DIY Monster Fish Tank

I decided to finish the other side of the hood using scraps since I'm short material. I had enough thin plywood for the short sides but on the front I used two pieces with a 4' seem along the length. I will cover that seem with drywall tape and after it's painted, it won't be very noticeable at all I hope.

And I cancelled the order for the undergravel filters. I found a really cool DIY under gravel build on youtube and I'm going to do it instead. And it will be a fun build too, working with 3/4" cpvc is actually fun and it's so easy to work with. Also, I'm tempted to return that Fluval canister filter too, I'm still undecided because I probably don't really need it. I sure do like it though. I could return it and get a small gas powered generator instead.

I doubt if I get it finished today, but I might.
right side hood section.jpg
 
outofyourmind said:
I'm not really following here.
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Oh man, sorry about that, OOYM, I will try to explain it better and I have a better picture too.

The gaps in the front and back of the hood are 48" x 4" and I didn't have any long pieces that were wide enough so I used two pieces that were long enough but they both are only about 3" wide. I hope that makes sense. In the pic, you can see two different colors on that bottom section. And yeah, so I just covered the long seem on both sides by gluing on some paper drywall tape, problem solved!
2 pieces instead of one.jpg

And since I got it primed before dinner I can get one top coat on later this evening.
Prime painted.jpg

And I don't know if anyone remembers but I bought a bunch of different aquarium plants back in August, jumpin the gun for sure, but it looks like some of them are still alive! See that kiddie pool outside the window?
aquarium plants..jpg
 
Parka said:
Oh man, sorry about that, OOYM, I will try to explain it better and I have a better picture too.

The gaps in the front and back of the hood are 48" x 4" and I didn't have any long pieces that were wide enough so I used two pieces that were long enough but they both are only about 3" wide. I hope that makes sense. In the pic, you can see two different colors on that bottom section. And yeah, so I just covered the long seem on both sides by gluing on some paper drywall tape, problem solved!
View attachment 57032

And since I got it primed before dinner I can get one top coat on later this evening.
View attachment 57033

And I don't know if anyone remembers but I bought a bunch of different aquarium plants back in August, jumpin the gun for sure, but it looks like some of them are still alive! See that kiddie pool outside the window?
View attachment 57034
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Bring yourn plants inside, breh. It's cold outside
 
Crap crappington! I got too comfortable for going back to the labor dungeon! I'ts probably not a good idea for me to be drinking strong liquor but I ain't got me know strong weed so it's the booze! Plus I need a re-fill! Mother fuck fuckity fuck!
 
Parka said:
Crap crappington! I got too comfortable for going back to the labor dungeon! I'ts probably not a good idea for me to be drinking strong liquor but I ain't got me know strong weed so it's the booze! Plus I need a re-fill! Mother fuck fuckity fuck!
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tommy chong weed GIF by Paramount Movies
Great Gatsby Movie GIF by Sony
chris tucker dope GIF
 
NU_FTW said:
theres a lil somethin on the glass, think ya can clean it up and take a new picture?
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Oh yeah! I know, I'm just not feelin it yet. I got silicone smudges all over that glass. I spent hours cleaning off the inside of the glass. I wiil get it cleaned up for you soon! Clean up on Aisle Clumsy!
Confused Mess GIF by Samm Henshaw
 
I was hoping to talk about my fish tank but I might not be ready yet. No real progress on it since the last report, but I did return that $350 Fluval canister filter plus an additional $130 in other returns. I made a wiser purchase of Danner Pondmaster model 2720 for 90 bucks.
 
I'm finally going to the Home Depot today, this is very good! I will be getting plumbing supplies to build an under gravel filter.

UGF's (under gravel filters) have fallen out of favor in the past ten or 20 years especially among the aquarium crowd. The reason is because they clog easily. That is nothing more than a minor design flaw and the Koi pond industry has been using UGF's with great success for decades.

I been looking at dozens of backyard pond builds, particularly how they are filtered and the UGF that I will make will be designed just like the Koi pond people use. It's a UGF on steroids. Instead of the water being pulled up from the bottom, this system I'm gonna use, it forces water down into the filter tubes and greatly reduces any chance of a clog.

With a UGF, the entire floor of the tank can be a bio-filter and I plan to use 3 inches deep of lava rock for the bottom substrate. Just one piece of lava rock has a gazillion, perhaps even a grillion times more surface area than a similar sized rock and the more surface area, the more beneficial bacteria for the bio filter to do its thing.

After the lava rock is in then I plan to use a piece of landscaping fabric, fine screen would work too but I have a roll of that black landscape fabric, and then pour gravel on top of that.

Also I plan to have all my plants in pots, pots filled with dirt! I can do this!

I got the whole world in my god damn clumsy hands!
(Sung to the tune of, 'If I had a Hammer (and a ladder))
fishes GIF
 
Well I got that UGF put together but I haven't drilled any holes in it yet. Each long tube will have a series of holed drilled along the sides. But I need to be very careful with this because I need to try to get as even a flow as possible along the entire filter. I think it's something that could easily get fuckered up, like too much water flowing near the pump and none or very little flowing at the opposite end. So when I start drilling the holes I will start at the end opposite of the pump and work my way to the pump, with a lot of test runs to check for proper flow. This is probably super boring but for me it's High Adventure!

Here's a pic of pond build using a UGF and then a couple of my copy. I'm still gonna need more plumbing fittings though. The pump is threaded and the plumbing ain't threaded! All those different little parts that I don't know the names of and I also don't even know what fittings I need! I'm taking my pump with me on my next adventure to Home Depot. I might even try Ace Hardware instead, it's closer too.
UGF pond filter.jpg
 
Also I wanted to mention, I made my filter like an open circuit, as in there are no end caps like that pond filter has. I sorta have no idea why I did it that way as opposed to putting end caps on the tubes opposite of the inlet/pump. I sure hope my layout works and if it doesn't I will know BEFORE I put to use. And again if it doesn't work, it won't be but a few dollars for more PVC. And it's not glued so I can re-use all the T's and elbows if I have to start over. These PVC fittings fit tight enough that I won't need to glue them and the pipes themselves will be loaded with holes anyway. Man alive am I ever having a grand time!
fish splashing GIF
I ran over a screw today in my work dungeon and now my work wheel chair, AKA Working Man's Friend, he got a gall dang flat tire!
tank GIF
 
Okay, I been changing things up a little bit and it's mostly about energy consumption, I want to keep it low as possible.

So I returned that 90 dollar Danner pond pump, it uses 93 watts and it would run continuously. It was also rated at 950 gallons per hour.

Instead I bought a slightly smaller version of the same reliable pump. It was 83 dollars and it only uses 60 watts and it is rated at 700 gallons per hour. I believe this smaller pump will still be more than enough to push water through my UGF.

The lights. I have three 100 watt LED plates and are they ever BRIGHT! I don't know if it would be too much light but my hope is that three 60 watt plates will still be plenty of light for explosive plant growth. So I will switch out the lights and if I need to go back to the 100 watt lights, I already have them.

Anyway I won't be able to test my UGF for water flow until later this week when my new pump gets delivered. I got all kinds of things to keep me busy for a long time, I ain't got no time for mopin around the house like a clumsy sad crazy senior!

Okay kind friends, I gotta get cleaned up, find my god damn mitre hat and I have a Mass to deliver under the Porch shortly!
aquarium fail GIF
 
I will be wanting to put some driftwood in my tank and there's this tree that fell down just on the other side of the stream in my yard, this happened when we had local flooding maybe 8 years ago. Anyway, I just want to grab some bigger pieces off of it and see if it could be used. Now that is something I will need someone else to do for me.

I keep an extra walker in my basement that I use when I go in the yard but it gets uneven past those two boulders, it's just a little bit too much for me to navigate but I got as close as I could today for this picture. Not the best idea but even if I take a tumble back there, the ground is super soft so very little chance of an injury from taking a spill.

My biggest worry/nightmare is taking a fall in that area in warm weather and falling on one of those nasty ass wasp nests that are in the ground... I think they might be yellow jackets. Because it takes me a long time to get up off the ground, even if I'm getting stung!
Backyard water feature, AKA a stream..jpg

So yes, the driftwood will have a natural look as will the gravel but the pots I will use for the plants, the pots themselves will be a feature of the design. I have probably a half dozen of different sized and shaped cobalt blue glazed ceramic pots. That's the plan anyhow.
I love this shit, I love every 'problem' that I have to solve for this hobby.
 
Parka said:
Okay, I been changing things up a little bit and it's mostly about energy consumption, I want to keep it low as possible.

So I returned that 90 dollar Danner pond pump, it uses 93 watts and it would run continuously. It was also rated at 950 gallons per hour.

Instead I bought a slightly smaller version of the same reliable pump. It was 83 dollars and it only uses 60 watts and it is rated at 700 gallons per hour. I believe this smaller pump will still be more than enough to push water through my UGF.

The lights. I have three 100 watt LED plates and are they ever BRIGHT! I don't know if it would be too much light but my hope is that three 60 watt plates will still be plenty of light for explosive plant growth. So I will switch out the lights and if I need to go back to the 100 watt lights, I already have them.

Anyway I won't be able to test my UGF for water flow until later this week when my new pump gets delivered. I got all kinds of things to keep me busy for a long time, I ain't got no time for mopin around the house like a clumsy sad crazy senior!

Okay kind friends, I gotta get cleaned up, find my god damn mitre hat and I have a Mass to deliver under the Porch shortly!
aquarium fail GIF
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I wonder if the holes you drill should be sized, based on how far away they are from the pump connection.
 
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