The House of Uaru

The long wait is over!! :bigsmile: My tank arrived 2 weeks ago. It's up and running for a week now.




Dimensions: 180cm x 60cm x 60cm (+-650L)
Internal sump filter: 15cm x 60cm x60cm
Media: Foam, Seachem Matrix, Seachem Purigen, also looking to grow some plants in the first compartment.

The internal filter is based on the Profs design. In one of my previous threads I played around with various designs and the general consensus pointed towards this one.

This tank will be home to 8 Uaru, 24 Lemon tetras, 1 green Deacon, 1 Festivum, maybe a few Corydoras and Plecos.

If ever anyone needs to torture somebody, make them wash 40kg of sand. It's a pain the rear end.

So far all is well. Just the damn background has some big bubbles. Oh well.....

Still working on the lighting. For now I got 3x28W T5's.

Also looking for an EPIC piece of driftwood. If anyone knows where I can find good pieces please let me know.

I do plan on building a cabinet around the stand also. First want to sort everything else out.

A big thanks must go to @Altum for all his time, advice and for making this all happen. Thanks again dude. :beer:
Any comments/suggestions are welcome..

 

Wow mxz, very nice. I like the design very much. May I ask why you didnt rather go for a seperate sump under the tank? Did you build it?

For the background, use a pin to make a small hole in the middle of the bubble and use a hairdryer (if you can reach behind there) to make the vynil warm and soft. Work the outer edge of the bubbles towards the hole you made to get the air out.

Cant wait to see your tank progress. Spoil us with lots of pics please

 

Awesome tank, still sorry i sold my 1.8 .... will go big one day again

 

Thanks guys.

@jedigenie I wanted to save space under the tank... for more tanks lol.. The plan is to keep all my tanks in one place. I got 2 60cm tanks that must go under there and the rest of the space is for storage. Will give your background bubble method a try. Everything was built by Altum and his gang.. He is the fish King.. :bigsmile:

@Donny Bigger is better :bigsmile:

 

Very Nice!! Do you have a plan on covering up your sump? A diy cement bg would look awesome in the with a rock waterfall from your return pipe.

 

If you can afford it I'd recommend putting more biological media in your sump.
The best bet would most likely be to put a few bags of Sera Siporax in that last compartment with the pump. You could even leave them in the mesh bags so it's easy to remove if you need access to the pump. It'll make your life so much easier having more surface area for the bacteria to colonise. You should most likely also put a good few handfulls of mechanical media in your first chamber of the sump to prevent yourself having to remove all that stuff in the middle compartment to clean it up.

 

@ryanj252
Thanks. I was thinking maybe a moss wall right around.. That would look insane.. But the Uaru would probably eat it all. For your idea to work I would need you to build the BG for me..:bigsmile:

@Whipme
I'll keep that in mind. I've got some more foam in the first compartment. Also looking to keep some easy growing plants in there. I need to get all the fish in first to get an idea of what more the filter requires. I think it's sufficient for now.

 

Have you calculated how many liters each compartment is?
Because it's basically like a nice big canister filter at the moment.

Oh ja, can you possibly post some more pics of how your eggcrate is being held up? I think that's an awesome idea. But how much evaporation are you getting because of it?

 

Not a problem @mxc. We both live in Cape Town so traveling shouldn't be difficult. Time is the only factor, so when i have free time il let you know.
Im currently working on this malawi setup:



First Coat of cement is on already. Two more thicker coats, then detail carving, and then painting. Gonna look awesome!!

 

@Whipme
Each compartment is about 15L. The eggcrate rests on the front and back brace. Genius hey..:idea:
Must still work out the evaporation.


@ryanj252
Nice work dude. Definitely gonna be awesome..

 

nice diy man! use a piece of black plastic sheeting to cover the filter if u want.. paint just peels

 

Nice tank!

 

Thanks thanks.. I think I should've painted the back black.. Then I wouldn't have had to deal with the stupid bubbles in the background.. Oh well..

Gonna work on the moss wall idea and see how far I get..

 

use a piece of styrofoam instead of the normal plastic backgropund.. paint it black or whatever color you want and stick it to the back of the tank with cellotape. easy peasy and no bubbles to iron out

tank and sump look awesome

you should paste a link to the thread that shows the design of the sump. looks interesting

 

@mydummyname Thanks.

Here's the link:
http://www.tropicalaquarium.co.za/showthread.php?6622-Help-with-built-in-sump

 

@mxz

Hey im busy designing a similar tank and would like to know what the diameter size of the pipe on your power filter is?

Thanks

 

@i8aNooB

It's a 30mm pipe.

 

cool thanks =)

 

Update:

Finally had time to cover the stand. Built a cabinet around it.

Uaru have moved out. It's now the house of Discus.

Got 7 for now. Will get some more soon. They are awesome. Thanks goes to Altum for them.

Next step will be to suspend the lights.

Pics:

 

good job @mxz .... love the tank .. the wrap around the stand is very stylish.