Big tank on a small budget

Thanks allot @Macmish and will deff keep it coming.......

 

Moved my last and biggest GT to the 720l last night and this morning there is harmony in both tanks. No more fighting....... Sooo happy....... Started to replace some fish already and now the problem is solved. Well for the time being in anycase. We will see when the new members arrive? You never know with Cichlids???

 

Cool dude, please remember to upload pics regularly we all like to see photos of everyone's tanks.

 

Anytime dude. I will help where I can. :smile1:

 

great thread man, can not beleive i missed it for this long, please keep picks coming

 

As per request.....:rock: Some better pics of the tank and some of the fish..





I promise to get some proper pics up soon.... And thanks @top dog for following....

 

green terror and syspillaim are both looking great and happy
how are the tinfoils working as dither fish, do they keep the cichlids attention off each other

 

@top dog yes they do that brilliantly. But they still like to chase each other for sport I think every now and then.... Haha. But I must say since I got them in the 720l they are much less aggressive towards each other. More space for territories I guess???? Even my Parrots in the 350l are at peace....

 

i think you have to be a DIY god.....i could never get such a good,proffesional look if i did it myself
are you by any chance related to good ol riaan die nutsman?

 

@llandlo you made my day with that comment. I almost fell of my chair laughing. But I do appreciate the positive comments. And just for the record. I'm trying to do this on as small a budget as possible without compromising on the on what I wanted. Its a bit contradictave but that's the plan and the reason for all the diy... Thanks again for following.

 

So I do not know if anyone can remember but there was some concern that my diy felt filter socks would clog up very fast. I can report that its almost 4 weeks now and I just put 3 new ones in there. Bio load is still not very heavy but I think its save to say they work well and they keep the tank very clear. I hope to aim for 2 weeks fully stocked. I did however add some filter floss in between the baffles before the return pump chamber just to really keep it clean of any escaped particals. Will get some pics up of the new arrivals as soon as they land.

 

SO thats good diy is working well. No problems? Lots of work to clean everything? Will have to wait for a big bio load?

 

Hey @Ryno Everything seems to be working well. Only problem I have is to aim the current in the tank at the overflow. I'm 90% there.... Just need to be patient...... The rest of the sump is running well. I'm very pleased it turned out the way it did seeing its my first sump. As for the socks, I made 2 sets of three. Put the second set in this morning. The dirty ones I soaked in a tub of boiling water for 20 min rinsed and did it again and they are as good as new. But will see for sure once the washed set goes back in. Think I must maybe make a third pair also.

As for the bio load I'm adding fish as slowly as my weak patients will allow so I do not get any surprises with the sump not being able to cope machanicly or biologically... But all in all I'm soooo happy I did this setup. I catch myself staring at it all the time. Still there is allot to do. The control box still has to be built and the cover for the stand and my semi auto water change system is not working yet. Regards

Ps. I read your cube thread also and I must say I am very envious of your scaping skills. And allot of the guys on here for that matter. That's the one thing that I keep on putting off. But I hope I will get mine right aswell.... Fingers crossed.

 

I think the only problem tou miight get is the filter socks if they clog up. But only if they arent cleaned for a month with a high bio load.

 

That for the compliment about the scaping. But the cube is nowhere near how it is going to look. I hae another big tank also. But everything gets a rescape on april. Moving to pta so must pack up everything and sell all my fish. Going to be a sad day as i have some very nice plecos and nanacaras you dont get every day. Also my apistos

 

Excellent job on the revamp!

 

Good luck with the move @Ryno We moved neighborhoods and it was a massive mission and back then I did not even have any tanks........ Hope all goes well...


Thanks so much @DesertConvert I'm busy with my water change system. I should have some pics of it tomorrow when I do my water change. (For those that like to look and not read.... )

 

So as promised I did a waterchange and took some pics of the waterchange system in progress. Its far from finished and i'm not happy with it yet. Also I was reading up on this the other day and noticed that allot of people on forums has drip systems (basically a continious small amount water change) and was wondering if anyone on TASA has first hand experience on this??? Another debate is if a drip system is as effective as a once off waterchange. But it looks like there is allot less stress on the fish as there is less fideling with the tank?

I am very keen on something like this and will read up on it allot more..... My own system for now will be a hard plumed siphon overflow with ball valve from the display tank with a line running to the garden. So when water change day comes you just open the tap. On the refill side I have got a 236l plastic waterdrum next to the tank (not so nice on the eye...) with anoter ball valve running a 25mm line into the sump. So once the water is drained from the display tank you just close the ball valve from the display tank and open the one on the water tank with prepared water. With the drip system you will still have the overflow but just from the sump and much smaller and on the inlet side a line tapped into the house waterline. Our water is treated with just chlorine so a simple charcoal filter can remove that and this drippes your treated water back into your display tank. So good new water into display and as that happens it overflow into the drain overflow in the sump. You can also use that drain overflow to set the waterlevel in your sump. You can also put a float valve on a T from your treated line to do top ups for the tank. I wanted to do this for my waterdrum system but to be honest I can just open the tap to do top ups for now... So as far as i can see it will look much cleaner and if we go on holiday you do not have to ask an inexperienced person to look after your fish.


But ok enough of my nonsens. Some pics of my own work in progress.



And yes my electricals will be sorted out next....:embarrest:

 

All the work has really come together ! really stoked to see pics of the tank scape and fish!

 

Thanks sooo much....... I am very excited but also very scared of messing it up...... I think that’s why I have not started yet..... You can have the world’s best setup but if the display tank doesn't look the part you won’t look twice???

Will ask for lots of opinions when the time comes....