Im long winded so forgive me ahead of time.
In the beginning stages of this build. It will take me a while to get this one going. I have a house that I have to repaint and replace flooring in so I can sell it before I can do this at my new house. For now this will be a planning thread only. Open to suggestions as this is the largest ( by far ) project Ive done. I purchased a tank, stand, light fixtures x2, HOB filters x2, pressurized CO2 setup, pH controller, heaters, 30 gallon trashcan full of Flourite, power heads etc. for $200 I couldnt pass it up. It means I cant put up the two 40B tanks I just purchased ( no space now ) but I will be OK I think :flick:
Tank; Oceanic 180 gallon ( 6'x2'x2' ) with matching stand
Filtration; still undecided. Trying to decide if I want to risk drilling the bottom of the tank like Tom Barr did or if I will just hide the canister filter plumbing. I got the tank so cheap that I dont want to risk having to replace it because of breakage during drilling. My wife tolerates my hobby but would NOT let me buy a new tank this size. Maybe a wet/dry? Maybe 2x canister ( FX5, Eheim Pro III, Odyssea 500, XP3 ??) filters? Im sure I will need a powerhead in there as well.
Heating; Dual inline Hydor 300W heaters ( I read Tom's journal and he says that wasnt enough to keep his at higher temps--I plan to keep mine around 77*, hopefully this will work-if not I can add an intank heater.
In the beginning stages of this build. It will take me a while to get this one going. I have a house that I have to repaint and replace flooring in so I can sell it before I can do this at my new house. For now this will be a planning thread only. Open to suggestions as this is the largest ( by far ) project Ive done. I purchased a tank, stand, light fixtures x2, HOB filters x2, pressurized CO2 setup, pH controller, heaters, 30 gallon trashcan full of Flourite, power heads etc. for $200 I couldnt pass it up. It means I cant put up the two 40B tanks I just purchased ( no space now ) but I will be OK I think :flick:
Tank; Oceanic 180 gallon ( 6'x2'x2' ) with matching stand
Filtration; still undecided. Trying to decide if I want to risk drilling the bottom of the tank like Tom Barr did or if I will just hide the canister filter plumbing. I got the tank so cheap that I dont want to risk having to replace it because of breakage during drilling. My wife tolerates my hobby but would NOT let me buy a new tank this size. Maybe a wet/dry? Maybe 2x canister ( FX5, Eheim Pro III, Odyssea 500, XP3 ??) filters? Im sure I will need a powerhead in there as well.
Heating; Dual inline Hydor 300W heaters ( I read Tom's journal and he says that wasnt enough to keep his at higher temps--I plan to keep mine around 77*, hopefully this will work-if not I can add an intank heater.
Lighting; Also undecided. Possible some MH or T5HO. The tank came with 2 36" fixtures with dual PC bulbs in each one. The seller said they stopped working recently and Im unsure of wattage or the issue with operation.
CO2 and ferts ; Pressurized with pH controller and dosing EI with dry ferts.
Substrate ; came with all that Flourite so I hate to waste it, but I plan a sand foreground for all the catfish. May try MTS with a Flourite cap in the rear and sand in the front.
Plumbing ; At this point I am most likely going to run two canisters with all of the plumbing hidden in the rear corners with corner boxes. I may have the filter intakes in the center of the tank and just hide them with paint and plants. Behind and under the tank I will have inline heaters, inline CO2 and a water changing connection. This tank is going in my basement and I already have a fishroom with water supply and drains. I plan to do large water changes weekly or smaller daily water changes. Still researching that.
Ive got a huge piece of driftwood picked out at a LFS ( its been there forever and I always liked it. ) Gotta find some large rocks to go with it. 3.28.11 driftwood is purchased---and huge.
Stocking list will likely change many times. I had considered doing an African Cichlid tank but I like the looks of plants more so Im going that route. I honestly have no real clue on how many fish I can put in this thing. Tom's stocking list blew me away with the sheer number of critters he had planned. 450 critters counting the shrimp :icon_surp:help: I dont think he actually ended up with that many though--I never saw any Apistos in his pics.
Tetras of some sort. I like Congos but I also like the smaller tetras like Neon Greens and Cardinals. May even consider Flame or Lemon tetras. I would like a bunch of em whatever I choose. Maybe 70-80 if I go smaller? 30 Congos if I go with them?
3.28.11 Ive fallen in love with blackwater biotope tanks----Amazon
Plecos. I dont have the budget for any of the real expensive plecos but I will have some Ancistrus and maybe one higher end Plec. 5 or 6 small specimens.
Want to try Farlowella cats. Ive always liked them and think they are cool. Never had any though.
Mid sized school of Corydoras of some sort. I look forward to seeing them in the sand substrate in a school. Maybe 20? Maybe 50 Pygmy Corydoras--man that would be cool.
I know for sure it will have at least a pair of Kribensis. Maybe a couple of pairs.
This only leaves the upper level with no critters. I dont like hatchets at all so Im not sure what I will pick.
Several Otos, Im sure I will never see them.
Maybe some Amano or Cherry shrimp but I fear that they will just be a snack for the cichlids because I plan a somewhat open scape. Maybe I can put the Cherries in earlier than the cichlids to let them get established.
This only leaves the upper level with no critters. I dont like hatchets at all so Im not sure what I will pick.
Plant selection ; For scaping Im planning something similar to Jason Baliban's 178--but only in the sense that it will have two seperate groupings of plants and wood. No foreground plants in the center of the tank, sand only--possibly some Staur. 049 in the corners at the front. Some swords and Vals to take advantage of the height and provide some shade for the Tetras. Not gonna get too carried away with multiple species of plants--Ive got other tanks for that.
CO2 and ferts ; Pressurized with pH controller and dosing EI with dry ferts.
Substrate ; came with all that Flourite so I hate to waste it, but I plan a sand foreground for all the catfish. May try MTS with a Flourite cap in the rear and sand in the front.
Plumbing ; At this point I am most likely going to run two canisters with all of the plumbing hidden in the rear corners with corner boxes. I may have the filter intakes in the center of the tank and just hide them with paint and plants. Behind and under the tank I will have inline heaters, inline CO2 and a water changing connection. This tank is going in my basement and I already have a fishroom with water supply and drains. I plan to do large water changes weekly or smaller daily water changes. Still researching that.
Ive got a huge piece of driftwood picked out at a LFS ( its been there forever and I always liked it. ) Gotta find some large rocks to go with it. 3.28.11 driftwood is purchased---and huge.
Stocking list will likely change many times. I had considered doing an African Cichlid tank but I like the looks of plants more so Im going that route. I honestly have no real clue on how many fish I can put in this thing. Tom's stocking list blew me away with the sheer number of critters he had planned. 450 critters counting the shrimp :icon_surp:help: I dont think he actually ended up with that many though--I never saw any Apistos in his pics.
Tetras of some sort. I like Congos but I also like the smaller tetras like Neon Greens and Cardinals. May even consider Flame or Lemon tetras. I would like a bunch of em whatever I choose. Maybe 70-80 if I go smaller? 30 Congos if I go with them?
3.28.11 Ive fallen in love with blackwater biotope tanks----Amazon
Plecos. I dont have the budget for any of the real expensive plecos but I will have some Ancistrus and maybe one higher end Plec. 5 or 6 small specimens.
Want to try Farlowella cats. Ive always liked them and think they are cool. Never had any though.
Mid sized school of Corydoras of some sort. I look forward to seeing them in the sand substrate in a school. Maybe 20? Maybe 50 Pygmy Corydoras--man that would be cool.
I know for sure it will have at least a pair of Kribensis. Maybe a couple of pairs.
This only leaves the upper level with no critters. I dont like hatchets at all so Im not sure what I will pick.
Several Otos, Im sure I will never see them.
Maybe some Amano or Cherry shrimp but I fear that they will just be a snack for the cichlids because I plan a somewhat open scape. Maybe I can put the Cherries in earlier than the cichlids to let them get established.
This only leaves the upper level with no critters. I dont like hatchets at all so Im not sure what I will pick.
Plant selection ; For scaping Im planning something similar to Jason Baliban's 178--but only in the sense that it will have two seperate groupings of plants and wood. No foreground plants in the center of the tank, sand only--possibly some Staur. 049 in the corners at the front. Some swords and Vals to take advantage of the height and provide some shade for the Tetras. Not gonna get too carried away with multiple species of plants--Ive got other tanks for that.