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Rebuilding the 75 gallon

Started by Guest_jblaylock_* , Jul 07 2014 12:31 PM

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49 replies to this topic

#1 Guest_jblaylock_*

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Posted 07 July 2014 - 12:31 PM

After spending the past several years being used as a Pepsi bottle (my other hobby) display. My recent move has freed up additional space so I'm setting up my 75 gallon aquarium again.

I decided to step out of my comfort zone and do things a little different than I have in the past.

Beginning:
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Decided to try the River Manifold System. This thing was super easy to build, plus I had the powerheads already.
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Here's the manifold and the filtration in place.
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2 Fluvals for now for filtration
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As I said, I'm doing things a little different and trying things I haven't done before:
1st layer of substrate - Saf-T-Sorb
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This stuff is cloudy!
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The second layer of substrate is sand mixed with rock: I first added a thin layer of play sand I bought, but it was kinda bright. Perhaps it would look better after time, but luckily I went to Buck Creek over the weekend and I filled a cooler with sand from there. I'm very glad I did, it looks much better. I mixed the sand with aquarium gravel, and it already had some rocks in it too. The rocks are vaious ones I've collected over the years. The large driftwood came from the NC convention 2 months ago.

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Details:

I've been running the 2 filters packed with sponges to get the dust out. It's nearly clear and I'll return the bio-media to them and it will be ready for fish soon after.

More photos to come as the water continues to clear.

I'm in love with how this tank looks. It looks so real, like a real creek bed. It makes me want to do shiners/darters. Also, I would like to add sand to my 125gal now. I wonder if that's possible without removing all the gravel?

Instead of doing the shiners/darters, the main attraction to this tank will be a Coosa Bass (M. coosae). I hope to catch one in SE KY in the coming weeks. My next question is, what can go with a Coosa Bass. I was thinking about a Rock Bass, but I'm not sure how they will get along. A Longear would look nice, but I'm not sure how the bass will like that.

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#2 Michael Wolfe

Board of Directors

North Georgia, Oconee River Drainage

Posted 07 July 2014 - 05:39 PM

looks great josh... yeah the saf-t-sorb really needed to be rinsed and rinsed (we used it in that nature center tank)... but once we did that it cleared overnight.

Either write something worth reading or do something worth writing. - Benjamin Franklin

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#3 Guest_Casper_*

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Posted 07 July 2014 - 07:22 PM

THAT is a nice tank.
Coosa Bass, Redeyes, are very handsome but predators for sure. Shadow Bass would be a good choice but he needs a shadow hideout. Maybe a Stripenecked Musk Turtle. They are fun and easy.

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#4 Guest_jblaylock_*

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Posted 07 July 2014 - 09:23 PM

looks great josh... yeah the saf-t-sorb really needed to be rinsed and rinsed (we used it in that nature center tank)... but once we did that it cleared overnight.

I rinsed it a lot. I eventually had to remove the bio media from the filtersand put a bunch of sponges in there get the dust and sand out.

THAT is a nice tank.
Coosa Bass, Redeyes, are very handsome but predators for sure. Shadow Bass would be a good choice but he needs a shadow hideout. Maybe a Stripenecked Musk Turtle. They are fun and easy.

I do like turtles, but I don't think I want to keep them. I'm going to start with the Coosa Bass. Depending on how small of one I can catch, I may add a large shiner or two with it. A big Whitetail Shiner and Streamline chub would be nice. They may become dinner, eventually, but that's okay too.

Sent from the Paranoid Manta

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#5 Guest_Skipjack_*

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Posted 07 July 2014 - 09:39 PM

Umm, kitty litter would have been cheaper. You can get it at Walmart.

Looks great Josh.

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#6 Guest_Heather_*

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Posted 07 July 2014 - 10:43 PM

I LOVE your substrate! Beautifully natural.

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#7 Guest_jblaylock_*

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Posted 09 July 2014 - 09:39 AM

Umm, kitty litter would have been cheaper. You can get it at Walmart.

Looks great Josh.

I knew that was coming.

I LOVE your substrate! Beautifully natural.

Thanks, I'm very glad I went with the sand from a local creek.

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#8 littlen

NANFA Member

Washington, D.C.

Posted 09 July 2014 - 12:56 PM

Matt, could you possibly provide a link to, or YouTube video of said kitty litter?

Josh, why not try some big ol' Stonerollers or suckers? Maybe some full grown, Luxilus sp. shiners? If your bass gets territorial, I doubt anything will be happy in there with it. If all else fails, an oscar.

Nick L.

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#9 mattknepley

NANFA Member

Smack-dab between the Savannah and the Saluda.

Posted 09 July 2014 - 03:20 PM

Looks great!

Matt Knepley
"No thanks, a third of a gopher would merely arouse my appetite..."

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#10 Michael Wolfe

Board of Directors

North Georgia, Oconee River Drainage

Posted 09 July 2014 - 07:37 PM

Matt, could you possibly provide a link to, or YouTube video of said kitty litter?

Josh, why not try some big ol' Stonerollers or suckers? Maybe some full grown, Luxilus sp. shiners? If your bass gets territorial, I doubt anything will be happy in there with it. If all else fails, an oscar.

hogsucker is an interesting idea... we see them in the Conasauga often with a bass following them around... not tryign to eat the hogsucker... but waiting for the hogsucker to flush out a crayfish or similar (which the hogsucker would not eat, but the bass gladly would)... that would be a cool behaviour / micro habitat to recreate... "where does your bass live?"... "behind my hogsucker!"

Either write something worth reading or do something worth writing. - Benjamin Franklin

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#11 Guest_jblaylock_*

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Posted 09 July 2014 - 08:56 PM

hogsucker is an interesting idea... we see them in the Conasauga often with a bass following them around... not tryign to eat the hogsucker... but waiting for the hogsucker to flush out a crayfish or similar (which the hogsucker would not eat, but the bass gladly would)... that would be a cool behaviour / micro habitat to recreate... "where does your bass live?"... "behind my hogsucker!"

That's an interesting idea. Tank mates depend on the size of Coosa Bass I catch. A hogsucker is a great idea.

Sent from the Paranoid Manta

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#12 Guest_Doug_Dame_*

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Posted 09 July 2014 - 10:48 PM

looks great josh... yeah the saf-t-sorb really needed to be rinsed and rinsed (we used it in that nature center tank)... but once we did that it cleared overnight.

I rinsed it a lot. I eventually had to remove the bio media from the filters and put a bunch of sponges in there get the dust and sand out.

Apparently you did not use the Dame/Wolfe Rinsing Technology (TM pending.) I rinsed 6 or 7 (40lb) bags in total for the Aubrey Mill Nature Center project, it took me a good 30-50 minutes per bag to get the SafT-Sorb pretty clear. Which does kinda offset the cheap-cheap price. But it does vary, some bags had conspicuously more micro-stuff than others, and I bought them all at the same time, from the same place. I also wonder if aggressive rinsing may pulverize the bits. Every time I've used it, it has cleared overnight.

My experience with the river manifold system is that the dual powerheads can out-suck the intake capacity of the two sponges at the other end of the system, so to speak. I felt like mine was working better when I went to two sponges/intakes per powerhead. (So a row of four big sponges, which adds a good amount of powered biofilter capacity.)

But that is a nice looking tank. It will be even better with fishies.

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#13 Guest_jblaylock_*

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Posted 11 July 2014 - 02:45 PM

I didn't use the DMRT. I rinsed that stuff in a strainer until it looked clear and then moved on. After I put sponges in my filters, it did clear a lot overnight. However, once I started added the sand and stirring it up, the tank got cloudy again so I drained it and refilled it.

The manifold system seems to be working ok for me. It's not a direct flow but it creates enough. I suppose there are a lot of factors at work there; powerhead size, length of tubing, size of tubing, intake size, sponge coarseness, depth, and probably a few others. Overall, I'm okay with it.

I hope to get some better photos and maybe a video this weekend, the tank is clear and ready for bio-media back in the filters. Maybe fishtime next weekend.

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#14 Guest_Heather_*

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Posted 13 July 2014 - 04:06 PM

Update please :happy:

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#15 Guest_jblaylock_*

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Posted 13 July 2014 - 06:09 PM

Update please

So I'm a frustrated at the filters now. I removed the sponges and added the bio-media. Now one of them keeps getring air-lock when the flow is at full strength. I've had it apart 3 times and it's agravating.

Oddly enough, it's the new one that is giving me fits.
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Here's some additional substrate shots
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Here's the full tank.
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Here's a few of my favorite things, in one photos
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Left to do here is get that filter working correctly again and add fish. Also, I can't get the powerhead to suck air out of the tubing for some reason. I had it working, then after messing with it I can't get it to pull air, weirdness.

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#16 Guest_Skipjack_*

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Posted 13 July 2014 - 06:16 PM

Pull one of those powerheads, and use it to prime your canister.

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#17 Guest_jblaylock_*

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Posted 15 July 2014 - 03:12 PM

Pull one of those powerheads, and use it to prime your canister.

I can get it primed, but for some reason when I open the flow all the way it locks up. It must be sucking air in from somewhere. Not sure what the problem is. The intake, inside the tank, is completely underwater and the fittings are siliconed up. I'm going to take it apart, clean everything and try it again.

I may take a day trip to SE KY next weekend to try and catch the M. coosae. A biologist gave me a good location for pure strain coosae in KY.

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#18 Guest_cjohns_*

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Posted 15 July 2014 - 07:56 PM

That looks great!

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#19 Guest_cjohns_*

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Posted 15 July 2014 - 08:10 PM

Coosae Bass never heard of it! Just looked it up and the state record is .53 lbs. Sounds like a great aquarium fish. Would one do ok with a couple of long ear sunfish? Now this has got ideas flowing through my head for my 72 gallon. ..lol

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#20 Guest_jblaylock_*

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Posted 15 July 2014 - 09:05 PM

Coosae Bass never heard of it! Just looked it up and the state record is .53 lbs. Sounds like a great aquarium fish. Would one do ok with a couple of long ear sunfish? Now this has got ideas flowing through my head for my 72 gallon. ..lol

It's not native to KY. It was introduced back in the 50s, I think. In KY, it lives only in the Martin's Fork of the Cumberland River in Harlan county KY.

They are a bass species, not sure how they will do with any other fish at all. I'll find out soon.

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