125 Gallon Project Tank

[KidFish]

As some of you may have seen on my previous post I got a 125 Gallon Aquarium with the stand for $75 and a cup of coffee (for the person who drove down to get it with me). I'm pretty pysched to get working on it and i really have no idea what the future holds, I decided to make a thread about the adventures I plan to fore-take, and hopefully it will turn out pretty cool

So I should be posting somewhat frequently, Depending on what there is to do for that day.

Overall I plan to do everything for less then $200 (call me crazy), but I have a lot of things laying around. So after each post I will also put the total cost for the project and the running total for everything, this should give a good idea of what it costs to do.

Note: I will be learning as I go here, and I'm sure i'll run into every problem under the sun, but it should be fun, Hope you have a good time following along, any suggestions will be taken into consideration

Here are some pictures of the tank In its current composure.

Tank:
http://www.aquariumadvice.com/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=206094&stc=1&d=1383602344

Gross stuff stuck all over tank:
http://www.aquariumadvice.com/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=206093&stc=1&d=1383602344

From the Top:
http://www.aquariumadvice.com/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=206092&stc=1&d=1383602344

40 gallon Breeder On the other side of my room
http://www.aquariumadvice.com/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=206091&stc=1&d=1383602344


Running total = $75 (for aquarium and stand)

 

[KidFish]

11/4/2013

After creating this thread today I got right to work.
I purchased some razor blades (5) with a cool little handle thing for $1
http://www.aquariumadvice.com/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=206103&stc=1&d=1383606553

While i was there they also had some used 5 gallon buckets for $1 So I grabbed one of them because I dont have much to work with for water changes yet
http://www.aquariumadvice.com/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=206102&stc=1&d=1383606553


This is what the Tank currently looks like, took out the center overflow column because it was such an eye sore, also scraped the silicone away from the bottom.
http://www.aquariumadvice.com/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=206103&stc=1&d=1383606553


So far so good! I have a feelling that Me and silicone will be becoming great friends here in the next few days oh well, a day at a time I always say

Todays total = $2
Running total= $77

 

[KidFish]

Hey all! I was super busy yesterday but I did have time to install a new guppy breeding tank! I love guppys. All of them. But.... so does my turtle...
so I made a little 10 gallon breeding tank for guppies, and in this newer larger aquarium I can just add them every so often to brighten up the tank and give my turtle something to chase.

What do you think? Good idea? or too cruel?

 

[Fishman88888]

Hey all! I was super busy yesterday but I did have time to install a new guppy breeding tank! I love guppys. All of them. But.... so does my turtle...
so I made a little 10 gallon breeding tank for guppies, and in this newer larger aquarium I can just add them every so often to brighten up the tank and give my turtle something to chase.

What do you think? Good idea? or too cruel?

If you're going to do it ...

Post a vid of it... So we get to see too!

My fish eat over 100 feeders a day... What you're doing isn't cruel IMO, everyone on here recommends varied diets anyways. Give it a go!

 

[KidFish]

Sure I definitely could do that! I'll have to tomorrow! Unfortunatly the silicone i got was only good for aquariums up to 30 gallons... seeming as mine is 4x's that I figured I better go with an industrial grade or something instead! hopefully that works. Re-sealing the aquarium kindof freaks me out but whatever!

On another note I just found a pump that will power my return hose! $37 700gph at the nozzle. Awesome in my opinion. I think my sump will be made out of a 5 gallon bucket. That way i can put a lid on it and maybe even reduce the noise level it produces, but I'm crossing my fingers and hoping that its quiet anyways!!

Fishman, How do you supply such a large number of feeder fish to your others!! I thought guppies would be cool because if they survived it would still brighten up the tank a bit

 

[Fishman88888]

Sure I definitely could do that! I'll have to tomorrow! Unfortunatly the silicone i got was only good for aquariums up to 30 gallons... seeming as mine is 4x's that I figured I better go with an industrial grade or something instead! hopefully that works. Re-sealing the aquarium kindof freaks me out but whatever!

On another note I just found a pump that will power my return hose! $37 700gph at the nozzle. Awesome in my opinion. I think my sump will be made out of a 5 gallon bucket. That way i can put a lid on it and maybe even reduce the noise level it produces, but I'm crossing my fingers and hoping that its quiet anyways!!

Fishman, How do you supply such a large number of feeder fish to your others!! I thought guppies would be cool because if they survived it would still brighten up the tank a bit

I have 4 pairs of breeding convicts, platies and Petsmart

I still spend probly $40 a week on feeders. It's better than cable tv as far as I'm concerned. I've seen them eat 100 fish in about 2 hours one day when I couldn't make it to the pet store for a couple days and they had to fast ... They went ham

My fish eat better than I do

 

[KidFish]

You should set up a breeder too haha, I think that its interesting, but with a turtle its honestly not even a fair fight!

 

[Fishman88888]

You should set up a breeder too haha, I think that its interesting, but with a turtle its honestly not even a fair fight!

It's better not to think of it in those terms. They need to eat

You get desensitized real quick - I promise - just don't keep the feeders
..... If there's 1 feeder that manages to survive for a couple days after all the other ones have been eaten, I take him out and put him in another tank till I can rehome him... I like to believe there's still some hope left for those who are worthy

 

[KidFish]

Yeah i think ill keep some of the cooler ones in the breeding tank, so that way ill have some cool ones in the tank! Haha oh well!

Today is the day i reseal!!

 

[KidFish]

Came down with quite the flu, today is not the day i reseal

 

[Ceej]

It's that time of the year. I'm trying my best to fight off a cold, too. Feel better soon! As everyone else is, I'm intrigued in how this project turns out! :thumbs up:

 

[KidFish]

On another note, is there a proper size of sump i should have on this big of a tank? Hmmm i believe i have read something along the lines of no less then 10% for freshwater.. Hmm.

 

[GreenLily]

I'm enjoying this thread and look forward to seeing this tank flourish when you're done with it! What a good deal! Where did you find such a thing? I recently got a 50/55 gallon aquarium for $75 with a stand and fish.. I wish mine was 125 gallons! Hope you get well FAST so you can continue on your adventure!

P.S: Better to freak out about resealing a tank than to freak out by such a big tank leaking later on down the road!

 

[Ceej]

For a 125g, go with a 60g long. If you're putting in underneath in the cabinet, a normal 55g might be too tall. Usually, the bigger the better works well in this instance.

 

[KidFish]

Ive sold my 40 gallon and stand with lights hang on back filters and some other supplies for $160 not too shabby.
As for the filter. I plan to reinvent it!!
I would love to put a 60 long for my sump, but; 1 i havent seen anything like that in my area ever. 2 it wouldn't fit in my cabinet thats a lot of sump for a tank. And although bigger may be better I'm searching for a normal is adequate for my needs.

Any ideas on lights? Ive got a couple, but nothing too special.

 

[KidFish]

well I have resealed, It cost me $7 and about 2 hours of taking off old silicone. I was very generous when resealing just in case.... So I should have no water leaking problems now!
Next thing to address, either the 3-d background, or the sump.. Both need to be taken care of soon. I also plan to make the glass tops for my aquarium now. should only cost $20-30 and I also found some T12 lights for $20, what do you guys think about those lights? I'm not too savvy with lights and have very little experience there..

 

[KidFish]

Tank has been Re-sealed!!! jesus I forgot to update!!
PVC overflow will be made sometime in the next week. then to the background, hopefully i can get my fish out of this cooler soon... my turtle is dying for excersie</3

Been thinking about fish combinations, I'm thinking two black angel fish, or black and white, black ghost knife fish, and a bunch of little community fish, nothing over 2"

 

[KidFish]

Hello all! I went out today and purchased styrofoam and some groat (couldnt find quikcrete, but no worries this does not inhibit mold and therfore was cheap because who wants chemical free groat) i have started to cut of cuts, and let me say that its time consuming. But everything seems to be moving along fine. I seal everything on with silicone. I am making a landing area for my turtle(s). Which im sure they will enjoy. I have to make an area for the overflow tube so that isnt showing and also a tube in which a black ghost knife would happily hide in. Its looking pretty good so far!
Also order glass for glass tops!

I also got my pump! Awesome!
And plumbing has begun!!

Pump = $30
Pvc = free
Styrofoam = $13

Running total = $128

 

[KidFish]

Oh and groat was free also from a leftover project my friend did on his bathroom. Hopefully its enough. Its 9.75lbs. Might has to go pick up another

 

[KidFish]

Heres an update on the rocks in styrofoam form so far! Just a fee more rocks.. Covering the pvc maybe a cave and then its onto the cementing!