my 180 gallon fish tank build......

[bell]

i have been into fish tanks for a while, when i moved from ohio to florida i sold all my tanks with the plans on "starting over" once i got settled.
my breeding pair of oscars (they started breeding after we moved them) went to a friends fish sanctuary to live in some large tanks ( www.monsterfishrescue.com ).
when the new tank is ready for them i'll be receiving some of the baby oscars to end up with another pair.....

i scored a tank from UF when they were dismantling their aquatics department, 180 gallons drilled for a sump.
it's taken a little time to get to this point because i've been working with a VERY small budget, i kept all my old sump equipment from ohio so that's a big $$ chunk i don't have to spend.

started off with the stand, used 3/4" plywood then coated it with an epoxy paint to protect against moisture (had the epoxy from a previous project).
i wanted a low stand but that will create difficulties when maintaining the filtration, to counter this i fabbed up a rack which hangs on heavy duty tool box bearing sliders, this let the top of the stand be at 23" so the top of the canopy is about 5ft.

filtration will be the 39 gallon sump tank, during the test fill it slide out very easily, there is a video below of it dry.....

the next couple things is to make the doors for the stand and trim all the edges, then to move onto the 3d background which will be inside the tank....

the plumbing is simple, 2 1.5" overflow tubes which go through the drilled bottom, both have compression fittings which will allow me to adjust the water level in the tank once it's running.
the front pipe has a shutoff valve, and goes right to the sump.
the rear pipe is the same, but has a ball valve in the tank and before the cutoff for easy water changes, close the big valves, open the small valves and water will exit to that level of the valve in the tank and drain from the hose in the stand leading outside.
the overflow tubes in the tank will be hidden behind the background.

here are some pics from start to where i'm at now.....

the epoxied stand with canopy frame sitting one it.


fabricating the sump frame/sliders


test fit....


test fill in the garage


plumbing valve setups...




moving the 200lb tank myself took some ingenuity....but no problem....

[bell]

in place in the living room and where i'm at at the moment.....



any comments welcome, and much much more to come

[bell]

the slideout sump video

[vash]

that is awesome! so the sump is kind of like a wet/dry system?

one thing in your favor. lighting has really come down in price. i want to build a small plant tank, but my budget is tied up. i wouldnt need such large capacity filtration.

post up, when you are done.

[bell]

oscars (which is what i'm building this tank for) are very messy fish and require double the filtration of most other species because of it, i like simple lighting, no ballasts for me, i'll most likely be using one or two natural light bulbs, along with some blue moonlighting.
by not using large tube type florescent bulbs you create a more natural direction of light like the sun would provide.....this is my opinion though LOL
i never mix live plants with oscars as they just destroy them so no special lighting is needed, my 2 75 gallon tanks in ohio each had a single 60watt "natural" ge bulb above them and worked very well, in the evening they would kick off and a single blue bulb came one creating a moonlight effect......

Leds can be used too but i've found them to have too sharp a dispersion pattern and aren't as natural.....i may try some for the moonlight though.....

[gchappel]

Thanks, you are bringing back memories.
I had a breeding pair of red oscars in the late 60's. We lived in Pittsburgh, PA- and my parents drove me to N Carolina to pick these guys up. I remember packing them to drive back home. This was a high end oscar 40+ years ago. They are messy- mine realllllllly liked goldfish.
Gary

[Danimal16]

Why not Discus? That is one of my favs and someday, just someday . . .

[bell]

Oscars are the only fish who have real personalities imo, I had thought of going to a different breed of fish but I have learned so much about them over the past years I'm sticking with them

[Danimal16]

Looks like a good reason!

[bell]

One of my pair didn't like 2 people, my wife and my friend dougy, he would attack the glass as soon as he saw either of them......all other people he was fine with

My albino (the female of the pair) liked everyone but golf balls, she would bury them as soon as she saw them.....

[Danimal16]

Originally Posted by bell

One of my pair didn't like 2 people, my wife and my friend dougy, he would attack the glass as soon as he saw either of them......all other people he was fine with

My albino (the female of the pair) liked everyone but golf balls, she would bury them as soon as she saw them.....

Now that is personality.

[Hugh R]

Sweet, keep us posted. My puny 55 gallon tank is doing well. My Red Platy looked kind of fat on Friday night and I stuck her in the birthing tank and Saturday night I had about 20 babies. Pretty good luck on the timing since they have a 28 day gestation period. Fish guy sold me a liquid you squirt into the birthing tank (baby fish food, very small diameter). Got three fresh water shrimp, they promptly disappeared, even though I put aluminum foil over the opens so they wouldn't crawl out. I guess they're still there, somewhere.

[Schumi]

any pics on how you built the lightbox on top? How does it open up?

[kycarguy 935]

Looks great. I would like to have a tank that size for African Cichlids.

I remember when you were getting rid of your tanks when you lived in Ohio. I thought about making the drive up there for them.

[bell]

the lid is on 4 cabinet hinges and flips up, i will be adding some shocks to it, the pic below you can see the broom handle

the lid is attached to the rear part, which sits on the lip of the top of the tank, i used 2 pieces of 1/2", the outer pieces are longer to overlap the frame, i'll trim these in to the glass.......it doesn't move around but i'll silicone it in place just in case.
the lighting will attach inside the lid.....
there will also be glass lids on the tank to keep the evaporation under control, one glass lid corner will will have the corner cut off for the sump return pipe.....

[bell]

Oh.....kycarguy.....you should've.... I ended up letting these go for $300....a 75/75/55/40 with lights, 2 stands, about 15 5 gallon buckets...and the 55 gallon sump drum.....

[VINMAN]

Bell, just out of curiosity, would there be any toxicity issues with the PVC cement contaminating the water? I know i had to use special silicone sealant on my tank.

[bell]

no problem with the pvc glue, once it's cured you're good, this stuff was rated ok for cpvc which mean it's potable once cured.
i'll cycle the tank anyway before i put the good fish in to make sure as with any fresh tank.....

[Rusty Heap]

Yeah when I was 17 I kept Oscars. Love to give them feeder goldfish to wolf down........

You need to skip the Oscars, and set up a Reef tank on that 180 and then we'll talk serious fish and coral life with personalities ..........here is my 135 gallon 6 foot long reef that is 10 years in the making, been keeping reef tanks for 15 years.

[Schumi]

Man that looks like it will be fun. I got a large donation of tank and supplies from a friend who was moving last year... I need to build a better top for it that I can flip open (like yours) to house the lights, as right now the lights are in a nice box that sits on top of the lid and impedes opening the lid.

Any details on the filtration? I'm interested to see exactly how that sump works.