Hey everyone, been a long long time since I have been on here so I thought it was about time for a update. quick run down, after a lot of thought I decided to shut down most my tanks and ibcs, sell everything for the one tank, and of course go all out. so here is the build start to finish (haven't 100 percent finished yet)
first of all. I got a 8x3x2.5ft tank late last year, main reason for building this tank is so I can finally have rays. due to there upkeep and the fact they create so much ammonia I decided to use one of my old 6x2x2 tanks as my sump. so that's exactly what I did. here is a few pics of the sump building process. first section 2x2x2 for a fluidized bed with k1. atm I have 30L of k1 but in the future I will put more in. than goes into sponge section, than to dry section of sump, than to heaters. last thing a 9000LPH laguna pumping up into the main tank with a large 3ft long spray bar that I built. here are some pics
ignore the background I was making, in the end I scrapped that idea
first vid is when I first got it running, k1 aint fluidized properly yet, second vid is when sump was more mature. still having got anything in dry section of sump but I will one day lol
https://www.youtube....h?v=bMfzCjwpI9Q
https://www.youtube....h?v=WMvlmW8hD0k
next me and my brother (cabnet/furniture maker) decided to build a wrap around stand. I wanted a tall head cabnet so than I have plenty of room to clean inside the tank and so I could mount my 120w led lighting. I wanted a wow factor so I went for the modern look of high gloss white, rhs of tank opened so can see the tank side on from my kitchen, than the other side blocked off for a large cupboard where I can store all my fish gear, hide all the bulk heads with easy access. here are some pics
Cupboard and frame of hood getting built
hood on, cutting out holes in cuboard for plumbing to be accessable
cupboard and some doors on, still had to adjust doors
amost done, still have to put some strips in on rhs and do all the kickers
this is what I am at so far, stocking so far is a 55cm jardini, 25-30cm bala shark and a 25cm motoro ray. still looking for more larger fish to stock with so if you do have anything please let me know.
next prefect is decking out the inside. I decided to go a gin gin quart for substrate. its fine but not as fine as your normal play sand, I like it as it has different size grans in it. next I will going for some large pieces of drift wood with some leaves etc for some aquascaping.