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Dewalltheway's - "The 125G"

99K views 421 replies 129 participants last post by  Greggz 
#1 · (Edited)
Well...it has begun and what better way to start it off then with getting the journal going. Yes..this is my dream tank. To some, it may be ordinary, but to me, it will be fun! Will I ever go bigger, maybe, but my dream is to have a 6'-0" long tank. Aquarium Adventure was having a sale on tanks and I went Saturday morning to make my decision on one and I bought the 125 gallon...dimensions of 72" long x 18" deep x 23" high. I won't lie and say that the 180 gal was not impressive, but at this point, the 125 made more sense for me. The tank still sits at the store while I make preparations in my basement for the tank. I will post photos of the building progress and installation of the tank. Work should begin later this week as I need to make a trip to Lowes for building supplies and then also switch my fish & plants over from my 90 gal to a 55 gal for temporary holding. So let the fun begin!
 
#3 ·
Ideas...plenty. I will be cutting a hole in one of my interior basement stud walls so I can access the back of the tank from what I call my fish room. This will be the major re-modeling of the family room to build a base and soffit so it blends in with the room.

As far as filtration..Plan on using at least 3 fluval filters possibly 4. I will be plumbing into the lines a hydor in-line heater, atomic inline diffuser, UV sterilizer, rex style CO2 reactor and possible a PH probe. I have (4) new LED 7000K flood lights coming from Dealextreme.com that will be my lighting. I will also be ordering tomorrow 4 pieces of Texas select wood from ADG, with thanks to Frank Wazeter for picking out and photographing the pieces that I choose. I will be using Eco-complete for my substrate and will order more bags tomorrow but will use what is in my 90 gal now as well. I also have all the supplies from FiltersFast and will be building (3) Purigen reactors per a build I saw here on TPT. I just need to find some nice rock to go around the pieces of driftwood so I will have to stop in at a landscape place to try and find some. The tank will have a black background and will use the plants I have currently in my 90 gal. Well..that is a start and can't wait to get going on it.
 
#4 ·
Checklist...

125 Gal Aquarium from Aquarium Adventure...check - ($333.59)

LED Lights from Dealextreme...check - ($132.50)

Additional 6 bags of Eco-Complete from Petco...check - ($102.18)

Wood hardscape from ADG (Aquarium Design Group)...check - ($135.00)

Purigen Reactors from Filtersfast....check - ($108.64)

Fluval rubber end caps from [Ebay Link Removed] - ($35.22)

CO2 Atomic Inline Diffuser from GLA...check - (~$45.00)

Lowes for building supplies & plumbing....not checked - (-)
 
#5 ·
Ok...I haven't posted any pics and I know that pics are alot better to look at then to read a bunch of words so here you go....

Preparing for a new tank always seems like it takes the longest but want to do this right. Here is a pic of the wall that the tank will be centered on.



Demo and construction is slated for next week but before that could begin, I needed to clear out my fishroom that is behind that wall



and get to the floor that needs to be re-done



The floor has been scrubbed with TSA and also some cleaner for concrete and now waiting for it to dry.



May put a coat of paint on it later tonight if we aren't to late getting back from my daughters basketball tournament game, otherwise a coat of paint on it tomorrow and then wait 24 hours before I can do anything else. The next step after the floor is done is to set back up the 55 gal tank to be a temporary holding for the fish in the 90 gal tank so I can tear that down and start on tearing out the wall and build the tank base.
 
#6 ·
Floor painted! Tuesday night I can move the 55 gal tank back in there and start moving my plants and fish to it so I can tear down the 90 gal. I hate having to move the fish twice, but I have no other choice because that tank is in the way of the new construction.

 
#7 ·
Tonight I was able to get my 55 gal holding tank cleaned up and put back into the fish room so I could transfer my fish from the 90 gal to it. Took me about 6 hours to get everything switched and still alot of cleanup to do.

55gal up...



Then the fun began...getting ready to tear out the plants...



Tank one last time before being tore down (Looks like crap!!)



Then filled up the 55 with the water from the 90 gal and ready to transfer fish



(Wow..look at that algae build up. Can someone say neglect!)


Transfer complete and now an empty tank



Will start to clean up and get ready for demo & construction Thursday night
 
#8 ·
I can't wait to see this come together. It would be really nice to have that room right next to where your going to put your new tank. You have quite a few bylxa aubertii in there. I have 1 out of the 2 left that I got from you as my roselines took a liking to the other one when I was out of town for a week. If you ever have any extras you want to get rid of let me know.
 
#9 ·
Actually..the plants on the right are the Blyxa Aubertii and the plants on the left are Cyperus Helferi. One of the fish in my tank is eating at mine as well and completely destroyed one and was working on another. I haven't found the culprit yet. After splitting one last night I have 5 plants left. Hope to propagate more once they are in my 125.
 
#17 ·
That sounds awesome! If I had more time. I would love a display room but my wife has tied my hands to having only 2 tanks...guess with a 16 month old running around it makes sense. Good luck to you! Will keep an eye out.

This one is going to be good, subscribed!
I want to see how you integrate the stand to the walls/room, I'll be back :)

My clown loaches are pretty rough with plants btw, it wouldn't surprise me if the loach is the one. They tore through my recently planted dwarf sag in 2 days.
The only problem is I have had these loaches in my tank for years and they have never bothered them. May have to setup a camera to find the culprit :icon_twis
 
#18 ·
Some more work done. Got the 90 gal tank moved, carpet pulled up, drywall demo'd where the tank will go, the existing 2x4's cut and now ready to move on to building the rest of the base. I had some unexpected things I had to do with the electric because of adding some 2x4's which slowed me down. Here are pics of the progress..

Tank moved...


Carpet pulled back and starting to cut drywall...


Drywall demo'd


Back wall of tank base done...


Fish in temp home of my 55 gal..
 
#21 ·
Thats' looking real nice. I'm a big fan of setting it into the wall like that. Heck, before you close it up you might want to run some plumbing [STRIKE]and electric[/STRIKE] to the base. Certainly not mandatory, but you do have the walls apart! :biggrin:

Edit: I see you are already on top of the electric, lol.
 
#22 ·
Hard to explain right now, but all the filters and plumbing will be behind the tank in the fish room. Nothing will be under the base. This will make it very easy for me to do maintainence.

Will be building the soffit tonight and then next week start to drywall. Have other plans for the next 2 weekends so nothing will get done except for what I do thru the week.
 
#24 ·
I wanted a solid stand and don't think it will go anywhere. That tank with water will be 1200lbs then you add substrate and rocks & wood and it will be about 1500 lbs.

It is ironic you asked about the fish in the 55gal....I had bumped up the CO2 a bit because I was getting some BBA and it had developed a film on top and when I went home last night, the rainbows where at the top having a hard time breathing so I turned off the CO2 and started to add air and stuck in my wave maker to break the water surface. I thought I was going to lose one of my rainbows but this morning they are all doing just fine.
 
#27 ·
It is so much fun! I love doing this type of stuff. I could do this for a living if there was money in it. Just wish i had more time to work on it.

nice progress. i'd say, you've done a lot. I haven't even built my canopy i planned on building since January. :(
This really has been over a year and a half in the making. I was going to just redo my 90 gal base and plumbing but decided to go with what I have always wanted with the 125 gal tank so plans just took a little turn in a different direction. I started ordering things in January and am now just getting going on this.
 
#33 ·
Thank you!
It is not to difficult to build if you have the right tools. I wish I had the tools to do cabinets but I don't. Alot of this was planning and drawing the details up in Autocad before getting started.

It looks great so far. It is alright to take your time, it's your project. We're just happy that it's continuing. I know I am :biggrin:.

Dan
Yea...I don't mind taking my time cause I want to do it right but my fish keep telling me they are cramped in that 55 gal.

This is awesome; it's a fun build to follow. Keep up the good work.
Thx! Sure will!
 
#38 ·
Thank you!
It did get enough light from the 90 gal tank I had in that corner but it is starting to not look so great.

Nice build progress. Cool to see someone else with a bala shark. How old is yours? Mine is a year old but hasnt yet turned into the monster that I hear they will.
I am going to say that my Bala is around 2 years old. I really don't remember when I got him. I would have to go back in my journals and see if I mentioned him. He is getting pretty good size. He has been my only shark that has stayed alive for this long. He is really quite stunning.
 
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