MY 1400 Gallon Tank

[StylinT]

I have been thinking more an more about what I wanna put in this tank
as the stingray was just an idea an was the catfish if anything I may just may go with

5-6 oscars
10-15 tinfoil barbs
1 dovii
2 arowana
2 common pleco's
1 flower horn
4-5 peacock bass
an maybe a few male covicts


I think with all those dither fish the Dovii an flowerhorn will wanna pick on them an not each other but its all just an idea an all the fish will be put in the tank as fry or later in time once all the peaceful fish have adapted to it

[dan2x38]

I am sealing all the wood with I will be using a huge pond liner to seal everything I am debating on how to get the roughness off the playwood so it dosnt puncture it with the water being in it

For sealing the inside to prevent the pond liner from being punctured how about outdoor epoxy concrete paint. It is water proof and resistant to high & low temps. It would also add a little bonding too. With your discount on hardware won't cost an arm & a leg either... Good stuff can't wait to see the progress! 

[hamstercaster]

can't wait to see the end product!!! that will be quite something else!!  You will indeed have to invite your fellow OVAS members to see it when it's done, you're aware of that I hope    Then again, some of our wives may not let us go see it though as I'm sure many will have bright ideas on their way back and will more than likely have their complete basement reconfigured by the time they get back home lol.

Good luck with your project and I sincerly hope it works out for you.  You will have many jealous fellow OVAS members lol

[Mettle]

If you get a male dovii it'll likely kill off everything else in the tank.

I would avoid the dovii.

I'd make the recommendation too to select your cichlids carefully. Oscars are big push overs for the most part and can't really tangle all that well with some of the more hardcore guys like doviis and flowerhorns. You'll want to make the right selections here otherwise you'll end up with a lot of dead fish.

And that second list you made sounds horribly overstocked, imo. Remember, it's only 1400 gallons. Not 14,000.

[StylinT]

I already own a male dovii an he is very docile an minds his own usually

did you see the link to the utube video ? that is a tank in Ottawa an all those fish get together if ya look closely it has 3 male dovii an its a 1000 gallon tank 8'X6'X4'

an to seal the plywood I was gonna use laminate flooring gasket you lay down before you put the install the floor

[darkdep]

I'm researching plywood tanks right now (nothing like what you're doing tho) and am very interested in what you use to seal the plywood.  I was pretty much sold on epoxy paint, but now I'm wondering what "laminate flooring gasket" is?  Is it non-toxic?

[StylinT]

its that plastic foam underlay you lay down on the floor prior to installing the laminate flooring its about a 1/4 of foam I was gonna use it to protect my pond liner from little sliver etc

[darkdep]

Oh, ok, gotcha.  So plywood, foam, liner. 

Have you considered doing the epoxy route?  (I ask only because perhaps you considered it, and have a reason for not doing it?)

[kennyman]

The flooring stuff could probably work pretty good but I was wondering if you had looked into the protective underlay sold for pond liners. I have set up a few temporary indoor ponds displays and used the same inexpensive underlay to protect the liner from punctures that I used when installing them outside.

[StylinT]

Umm I actually never thought about using the epoxy but the reason I chose the underlay was speed I can use a little 2 way tape an stick the underlay to the plywood alot faster then using epoxy an also cost its alot cheaper to use underlay then buying alot of epoxy even though the epoxy may give me more strength the foam gives me a bit more insulation value an then stuff i am using also kills the noise

[Mettle]

Are any of the male doviis in the 1000 gallon tank actually full grown?

[StylinT]

I got my Dovii from him an they are all the same age I believe an mine is pushing 14"

[jdx]

Hi Tyler,

Got you PM, and sorry to be late to the party.

I did use 1/4" floor underlayment for insulation. And also under the bottom 3/4" plywood, I used Styrofoam to further insulate it from the concrete floor. It is like building a hottub with a window. From your picture, I see you are doing a great insulation. My 1000G tank only need 200 Watt heater to keep temperature at 25C in winter, pump (150 watt) and lighting (320Watt) are almost enough to keep the water warm.

There is no need to further seal the tank walls if you use higher gauge EPDM liner, this thing is supper strong. Unless you keep something like Pacu's.

I have made a few tanks with plywood and epoxy, epoxy is very expensive and not fun to work with. I believe for such a big tank to seal it with Epoxy you have to use fiberglass, just like building a boat.

As for Dovii's, they are very aggressive towards each other and other Parachromis. I had to remove his siblings when he was 13". Now his is about 15", he doesn't bother others unless someone picks on him. All the fish that have bullied him when he was young got his revenge. Some had to be removed.

He seems to tolerant fish that doesn't look like himself. This thing is definitely the most powerful cichlids that I have kept. Extremely fast and strong, Jaguar, Motaguense and other Parachromis stand no chance against it. He is as aggressive as other CA cichlids, but because of his power, he could do much more damage.

As for bulkheads connections, for your water flow, I would definitely use at least 2 2" for return, and 1 2" for drain. 2 returns should have separate piping (at least 2") from the filter to allow enough flow. This is what I am doing. My pump is 3600GPH, you might need more. I just use on strainer on the drain bulkhead. You can find the fitting from bulkhead's thread to glue-on PVC/ABS pipes at HD. Once the adaptation is made, it is all standard plumbing, use PVC or ABS contact cement for very fast installation.

Cover the tank and leave an adjustable window, also position the returns so that they are just above the water level, it will provide enough surface movement so that water is oxygenized. I don't have humidity problem at all. (My house has an air exchanger, but don't know how much it helps).

Have fun!

[StylinT]

Thanks for all the info again dongxun
so I take it ya got my post on waterwolves

Also did ya have a link again to some good places to get the windows an stuff I am gonna call a few places that I know off but I dont know how thick to get would 1/2 be sufficient ??

an as for the filtration I as thinking of going with something like is in the link were the pump drains into buckets with media
http://forums.waterwolves.com/Several-Pics-of-my-1100-Gallon-indoor-Pond-Setup-t118710.html

Do you think I would also need a skimmer or just the return bulkheads will stir the water up enough

I also noticed at my gf work the have pond UV sterilizers for ponds up to 2000 gallons there 25 watt for around $200.00 now with her discount I might save 40 or 50 bucks would that be a good investment for the tank while I am plumbing it out
as for the plumbing I was reading I should use vinyl hose instead of ABS cause the curves in teh hose will give less resistance then 90 degree elbows in abs 

[jdx]

As for plexiglass, I got it from here:
http://www.canusplastics.com, they cut it while I was waiting. Take extra care when drilling holes, use the drill bit that has the tip shaped like this:
lWl

As for thickness of the glass, I have done some calculation before. I remember if the 1/2" acrylic is 2' tall, the bottom of glass can be as deep as 3'. This is with a lots of margin, you can probably push it.

For the filter, I would reverse the waterflow and sprinkle the water on top. In this way, you can add prefilter on top of the media, so it can be easily cleaned. I basically change the prefilter every 3 weeks (WalMart pillow stuffing). Cheap and easy. The drawback is if prefilter gets really dirty, water can overflow and cause flood. This can be easily solved by installing a gauge or bypass pipe. I would go with 100G filter capacity for a tank that big.

I don't use skimmer, the return cleans the surface very well. I am running a 18Watt UV sterilizer, it got rid of the algae problem and I didn't have disease problem in it for 3 years.

The more expensive Vinyl hose could be a good idea. It can save you a lot of times. And after your wife gives you discount it wouldn't be expensive anymore

[StylinT]

Great !!

that helps out alot I will buying the pump tonight from jl aquatics I belive they are from British Columbia the pump is a  Sequence ReeFlo External Water Pump - Barracuda (4500GPH) for 339.99 I most likely after I get the pump ill be saving up cahs for the windows I belive mine are 3'X2 1/2' an I will have 2 of them I will also be using 2 2X12 pieces of wood for cross bracing an also in every corner I will be installing 3/4 inch play wood corners that will tie them all together an to finish the whole aquarium off I will be installing if I can get the scraps form the job site 2x6 tounge an groove pine boards that are clear finished an look really nice this will also give it some huge strength

I also love the idea of a overflow on the filter so it dosnt fill up to fast I will use that idea for sure

if all goes well I will have tis done this year

[StylinT]

WOOOOT MY pump Arrived last night I took a few snaps I will post tonight of it

I will be in ottawa saterday night till sunday night an will be stopping off at big als in search for 2" bulkheads I couldnt find then on there website so I was wondering if any of you have seen them there forsale