g2theram Posted October 11, 2014 Share Posted October 11, 2014 This tank will be a freshwater tank but I figure we all like a good fish tank and all the fresh forums seem like they are not as active. I am starting with a Marineland 93 gallon rimless cube and matching stand. I went down to southern Oregon and picked up some manzanita to put in the tank. I'm planning on getting everything else in the next few months. Trigger systems makes a cube sump that will fit under the tank very nice. It has room for some filter media and a small refugium too. Has anyone ran a refugium on their fresh water. Still have to figure out a light. I haven't decided if I will have live plants or not. Also I've seen a few of you out there painting the inside of your stand I think I like that idea and might steal it. So far this is what it looks like Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mitchell Posted October 11, 2014 Share Posted October 11, 2014 I've kept freshwater reptiles, but never any fish. This looks like it'll be a great tank; love the manzanita. I painted and caulked (with silicone) the inside of my 240's stand. Was really easy and adds just that much more protection. Have even seen people use a pond liner and seal in their stand that way. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vanz Posted October 11, 2014 Share Posted October 11, 2014 Beautiful. I like the wood sticking out. Just a hard scape looks nice. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Derbird Posted October 11, 2014 Share Posted October 11, 2014 Off to a great start (clap) Painting the inside of the stand is easy and makes it so much easier to see what you are doing What kind of livestock are you going to keep in there? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
featherblue Posted October 11, 2014 Share Posted October 11, 2014 Great driftwood! What are you planning to stock? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
g2theram Posted October 12, 2014 Author Share Posted October 12, 2014 I have decided to go back to my roots. 20ish years ago I fell in love with the hobby when I bought my first cichlid. This one will be a lake Malawi stocked tanks. I really enjoy watching the pecking order being established and the different breeding behaviors. Side not has anyone every had a freshwater fuge? I would think it's going to be the same principle as my reef but I'm not sure which plants should go in there. On a positive side it will also double a fry chamber Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
featherblue Posted October 12, 2014 Share Posted October 12, 2014 I haven't done a fw fuge; but as far nitrate sponges: Frogbit or duck weed as a floater Niajas or guppy grass Wisteria I run my planted fw tanks with "daylight" cfl (13w, 3 on a 20g long), and theyd work for top and side light on a fuge Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Higher Thinking Posted October 12, 2014 Share Posted October 12, 2014 But planted tanks are so much cooler!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
g2theram Posted October 12, 2014 Author Share Posted October 12, 2014 Oh man I need to do some digging probably on the plantedtank I would like to find a happy medium and get some live plants and my cichlids Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Higher Thinking Posted October 12, 2014 Share Posted October 12, 2014 Unfortunately, most cichlids don't do well with plants. On second thought, I guess it's the plants that don't do well with the cichlids. There are some beautiful dwarf cichlids: Altispinosa, German Blue Ram, and Electric Blue Ram come to mind. I've been on plantedtank.net for a while now. Great info there. That tank is my 75 I've had for about three years. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Emerald525 Posted October 12, 2014 Share Posted October 12, 2014 Good looking tank! I was wondering why this was in Out of Bounds. I think your thread would be a welcome addition to club cube IMO. I almost missed this build but I was looking to post in the Cowboy's forum! (laugh) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
g2theram Posted October 12, 2014 Author Share Posted October 12, 2014 I wasn't sure since its a freshwater build. I like you guys and wanted to share it here instead of joining a new forum. Thankfully out of bounds has no rules Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Emerald525 Posted October 12, 2014 Share Posted October 12, 2014 I wasn't sure since its a freshwater build. I like you guys and wanted to share it here instead of joining a new forum. Thankfully out of bounds has no rules Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Well thanks for sharing I think if you send a pm to one of the board members or officers I don't think they would have a problem with it. I'm glad you decided to share here instead of starting another forum, it looks like it is going to be a really nice tank. There are several freshwater tank owners on this forum. I have to admit I have been partial to saltwater tanks. I didn't even know what a Manzanita was. I haven't had a freshwater tank since I was a kid but I loved it. What in your opinion would you say are the pros of freshwater versus saltwater tanks? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blackice Posted October 12, 2014 Share Posted October 12, 2014 Unfortunately' date=' most cichlids don't do well with plants. On second thought, I guess it's the plants that don't do well with the cichlids. There are some beautiful dwarf cichlids: Altispinosa, German Blue Ram, and Electric Blue Ram come to mind. I've been on plantedtank.net for a while now. Great info there. That tank is my 75 I've had for about three years.[/quote'] Oh man I need to do some digging probably on the plantedtank I would like to find a happy medium and get some live plants and my cichlids Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk I tried that a few years ago it works great for about a week lol the fish just dig to much to let the plants get a good hold in the substrat plus most chichlid will nip at the plants slowly eating them till they just die. I can work just have to keep buying new plants. Dwarf is your best bet. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
featherblue Posted October 12, 2014 Share Posted October 12, 2014 Isn't ph an issue with Malawi cichlids as well? I know theres some plants that will adjust to the higher ph; but mosses tend to melt Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
g2theram Posted October 12, 2014 Author Share Posted October 12, 2014 Well thanks for sharing I think if you send a pm to one of the board members or officers I don't think they would have a problem with it. I'm glad you decided to share here instead of starting another forum' date=' it looks like it is going to be a really nice tank. There are several freshwater tank owners on this forum. I have to admit I have been partial to saltwater tanks. I didn't even know what a Manzanita was. I haven't had a freshwater tank since I was a kid but I loved it. What in your opinion would you say are the pros of freshwater versus saltwater tanks?[/quote'] For me there are two things that I really enjoy with a freshwater tank. Im the first is I enjoy watching a cichlid community interact with one another. The second is with me being short on time as of late the maintenance is much easier. Also when I travel I can easily ask someone to top off my tank. Much harder to explain how to test parameters and dose a tank properly to a friend. QUOTE=featherblue;341106]Isn't ph an issue with Malawi cichlids as well? I know theres some plants that will adjust to the higher ph; but mosses tend to melt Cichlids are my priority I hadn't looked into the plants at all until I saw the picture of the planted tank that looked cool. Not much of a deal breaker as I have some cool wood and will get some slate in there as well too Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Emerald525 Posted October 12, 2014 Share Posted October 12, 2014 For me there are two things that I really enjoy with a freshwater tank. Im the first is I enjoy watching a cichlid community interact with one another. The second is with me being short on time as of late the maintenance is much easier. Also when I travel I can easily ask someone to top off my tank. Much harder to explain how to test parameters and dose a tank properly to a friend. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Well you do have a good point with that. I am out of town quite a bit and have had quite a few disasters as I recall freshwater didn't require as much maintenance. So I could probably just use the ro/di water with the OTDs filter I have and just top off directly from there....(plotting) Don't tempt me!(laugh) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
g2theram Posted October 13, 2014 Author Share Posted October 13, 2014 Well you do have a good point with that. I am out of town quite a bit and have had quite a few disasters as I recall freshwater didn't require as much maintenance. So I could probably just use the ro/di water with the OTDs filter I have and just top off directly from there....(plotting) Don't tempt me!(laugh) Get on it then There would be two of us on here doing a freshwater build. Maybe we could get lucky enough to have someone give us an area where we are welcomed Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vanz Posted October 13, 2014 Share Posted October 13, 2014 welcome to club cube! Added you the list. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
g2theram Posted October 13, 2014 Author Share Posted October 13, 2014 welcome to club cube! Added you the list. Hey thanks Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
g2theram Posted December 26, 2014 Author Share Posted December 26, 2014 First off Merry Christmas i hope you all were able to enjoy your time with your family. This project got put on hold due to other household needs and then with christmas around the corner I didn't want to buy something that i might be gifted. Well santa dropped off some cool stuff but nothing for the fish tank. In the next day i will begin the ordering. figured i would pop on here and get some advice on some of the elements. remember this tank is freshwater so i don't need the extreme on all items but i might switch it over to a reef tank at some point in time. So far i have decided on the trigger ruby20c this is all i am set on so far. For pump i was thinking a mag drive 9.5 any thoughts? Lighting I need help on so please give me advice. where i have the tank i can mount anything to the wall for support and i am not quite sure i want anything hanging from the ceiling. preferably attach it to the stand or some sort of stand that will rest on the floor i would also like to make some sort of a top i doubt it will be possible but i like the look of the wood sticking out and wouldn't mind finding a solution that would cover the tank and still allow for that wood to extend out of the tank. is there anything else that i might be missing besides the plumbing hardware and some electrical components? I would like to get everything ordered in the next few days so that it is here before my birthday, 1/4/84. I took the week off and plan to have this tank operational with fish in it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Higher Thinking Posted December 26, 2014 Share Posted December 26, 2014 You're still doing cichlids, yes? In that case, lighting is not too big of an issue. Unless you're going to go the planted route and inject co2, you do not want high light. High light in a non co2 injected tank will nearly always end up with algae problems. Get a low powered light, whatever is aesthetically pleasing. Maybe a couple t5NO. Honestly, I wouldn't use any more light than that. Let me know if you ever want to switch to high light and co2 injected planted tanks and I'll help point you in a good direction as far as lights. Using a top while trying to maintain the wood aquascape will prove to be difficult. It could be done, but it wouldn't allow for removing the top very easily (if at all). I would just rock the open top. Lastly, I don't know if it's possible, but I would try and do something different with the manzanita. Either rotate the piece so the sawed edges are facing the back or if possible, try to make the edges more natural by breaking the limbs. The stubs look pretty thick so breaking might not be an option, but maybe cutting it less flush might help. Unfortunately, flat cut marks will always detract from an aquascape. Hope this helps a little. I'm excited to see you develop it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
g2theram Posted December 27, 2014 Author Share Posted December 27, 2014 I think its too late on the wood im not so sure how i would go about making it look like a natural break. the lighting im going to have to find a way to make it look good over the top. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
g2theram Posted December 29, 2014 Author Share Posted December 29, 2014 I have always ran tubbing to my sumps but i think for this build i want to plumb with PVC. Ive looked a lot online and have seen how to use unions to be able to remove some of the hardware and i am familiar with putting the PVC piping together from my days of spud gun building. the only thing i am having a hard time figuring out is how to get the pump connected to the PVC can some of you send me some examples and pictures please. I live in the vancouver Area if any of you are hard plumbed i would love to swing by and take a look to get some ideas. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Higher Thinking Posted December 29, 2014 Share Posted December 29, 2014 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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