805fish Posted December 30, 2008 Share Posted December 30, 2008 So i found and bought me a used tank with stand in good conditions. It measures 36''x18''x24''. Searched it online and it came out to be 65 gallons. It has two drilled holes on the bottom left side and right side of the glass. Only problem is no center brace. Will be getting on at Home Depot tomorrow tough. If so what type of Silicone would i need to use? I just filled it up today with water to leek test it and awesome it didn't leek at all. Also checked how much it would bow out since it has no brace and it did open up again. So will be adding a brace tomorrow. Just need to find a link or something showing how to add it. Im planning on taking my time on this. Wanna get it right. Also is there any place where they sell already made over flow boxes? Link to comment
805fish Posted December 30, 2008 Author Share Posted December 30, 2008 bump Thinking of going with a 4 inch sand bed. As for fish i would transfer my YCG and my 2 firefish from my 29. Also would like to add a pair of True Percs. What other fish would you guys suggest? As for colors i would mainly keep zoas a few lps and probably a few sps too. Link to comment
fewskillz Posted December 30, 2008 Share Posted December 30, 2008 Go with a shallow sandbed, an inch at the deepest. I suggest wrasses. Flasher and fairy. And a dwarf angel. Link to comment
WhiteShark Posted December 30, 2008 Share Posted December 30, 2008 Was the center brace removed? If it was not built with one, are you sure you need it? I'm a big fan of reinforcement so I'm not saying don't do this.... Link to comment
805fish Posted December 30, 2008 Author Share Posted December 30, 2008 Go with a shallow sandbed, an inch at the deepest. I suggest wrasses. Flasher and fairy. And a dwarf angel. Well ive heard so much and have been reading up on the pros and cons of a sand bed. Also, i forgot to mention, is that i would like to have a blue spotted jaw head or any type of jaw head. That would be one reason for the deep sand bed. Why do you suggest 1 inch the deepest? so i would stock 2 firefish 1 Yellow Clown Goby FISH IN LIST. 2 True percs 1 Jaw fish 1 Dwarf Angel I kinda wanna keep a low bio load so would that be to much? Was the center brace removed? If it was not built with one, are you sure you need it? I'm a big fan of reinforcement so I'm not saying don't do this.... yes the center brace was removed. I can see where it was and it was just broken off. I will be going in a bit to go buy something to reinforce it. It has a bottom brace but its just a thin plastic that goes from front to back. And it looks like the top is the same too. I will also be bringing home some acrylic to make my flow box on each side of the tank. How big should the sump be? Link to comment
fewskillz Posted December 30, 2008 Share Posted December 30, 2008 You'll be fine with 7 fish in a 65, just stay up on your maintenance. Once anything gets out of hand it's infinitely harder to correct, regardless of bioload. I say Shallow sandbed because they seem to be cleaner. I've had 4" sandbeds before and they just get dirty. Plus I don't like seeing the sand through the glass. I think it looks better when the sand stays below the trim level. Plus 4" isn't enough to feel any DSB benefits. A 4" sandbed is simply a lot of sand, you've really gotta get 6+ inches for it to function properly. If you want a jawfish, then you have no choice, 4" should serve your purpose well. Link to comment
805fish Posted December 30, 2008 Author Share Posted December 30, 2008 You'll be fine with 7 fish in a 65, just stay up on your maintenance. Once anything gets out of hand it's infinitely harder to correct, regardless of bioload. I say Shallow sandbed because they seem to be cleaner. I've had 4" sandbeds before and they just get dirty. Plus I don't like seeing the sand through the glass. I think it looks better when the sand stays below the trim level. Plus 4" isn't enough to feel any DSB benefits. A 4" sandbed is simply a lot of sand, you've really gotta get 6+ inches for it to function properly. If you want a jawfish, then you have no choice, 4" should serve your purpose well. Oh ok thanks. I will be adding them slowly tough to see how things change once some are added. How much sand bed would i need to say if i was to make a home for the jawfish just like Stony Waters did? Link Link to comment
fewskillz Posted December 30, 2008 Share Posted December 30, 2008 Oh ok thanks. I will be adding them slowly tough to see how things change once some are added. How much sand bed would i need to say if i was to make a home for the jawfish just like Stony Waters did? Link Wow. That thing is awesome. I would say you'd be fine with an inch or two. Just pile up the sand in the area of the jawfish condo. I have pistol/goby pairs in both my 10 and 125, which both have shallow sand beds. I just have more sand piled up around the base of the rocks so the shrimp/gobies have more to work with to feel more secure. That pipe thing is a cool idea, I'll have to try that. Link to comment
petkingdom619 Posted December 30, 2008 Share Posted December 30, 2008 are you going to be putting the rocks on the glass bottom and then the sand or sand then rocks? I ask because I am setting up a 60g and the tank sheet says not to place rocks on the glass. So I was thinking a layer of eggcrate on the bottom then sand over it, but dont know how much dirt buildup that would cause Link to comment
fewskillz Posted December 31, 2008 Share Posted December 31, 2008 I've done it all three ways: rocks on sand, rocks on eggcrate then sand, rocks on glass then sand. I honestly don't think it makes a big difference either way as long as you don't have an inordinate amount of rocks. If you do have a ton of rocks piled up on just a few pressure points then I would do the eggcrate deal. Link to comment
805fish Posted December 31, 2008 Author Share Posted December 31, 2008 I've done it all three ways: rocks on sand, rocks on eggcrate then sand, rocks on glass then sand. I honestly don't think it makes a big difference either way as long as you don't have an inordinate amount of rocks. If you do have a ton of rocks piled up on just a few pressure points then I would do the eggcrate deal. I will be doing rock on glass and then sand. I have always done it like that and havent had any problems with it. Also I will be building a DIY home for the jawfish as he did but will maybe make it longer. What does a pistol/goby pairs Require? Link to comment
petkingdom619 Posted January 1, 2009 Share Posted January 1, 2009 i had a pistol goby pair for awhile. They dig ALOt. Im not sure it they would use the house like the jawfish would. If you want to make one make it with alot of holes and put it under your rocks maybe. But otherwise if the rocks are on the glass you shouldnt have to worry about them digging under and the rock falling. The pistol will steal anything on the sand and use it to block his hole Link to comment
805fish Posted January 12, 2009 Author Share Posted January 12, 2009 Just a little update. Finish plummin it with two overflows on each corner. Got my DIY internal overflow boxes done and are waiting to get paint on, as well as the back of the tank. Color preference or just black? Also can i paint the overflow boxes or hows that done? Also i may use a 10 gal for a sump. Or what would be a good recomendation of a sump. And thinking of buying a ProClear Aquatics Motorized Protein Skimmer 150. Any pros or cons or what do you all think of this skimmer? Link to comment
805fish Posted January 12, 2009 Author Share Posted January 12, 2009 added a 5 inch acrylic brace today. Link to comment
TheKingInYellow Posted January 12, 2009 Share Posted January 12, 2009 added a 5 inch acrylic brace today. Good plan, I would think that tank had a brace on it originally. I can't think of any 3' tank more than 40g that doesn't have a factory brace or euro-bracing... Link to comment
805fish Posted January 12, 2009 Author Share Posted January 12, 2009 yea it had one but it was an inch wide and out of plastic but it was broken off so i tought a bit bigger would not hurt it. Is there a problem if i was to pray paint the internal over flow box black? If possible what kind of spray would you say besides black? Link to comment
805fish Posted January 12, 2009 Author Share Posted January 12, 2009 is two 150 DE MH lights not enough light to keep a happy clam on the sand bed of this tank? Its a total of 300 watts but because its 24 inch tall and i did calculations and its only 4 watts a gallon. Link to comment
805fish Posted January 13, 2009 Author Share Posted January 13, 2009 So here are the pics of the overflows and of the plumming i did. If something looks a wrong or something can fail pls let me know. Here are pics LEFT RIGHT SILICONE USED Pluming go together and meet up and T of to the left side where my sump will be. Any sump recommendations on how big? Have a ten gal i can use. from the back left right As for returns i was thinking of the hang on ones that hang on top and using a SCWD squid wave maker. Or should i just keep it simple and T if off just to have 2 simple ones? Link to comment
805fish Posted January 25, 2009 Author Share Posted January 25, 2009 Another bump haha. Got the tank painted from the back and the overflows. Picked out Krayola Fuzion blue. Got tired of black. Also checked if it would leak from the overflows or bow and no it didnt. The brace helped out alot and didnt bow. As for the overflows they worked out pretty good. Going to make a DIY 29 gallon sump. Here are current pics Any criticism is appreciated. Or anything you have to say pls. Link to comment
moneyman6891 Posted January 28, 2009 Share Posted January 28, 2009 Lots good the only thing I would do I put durse silencers on the output of the overflows. Link to comment
hcsceo Posted January 28, 2009 Share Posted January 28, 2009 What did you use to secure that brace? If it is just silicone it won't work. Seems I remember someone drilling holes and using zip ties for the acrylic/plastic connection. Steve Link to comment
805fish Posted January 28, 2009 Author Share Posted January 28, 2009 What did you use to secure that brace? If it is just silicone it won't work. Seems I remember someone drilling holes and using zip ties for the acrylic/plastic connection. Steve Yea i just used silicone to secure it. Ima have to look that up and see how its done. Because its been sitting with water for about a week and its doing fine. But the safer the better. Lots good the only thing I would do I put durse silencers on the output of the overflows. Yea ima do that its just money is tight right now. Link to comment
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