Jessica's 110g Malawi Build

[tiger terror]

Originally Posted by Esemerson

Thanks! I will be adding two 36" marineland double bright led strips. Plenty of white light and some blue. I got a good deal @100$ each during a labor day sale. Problem is they won't be here until Monday or Tuesday along with my heater and wave makers. I will post pic when it is up and 100%.

This makes for a long weekend. Thank god football is back.

Looking forward to the pics...+ 5,000 to Football!

[Jess1ca]

Sneak peak at what's happening gonna need to change the name of this thread =)

[ejaramillo01]

Wow......I can just imagine the end result.... will be pretty

[Jess1ca]

Originally Posted by ejaramillo01

Wow......I can just imagine the end result.... will be pretty

Thank you

[Andrew McFadden]

Nice job building that frame

[Jess1ca]

Thanks Andrew but I didnt rebuild it, lol, scrapped the other one!

Ok so in the last week or so I put the 110 up for sale, everything about it screamed bad news the final straw was when I filled it with water Nd the sides bowed. The middle glass support was NOT held in place at all. As soon as the sides bowed out I could lift it right up. It was only wedged into place. So here is my new beauty, in soooo much better shape with a way beefier stand! 150 gallons with 2 top braces and 2 bottom braces. Still has a ton of scratches but no where near what the other tank had. I think I'll still try Cerium Oxide to try and buff them out. There is also a chip on the inside I need to figure out what to do with, I'll post a pic soon. They said the top leaked where the trim is. They did a real crappy job on siliconing it so I will be removing that and redoing the seal. The other seals look great. In debate in whether it not I ought to redo them all. So the new tank came with sooooo much stuff! Feelin like I hit he jackpot with this one!

[Brandonjkoontz1]

That looks amazing. That's the the next size I'm looking at. Hope min turns out half as good. I think all your work deff paid off! Lol =)

[Jess1ca]

Originally Posted by Brandonjkoontz1

That looks amazing. That's the the next size I'm looking at. Hope min turns out half as good. I think all your work deff paid off! Lol =)

Thanks! Even tho I sold the one I worked my tail off to clean it still paid off as it just about covered the price if the new one =)

[ejaramillo01]

Perfect change...this one looks better,,,

[Jess1ca]

Originally Posted by ejaramillo01

Perfect change...this one looks better,,,

Soooo much better! Put my nerves at ease for sure haha! The other one had me stressed to the max especially when I seen the sides bow when full of water. Next step is gonna be staining the stand, cleaning the tank, possible reseal, then starting a DIY 3D background! I have an idea to make my own Cichlid Stones too, really hope the idea will work out! Can't wait to get this show on the road, but work calls :/ so I have to wait till my next day off a week away!

[Convict2161]

You crack me up!! Good luck with this one!

You SHOULD change the title. "Jesse's journey to some tank she thinks" lol

[Jess1ca]

Originally Posted by Convict2161

You crack me up!! Good luck with this one!

You SHOULD change the title. "Jesse's journey to some tank she thinks" lol

Nice! Got jokes huh?

[Jess1ca]

Saved this guy from certain death... Was stuffed in a 20 gallon. He's in the 55 for now, the 150 will be quite cozy for him I'm sure

[ejaramillo01]

Originally Posted by AndrewsPistol

Saved this guy from certain death... Was stuffed in a 20 gallon. He's in the 55 for now, the 150 will be quite cozy for him I'm sure

Nice fish, I'm sure he will be happy in the 55, and even happier in the 150.

[Jess1ca]

Originally Posted by ejaramillo01

Nice fish, I'm sure he will be happy in the 55, and even happier in the 150.

Thanks! Do you know if it's a common Pleco? Never seen one so light its kind of in bad shape, but looking better everyday. His fins were tattered and his tail was bent when I got him. The fins were very cramped when it was in the 20g but over the last couple days the find are looking better and the tail ha straightened out and flares it's fins all the time now, assuming that means its happy!! In guessing his growth may have been stunted from being in such a small tank maybe, because it's head is so big with that stubby tail, guess only time will tell!

[ejaramillo01]

Looks like a Pleco to me, Maybe an Albino Pleco... some brittle nose plecos are Albinos, but I'm not sure if this is a Brittlenose Albino Pleco or not...

I'm sure a more expert member will help.

[k.mascher86]

albino sailfin?

[Jess1ca]

Sooo, I've decided to make a DIY sump for this. I drew up a sketch on my phone.... Don't laugh lol. The pink lines depict PVC tuning. The blue boxes are totes and the green box is going to be one if those plastic drawer things you can buy at Walmart ( ill include a pic of what I'm talking about) drawer one will contain filter floss, drawer 2 will contain bio balls or ceramic rings. In tote 2 there will be a pump and my heater. Need to research how to syphon the water into the first tote then over to the next tote containing the pump... Please tell me they sell something like that lol!

[jetajockey]

Don't you think it'd be a hundred times easier to just put a sump tank in with dividers for compartments?

I've been tagging along on this build, I'd really like to do a malawi build soon so I look forward to seeing how this turns out=)

[Andrew McFadden]

On YouTube there is a guy that makes home made filters. Not sure if that's where you got the idea from but you may want to try and find it. Because he has a video covering a sump filter build like that.


Imo it would probably work but the biggest problem some of us african keepers have are trates and quite honestly could make it worse. So unfortunately this will not help with that sucks right.?. Even with wet/dry sumps on saltwater they create a huge nitrate problem. I have no water issues with the way mine is set up, I built a fuge that is packed full of plants now that will help more than you think. If it was me I would put a hole somewhere in the bottom drawer that drains into a planted tank. Then gets pumped back up. Just an idea on improving it a little better.