My Upgrade Tank build (420L)

Hi all,

So, after a good few weeks of searching, I found my new tank.

It's a 1.5m x 50cm x 56cm with 10mm glass.

What I got with the setup:

Tank
Stand
Sump with everything in it (Sump is 80cm wide).
300W heater
1.2m T5 light
Atman 2500L return pump
Hoses
Substrate (Silica with some coral mixed in)
9 x Copadichromis Insularis babies
Moorii Eye Breeding pair (+/- 8 & 10cm in size)
Got some extras like clay pots and plastic plants
650l/h powerhead

All this for just R1500.

Let me first say that this was quite a mission.. lol..

The guy I bought the tank from, lived on the first floor and the stairs leading down to the ground floor are damn narrow, so it was a huge mission getting the tank through there, and with a tank this size, the weight is quite hectic (+/- 86kg), thankfully my girlfriend's father and his brother helped me with everything.

Anyhow, getting the tank down was just the first part of the problem, as my apartment is on the 2nd floor. :amazed:

Anyhow, with the tank and everything in place, I started cleaning things up and getting everything in place.

The sump is basically just running from end to end as all the juvenile Copadichromis Insularis I got are in the sump.

Anyhow, some pics:











The babies:



The breeding pair:



What they'll all look like when they're fully grown:

 

awesome, Are you planning to put some rocks in there?

This really makes me wish I had my 4ft in my flat

 

Nice looking tank. Are you adding anything to the sump?

 

Yup.. in my current Mbuna tank, I've got a full wine box worth and I've still got another wine box left over. I'll be getting another box or 2 this coming weekend as well.

What do you mean "add anything to the sump"?

It's got everything it needs. Curlers, sponge, ceramic rings, some coral to buffer the water, heater is in there as well. Or what do you mean??

 

Awesome find!! Can't wait to see it set up!!

 

Hehe.. thanks. Still got a huge amount of work to do though. Set up the plumbing for the sump, paint the pipe, get wood and perspex for the top of the tank. But it's gonna be worth the wait in the end.

Cheers!!

 

Didn't realize it had everything in it. Looks empty in first pic.

 

It was empty in the first pic. But it has everything in it now under the main tank.

 

Congrats

 

Thanks!!

Really itching to get done with the tank, but I'm only getting paid on Thursday, so I'll have to wait to go buy my other supplies, coz I'm broke after December and this now. LoL.

 

:bigsmile:nice buy...nice cops...still gonna aulonocara, protomelas, or other genus there???all that space hehehehe you can fit like another 30 fish...just saying:bigsmile:

 

Lool.. do you mind rephrasing?! I only understood parts of this sentence. hehehe.

 

nice copadichromis'!!! you going to add some aulonocara or protomelas genus???what you thinking of adding there???you got alot of space to add lots of fish mate...you gonna be doing the work(maintainence) might as well fill up the hotel there right????i got a 1.5m malawi community with about 25 fish, _/+ 15cm and was told the other night that i can still maximise my space due to good filtation, regular waterchanges and enough hiding space...i also just built a 650 lt now for my all male predator malawi display (cos the gangsters need to be separated) and also bought the glass for another 2m 1000lt community malawi tank...more more more

so i said aulonocara or protomelas or some other genus so your fish are less likely to hybridise...thats why i want to set up another community tank because i keep azureus and want trevawasae's to which are both copadichromis so the males are going to look at those three dots and still get the feeling even though it might not be thier females...confusion...so to keep alonocara is cool cos the females have verticle stripes (less confusion) and other genus' have other markings...this will also help lesson agression cos in life its about competition over females....some species i keep i keep without females at the moment because they will become too dominant(like the fusco and the ahli) in my tank and the softer fish wont stand a chance breeding(azureus and thicklip)

enjoy and sorry i was vague

 

No problem.. I'm still new to this, I only started up a short while back with mixed mbuna's I bought from Northern Aquatics, and my initial tank will be too small for them (bought 30), and so I set about looking for a new tank.

The guy I bought my stuff from gave the fish to me as he deals in wild caughts (think mostly Aulonocara), I really have VERY little knowledge regarding species and so on, so for now, I'll first get the ones I've got up and running, and then I'll start researching and see what I want to get, I do like the Aulonocara's though, they're beautiful.

I'll be sure to ask some questions regarding species and compatibility before I buy new fish, but I'll buy new ones some time in the future.

Thanks for breaking your first post down into something a n00b like me will understand!!

Cheers

 

dude ima noob too..i just got carried away and try to do as much research and always ask the experts too...

all these fish are amazing beautifull....

erm...i avoid mixed malawis(no judgement) cos that too is confusion and in an effort to build the pool of fish its nice to keep them as close the observed or caught lake specimens, thats why i said to take care choosing tank mates....though i've seen stunning hybrids and a beautifull fish is a beautiful fish

 

Update time!!!

I bought a whole bunch of supplies yesterday, and jumped straight to work as soon as I got home from work.

I bought some Durapond Urethane pond paint to paint the overflow pipe black (think it looks much better than the white PVC pipe just sticking out), also bought Tangit PVC weld (Stuff works like a BOMB, thank to TroyFish for pointing me in the right direction), also bought some clear perspex slides for the top of the tank (so I can cut holes into them for the return pipe, etc), bought some black perspex for the frame of the tank to round it off a little better (Hiding some of the joints, etc). lastly bought some nice matt black vinyl to use as a background which I still need to cut to size and attach to the tank.

Took me quite some time getting everything done, working with durapond is an absolute nightmare, went to bed just before 12pm. But anyhow, here are some pics of my progress, if all goes well, I'll fill the tank tonight and start cycling the tank:

First Coat of Durabond (I really hate working with this stuff!!):



Sump piping in place (I'll have a black perspex cover made for the sump as well):



Strips in place (Gonna add all the substrate from my other tank once this one is up and running):



My little guys looking at me as I work!!:



Testing the look with the T5 light in place (Still need to get something to house the light that looks better than this):



My living room was a MESS!! Cleaned it up before I went to bed though, hehe:



Anyhow, will update on Monday again.

Cheers all.

 

Wow.. thought I'd at least get a few replies after all the effort to take pics and post them for the forum. LoL Kinda, hoped for some thoughts on the what the perspex looks like, and if the sump plumbing is okay, seeing that this is my first sump setup, etc.

Anyhow, bought a nice little digital thermometer, some spirulina flakes and a nice big net quickly as well.

Can't wait till the tank is finished!!

 

I'm just green with envy I so badly want a 5 footer, I have the perfect place to put it as well. Tank is looking good, nice to see that you taking the time to get everything sorted out.

 

me too. Are you adding malawis to this setup?

 

Yup.. this is my replacement tank, so all my Mbuna are moving over to this tank once it's ready for them. I'll also be looking at getting some "more exotic" species as well at a later stage.