kdpuffer
Aquarium Advice Addict
so as some of you are aware i have some fish that will grow to be fairly massive. the fish in question are still small at the moment but i am need of getting them into a bigger tank and i feel its a case of "theres no time like the present". lets start with the fish in question, i have a bunch of frontosas (i believe are burundi), 12 in total along with 4 goldhead compressiceps. i hope to house these guys in a tank roughly 200 gallons. next up is my vittatus tigerfish and 2 giant snakeheads, these three fish will reach approximately 3 or more feet, i am hoping to go in the range of 300-400 gallons. now we know volume its a matter of dimensions. i want both of these tanks to be setup to maximize footprint. the plan is to knock out a wall in my basement and replace it with the tanks. given the size of the fish (tiger and snakeheads) and thier natural habits (frontosa) i want to have the tanks short and wide. for the predators im thinking 8 feet long by 3 feet wide by 2 feet tall, 328 gallons. the frontosa tank will be 6 feet long by 3 feet wide by 1.5 feet tall, 181 gallons. i am thinking of having these tanks one above the other with the larger tank on top. the 2 foot difference would be the area for filters(canisters of course, likely to be fluval fx5's) and i want to get inline heaters. i am thinking 2 filters for each tank, any suggestions? i also plan to make oneheck of a heavy duty stand, like i said this is in my basement so it will be on a concrete floor. i plan on having either end being in the wall so i can move/add support posts for the floor above. this setup will be done in such a way that down the road if i sell my house i can remove the tanks and supports without compromising the structure of the house hence the posts on either end. i am planning to have the filer outlets in pieces of carved foam on one end and the inlets in carved foam on the other to hide thier existence and have good flow from one end to the other. this is where i have issues, idealy i would like to come up from below on the outlets so i can hide them nicely and the inlets will be in a carved foam piece along the opposite end which will be fed from above. i will also be setting these tanks up to be viewable from either side as this will ultimately be my man cave with living room on one side and bar/lounge on the other. i am also located in canada so alot of products are unavailable here. i would like to build these tanks from plywood with a liquid rubber type coating and have glass inserts on either side for viewing. i plan to start building after i get some input starting with the smaller tank which will sit on the bottom then the larger tank will be will be built around it. i do plan to have lighting to support plant growth on the larger tank which will be on top.my plan is basic plants with no CO2, on the smaller frontosa tank i would like lighting to accent thier colors and thats about it. any input and critiscism is more than welcome. i want this project to be succesful so dont hold back.
