# New to me 88gal Tank Build :)



## Subaru4wd

*88 gallon Tank Build *

Cant believe this tank fell into my lap today, wasnt even thinking of getting a new tank but went to visit a buddy and found he had this thing sitting in his garage taking up space. After alittle talkin I was able to drive home with it for next to nothing! It even came with a broken (but fully operational) Eheim Pro II 2026 canister pump. Its missing the hoses and the latch is broken, but the valve assembly still latches in place and seals, so the pump should be fully operational.

The condition of the tank is questionable, Im not 100% sure it holds water. And it was pretty filthy when my buddy & I picked it up. But when I got it home, it didn't take long to clean it and fill it full of water.

This is what she looked like unloaded and resting on my workbench.









Alittle elbow grease and it cleaned up pretty nicely!




































Looks a whole lot better now!!!


















I stopped at the hardware store and got some clear hose for the pump, and i have enough PVC & fittings laying around to plumb up a pretty sweet filtration system. 

Stay tuned! Updates as they progress....


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## automatic-hydromatic

very nice score!


what are the plans as far as the layout of the tank to fill up how tall it is? that tank would be epic to put a rock wall as a background, only fill it about 3/4 of the way, and have the water outlet trickle down the rock wall and into the water for a sort of water fall effect  just throwing ideas out there


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## Subaru4wd

Thanks! Believe you me, i have been thinking up a STORM on how I want to decorate this tank.

I think my primary focus will to give each species of fish its own place to stay comfortable, safe & keep them all on good terms with other species. With that being said, one thing I want to try is to divide the tank into 2 halfs using a wall of vegitation, or maybe a wooden log, stump, or something. Just to break the tank into two types of terrain. Then on each side will depend. 

The tank is 30" tall, it will be lower to the ground. It didnt come with a stand, so I will have to build one. I Want this tank to be lower to the ground so the little kids can get a good view from the floor. 

For a shelf, I was thinking about 3/4 the way up the tank on one side and it would be made of a tree branch, or a large tree root section. It would attach to the back of the tank maybe near the corner so it appears to come from the corner of the tank and dissapear through the back. 

Yeah... Like I said, i have been doing a great deal of thinking already *banana dance


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## holly12

Very nice! It cleaned up beautifully! (And if it has a small leak, you could probably seal it). It looks like it might be an 88g tall. I've got a 65g tall, and it looks kinda' like that - with the front to back being a bit thinner, but still being long and tall. Lots of deco' options! Ever thought of a bio-tope? Pick a species of fish you like, then do the substrate, plants, rocks, wood, water type (ex: soft, hard, freshwater, brackish), fish and even snails or shrimp all from that one area. They end up looking pretty cool. I just read a magazine article on 3 bio-topes. They were: Amazon, Papua New Guinea streams, Central American waters. (It was in the 2011 Annual Aquarium USA). I can send you info' on the substrates, plants, fish etc... on those bio-topes if you want. Just PM me.


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## Paladine9169

Yeah Dude, that tank is gonna be sweet! I estimate we are going to have to move it at least 5 more times!


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## Subaru4wd

No way, maybe twice. Once we build a stand for it.... then once we find a final resting place somewhere inside my house LOL!


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## jrman83

Nice score. Could be a challenge to light efficiently for plants.


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## majerah1

Beautiful!Its amazing how things fall into laps,hehe.You can do a riparium build with it,if you like terrestial plants.I have seen some magnificent looking rip builds all across the web.Breathtaking.


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## mec102778

can't believe I missed this thread, awesome score man.


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## Subaru4wd

Thanks everybody! 

The next step was to test the pump and see what it can do. More research revealed the pump I have is a Eheim ProII 2026. I attached the hose and plumbed Its pretty crude right now, but I have to go back to the hardware store and get more pieces to pretty things up.

Here's what I got so far:









The pump works great. It leaks if I turn it off, which causes it to start draining my tank  I cleaned the seal but it didnt do any good. So long as the pump is running, it doesnt seem to leak. 

I came inside and started playing with MS Paint. This is what I came up with for a plumbing design.










It didnt seem to lose any water over night either, so thats a good sign too!


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## jrman83

Why not try to get Eheim pieces? I would at least mix them to extend the pieces if that is why you used pvc. I also would spend a little more and get clear pvc if that is the way your going. All that white won't look good on that tank, IMO. Not sure, but you may be losing quite a bit of suction by splitting it like that, especially with as long of a suction as you chose. I think what will happen is you'll have a lot of flow through the short piece and not very much through the longer piece due to the length of the suction head. I know it is rough design still. You'll also need to rig strainers on the intake pieces. An Eheim 2080 has two in outs and one out.


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## holly12

OooO! A riparium! And if not a riparium, than maybe a Paludarium! Both very cool ideas!


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## Rob72

congrats on the new find, looks great looking forward to seeing it up and running, cool design on the filter


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## Subaru4wd

jrman83 said:


> Why not try to get Eheim pieces? I would at least mix them to extend the pieces if that is why you used pvc. I also would spend a little more and get clear pvc if that is the way your going. All that white won't look good on that tank, IMO. Not sure, but you may be losing quite a bit of suction by splitting it like that, especially with as long of a suction as you chose. I think what will happen is you'll have a lot of flow through the short piece and not very much through the longer piece due to the length of the suction head. I know it is rough design still. You'll also need to rig strainers on the intake pieces. An Eheim 2080 has two in outs and one out.


I have a TON of PVC laying around for another project I was going to start (then scrapped). I might order new seals if that helps seal the canister... but Im not going to worry about Eheim specific stuff for the plumbing, all this pipe & hose work perfectly. The final result wont be white PVC (I agree, it would be hideous). I will most likely addapt the plumbing into a rock wall, or a type of shelf. 

The split intake will decrease suction at each inlet. However I will restrict the inlets so there is still a good amount of suction. I am thinking by splitting up the intake there will be plenty of supplied water to the pump. It will also help circulate water, not only from one side of the tank, but the center as well.


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## jrman83

You could always drill it, bulkhead fittings....may actually work better with a tank that tall. Never done it, but they say it isn't all that hard.


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## Subaru4wd

jrman83 said:


> You could always drill it, bulkhead fittings....may actually work better with a tank that tall. Never done it, but they say it isn't all that hard.


The glass on this tank is real thick, im not trying to drill through it. I will continue to brainstorm, i was even thinking of maybe an undergravel filter of some sort. 

On my visit to home depot tomorrow, i will play with the PVC fittings and see what I can come up with


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## Subaru4wd

So I was daydreaming and playing with MS paint. I came up with one design idea... i will most likely do another 1 or 2 cause I am always thinking 

Here's what I got this morning:









I want a large piece of wood like that to help cover the PVC pipe and all the plumbing the tank will have. There will be probably 2 or 3 air lines for airstone too that I will have to hide... 

I also found an extra shop light in my garage I never got around to hanging up. It is the perfect length for this tank, and it will be much better than the busted up hood that came with the tank. I just need to come up with some ways to mount the lights and start setting things up


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## Galvatron898

Dude! Nice!


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## Subaru4wd

Finally making alittle progress on this tank. I felt like I was neglecting my 36gallon and I even lost a Catfish and my blue gourami got ill... so I let this 88 sit and just take a rest, while I save some pennies and take care of my fish.

I have been going to thrift stores and was looking for a solution for my tank stand. Originally i was planning on building a stand from scratch, but I felt I could find a better looking solution for not much more by shopping around. I was thinking maybe two end tables side-by-side or a decent looking dresser.

Last week I came across this. It was 44" long and 15" wide, which was perfect since my tank is 48x14 at the rim. It was also 27" tall and that would put the tank exactly where I wanted it! They were using it as a TV stand at the Salvation army. I looked all over for a pricetag and couldnt find one, the guy at the store said to take it cause it had been there for too long and he was about to move it out of there. So i said how about $20 and he took it. As we were loading it into my truck one of the doors came open and revealed a $50 pricetag! 

After I got it home my friend & I set the tank on it and it looked real good. But we knew it wasn't going to hold the tank with water in it. So I set off to home depot and picked up some 2x4 and other nifty pieces of hardware and spent this morning reinforcing the stand!











Here is the stand dissasembled and ready to be worked on. 










This is the front beam built and finished. 










both beams finished. The 2x4 at the top is just a hair higher than the original board on each end. This way the top will force most its weight on the center legs and not the cheap pressboard stand.










This is the center removed. I am hoping this wont fail me and i dont find my 88 on its side anytime soon.










The cabinet in the center was screwed in place orignally, but I felt it would be a much better opening to fit my pump thru. So with some additional hardware we made it so the center hinged downward. The pump fits perfectly in the center of the skeleton.










The orignal top was scratched and peeling pretty bad at the corners. So I took some leftover canvas i had in the garage, and wrapped the top before we put it back on the stand.










Here's the stand complete and in place! 










Didnt take long to set the tank on and see what things would look like! Here are all the doors open. 

Next step is to place the pump and plumbing in there, also to install all the electrical and wire everything propperly. I will be using some PVC for the plumbing and some clear hoses. I need to see if any of the spraypaint i currently own will be safe in the aquarium. Once the pump is in place i plan to fill it with some nasty water I have been storing to help cycling the tank easier.

Look forward to more progress soon!


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## mec102778

Woohooo! Keep it coming man, doing a great job.


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## Paladine9169

Dude! That is looking so nice in there. I cant believe we didnt have to move the bookcases at all either.. like that spot was MADE for that aquarium!


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## rtbob

Your garage is way to clean. *tnpe

Oh and by the way that's gonna look soooooo good when it's done! *w3


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## majerah1

Wow,you did a great job on that stand!The tank does look like it is supposed to go there.


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## Rob72

it looks good in between the book cases


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## Subaru4wd

rtbob said:


> Your garage is way to clean.


Garage was filthy!  I just got done straightening it out now that the 88 is out of there. 

Thanks for all the compliments guys. I think i will start looking for a backing for the tank, anyone have any tips on backing a 31x48" tank?


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## rtbob

I guess I'll not be posting any picts of my new to me aquarium (currently set up in my garage) which looks like a tornado got stuck inside it for a year than.


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## GuppyNGoldfish

Just wondering if the stand will hold the tank filled with water since there is no support legs on the ends.. The tank and water should be around 730lbs, I dont know how much weight it takes to break a 2x4 in half.


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## Subaru4wd

Yeah it should hold it. I had the tank full of water and supported by 2 cheap speakers made from even worse particleboard than this stand originally was made of. And those cheap speakers held the weight of the water for about a week without issue.

The 2x4's should hold PLENTY of weight. The top 2x4's that run the length of the stand are secured to the stand at each end with 2 screws each... so everything is tied together and should provide plenty of support. Of course, only time will tell. Hopefully I don't wake up one day and find my tank on its side.


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## Subaru4wd

Making slow progress, but its comming along. I spent a few days working out the plumbing. I wanted to come up with a simple manifold with valves on the intake & outlet so that I can use my pump & gravity to help with water changes.

What I did was used all PVC pipe comming from the pump/filter with a T in each line, leading to a garden hose fitting. For siphoning the tank, i just put a valve next to the hose fitting, and when it comes time to drain the tank, I just hook up a hose, run it outside somewhere, and open that valve. It will create a siphon and start to drain the tank.

For filling the tank, I put a T on the intake portion of the pump, but put a valve between the tank & the pump. This allows me to connect a hose and run that hose to a source of good water, the pump will suck from here and end up filling my tank with good water 

All of this is to help save my back, as this setup comes to almost 60" from carpet to top, and thats not including any lights yet. 

Anyhow, whats all of this without pictures?? 









I had to scratch the plan of placing my pump in the center of the stand. There just wasnt enough room for all the plumbing.









Here is a closeup of the manifold. Pretty simple and self explanitory.









Everything mounted & connected and in place.


The last step was to complete the pipes that return to the tank. For this I continued to use the same PVC I had for all the previous plumbing, and some Krylon Fusion spraypaint. Once I had the shapes I wanted, I drilled some holes and put 2 good coats of paint down. For the intake I have 2 screens it sucks from, and on the outlet there are 10 holes, 1.5" apart from eachother.









Here is a closeup from inside the tank. You can see how i split the outlet. I am hoping I can rotate the legs so I can play with the current. I will most likely have it pushing water away from the intake.









And a better shot from outside the tank shows how clean the setup looks. Running from the valve manifold to the top of the tank is clear tubing. Hopefully soon I can come up with a solution for the back of the tank, and you wont see the tube.

Currently I have water in each tube, doing a leakdown test. Found 1 leak and fixed it last night. So far, no other leaks. I am working on some substrates and idea's on scaping the tank. Hopefully by the end of this weekend I have it full of water & decoration and can start the cycling!


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## mec102778

Can I hire you to do the plumbing for my 100G?


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## Subaru4wd

Sure, fly me out and buy the materials. I'll only charge like $60/hr 

Or you can goto home depot and drop like $30 on some PVC and glue, but you'll have to goto Ace hardware to get the paint, home depot doesnt carry Krylon.


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## mk4gti

Hey i got my wood online at aquariumplants.com They have a gallery of wood and let u choose which peices you want. These are the 2 peices i got for my 90 gallon, i think they are similar to what you are lookin for.


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## mk4gti

Here is a pic of them in the tank.


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## Subaru4wd

Those pieces look great!! I am thinking of going a different route with the scape than originally planned (working on a MS Paint of it now  )

I'll check out the website, but I am not sure if I can bring myself to pay for wood again. My daughter & I have been going to the local streams to scavenge for wood, and i am also in the middle of sifting different rivers for a decent looking substrate.


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## Paladine9169

I know a few spots on the American River we can hit next week for some substrate!


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## Subaru4wd

Forget next week, what are you doin tomorrow?


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## Rob72

those peices look good


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## jrman83

I would leave the filter exhaust like you have it, but move it to the other end of the tank. Have you tested the suction of the filter yet to make sure there are no problems with that long of a suction tube?


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## Subaru4wd

jrman83 said:


> I would leave the filter exhaust like you have it, but move it to the other end of the tank. Have you tested the suction of the filter yet to make sure there are no problems with that long of a suction tube?


What sort of problems should I expect to encounter?


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## jrman83

Subaru4wd said:


> What sort of problems should I expect to encounter?


Well hell, I dunno  Eheim filters can sometimes be very finicky. I would consider putting some type of tap into your lines right at the top of the tank to fill your lines manually. Similar to the way they come new. May not be needed, but could help a ton if you had problems getting it to prime properly. That was why I was asking if you tried getting the pump running with the pipes you created. I think it will work, but could be a real pain to get it started up.


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## Subaru4wd

Uh yeah... DUH! of course I put a plug at the top to manually fill it. It maybe hard to see in the pix, but its there. 

I filled the tank about 3/4 full of water, enough to cover all the holes in the outlet tube. Then I filled the intake pipe (its nice having that valve on the intake, at the bottom of the tank). Once the intake tube is full of water, i cap the pipe, reach below the tank and turn that valve and immediately my pump filled with water.

Once it was full, I plugged it in and had to put my hands on the pump to make sure its working. Its silent, and there is plenty of flow through the inlet and outlet of the pipes. 

Hoping this weekend I will have substrate in it, and I can start the cycle!! *w3

Getting alittle excited


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## holly12

You remind me of a friend I have who's into this hobby and is very DIY!! Lol, everything he has is DIY almost. (His wife laughs because sometimes things go awry and at like 2am he's scrambling around trying to fix it.) That's great though! I wish I was that handy!

I was all excited about my new 20g I've got cycling, but your tank is awesome! Bet you're just itching to start the cycle! (Are you going the fishless route?) I'm doing it for the first time and it's working really well!


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## Subaru4wd

When your as broke & unemployed as me, and have as much free time as me.... EVERYTHING turns into a DIY project!

I will be doing a fishless cycle. I have a rubbermaid container in the garage full of old substrate, rocks, logs and plants that came from my 36gal. I will probably soak that substrate and decor for a week or so to help kickstart the cycle.

I am hoping to have fish in the tank by the end of this month.


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## Subaru4wd

I found the substrate I am going to be using. They call it 3/8" salt & pepper, found it at the local gravel supply for $4 a bag. I didn't realize each bag would be 80lbs.... i washed it a few times and started setting up the landscape.

I think i have a pretty good start. I need to add more plants, I am going to be searching for a good size piece of Manzanita to put in the tank. For now, this is what I have to start with:




























And here's a good closeup of the substrate. I am thinking I will need something with a big mouth to keep this stuff clean!


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## holly12

Very cool!

Do you know what sort of fish you want?

For fishless cycling, if you're looking for straight ammonia, "Home Hardware" sells it. It's by "Old Country." It was under $2 for a big bottle! (Straight ammonia is really hard to find!!!) I'm a week into my cycle and wishing those little bacteria into life, lol! It's going pretty good so far - I had Nitrites after 4 or 5 days.

And as for keeping the substrate clean, ammano shrimp, red cherry shrimp and Nerite snails are a-ma-zing! (Oto cats too if you have the good luck to keep them alive, lol.) I've had mine for just over a month now, but will be moving them once the new tank cycles.... we'll see how they do in there.... won't be much algae to start. Good think they like zucchini!

Keep up with the pics! It's looking great!


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## Subaru4wd

I am still not 100% sure what I will put in the tank. I havent thought about shrimp though. I do know I want some bigger fish in this tank. I will be moving 2 of my gourami out of my 36g and putting them in this 88. They are only about 3.5" - 4" right now, and I dont expect them to get much larger. 

I have been looking at different Pleco's and Catfish. As far as Pleco's, its between the Rhino, the Phantom, the Flask and the Tiger/King Tiger... I am going to have to make a few visits to my LFS before I decide. 

Tomorrow I am going to start soaking the substrate I have been saving. I hope it helps the cycle, we will see. I am planning on getting that Ammonia, how much are you dosing in your tank? 5ppm is what I read.


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## Subaru4wd

Ok a slight change of plans...

I decided to take advantage of a sale my local fish store was having, and I picked up some live plants. Along with a couple new snails... 

With the live plants I knew I had to hurry and get some lighting, so I spray painted my shop light (that used to be white) black, to better match the top of the tank. While I was in the garage doing that, I also spray painted a piece of cardboard with Navy Blue, and some black as well. I used this for a make-shift backing, until I can come up with something better.

I quickly threw together everything, and filled the tank to the top. Right now the water is a tad bit cloudy, but my Filter is setup and I will let it run for the next day or two before I try to cloudy it all up again.

Now that I have the plants, I do not think I will dose my aquarium with pure ammonia. 

The larger plants (Cuban Ludwigia) were a pain in the but to keep in the substrate. I may re-scape a portion of my tank and put sand or a different type of substrate for the plants to live in. I picked up 2 anubias and I placed one in a pile of substrate ontop of the rock cave, and I put the other in a chunk of small driftwood I have. I am hoping in the next few weeks while my tank is cycling, these guys will get good and ready, and thrive alittle. 

My next step is to get some heaters and air pumps. Here are a few pictures I took after goofing with the tank, its still alittle cloudy but gets the idea across....









































I think my plan of action as far as the fish go, are to move my Blue Gourami & Pearl Gourami from my 36gallon tank to this tank, and introduce a couple Angelfish as well. As far as bottom feeders, a couple good sized catfish and one healthy sized Pleco


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## holly12

Looking good so far.

Nope, pure ammonia and plants don't mix, lol. If you are feeding the snails that will produce ammonia. (What kind of snails are they?) Some are very sensitive to water params' so you will probably have to do water changes.

I totally hear you on getting plants on sale! My LFS just got a shipment of plants in from 2 different suppliers... there are sooooooo many! (Normally the store is pretty plant bare!) I'm so upset because I can't put any in the cycling tank and I have NO room left in the 10!! Ugh! Gonna' have to let the plants at the store get bought by someone else, lol. Once cycled, I was thinking of getting some Hornwort and Elodea for one corner, Corkscrew Val for a front corner and then maybe another giant' hygro for the back to go with the current one. My dwarf hygro is growing like a weed. I keep clipping parts off and planting them, then those parts grow roots and end up taking, lol. The Java fern is NOT doing as well as I thought it would! I'll have to leave all current plants in the 10g until I can grow some algae for the shrimp, Otos and snails.... they will have to stay in there until the 20g is a little more 'green'. The new tank will have to have some real plants though right away for the Honey gouramis and rainbow fish.

For holding down plants that want to keep floating back up, put a couple river rocks around the plant stem and that should help. I had to do that with my giant hygro, and now it's rooted and doesn't need the rocks.

Keep up with the pics! I really like the rock cave and the tall rock in the middle as well!

The old substrate should help in cycling.... I don't think it being dry for a while would really hurt anything.


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## Subaru4wd

The old substrate never went dry  I have been holding it in a rubbermaid container in my garage for around a month now. It has some worms in it from my filter change a few weeks ago, i tested it and it still has Nitrate & ammonia in it, so i hope its still good stuff. I set the rubbermaid container outside last week, in direct sunlight. I am hoping this will warm the water up and the exposure to sun will help the old substrate grow some algea. 

Tomorrow or the next day I will go buy some panty hose and fill them with the old material thats been soaking, and the end of this week I should have it all hanging in the tank leeching whatever goodness i can out of it.

The new snails i got are a Gold Mystery (to replace my old one who Died this week) and I got another black mystery snail too. Both of these snails are in my 36gal right now, I dont think I will introduce anything else to the tank until I get my hands on a heater or two.


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## holly12

Cool. I would love a mystery snail but they can get really big.... I've heard they can eat some plants too, lol. They are cute though!


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## Subaru4wd

So the Gold mystery snail I bought, was dead. It didnt budge or come out of its shell in 3 days, so i bagged it up, and took it back to exchange for a live one. While there I did a bunch of window shopping, but knew I couldnt buy any fish... so left with my snail but on the way home I stopped at a local rock, gravel & sand supply. I figure I could replace the fake stack of rocks I had in the center of the tank. This place has a huge selection of slate and other rock. 

I walked their yard for about 15min and came up with a few small pieces that i knew I could work with, picked em up and headed home.

This is what I ended up building with them:


















Here it is with the other cave i put together last week:









I think it looks 1000x better than the fake rock that was there before. I also picked up some pantyhose while I was out, and filled them with the substrate I have been soaking. I filled each hose with aprox 4-6 cups of the substrate and I ended up with 4 hanging sacks of substrate. You can see one of the sacks in the photo above.

Along with it I put in 3 snails I removed from my 36gallon tank (i found them as tiny babys & stored them in a tupperware container until today). Here is one of them taking advantage of the new structure:



















I hope these snails are hardy, but if they die I suppose that is just the chain of life and will continue the cycle. I am aiming to have fish in the tank by the end of this month, if not sooner...


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## holly12

The rocks look great! 

Awwww! You got a baby snail! (They can grow to be the size of a fist!) So teeny, to tiny! It's cute!


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## Subaru4wd

So finally the day has come!!! I have stocked my tank 

Alot has changed since my last post. I moved the tank (hopefully for the last time this time! ) and I have a few new live plants along with a totally new landscape.

Here is a photo of the new tank location, and the final light setup:









I replaced my old florecent shop bulbs with some 40w aquarium/plant bulbs. They will have to do the job for now.

I have my large piece of driftwood with 3 anubias in it, from my 36gallon tank:









Not many of the other, tall skinny plants survived. I just planted this new plant (name unknown) that was on sale from petsmart:









Its the green, two tone plant just in front of the slate. You can also see my awesome rock column. I picked those rocks out at a local sand/gravel supplier for $1.81 (for the slate & the 4 blocky pieces). The brown rock in the far right of the photo I found in my backyard, and had to use it! 

So far I have moved two of my Gourami into this 88gal tank (my 3 spotted blue & my pearl). They used to chase eachother and the pearl used to beat up the blue when they lived in the 36gal. But now that I have them in this 88gal, they both seem to get along much better, and i usually find them hanging out with eachother.

I went to the LFS yesterday and looked at some pleco's but I still cannot find one I like. So I left with 2 Marbled Angelfish and a serving of black-worms. 

I also picked up 5 Red something-or-other Tetra's, and a real beautiful african cat-fish of somekind. I will get further details and photos of them tomorrow after I get some sleep.


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## Subaru4wd

Good morning...

So I woke up and took a TON of pictures! then I realized my memory card wasn't in the camera :\ so I got the memory card, snapped a few more and here we are!

I am borrowing my brother-in-laws 10mp Nikon and still trying to get used to it. But here are some of the good shots...

Here is a pic of my new favorite! A Brown African Featherfin Catfish  Hard to get a pic of this guy cause he doesn't stand still long.










Here's a decent shot of my school of Red Minor Tetra's. You can also see my pearl & blue gourami in the top right as well.









I have to fill the tank... there's about 10-15gallons of water missing right now. After that I need to clean it. I didn't realize how filthy the tank was until I started looking at the photo's of it  Tonight I'll fiddle with this fancy camera and try to get some better shots.


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## majerah1

That new plant is non aquatic.I would try to take it back or plant it on your windowsill.

But the tank is coming along great and looks wonderful!


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## Subaru4wd

majerah1 said:


> That new plant is non aquatic.I would try to take it back or plant it on your windowsill.
> 
> But the tank is coming along great and looks wonderful!


Ribbon Plant - Decorations - Fish - PetSmart

Says it can be grown fully submerged??


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## majerah1

PlantGeek.net - Dracena sanderiana

Not true aquatic.Ive seen many people try this plant only to find it a gooey brown stinky mess.


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## Subaru4wd

Well wtf!? that sucks.


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## Rob72

gotta say i like what you have done with the setup, it is really nice
Rob


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## majerah1

Yeah petco is really bad about selling non aquatic plants.

But still the tank looks really great!


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## Z400

Aquarium is looking pretty nice!!


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## holly12

Wow! Very nice! Love how it's coming along! (Hee hee, in the first pic, I can see the 36g bow front in the other room.)


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## Subaru4wd

holly12 said:


> Wow! Very nice! Love how it's coming along! (Hee hee, in the first pic, I can see the 36g bow front in the other room.)


Yup, thats the 36g back there  I should get more pix of that tank and update that thread... just been really busy so it'll have to wait.

I rigged up a CO2 system for the 88g the other day as well, i wanna get some pix and put those up soon. 

Also, there's about 6 bulbs scattered throughout the tank, so hopefully in a couple weeks we'll figure out where i put them


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## jrman83

I agree with the non-aquatic. So I got to ask...why do you run it so low? And how is it getting your arms in that things to plant something? Seems like it would be a pain, being so deep. Did you get a pressurized CO2 system? A DIY system will not do too well with that big of a tank.


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## Subaru4wd

jrman83 said:


> I agree with the non-aquatic. So I got to ask...why do you run it so low? And how is it getting your arms in that things to plant something? Seems like it would be a pain, being so deep. Did you get a pressurized CO2 system? A DIY system will not do too well with that big of a tank.


I ran the tank with less water cause I was still messing with it. It sucks messing with the landscape with the tank full cause your shoulders get wet. I have made a cheater stick with PVC to push the substrate around without having to lean into the tank.

my CO2 system is a DIY 2 liter bottle right now. I will be adding another 2 liter bottle, and a filter soon. It might not be enough for the large tank, but its better than no CO2 at all.


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## jrman83

Subaru4wd said:


> It sucks messing with the landscape with the tank full cause your shoulders get wet.
> 
> my CO2 system is a DIY 2 liter bottle right now. I will be adding another 2 liter bottle, and a filter soon. It might not be enough for the large tank, but its better than no CO2 at all.


LOL, I just wanted to hear you say that  

You could probably be somewhat effective with DIY CO2. Start that bottle, wait 1wk, start another, wait 1wk and start a third. Replace the oldest bottle every week.

What type of light do you have again?


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## Subaru4wd

I have a 48" dual florecent hood with two 40w Aquarium/Plant florecent lights I got from Walmart.


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## Z400

Those arent going to grow you any plants, if you infact are wanting to grow plants. 

Your going to need atleast T5's for an aquarium that tall.


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## Subaru4wd

Z400 said:


> Those arent going to grow you any plants, if you infact are wanting to grow plants.
> 
> Your going to need atleast T5's for an aquarium that tall.


I am sure these will do just fine.


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## Z400

Ok, for Java ferns and Algea, yeah they will do great.


But i guess i do not know what i am talking about. 
So carry on, sorry for trying to make a suggestion and trying to help.


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## Subaru4wd

Z400 said:


> Ok, for Java ferns and Algea, yeah they will do great.
> 
> 
> But i guess i do not know what i am talking about.
> So carry on, sorry for trying to make a suggestion and trying to help.


I didnt say you didnt know what you are talking about. I am pretty confident 80watts of cheap walmart lighting will be plenty for some anubias and betta bulbs.

Here are a couple pix of the CO2 setup I have. First we have the 2liter bottle of mix. Plenty of room for more bottles 









Behind it you see another clear container, it has two hoses comming out of the top. That is a filter I made, but it has a leak so I need to make a new one. 

The line I am using is airline for semi truck air brakes. It is pretty stiff and rigid and should last a long time without ever getting clogged. It leads from the 2 liter bottle to the tank, where I have it inserted into a nozzle thats connected to my pump/filters output.










Here you can see the nozzle. I came up with a paint sketch so I can explain alittle further:









Its pretty crude, but I'll clean up the PVC bends later. I had to add the extra white elbow so it would point down instead of sideways. Anyhow, what I did was took the plastic tube that brings CO2 into the tank, and I poked a few holes at the end. I then drilled a hole into the PVC that my filter uses to pump water into the tank. The air tube with the CO2 runs straight thru the PVC, but is plugged at the end so CO2 can only leak thru the tiny holes... right in the path of moving water.

Here's a video of it in action. The downward flow seems to keep the bubbles in the water for a little bit, and its blowing right onto my driftwood with the anubias. 

YouTube - ‪co2.wmv‬‏

I am going to leave it like this but i do have four other 2 liter bottles, and my father brews beer so getting the yeast wont be hard.


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## Subaru4wd

So I upped the CO2 by adding a 1gal bottle to the setup. So now i have a 2liter and a 1gal bottle, and an external filter. 
Today I found my catfish on the carpet. He must have jumped over 4" because the tank is still not completely full of water. When I found him, his gills were still moving so I quickly put him into a tupperware container with some tank water, and moved him around in the tupperware until I felt comfortable... and returned him to the tank.

His eyes were still real cloudy, and he had trouble moving his body... but he spent about 20min in the tank until he found a spot to hide. I checked on him and thought he was dead... but when I tried to get him with the net he swam away... so I let him stay in the tank another 30minutes.

I setup a 5gallon bucket half full of tank water & moved him into the bucket with some fake plants he can hide in. Afterwards I pulled out the BIG 20gal bucket I use for waterchanges... and filled it with tapwater to prepare. I have been slowly adding treated tapwater from the large bucket to the 5gal every 20minutes or so. I also have the bucket treated with MelaFix.

He looks to be doing better. I see him swim at the bottom of the bucket and if I see him eat I will stop worrying. But I am still wondering what would make him jump clear out of the tank... so first thing I thought was the CO2? And the PH levels. 

I tested the Large tank and its PH was way low... about 6.2-6.4 (i tested using 4 strips & one API ph test in a vial). I did the same tests on my 36gal and its PH balance is at 7.2. Which is close to this treated tapwater I have in the 20gallon bucket that tested at 7.4. I know its the CO2 causing the PH to drop, and Im wondering if 6.2 was just too much to take and the Catfish went suicidal? This makes me start to worry about my other fish in the tank... however none of them are showing any symptoms of stress.

I had thought about cutting back on the CO2 injected into the tank... or just going with it and move the catfish into my 36gal tank... or maybe the catfish can adapt to the low PH?? And continue to live a healthy life with CO2?

Right now I have to cut this short and get back to the tank. I have about 15gallons of treated water, that I have used PH Down to get closer to 6.4 before I do this water-change.


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## Subaru4wd

Okay guys, time for my long overdue update here! Things have been slowly progressing on this large tank. My wife & I welcomed our baby boy Benjamin to the world on July 27th, and since then you can imagine how much free time I have to devote to the tank.

But I do give my fish the attention they need. Usually I visit the tank with a screaming baby in my hand, and the two of us watch the fish eat, and then carry on with our day.

Ok so lets get back to the tank here. First off, I got rid of the CO2 setup. It only lasted maybe a week, and then it all went to the wayside. Also my suicidal catfish has fully recovered and got a new playmate... a 7 year old pleco that I rescued from my buddy's 10gal tank.

Last week I was at the local lake with my family and spotted a huge root ball that had been there for a while. I knew it would be perfect for the large tank, so I drug it back with me to break down.



















It was obviously way too large for the tank. So my brother in law & I drug it over to a large rock and broke it in half. I took the smaller half home with me, and did some final cuts with a saw... then soaked it and cleaned it... then put it in my tank.










I also took all the anubias from both tanks, and cut them up. I started with 5 plants and ended up with 16 when I was finished. I used thread to secure some pieces of anubias to the new wooden piece.










The piece also wants to float. Last week I removed half the substrate in my tank, and drained about 60gal of water to keep the piece on the bottom. Then placed some large rocks at the base, and poured the substrate back in, making sure it was packed in tight. Now it seems to be seated and doesnt budge.










The waters still alittle brown but it should continue to clear. I am working on adding some moss... and still trying to decide what I am going to do for a background. Next week is devoted to tearing down the filter and cleaning a few things.


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## SirSaul

This is looking real nice


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## Subaru4wd

Spent most the day breaking down the entire tank, and removing everything. I picked up some new substrate I wanted to use. It is darker, crushed slate chips. I sifted out all the large pieces and put all the smallest stuff in the tank. I also removed all my fake plants, and placed some new plants I picked up the other day.



















I saw this XXL Anubias and couldnt say no... 










And here are an assortment of plants, Im not sure what they are but I like them alot.










Here you can see my Catfish & Pleco hanging out on the wood.









He's a big pleco 









But he's a good sized catfish, and likes to push the pleco around sometimes.










And a good shot of my pearl gourami.









I picked up a bag of small lava rock, 1" to 1.5" diameter, black and some red. I am planning on making some caves and rock formations soon.


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## majerah1

I love that slate substrate.Where did you find that at and was it pricey?


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## Subaru4wd

I found it at the local stone supplier. It cost $4 for about 70lbs. Its pretty dirty and took us alittle while to sift and wash. I bought 3 bags and still have 1 and a half bags left.


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## Paladine9169

HAHAHA, I just found your thread on a google search while looking for tanks with stacked slate.. Sub, you suck! haha!


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## xteenagedirtbag

the tank looks brilliant


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## holly12

How big is that Pleco? I love your Pearl Gourami - so pretty! Tank is coming along nicely!


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## ValorieMackison

Your tank is looking good.

I was glad to see you moved the tank, lol. Your initial pictures made me cringe, what with the paneling showing through the back. (I have never been a fan.)


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## Subaru4wd

ValorieMackison said:


> Your tank is looking good.
> 
> I was glad to see you moved the tank, lol. Your initial pictures made me cringe, what with the paneling showing through the back. (I have never been a fan.)


You sound like my wife  I dont mind the wood paneling, and i am not sure if a bare white wall is a better backing. 

I was attempting to build a moss-wall, but after wasting $30 on moss and about 2 months of time, i have gotten no-where and still the tank has no background. Oh well, its on my to-do list. I am still struggling with plant growth, i dont think the lighting i have at the moment is enough. Also my catfish is getting big, and that big-*** pleco love to go around and up-root my plants. So for the past few weeks I have just left most my plants floating at the top of the tank. They seem to be growing better up there than 30" below in the substrate.


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## Summer

I enjoyed reading through this thread! How about some updated pics?


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## Subaru4wd

Nothing much has changed since the last pics. except some of the plants are in different places. No new pictures, but I do have a new camcorder so maybe if you guys are lucky.....


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## Hooperman42

what a wonderful post to enjoy!


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## Subaru4wd

Thanks Hooper. Im itching to do some more work on this tank and get some updates going. But with the current lights, i am stuck with plastic plants :\


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## MJAVY7

very nice tank.


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## Subaru4wd

So just some updates on this tank. I got tired of seeing the wall behind the tank, so I placed the cardboard back there to give it some contrast. I am kicking around the idea of just painting the backside of the tank black, or doing some kind of 3D wall.

Also I got tired of pulling dead plants our spending money on real plants... so I just gathered my collection of fake plants and put them in the tank. The fish need them, and I cant afford a good light so this will have to get me by. The fish wont notice 

Here is a pic I took a couple weeks ago after alittle rescape:









Here it is today with the cardboard behind it.









I also added these today, the gourami really seem to like the extra cover.









And a pic of the entire setup... excuse the mess, i also did a 20gal water change this morning.









The white dots all over my glass are baby Golden Mystery Snails. I had bought 4 snails from Petsmart a couple months ago, and whenever the water level drops too low they love to come out and lay a ton of eggs. At one time i had 13 pouches of eggs total.

This is an old picture with only a few pouches, but at one time the entire side of this tank was lined with eggs. 









After two of the pouches hatched, i removed all the other eggs and topped off the tank. It seems to keep them from laying any other eggs... now I just have to keep it topped off, or else more of this.









So yeah thats just about it. Im worried about my filtration not being enough, so im on the hunt for a 2nd canister filter... or maybe kicking around the idea of setting up a sump.


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## Rob72

looking good buddy


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## ElChef194

so i was reading this post and loved it.

i notice that you often wonder about having a background on your tank. i watched this video the other day and seems like you could benefit from it. this guy's channel is full of DIY tanks. 

here's the vid and again, really love your tank. i wish you would have kept it planted though. sucks about your lighting. i am pretty broke, too, but petco and petsmart have pretty decently priced t5 and t8. i have two t8 on in each planted tank.

<iframe width="560" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/EqWAl5TpzY0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>


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## Subaru4wd

Ah yes... Joey from DIY Fishkeepers. He makes nice vids. I have seen his vid's on PVC overflows and also his forums have inspired me to daydream of someday building a plywood tank.

Once I get some better lighting, I will definitely be going back to a fully planted tank. 

Thanks for the compliments.


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