by It tis an issue trying to keep the fry straight.. you're way way way ahead of me there... I was so worried about my engineering design that i cut a 1/8th in piece of dowel the exact distance between my upper shelf and the lower... wedged it between then an then filled the 75. I could note the slightest bit of flex.. not enough to worry me and it's now been like 6 weeks?... Good luck with your breeding program. Bill in Va.
+3
zeketaz
williemcd
FishVixen
7 posters
DIY Contest
williemcd- Posts : 482
Join date : 2011-03-09
Age : 71
Location : Richmond, Virginia
joefish72- Posts : 530
Join date : 2011-06-16
Location : Fort Myers
Update to the tank system:
After several attempts at being both lazy and stupid I went and did things the right way. I drilled the bottoms of the 10 gallon tanks and after cracking like 5 of them in various stages I cut one of the broken ones into pieces and laminated them to the bottom glass of all the tanks and drilled through both pieces. 10 gallon glass is just too thin for drilling the bottom (lesson learned the hard way, but still learned).
Here is the current system with plumbing:
Here is what it looks like completed with filter and sump tank. The "sump" is really just a holding tank for extra water so I don't have to shut the system to do water changes. The Fluval Fx5 filter is what does all the work.
After several attempts at being both lazy and stupid I went and did things the right way. I drilled the bottoms of the 10 gallon tanks and after cracking like 5 of them in various stages I cut one of the broken ones into pieces and laminated them to the bottom glass of all the tanks and drilled through both pieces. 10 gallon glass is just too thin for drilling the bottom (lesson learned the hard way, but still learned).
Here is the current system with plumbing:
Here is what it looks like completed with filter and sump tank. The "sump" is really just a holding tank for extra water so I don't have to shut the system to do water changes. The Fluval Fx5 filter is what does all the work.
FishVixen- Modorater
- Posts : 1141
Join date : 2011-03-09
Age : 66
Location : Cape Coral Fl
Wow Nice
Fern- Admin
- Posts : 2620
Join date : 2011-03-09
Age : 41
Location : Fort Myers FL
Oh quite nice!
sik-lid- Posts : 5
Join date : 2011-09-12
Age : 56
Location : Punta Gorda Florida
Here is my DIY 
I got the tank and stand from a friend in Naples. The stand was built to fit a much smaller tank, a 125 I believe so I had to modify it. To do that I attached 3- 4x4 posts to the back side and fastened a 2x4 on the top to make it level with the existing structure. I left the structure a little bit wide so that I could store food and other aquarium paraphernalia that I use on a daily basis to maintain the inhabitants good health. Once that was completed, I put some paneling over the front and sides and trimmed it in red cedar to dress it up a bit after all their was no way I was leaving the gray textured paint that was sprayed onto it showing. The entryways on the front of the stand were too small and the doors were fastened in way that made them very cumbersome to use. They had to be lifted up to open, they also had been hyperextended and needed to be replaced. I made the openings twice as wide and at least 1/3 taller. I fashioned the cabinet doors out of 3/4 plywood and gave them a coat of stain then I attached them so that they would open up like regular cabinet doors. After searching for a decent hood to put on the tank itself (950.00 cheapest I found) I realized that it would be better if I just built one so I used some 3/4" finish plywood and some 1x12 pine boards. I didn't want any screw holes to show so I used some metal braces and squared it all up. On the inside of the hood I placed some 1x2 inch rests (on front and sides) that would set on the glass edge of the tank. It made the hood set 2 inches down over the tank and made it visually appealing because you couldn't see the water line. I stained the whole thing and then put 5 coats of polyurethane over it to protect it. Once completed I added 8 color splash jr's, DMX LED lighting and ran them in series so that they only took up one electrical socket. The big benefit here is power consumption, they use almost no power and create almost no heat. The nice feature is I can choose from 256 different colors because they are equipped with red, green and blue diodes. I went to a local sand and stone yard to get the substrates and inhabitant rocks. They gave me all the rock for free and charged me 24.00 for 5 bags of sand, 5 bags of one inch brown pebble and 5 bags of crushed shell. All of which were 40lbs bags. I put the sand in first, the crushed shell in 2nd and the pebble on top for a total of 4 inches of substrate. I am using a pro clear 300 wet dry sump and a danner mag 1800 pump with an overflow box (Craigslist 150.00 like new). I used 3/4 inch pvc to plumb the water return and at the end I used a 1/2 inch step down. I drilled 24 holes into a 12 inch long 1/2 inch pvc that was capped at the end. This design makes the water go in several directions when it's pumped back into the tank so their are no dead spots. Total cost 498.77 US currency.
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I got the tank and stand from a friend in Naples. The stand was built to fit a much smaller tank, a 125 I believe so I had to modify it. To do that I attached 3- 4x4 posts to the back side and fastened a 2x4 on the top to make it level with the existing structure. I left the structure a little bit wide so that I could store food and other aquarium paraphernalia that I use on a daily basis to maintain the inhabitants good health. Once that was completed, I put some paneling over the front and sides and trimmed it in red cedar to dress it up a bit after all their was no way I was leaving the gray textured paint that was sprayed onto it showing. The entryways on the front of the stand were too small and the doors were fastened in way that made them very cumbersome to use. They had to be lifted up to open, they also had been hyperextended and needed to be replaced. I made the openings twice as wide and at least 1/3 taller. I fashioned the cabinet doors out of 3/4 plywood and gave them a coat of stain then I attached them so that they would open up like regular cabinet doors. After searching for a decent hood to put on the tank itself (950.00 cheapest I found) I realized that it would be better if I just built one so I used some 3/4" finish plywood and some 1x12 pine boards. I didn't want any screw holes to show so I used some metal braces and squared it all up. On the inside of the hood I placed some 1x2 inch rests (on front and sides) that would set on the glass edge of the tank. It made the hood set 2 inches down over the tank and made it visually appealing because you couldn't see the water line. I stained the whole thing and then put 5 coats of polyurethane over it to protect it. Once completed I added 8 color splash jr's, DMX LED lighting and ran them in series so that they only took up one electrical socket. The big benefit here is power consumption, they use almost no power and create almost no heat. The nice feature is I can choose from 256 different colors because they are equipped with red, green and blue diodes. I went to a local sand and stone yard to get the substrates and inhabitant rocks. They gave me all the rock for free and charged me 24.00 for 5 bags of sand, 5 bags of one inch brown pebble and 5 bags of crushed shell. All of which were 40lbs bags. I put the sand in first, the crushed shell in 2nd and the pebble on top for a total of 4 inches of substrate. I am using a pro clear 300 wet dry sump and a danner mag 1800 pump with an overflow box (Craigslist 150.00 like new). I used 3/4 inch pvc to plumb the water return and at the end I used a 1/2 inch step down. I drilled 24 holes into a 12 inch long 1/2 inch pvc that was capped at the end. This design makes the water go in several directions when it's pumped back into the tank so their are no dead spots. Total cost 498.77 US currency.[img]
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joefish72- Posts : 530
Join date : 2011-06-16
Location : Fort Myers
I think it looks awesome!!!
FishVixen- Modorater
- Posts : 1141
Join date : 2011-03-09
Age : 66
Location : Cape Coral Fl
wow very nice!
joefish72- Posts : 530
Join date : 2011-06-16
Location : Fort Myers
Tomorrow is the last day for the contest, now is the time to post those last minute entries.FishVixen wrote:
The contest will end on Friday Sept 30th at 12 midnight and the winner will be announced on Wednesday Oct 5th.
FishVixen- Modorater
- Posts : 1141
Join date : 2011-03-09
Age : 66
Location : Cape Coral Fl
contest is closed so now we wait for the announcement. $75 will be going to someone very soon. Will announce winner on Wed.
Fern- Admin
- Posts : 2620
Join date : 2011-03-09
Age : 41
Location : Fort Myers FL
joefish72 You are the winner! You can either have the $75 OR your choice of a pair of angels OR a 55g tank with stand!
zeketaz, That betta tank is too cool, the fluval chi shrimp tank is yours for being runner up!
zeketaz, That betta tank is too cool, the fluval chi shrimp tank is yours for being runner up!
FishVixen- Modorater
- Posts : 1141
Join date : 2011-03-09
Age : 66
Location : Cape Coral Fl
Okay Fern announced a day early! LOL
Congrats to Joe (stand with 10 gal tank set ups)and runner up Zeke (betta jar aquarium with filter). It was a really tough job for our judges to pick a winner. Congrats and thanks to you all that entered.
Congrats to Joe (stand with 10 gal tank set ups)and runner up Zeke (betta jar aquarium with filter). It was a really tough job for our judges to pick a winner. Congrats and thanks to you all that entered.
zeketaz- Posts : 1087
Join date : 2011-04-01
Age : 39
Location : Ft. Myers, Florida
congratz Joe 
Can't wait till the next contest lol
joefish72- Posts : 530
Join date : 2011-06-16
Location : Fort Myers
Ahhhhhhh!!!!!! I won!!!!!!Fern wrote:joefish72 You are the winner! You can either have the $75 OR your choice of a pair of angels OR a 55g tank with stand!
I would like to thank all the people who made this dream come true. Ohhh, I hear the music I guess my speach is over.
I'll go for the........... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4polycsmR0k
Fern- Admin
- Posts : 2620
Join date : 2011-03-09
Age : 41
Location : Fort Myers FL
lmao! So whats your druthers?
joefish72- Posts : 530
Join date : 2011-06-16
Location : Fort Myers
Fern wrote:lmao! So whats your druthers?
Any form of spending money, paper or plastic, paypal, stripper singles, your choice.
FishVixen- Modorater
- Posts : 1141
Join date : 2011-03-09
Age : 66
Location : Cape Coral Fl
Got cash for ya. Can bring Friday or you can pick it up anytime.
Fern- Admin
- Posts : 2620
Join date : 2011-03-09
Age : 41
Location : Fort Myers FL
Tempted to go get singles 
zeketaz- Posts : 1087
Join date : 2011-04-01
Age : 39
Location : Ft. Myers, Florida
Pennies...ROFL
joefish72- Posts : 530
Join date : 2011-06-16
Location : Fort Myers
Oh that's one of my favorites, you know how people "make it rain" I like to make it drizzle by throwing a fist full of pennies.zeketaz wrote:Pennies...ROFL
Fern- Admin
- Posts : 2620
Join date : 2011-03-09
Age : 41
Location : Fort Myers FL
I bet I have that much in change.... 
joefish72- Posts : 530
Join date : 2011-06-16
Location : Fort Myers
Well come on!!!
Chewing my fingers off waiting to hear what the next contest is.
Chewing my fingers off waiting to hear what the next contest is.
FishVixen- Modorater
- Posts : 1141
Join date : 2011-03-09
Age : 66
Location : Cape Coral Fl
Next contest is up to Fern.
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