator, and it said that the tank was like 224.something gallons in volume. I guess the first thing I'll be doing is getting it out of the car, and cleaning it up. Then I will build a stand for it. After that I will work on the sump and plumping, and finally the lights. There will probably be more things that'll be addressed, but that's the direction I am heading in. I think we are also going to purchase a 125 Gallon on Monday. So I will have several projects going, and just have to do them as money comes in. I just figured that if I had the tanks in my house, I'd be more likely to start saving the money up to complete them. I am hoping to have sand, water, and rock in these by summer. (Or at least one of them). I hope you will all bear with me as I try to make this happen!
Just take your time and do it right the first time. Decide what type of tank you want and get the right equipment the first time. May take you a little longer but will save on later updates. Have fun and keep us posted.
Finally got it out of the car. I never knew glass was so heavy. I'm really worried about getting it down into the basement. My dad thinks we can, but I dunno. LOL I'll build a stand first and then worry about that problem. Here's a photo of it, and I put my iPhone against it to show the scale. I know many of you have seen tanks this size and larger, but the size is crazy to me! I am going to pick up a 125 gallon tank and stand tomorrow. I am still not sure what I am going to use it for. I thought about trying to use it as a sump for this tank. I didn't know if that would be overkill or not. I also thought about using it as a frag tank. But those decisions can be made later on.
I didn't know that. I'm going to Google that now. The 125 I am getting has some scratches on it. I'm afraid if I set it up as a display tank, that I would be unhappy with it. But it comes with a really nice stand, so I could always purchase a newer 125 gallon down the road. This tank is going in my basement, with a concrete floor. So I'm not really worried about the weight of the tank. (Other than initially getting it down the basement steps). I figure the more water volume I have, the more stable the tank will be.
I know that it's early to be planning on corals, but I will have an orange wall hammer in this tank. And I will let it grow as big as it can get. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Man, your not the only one who has that on their list. Those orange hammers are awesome. Palytoxin, did you just make that up?
I've got just a regular hammer, and I really like it. It's my favorite in that coral family. But I think the whole reef community seen that orange hammer and collectively drooled. I'd probably get it under my lights and it look pink or something lol. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
This is the 125 Gallon that I picked up on Monday. I am going to look into using it as a sump/refugium/frag tank. If anybody runs across any plans for anything similar, please let me know. I try to recycle stuff when I can, so I think that I am going to use the stand as an aviary for my finches.
I'm constantly looking at tanks, trying to get ideas. I really like the look of this tank, and want to post it so I can visit it as I'm building my tank. [video=youtube;JVrApqRhuTY]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JVrApqRhuTY[/video] I really like the tower at the right of the tank. I think I would want to do that, and slowly decrease as you move to the left of the tank. Almost like a slope or something. And I for sure want lots of sandbed space. I love LPS. Gotta give them plenty of room.
Hiya, You have finches? I used to raise them long time ago. What species do you have? I'd like the way that one set up is where it decreases from one side to another. Adds character to the tank. Kim/Benton, AR
The live rock will probably decide what design I get. LOL But something like that is in the back of my mind. I have society and zebra finches. If I build an aviary, the society finches will go in there for sure. The zebras are a little aggressive. I'll probably just keep them in their own cage. I'm also looking at gouldian, owl, & strawberry finches. I'm really researching the varieties right now, but will stick to ones that are peaceful. I may even get a canary to go with them. But I like them because they don't require much human interaction. Some bird species require hours a day, and I can't devote myself to that!
Hiya, Yeah...zebs can be pretty darn aggressive. I was lucky enough to have a big enough cage that I was able to flock breed them. Get enough in a cage together and they won't fight....much. Societies were my favorite since they'd raise anything. Goulds are lovely, but a pain to raise...usually gave their eggs/babies to the societies to raise. They'll pretty much raise anything. Owls, hard to sex and breed...tried it once, love them cute finches. Can't remember much about strawberries. Not sure I even know where you can find them in AR anymore. Though, if you decide to get them let me know and I'll see if any of my old breeding contacts can help out. Kim/Benton, AR
Thanks Kim. I may need some help hunting specific finch varieties down. I believe that I have seen Gouldian and Owls at the Fish Bowl in Searcy. I will probably pick a species from "Tier One" in this link: http://www.finchinfo.com/housing/compatible_species.php They are all supposed to be pretty passive. I have had my finches for a year, but I'm pretty sure they are all males. I have put nesting boxes up, but all the birds will do is build a nest. No eggs, or anything. I am not sure that I even want to breed. I might look into it when I build the aviary. But the reason I own them is because I love to hear them sing. My entire living room is wood, and I probably have 75 container plants and some water fountains in this space. It feels almost like a forest, and it's very calming. The birds help with that aspect.
I'm seriously considering turning this tank into a large terrarium, and housing different kinds of tropical plants and animals in it. Does anybody have any experience with terrariums? I'm just now in the research stage, but I've already got two tanks going, and I don't think I can afford to setup this 350 gallon system!
