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The Fish Room...

Started by Guest_smbass_* , Jan 30 2010 11:42 AM

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49 replies to this topic

#21 Guest_smbass_*

Guests

Posted 26 January 2011 - 04:55 PM

Ok so I know it has been an entire year since I finished the construction of this tank but at least I am finally making an update. I won't go into too much detail about the construction but here are some shots in order as it went together...

I got soem nice fine gravel/course sand from along the Kokosing river and then I collected a bunch of driftwood also along the Kokosing River and added some American Vals to the tank. I got two 4ft double bulb T-5 light fixtures and set them on the top of the tank. I intended to build a canopy to house the lights but I didn't get around to that right away...

Finally last week I got around to putting together a canopy to house the lights and call this tank finished...

The tank currently has 20 occupants 14 of them are sunfish (8 of the 12 lepomis species included, missing the largest two and the smallest two), 5 catfish, and a longnose gar. Here are some current photos of some of the fish...

And lastly I have also greatly expanded the capacity of the fish room over the last year as well which will allow me to hopefuly offer some new species for sale in the future. Not any more tanks but just filled the space better, a lot of the 29 and even a couple 40's were replaced with 75 gallon tanks and on the top shelves all of the 10's and 20's were replaced with some custom built 40 gallon tanks that are 30 x 24 and 12" high. These have been great for housing a lot more fish and filling the available space I have.

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#22 Guest_farmertodd_*

Guests

Posted 26 January 2011 - 05:25 PM

Beautiful tank and photos Brian!

Todd

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#23 Guest_sonix215_*

Guests

Posted 26 January 2011 - 05:44 PM

i think this is the most beautiful tank i have ever seen! all i can say is WOW!

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#24 Guest_EricaWieser_*

Guests

Posted 26 January 2011 - 05:54 PM

That's amazing. Great job!

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#25 Guest_blakemarkwell_*

Guests

Posted 26 January 2011 - 07:55 PM

That looks great! I've always desired an aquarium that could house some of the larger genera, such as Ameiurus and Lepomis that greatly influenced my appreciation of nature as a child (albeit with a hook in the mouth). Please keep the photos coming!

Blake

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#26 Guest_smbass_*

Guests

Posted 26 January 2011 - 08:21 PM

Thanks for the compliments and 3 of the 5 cats are Ameiurus sp. including a brown (southern mottled form), a black, and a yellow bullhead. The other two are a stonecat and a slender madtom, unfortunately those two have to be fed in their hollow logs, they won't come out during the day to eat. The bullheads however come right out and eat pellets off the surface and scarf down plenty of shrimp chunks. The bullheads really do work well with the Lepomis sunfish.

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#27 Guest_MrCatfish_*

Guests

Posted 27 January 2011 - 01:29 PM

Awesome tank!

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#28 Guest_schambers_*

Guests

Posted 27 January 2011 - 01:50 PM

It's beautiful Brian!

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#29 Guest_jblaylock_*

Guests

Posted 29 January 2011 - 09:36 AM

That is a beautiful tank. I love the gar.

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#30 Guest_jasonv123_*

Guests

Posted 30 January 2011 - 09:00 PM

Very nice!!! I think the cedar stand totally compliments this tank as well! I really love cedar and thats very nice!
What thickness is the plastic made of?

Mike

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#31 Guest_smbass_*

Guests

Posted 30 January 2011 - 09:21 PM

The tank was built from 1/2" acrylic with the front and sides being scratch resistant and bottom and back the regular.

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#32 Guest_andyavram_*

Guests

Posted 11 February 2011 - 06:19 PM

Glad to see an update on this. NICE WORK! The size of the tank really allows you to show off the sunfish to the best potential too.

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#33 Guest_smbass_*

Guests

Posted 11 February 2011 - 08:42 PM

Andy your right it does display the sunfish to their full potential very well. It is really nice to be able to have a gigantic male green sunfish (I have had that guy for nearly 5 years and it was an adult when I got it) with a comparatively tiny male northern longear and western dollar all looking their best in the same tank.

I'm starting to save and plan for a major upgrade to my stream tank, which was why I was looking through the old (and new) threads about your stream tank.

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#34 Guest_MrCatfish_*

Guests

Posted 11 February 2011 - 11:06 PM

Brian ,your tank is another of my favorites!

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#35 Guest_Bob_*

Guests

Posted 14 February 2011 - 09:51 AM

Spectacular!

Andy your right it does display the sunfish to their full potential very well. It is really nice to be able to have a gigantic male green sunfish (I have had that guy for nearly 5 years and it was an adult when I got it) with a comparatively tiny male northern longear and western dollar all looking their best in the same tank.

I'm starting to save and plan for a major upgrade to my stream tank, which was why I was looking through the old (and new) threads about your stream tank.

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#36 Guest_davidjh2_*

Guests

Posted 16 February 2011 - 04:46 PM

That's an absolutely incredible setup. It makes me want to change the setup of my 75 gallon even more. I do have one question though: are the fishing poles on the stand next to the tank a threat to the fish? It's a subtle way of saying hey if you don't look good in the tank you're catfish bait!

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#37 Guest_smbass_*

Guests

Posted 16 February 2011 - 10:04 PM

No they are pretty safe, I get too attached to my fish to ever use them for bait... Not that I wouldn't go out and catch some green sunfish specifically for using as catfish bait, but the ones that have become pets stay that way.

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#38 Guest_davidjh2_*

Guests

Posted 18 February 2011 - 01:11 PM

I'm the same way with crayfish. They used to be one of favorites baits to use while fishing. Now I hate to even think about putting one on a hook. I still flip rocks looking for them while I'm fishing but nowadays I just look at them, snap a picture maybe and put them back in the water if I don't bring them home as a new little buddy :biggrin:

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#39 Guest_AOmonsta_*

Guests

Posted 18 February 2011 - 06:47 PM

Awesome tank. How many gallons and what is the filtration?

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#40 Guest_smbass_*

Guests

Posted 18 February 2011 - 07:57 PM

I originally planned on making it a little taller which would have been almost 300 gallons but due to the fact I would have needed a whole extra sheet of acrylic I went with 8ft x 2ft and only 20 inches high building the whole thing out of 2 sheets. The ends were cut out of the center of the top piece forming a solid piece for the top to help hold the whole thing together with two center braces. Turned out to be 199.7 gallons... I have a fluval fx5 canister filter on it along with a Hydor Koralia Evolution 1400 water mover. I also have an air pump on the tank and I placed an air stone directly under the water mover which causes it to draw in air and spit out a plume of very fine bubbles making a lot of current and really oxygenating the water too.