Aquarium Stand UPDATE

Tony Falotico

Member
Messages
519
Location
Lake City, Florida
Hey All! Haven't been posting in a while, been doing a lot of fishing and other stuff the past year. Got back in the shop over the holidays and produced a few pieces for my home office / computer room / "man cave".

First two pic's are shelves I made to display my fishing reel collection. One is maple, the other wenge.

LOML, my son and daughter in law were planning on getting me a 90 gallon fish tank for Christmas. They didn't like any of the 'store bought' stands so they offered to up the tank size to 120 gallon if I built the stand. Sounded like a great offer so I took it!

The basic stand is made from 3/4 maple plywood and trimmed in maple and wenge. My supplier had some real nice plywood. The side panels and back panel in the center are held in with rare earth magnets offering full access to the back if needed. Finished with one coat BLO and several light coats of Tried and True beeswax/BLO mixture. Looking forward to getting it set up this weekend!

As always, questions / comments / suggestions are welcomed! Thanks for looking! Tony
 

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Wow.

Tony,

We've got a 30 gal at home, and we sometimes find it a hassle to change the water. (For those who don't keep tanks, the recommendation from our aquarium stores is that you want to change out 1/3 of the water each week to keep the tank healthy) On our tank, that is just 4-5 buckets, which is already annoying -- we're looking for a hose that attaches to the sink for refilling. But on your tank, that is like 40 gallons of water! :eek: How do you manage that? Or do the rules change on larger tanks?
 
For those who don't keep tanks, the recommendation from our aquarium stores is that you want to change out 1/3 of the water each week to keep the tank healthy

Art,

That's the strangest thing I've ever heard. Seems like you would be rebalancing the water over and over, constantly. I've had tanks that went a year without a major water change. What kind of filter are you using?

Thanks,

Bill
 
Art,

That's the strangest thing I've ever heard. Seems like you would be rebalancing the water over and over, constantly. I've had tanks that went a year without a major water change. What kind of filter are you using?
Bill

Depending on how many fish and how much algae has built up in the tank to create a good ecosystem it is necessary to take that much water to keep ammonia levels acceptable. Once the ecosystem is balance it shouldn't be necessary except for general cleaning.
 
That should be a great set-up when you get it going. I used to keep fish, had tanks all over the house (actually 'houses' for many years). Decided to give them up when we moved here. Do show pics later when tank is 'populated'.

As for the water changing thing. I used multiple filters but mostly depended on the under-gravel one to provide balance. I changed about 50% of the water roughly annually. If there was some kind of problem (cracks, leaks, disease, etc.) I would change almost all of it.
Methinks the monthly advice can cause more problems than leaving alone.
 
Wow. Tony, We've got a 30 gal at home, and we sometimes find it a hassle to change the water. (For those who don't keep tanks, the recommendation from our aquarium stores is that you want to change out 1/3 of the water each week to keep the tank healthy) On our tank, that is just 4-5 buckets, which is already annoying -- we're looking for a hose that attaches to the sink for refilling. But on your tank, that is like 40 gallons of water! :eek: How do you manage that? Or do the rules change on larger tanks?

Art, note the strategic placement next to a window. There is a hose bib right outside and I plan on siphoning (or pumping) direct to the ground.

Changing 1/3 each week seems excessive, but I guess that depends on how balanced the tank is. I plan on a well planted setup, so hopefully water changes won't be required that frequently.

Darren: No, I'm going freshwater heavily planted tank. I've always wanted a reef tank but not willing to commit to the level of upkeep they require.

Tony
 
Fluval cannister filter. I forget the exact model number.

Yes, something's wrong with this picture, or I'm missing something. Assuming you have a right-sized filter (and by that I mean over-sized), the tank isn't over populated and you're not over-feeding, you should just about never have to change the water. Changing it just leads to constant trouble and aggravation, and... more changes... ;)

So I figure there must be something I'm missing. 1/3 per week is advice for gold-fish bowls, not aquariums... ;)

Any idea about their reasoning?

Thanks,

Bill

Ps. Tony, I would paint the window side of the tank, if that's a south or west facing window. Otherwise, it's an invitation to algae... ;)
 
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Yes, something's wrong with this picture, or I'm missing something. Assuming you have a right-sized filter (and by that I mean over-sized), ...

Any idea about their reasoning?

His reasoning was that changing the water regularly helps keep it clean. Greatly reduces the need to clean the filter (or change the media in there)
I'm not a pro at this, I was taking the advice of our local store.

Your comment about over feeding makes me wonder if that is a common problem and if that is why he recommends that. I know my son tends to dump stuff in the tank. I was quite surprised to read our fish food canister which says "1 flake per inch of fish" (these are roughly 1/4" round flakes) which seems like nothing.

But guys, if you don't get in there regularly with the siphon and vacuum out around the gravel, then who is dealing with all the poop that the fish drop? The fluval intake is on the side, and doesn't get anywhere near all of it.

...art

ps: I had no idea so many of you were knowledgeable about fishtanks.
 
But guys, if you don't get in there regularly with the siphon and vacuum out around the gravel, then who is dealing with all the poop that the fish drop? The fluval intake is on the side, and doesn't get anywhere near all of it.

I used the gravel filter and one of the carbon filled filters that hung on the back of mine but probably only cleaned once every three months, usually replacing about 1/3rd of the water. I kept some plants and also allowed some algae to grow on the back wall. Between the plants, algae, and bottom feeder they stayed pretty clean.
 
A byproduct of the fish metabolism, excess food decay, fish p and poop is the addition of ammonia to the water. Ammonia is very toxic to fish. Bacteria grows that 'eats' the ammonia and expels nitrite. Also toxic to fish. Other bacteria 'eats' the nitrite and converts it to nitrate. Fish can tolerate the nitrate in higher quantities. As time goes by, the nitrate concentration increases, water changes dilute the nitrate to acceptable concentrations.

This is a very simplified explanation as I understand it. I am not an expert on this topic.

With that said, I have had tanks in the past that I never monitored nitrate levels and never did water changes (just added water as it evaporated away). I'll be keeping a closer watch on the big tank, and do water changes as required. A heavily planted tank (live plants) adds more parameters to the equation. I'm still reading up and trying to understand the complexities of an aquatic ecosystem.

Marine tanks (salt water and reef tanks) are even more complicated.
 
We go out after Redfish, limit is one each per day. Then we go for seatrout, Spanish mackerel, a pompano now and then. Hope to go after some sheepshead in the next couple weeks if the weather warms up a bit.

We've gone about 12 miles out in the Gulf, won't go any further with my boat unless there is a group of boats going together. It's a bay boat, not deep enough for offshore if the weather turns foul.
 

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Your comment about over feeding makes me wonder if that is a common problem

Art,

Forgive me if you know this stuff already! ;)

Overfeeding is the most common problem in aquariums. (the second most common is having too many fish!) Every time you feed the fish, you're actually feeding the filter, and pumping in more fuel for the nitrogen cycle.

Fish don't need much food. Seriously. If they don't clean it up in a couple minutes, it's too much. Make 'em work for it!

I never used any mechanical filtration media. I had two filters on every tank: one hanging off the back, with bagged charcoal in it, and one in the tank, an undergravel filter. Once the bacteria were set up in both, I could change the charcoal without any worries.

What you're trying to do is to get the nitrogen cycle under control: http://www.peteducation.com/article.cfm?c=16+2154&aid=2657
Adding new water upsets that balance. Once you have a stabilized tank, it'll stay that way a long time. Years, even.

That said, if your fish are alive and thriving, just keep doing what you're doing. Most people make mistakes as they learn, and that leads to fish loss. You *can* get to a place where the tank is nearly maintenance free, but to do that, you need to do three things

Don't overfeed.
Don't overstock.
Know the warning signs of imbalance.

But seriously, if you have happy, healthy fish, just keep doing what you're doing. I don't want to be responsible for any finny deaths! ;)

Thanks,

Bill
 
First of all, nice reel display, and nice stand. And I'd also like to see it when it's stocked.....5 years ago I had 8 tanks running in my house, including one planted tank...and sold cichlids to pet stores....I agree with what some others have said here, how much you have to change water depends on a lot of things including how many, what kind, and what size fish are in the tank, what kind of filtration you're using, etc. etc. etc. A heavily planted tank will increase the natural filtration and decrease your need for water changes. Here's a little photo of a planted tank. I cropped it just you can see the plants growing out of the tank on the left. I had some other plants there too to benefit from from the lights and humidity. So as not to bore everyone else here, Tony, PM me if you need any help with setting up a planted tank.....

Aqu2000.jpg
 
Tony that is a real nice fishtank stand. By my reckoning of what i have seen around here, that is a good few thousand dollars retail. I saw one recently that had one extra feature to yours and that is a couple of draws and it was in the $4000 range. So you dun good and saved yourself a fair bit.



Art, I would never listen to one of the people at the pet stores. Simple reason. At one point a very significant supposedly reputable fish store employed my son. Now this is a youngster that has had all his gold fish die on him over the years and has a knowledge of fish that i think one could put into 3 sentences. They put him in charge of the fish department. :D I love my son, but he was in no position to be dishing out advice on fish and fish selection or upkeep. While he was there due to staff discounts he indulged in all sorts of purchases in the fishtank line.

Lets just say 100's of dollars of fish got flushed during this period.:rofl: And thats putting it kindly. If they never got flushed they got eaten by the dominant fish in the tank.

BTW he never changed the water more than 1 in 6 to 8 months depending on how his mother performed about it.

I am grateful we are past that stage now and have no more tanks.:):D I know they very pleasurable to watch but they seemed to be nothing but a money pit to me.

And for what its worth we lived through the $150 snake episode too and even the snake croaked. Told him he better improve in his care habits before he has any kids.:rofl:

Its the same as getting advice on electrical work from the Home depot electrical department. :)
 
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