When 180 gals. Is not enough

[mudraker]

I just acquired my dream tank...400 gallons!

It will replace the 180g I keep at my office.

It will home a clown knife I recently rescued (already over 12 inches long.)

I was so excited I forgot to take photos of my own but I have the shots from the cl listing where I got it from.

 

[sealife]

*Jaw hits floor...*
Wow, now thats exciting!

You have a 400g tank in your office?

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[ImACoolguy]

A tank many of us can only dream of. Nice find!


Caleb

 

[navarro1950]

What are you doing with the 180 ?


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[mudraker]

What are you doing with the 180 ?

That is going to my house - but I think I'll have to reinforce the floor,lol. My mister has three bichirs (a delhezi and two senegal) that are under a foot but will grow out nicely in the 180.

I just paid for the 400 last night, and now working on getting it shipped 300 miles to where I live, lol.

I rescued a 15 inch clown knife last month that was (still is) in a 92 gallon corner tank - he will need the room for sure. It's coming with 4 tinfoil barbs, that are like 6 to 8 inches.

Plus, a shovelnose catfish at about 4 inches and three very small datnoids. I will have to grow these out for a year or two or more before they can go anywhere near the clown knife. Plus, I already have two small datnoids that are in the 180 with a ropefish that's about 10 inches long.

I'm so excited!

 

[coralbandit]

400g!
Nice score!
Looking forward to pics of this and all those fish.

 

[azmodan]

Looks awesome! What the exact dimensions on the tank?

 

[Brookster123]

It's like a hot tub for fish!!! Awesomeeee

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[biondoa]

Amazing!!! Hope you have a very strong floor under that baby.

 

[mudraker]

Looks awesome! What the exact dimensions on the tank?

8 feet long, 36 inches high and 27 inches wide. It was custom made in Canada three years ago.

Amazing!!! Hope you have a very strong floor under that baby.

Floor at my office is solid concrete - so I'm going to use an old 100 g I've been meaning to reseal for a sump.

We're going to get it Thursday. I'm going to bring it home and paint the bottom black, maybe the back too, haven't decided yet. Never done a sump before, so I figured setting it up outside to work out the quirks first might not be a bad idea, lol.

 

[mudraker]

Good news bad news here.

First, 400 gallon deal fell through, but I did get a 300 gallon.

Had to rent a uhaul and drive it 300 miles home last week. Began setup Saturday.

After tons of changing my mind back and fourth, I decided to set it up because there was no good quarantine available for the tinfoil barbs that came with the deal and that poor clown knife I rescued awhile back was getting really cramped in the 92 corner tank.



It took almost 12 hours to break down the 180, clean the 300 good enough to put fish in, and get it all set up to safely house the fish.

It isn't very attractive yet, but is functioning.

 

[mudraker]

I wanted to take a lot more photos but it just didn't work out time-wise.

Here is Gordo, the clown knife. It didn't really turn out, but he is definitely close to 18 inches long.



The work has hardly begun on this bad boy. Because this is at my office, it means I actually have to work (as in earn money, lol) while I'm there so getting this thing looking good will be a chore. http://www.aquariumadvice.com/forums/images/smilies/banghead - Copy.gif

The back is really cruddy and even scraping it with alcohol and a razor only improved it a little. Yes, it is currently topped with old shower doors - Gordo likes to jump and this didn't come with any kind of real canopy, kind of a fake one. That will be the next project. I can work on scraping the back here and there. This is where being the boss has its privileges

 

[Fresh2o]

When 180 gals. ain't enuf...

That tank is huge! I will book a flight, bring a wetsuit and swim with Gordo ??
Congrats on the tank and rescue. Will the partition be a permanent thing? I'm not familiar with the temperament of knives and large barbs.
What did you have in mind for the canopy? Could you do something involving suspended shop lights and egg crating (weighed down, of course)?
Velcro and dark fabric could be used as a skirt around the stand.


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[ImACoolguy]

Knives are pretty shy and well behaved if they are kept well fed. During the day a knife wouldn't stand a chance catching a tiger barb. At night when they are resting? Yes.

That's a beauty you got there by the way.


Caleb

 

[emilygupps]

What an awesome tank!


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[PassengerTN]

Notice he said tinfoil barbs, not tigers. How large are they? Several people use Tins as dithers for large fish since they get large as well (1ft+). Sweet tank though, sketchy looking stand however lol

Jesse

 

[mudraker]

That tank is huge! I will book a flight, bring a wetsuit and swim with Gordo ����

You are welcome anytime!

sketchy looking stand however lol

The stand is actually quite solid, better than anything commercial. Its the top fake looking canopy thing that is sketchy as heck.

Hopefully removing the divider today and putting up a black background.

I wanted to paint the bottom black and leave it bare until I fully decided how to scape it. However, the 300 came with the bottom painted a hideous blue. So, I'll probably use local pea gravel for a substrate to hide the blue. I considered sand but the datnoids that are growing out are in sand right now and don't seem to like it.

Definitely planting it, but haven't decided high tech or low light. I do have a co2 setup I'm not using and the current lighting could handle either.

Going to the hardware store at lunch to get light diffusion material. I'll use the old light system from the 180 on it for now. a 24 inch Hagen glo and two odysea t5 lights span it sideways perfectly. Canopy material soon - too many other projects going on at the same time right now.

 

[mudraker]

Okay, got the egg crate on, two 2x4 sheets spanned it perfectly and just had to snip a few pieces out of two corners to accommodate the in/out lines for the fx5, heater and powerhead cords.

Also got the black background on it, which improved the looks considerably. The divider is out too.

Not too sure if the clown knife/ barbs combo is going to work out...he kind of went after `em a few times. However, I did not get a good hideyhole going for him either. It's a priority for tomorrow.

 

[Fresh2o]

Looks much nicer now! The blue has a cool effect.
Not sure if this will work, but you might consider using a few short (20-24") lengths of black, slotted, corrugated plastic drainage pipes (can't remember if they are buoyant or not). The knife may be too large for them
Not sure if I can make it there anytime soon. Google says it's about 4,622 miles away.


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[mudraker]

That's almost exactly what I was thinking earlier. Sadly, I forgot our local plumbing shop is closed till Monday and our two hardware stores kind of blow.

I'll find something laying around the house until then. I just don't like adding to the ugly factor of the tank in its current state, but the well being of all the fish is paramount.