new member from NY, 30yrs fishkeeping experience

[billberet]

hey everyone, just wanted to say hello.
i'm always ready to learn something new so any advice is always welcome.
i've had fish for 30 years + and you get attached to them quickly. each fish has it's own personality.

here is my current setup, i reciently went to pvc plumbing and i have increased my flow by 50% now i have a true 1" flow in and out of my tanks.

I use fluval Fx5 canisters, out of all the canisters i've tried, i love these the best, easy to maintain, quiet, powerful.
(getting image)
here is the back view, behind the scene
(getting image)


front view is still work in progress, i cut out the wall and now working on the moulding

 

[billberet]

ok so i have my images in 'manage attachments'

how do i get them in a post, seems it does not like linking images.

 

[billberet]

i get it, just adding them in shows the image, lol
guess i figured it out



anyway, just wanted to say hello to all !

 

[melosu58]

Welcome aboard. We are glad you found us here at AA.

 

[billberet]

more DIY things

here is a custom LED hood i made, and custom intakes, all pressure fit so i can interchange all my parts.

the LED's are white and blue, i can run white or blue or both.
so in the morning i have half the white's on, dimm, then slowly go to 100% in 30 min, creating a sunrise effect.

 

[Mrc8858]

Welcome to AA bill but from the looks and sounds of things we might be learning more from you lol by the way what do you run in your canisters and have you ever tried a sump/refugium setup

 

[billberet]

the PVC project was fun, and it helped my water flow.
the pvc out is 2x as big as the fluval as you can see from the image below. I am extremely happy with the results.

 

[billberet]

yes i have tried a sump but i was not impressed with the results. i stick to canisters, filled with BIO media. as long as your tank makes it thru the nitrogen cycle and you have your bacterial colony, the tank will remain crystal clear and the bio load will be contained.

as you can see, i have a back room for all my plumbing so i have pleanty of room for a sump, but i just never saw any additional benefits from having one that my canister can't provide already.

i don't use carbon, or ammo chips in my canisters, just one physical layer, and 2 bio layers for my media. i also always get the same canisters for all my tanks this way the media will be interchangeable. this comes in handy when you want to seed your filter, to jump start your nitrogen cycle.


hope that helped a little

 

[billberet]

here are my canisters, i ran side by side while i was working on my second tank, i needed to keep the flow in my canister to keep the bacteria alive while i was doing the reconstruction. and i'm happy to say it worked out great

 

[billberet]

oh yea, my aquarium is freshwater, that's another reason i can skip the sump. but if i ever did a marine aquarium, i would use the sump

 

[billberet]

can you tell i don't feel like working today!!!!! hahahah

ok update on tank design, looking good, almost time to mud and paint.
i got another bag of sand that i will be putting in the new tank. at $9 for a 50lbs bag YOU CAN'T GO WRONG !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

if you are asking yourself, what kind of sand are you using?
I am using pool filtration sand, it's silica based an UV sterilized and totally inert. what this means is it will not affect your water chemestry, your ph will stay the same, i used to use crushed coral, it's a great water buffer but it was keeping my PH a bit high for the fish i was keeping. not to mention all my bottom dwellers are just LOVING the sand, they dig all day long. you can use play sand as well but i find the pool filtration sand works best, it's heaver so when your fish kick up the sand it goes straight to the bottom of the tank, does not float into your filter. and i like the color, looks more natural than play sand, has white/black specs mixed in with the sand so it looks like a natural sea bed.

 

[Mrc8858]

You've got me intrigued lol so what size tanks are you running and what's your current stock...also have you ever done a SW tank because with your double in wall setup that would be amazing to keep like a fully planted FW in one and a eye candy type of coral reef in the other

 

[billberet]

currenly i have 90 gal on the left and 40 gal on the right.
ok here's the story, the 90 gal was established for 15+years, using CC as my substrate. but it was raising my Ph too high for my fish, so i went to sand, when i did that i had an bacteria bloom, then my canisters crashed,
DESTROYED my bacteria colonies.
I lost a 10yr old redtail (very sad)
lost 10 yr old High Fin ID shark
10 yr old Parrot fish survived, but learned from the redtail how to eat goldfish. so when i bought new fish and added to 90 gal, the parrot would eat the fish i bought.

can you believe it, gobbled them whole, i was like dang! So i used one of my spare tanks and created another tank, build the stand from scrap wood i had. so the parrot is all by himself in the 40 for now.
and in the 90 i have:
1 new parrot
2 tiger barbs
2 gouramis
2 tri color sharks
1 jewl
the canisters are rated for 400 gallons each, so i'll never have a problem with the bio load

so now i'm starting over with these new fish, got them about 2 weeks ago, and they are all healthy, tank has cycled and i'm ready for them to get big, lol.

i wanted to do a planted tank but i need more than sand if i was to do that, so i scrapped that idea. I'd love to do a salt tank but it's a little too much maintenance for me. i'm happy with my fresh water

now if you really want to spin your head around something listen to this.
i have my tanks tied into my home automation program i wrote. i am wiring up ultra bright led that will flicker and trigger sound files to play of thunder.
it's a work in progress but i am getting good results. it actually feels like i am in a thunder storm!!!!!!
the picture above, behind that door is my rack system with all my automation hardware
when i turn out the lights in the back room, you cannot see past the tank, so it gives it an 'infinity' type of look, it's hard to see with a picture, but when your standing in front of the tank you can see past the tank into the darkness, it's like the tank is floating in darkness, cool effect.



muhahahahahahah
yea, you can call me super geek, lol
my wife does all the time.

 

[Cornstar]

Welcome to AA! I am from Brooklyn but only kept fish for a little less than a year.

 

[billberet]

nice,
i'm a queens man myself.
i have my tanks in the basement, so i have a cement floor , safer for me that way, hahahahahah
heavy tanks = problems with floor

 

[billberet]

well i finished the molding on the second tank, looks good, just had to glue the bottom piece, should be secure in an hour. then time to caulk and paint!!!! i am going to caulk the 2 frames together so it looks like one connected piece, i'll blend them in together. It will look nice

looking good i must say!

oh yea, to show how much of a geek i am, i have a dedicated fish cam that i can watch from any internet connection and my phone, help me keep an eye on them when i'm at work.
i actually open it up on my ipad and it looks like i have an aquarium on my desk, hahaha

 

[billberet]

ready for paint!!!

 

[alLexX]

nice tanks,welcome to AA. i like PFS to,looks nicer than gravel

 

[billberet]

yea the PFS is better than any other kind of stand because it's heavier than other sands, like play sand. and it has colored grandules, specks of black and white. looks natural, like the ocean floor. and the best part is it's silica based so it is inert, not affecting your ph.

 

[Wy Renegade]

Very nice looking tanks! Nice to see somebody putting the time and effort into freshwater that so many put into saltwater. Love the built in look!