125 Gallon Donation

For my conservation biology class we have an enormous project called our 'Conservation Plan'. Each person has to contribute 40 hours to a project, get 12 people from the public involved, inform the public about something from the outdoors, and of course, a 24 page paper. A project that size to get done in a single semester is quite a mule, so I decided to do something I'm seriously interested in...native fish. For my project I'm donating an aquarium to the local nature center, setting it up, stocking it, and maintaining it. My goal is to show people species in their back yards, the little guys no one knows about.

I purchased a three month old 125 gallon aquarium, stand, and two 48" lights off craigslist for an ungodly reasonable package price and yes it was legitimate - actually 3 months old, no leaks, scratches, or problems. Since I already dug myself hole and school would not provide funding, I pieced together a hardscape from what I had laying around, traded for filter equipment, and went to the park with a shovel and bucket for dirt, sand, and gravel.

Having forgot my camera when it came setup time, I don't have much to show. The plan is to have a slack water area on the left side and a stream setup for the rest. I'm running a canister and powerhead with both extakes on the left side for a crossflow. I drilled ceramic tile to sink the cypress knees, added soil to the left side and right corner, topped with sand, and capped with gravel. Planted crypts in the soil and tied java ferns to the knees - filled it up, dropped in a fish, and plugged it all in.

Two weeks later it's showing some progress. My dace is still swimming, new growth all around, and no hydrogen sulfate bubbles. It's a start.

Edited by natureman187, 19 March 2009 - 12:36 AM.

I kept one 48 inch light for myself and included the coral life fixture with the 125. I thought it would be long enough to light the entire tank but it left a foot of darkness on each end where my plants are. Instead of splurging for a 72" fixture I purchased a used 24" fixture to curb the distance. I elevate all my fixtures at home due to algae issues and wanted to do the same here. My problem was I had two aquarium edges for support, one set of legs, and four ends that need mounting.
The legs were for an open top setup so I cut the inside hangers off.
I bolted a 1x2 to each leg to make my stand - hardly a stand but it worked.
The fixtures disassemble to a base piece that contains the ballast and a top cover that houses the reflector.

I bolted the base pieces to the 1x2 and reassembled the fixtures on the 1x2.
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I used fender washers. It's probably overkill, I don't want the bolts pulled through the thin aluminum frames, ever
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Like magic, a 72 inch fixture.
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Edited by natureman187, 19 March 2009 - 12:33 AM.

Wow! That is really amazing! The tank looks great, too! You mentioned a dace. What types of other fish are you thinking of putitng in there? Also, are you going to put more plants in there? Are you fertilizing?

Brian

Thanks Brian. It was a red bellied dace from the house, all I had excess of
I'm planning on stocking it with everything small, pretty, and easy to care for - orangethroats, fantails, rainbows, bandeds, srbd, black nose dace, central mudminnows, topminnows, red shinners, steelcolor shiners, redfins, tadpole madtoms, orangestopped sunfish...I'll update as it changes.

Awesome!

Brian

Brian J. Torreano - Owner
BTDarters
American Native Fish for
your aquarium...and more!
Web: http://www.btdarters.com
Email: bt@btdarters.com
Phone: (262) 268-7489

Update: I added a black backdrop to make it look a bit more professional as well as adding a java fern wall. Now just waiting for it all the fill out

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I thought I'd show how I created the wall in this tank as well as my 75.
What's needed: Plastic mesh, suction cups, small branches, fishing line, and zip ties.

First I needed tons of java ferns, preferably little starts. Starts fill in way quicker and more full than using full sized plants. All I had was full sized so that's what I used this time. I cut them up into a million one to two inch rhizomes and tied each piece along the length of each collected branch.

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Each branch then gets zip tied to the mess. Pop a few suction cups through the mesh and instant java fern wall.

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And the wait begins.

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Thats an awesome looking tank!

Wow! What a tank; wish I was a native fish,so I could get in that tank.

wow very nice looking

Great looking tank! It's hard to wait for the plants to fill in, isn't it?

I've done something similar with Java Fern to cover the top of a slate cave. I cut a piece of the black plastic canvas to fit the slate and then 'sew' the fern on with fishing line. Then I set the plastic canvas on the slate and weigh it down with a couple little bits of slate. Before long the java fern attaches itself to the rock.

Nice use of java fern

Its a non native plant but I've used it plenty with native fish- no problems!