Fish Tanks!

Hugh R · 05-20-2008, 08:55 PM

A neighbor is remodeling and gave me this tank for free (55 gallons) plus all the heaters, filters, bubblers, and an large (10") algae eater. The algae eater (we call him Al) is sitting in a 35 gallon plastic trash can in the garage with a bubbler. I've given the tank its first cleaning and polishing, gotta do it one or two more time, it was really groddy. Went to Petsmart to talk to them and left and went to a real tropical fish store, much better info. I hope to put it together by this weekend, condition the water and put Al in a day or two after. The fish store guru says let him hang for about four weeks and then we can talk about fish and live plants.

The fish guy made several great points,

1) I told him I had a great bookcase to put the tank on, he said put the tank on the bookcase outside and fill it with 55 gallons of water (about 400 lbs) and see if it's still standing in the morning! Duh!! In looking at the bookcase, I've got to shear wall the back so it won't rack. Only vertical and horizontal loading, no side loading, easy fix with 1/4" plywood on the back of it.

2) Don't use a GFCI cause they can trip during a power outage when your on vacation and you'll have fish soup. I had put in a new outlet with a GFCI just for that purpose where I want to put the tank.

3) Earthquake proof the tank and stand, that I already knew.

4) The most important! A bubbler in a power outage WILL become a siphon and drain the content of the tank onto my new ($25,000) hardwood floors, so buy a $5 anti-siphon one-way valve.

JavaBrewer · JavaBrewer's Garage

Quote:

Originally Posted by Hugh R

4) The most important! A bubbler in a power outage WILL become a siphon and drain the content of the tank onto my new ($25,000) hardwood floors, so buy a $5 anti-siphon one-way valve.

Give the aquarium to the neighbors and download a nifty high def swimming fish screen saver running on a 50" plasma. Don't have those things yet...you're about to spend == money. FWIW.

id10t · 05-21-2008, 04:09 AM

Weird shape, so I don't think you can go with the traditional slightly larger fish. What will you put in it? If it were a traditional shape 55, I'd go with African cichlids...

Dave L · 05-21-2008, 04:33 AM

For african cichlids you would need a larger bottom so that you can build a rock wall for them to form thier own territories. 55G is too small anyways. I would recommend some boring but easy fish if this is your first tank, tetra's, platys are fairly hardy and you wont feel too guilty flushing them if they die. Either buy a cemical test kit or bring in a sample of your water to ensure its stable before you start putting fish in.

id10t · 05-21-2008, 06:15 AM

If it weren't for the divider and tubes connecting the 2 sides, you could do some africans. Here's my tank, its not quite 40 gallons. A m. auratus, a blue johanni, 3 yellow labs, 2 red zebras

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qp5H_Irn_4Q

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hhjF5cie68A

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hkGbnJtMmkU

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UWx3S5XRbRY

id10t · 06:18 AM

double post

Tobra · Tobra's Garage

Buy some danios to cycle(nitrogen) the tank initially. They are tough, and after a week or two, you should have a decent biofilter(bacteria that run the nitrogen from ammonia to nitrate, or is it nitrite?)

To prevent the backflow thing, you can alsorun your air lines 8"-10" above the water line and it won't do that.

You should read up a bit on it before buying any fish.

If you can, you should put it where you can drain water for partial changes(part of maint) conveniently. In my new office, I am having them put in a little access panel, so I can do this with the tank in the waiting room, and use a sink in an adjacent room.

Never forget, water is HEAVY

Jims5543 · 05-21-2008, 06:53 AM

Tip:

Put about 5 check valves in every air tube coming out of the tank. This way you would need 5 to fail in order for it to leak out.

I am also considering putting the air bubbler on a backup battery like you use for your computer, just in case. I have the whole house on a back up generator now but there is always the chance that could shut down too. This would buy me time.

After the hurricanes I lost no fish, I ran the bubbler off a car battery with an inverter for days on end.

Hugh R · 05-21-2008, 08:19 AM

Thanks, great tips from everyone! I will have it where it can be drained easily. ID10T, great tank

Tobra · Tobra's Garage

Acrylic scratches easy

jyl · jyl's Garage

I used to have freshwater tropical fish, 70 gal tank.

Suggest look at an under-gravel filter. Liked mine a lot, kept water clear and held the junk in the gravel, where it could be conveniently sucked out every couple of weeks.

All my pumps, lines, etc were mounted above the tank. So if leak, power failure, etc, no risk of emptying the tank on to the floor. If I had just put in $25K of new floors, I would think about that idea.

The plants are as interesting and cool as the fish, actually.

I know this is obvious, but fill the tank and let it sit outside for a day to make sure it doesn't leak.

Les Paul · Les Paul's Garage

Had a freshwater for 25 years. Now we have had a saltwater tank for 3 years. Variety of fish, colors etc way cooler with saltwater. Maintenance isn't really any more than for freshwater. Just keep up with you salinity, and do a 20% water change out every 3 weeks or so. We have really gotten into the corals too. They are amazing critters themselves.

Hugh R · 10:08 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Tobra

Acrylic scratches easy

The fish guy recommended an acrylic polish which is working great. I gotta go over it one or two more times.

JYL, yeah, I'm going to fill it and let it sit on its stand for a day outside, 1) to make sure it doesn't leak, and 2) to make sure the stand can really hold the weight. I'm working on a way to secure the tank and stand to the wall, earthquakes, you know.

K. Roman · K. Roman's Garage

Quote:

Originally Posted by Les Paul

Had a freshwater for 25 years. Now we have had a saltwater tank for 3 years. Variety of fish, colors etc way cooler with saltwater. .

There are exceptions...
check this link...
Aqua Forest Aquarium pix

Hugh R · 05-23-2008, 07:49 PM

Got it installed tonight.

No fish for a day or so, I've got an algae eater sitting in a big bucket with a bubbler in the garage. Fish guy says to take water from my tank and put it in the bucket a gallon at a time over an hour and then pour him into the aquarium. Other fish in 3-4 weeks, if he lives.

I secured the tank to the wall using plastic coated aircraft cable and wire clips and turnbuckles. I have on atrium against the wall so the cables went through the 4"x4" posts in the walls at the corners and I shimmed the space between the wall and the tank. I have cables at the top and bottom and they're hardly noticeable. The cabinet I reinforced with a shear panel in back and inside metal corner bracings and it's secured to the wall as well. Later, I'll build a nice wood canopy with crown molding and finish plywood over the top and sides at the back to hide the shims, pumps, wiring etc. So far, I've invested about $85 in it.

slodave · slodave's Garage

Looks nice Hugh. I have a 30 gal. with 4 Rusty Cichlids (2 male, 2 female) and 1 plecostomus. Things get a bit tense in there at times.

Jims5543 · 05-23-2008, 08:22 PM

Crazy that you have to tie it to the wall like that.

I have a 150 gallon setup and its freestanding in the middle of the room, I use it as a room divider from the kitchen to the living room. I also live about 125 feet from train tracks. When the coral trains pass by you would thing I was in a 5.0 quake.

While it is annoying at times I have grown to love it and love the fact that I am on a 1/4 acre lot in a subdivision and I have no neighbors behind me.

But, the fact stands that I get concerned about the rumbling with a 150 gallon tank on a wood stand. That stand is holding over 1200 lbs and its shaking!!

3 years now no problem. I am going to look into life expectancy for the setup to make sure I am o.k.

Tank looks cool, I am looking forward to seeing what you do fish wise. Good luck, its very therapeutic once it up and running I love sitting and watching the goings on in my tank.

jyl · jyl's Garage

How long does it take for the chlorine in the tank water to go away? I recall some stuff I used to add to new tanks, counteracted remaining chlorine and also de-stressed the fish, sorry but don't remember brand names but generically it is called "de-chlorinator". A 10" Plecostomus (sp) is pretty big, I assume that's what it is, would be a shame to lose him.

http://www.freshmarine.com/setup-freshwater-tank.html

Hugh R · 08:33 PM

Jim, a 5.0 would probably bring down an unsecured tank. Yeah, it is crazy but you have to think about that here. When I bought my current house ten years ago, my second night here we had an earthquake, not big, may a 5 or so and I got up opened my bedroom door slider and saw a small Tsunami come out of my pool and head towards my opened door. I closed the door and the wave, about 6" hit the door. I did the aircraft cable thing because during the Northridge Earthquake about 12 years ago, I had lag bolts ripped out of the wall joists which were securing wall units. I don't need 55 gallons of water on my new hardwood floors!

John (JYL) my fish expert says 24 hours, I added two treatments that he prescribed to remove chlorine, chloramines, nitrites, nitrates, copper and a few other things. He say let the algae eater that I have sitting in a bucket live in the tank for 3-4 weeks before we discuss fish and plants. I think this guy knows his stuff.

bivenator · 05-23-2008, 08:31 PM

I got a small 10 gallon for my 4 y/o last month. We have enjoyed it so much that the boss said "maybe we could get a bigger tank" I told her that I didn't need much encouragement. Considering a 55 to 75 freshwater. I agree with the relaxing part of watching the tank.

Jim, do you have any pictures. I think the idea of an middle of the room tank is neat. Too often the tanks that back up to a wall make it hard to see the fish as they will hide.