# Advice and Peer Review for 177G L-shape Corner Aquarium



## adampowers22 (Nov 19, 2015)

Hi all, I'm in the process of building my first large-scale aquarium. Given this is my first major effort of its kind I was hoping for some ticks, tricks, or corrections from those that have come before me.

Blog post with details on the aquarium design can be found here:
http://siclid.net/2016/03/05/detailed-p ... d-show-v2/


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## Off_register (Feb 5, 2015)

This is a very impressive design and I am really excited to see the progression on your build! Im curious about your underwater jets. Joey says that you don't see any movement of the sand with these jets. I saw your videos and I see the movement of the sand... How much flow are you putting through the jets? With your Aquadecor Background, are you easily able to push the waste over the background into the intake chamber with your normal return nozzle and UG jets?

For appearance only, I would prefer the tempered glass over the starphire. To me it looks like the starphire gives over too much glare through the edges.I personally like the look of the glass with black silicone applied at the seams.

What if you used the 3M Safety and Security Window Films for the tank? It might help the tank from completely shattering and blowing out if it did get damaged somehow. Just a thought.


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## adampowers22 (Nov 19, 2015)

I have 2x Rio 600Gph pumps forcing water into two separate UG Jet systems. When I first set up the PVC I didn't have near enough holes to accommodate the 600Gph rate so I went back and drilled many more - about 2x 1/16 holes per inch. I'm not sure how much power Joey had on his PowerHead but you can DEFINITELY see the sand moving with my system and I very much love it. Looks exactly like the natural springs you find in central Florida.

Unfortunately Joey's design didn't have a "drain" so you want to avoid putting holes on the top side of the PVC as this will allow sand to settle into the PVC when the pump isn't running. Once this happens you're somewhat screwed as there is no easy way to get the sand out. The new tank will have the same basic system but this time with a valve connected to an elevated nozzle. I'll adjust the nozzle such that water will still flow from the holes but also flow through to the nozzle. This should prevent any buildup of sand and gives me an extra pair of psuedo-powerheads to work with. The new tank will have 2x Rio 1265Gph pumps. Should be way more than enough.

The UG Jets have been amazingly successful. Highly recommended project if you're tearing up an aquarium sometime and have access to the bottom.

As for the 3D background - the question regarding circulation and keeping the background clean comes up a lot. I was sceptical too at first until I saw how the background is designed. When I received it there were 4 major sections. You can't tell if from the stream but these pieces actually don't completely meet in the back. They allow about 1/8" access to the space behind the background but in front of the glass. In fact most of the water that enters the two Fluval 406 canister filters actually comes from the back of the tank. The rest comes from a cleverly designed grate connecting the right side of the background to the aquarium side-wall. This grating allows most everything through except fish. This image shows the primary water entrance point. In my tank I'm pulling ~750Gph through the gap shown below and the cracks between the sections. I'm sure some waste builds up but it hasn't proven a problem in the year its been installed.

Intake and return shown here for both Fluval 406s. Water flows into the canisters via the square cut-out then forced out in the main aquarium area.










If you look closely you can see the grating separating the background material from the glass. No water ever goes over the top of the background.










Image showing both Fluval 406s in action.










And finally here's a shot of the top showing the small space between the background sections.










And finally as it relates to starfire vs. clear and the choice of silicone... interesting suggestion on black. Let me think about that a bit. And I see what you mean by the blue edge of the low-iron glass. It might be distracting. Which would be ironic given that the whole point of the tank (for me at least) is to get out of the way of the habitat as much as possible. If I could buy an invisible tank I would. So I'm not sure if the black seems would work for me but suggestion noted and appreciated.

Thanks for the feedback good sir!

I leave you with this crazy eye fish video (shows the jets nicely)...


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## Off_register (Feb 5, 2015)

Yeah the sand movement from the jets gave it a eerie look lol. I would prefer to not see any movement of the sand but will that be enough flow to push the waste off the bottom... I have a dead spot so I am for sure interested in this jet system.

As for your background, can you take a picture of the 1/8" gap you are talking about? I'm curious how that is. The background Florian did for me silicones straight to the back of the tank. I have an internal overflow on the left side of the tank so that's where all my return source is since I am not running canister filters. The grate on the right side of your aquarium is a fantastic idea! Did you incorporate that or is that Florians design with these backgounds that call for those chambers?


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## adampowers22 (Nov 19, 2015)

Related to the UG jets, you can totally prevent the bubbles if you don't like them. You'll just want to 1) use smaller holes 2) use more of them and 3) don't face any holes upward. A smaller powerhead would also prevent the "sand boil" effect. However I think if you give it some time you'll grow to love the boils. The fish definitely like them and they give the aquarium a natural "living" feel that you can't get any other way.

So the background Florian did didn't have a grate on one side? Smaller unit perhaps? How long ago was it done? He might have updated his build recently. Mine was purchased about 12 months ago. My current 75G is too close to the wall and I can't really get behind it to take pictures - this was a mistake when I first set it up. The new tank will be further away and allow access to the back (12 inches).

One other note regarding installation... it's important to put the silicone where Florian / AQUADECOR tells you to put it. He draws circles and writes "SILICONE" in them. If you put the silicone in a huge pile right where he says to put them then it works out that the silicon creates a small gap between the glass and the 3D background material. 1/16" or so. This is where much of the water flows. I see fry swimming around in the cracks all the time.

Despite the tight space here are some pics showing the crevices between the background pieces:

Purple dot is on the back right chamber with one of the two Fluval intakes showing. Yellow dot shows a juvenile Lab hiding in the crack. There are probably 20+ juveniles of this size living in the background cracks. A blessing and a curse imo.

back right corner by Adam Powers, on Flickr

This is the back left side about half way down. Yellow dot shows the patch of silicone used during installation. Notice how the actual background stands out from the glass by ~1/16th". Purple dot shows another juvenille. The light you see shining through is the front of the tank.

from back left by Adam Powers, on Flickr

Here's a really good shot showing one of the largest "cracks" at the intersection of three sections of background material. If you look closely you can see the waterline just below the yellow dot. I keep the tank filled to the absolute max. Note that there is not a bit of biological material to be seen. I credit this to the emmense amount of filtration I have pulling on the chamber. The blue arrow shows the direction of overall water flow. Everything in the tank is drawn "downhill" toward the back right corner where the two Fluval 406s are located (383Gph x2). I suspect in a planted tank or setup without as much water movement you might end up with material stuck in these spaces. Nothing a bit of forced water wouldn't clean up. But not a problem for an overpop Mbuna tank like mine (at least it shouldn't be if you have the right filtration Gph throughput).

intersection of sections by Adam Powers, on Flickr


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## Off_register (Feb 5, 2015)

I will definitely look into the UGJ system. Seems like a great idea. I wonder how my catfish will like that boil effect... I might even think about running a canister filter too. Have that intake on the right side where the fish waste builds up. My background that Florian created has a "mini cove" in the corner that collects everything. My returns lines are directly above point away so that is my problem with the dead spot. I will play with my current return nozzles again to see if I can that.

No grate came with my background. Probably because I have the internal overflow? My tank I had done was a 75gal as well. My background came in 6 or 7 pieces. Looks like the cracks and the silicone procedure was the same. Thanks for the detailed pictures! Now I can see what you mean. Just the way you described the 1/8" gap behind your BG had me wondering if he did something different for yours but it looks like you put your silicone on much thicker than I did. Florian drew a ton of circles on the back of the segments so I put Silicone on all of the circles. I figured for the amount of circles he drew, I didn't need to put it on super thick. I will have to take a picture tomorrow after work so show what I'm talking about. Here is the link to my post for my background. I posted in October so I have the tank for a while now. Messed around with the lighting a lot but still couldn't grasp the actual look in person. viewtopic.php?f=4&t=369489


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## adampowers22 (Nov 19, 2015)

Wow man that looks soooo good. You should definitely stick to 3-6k LEDs. No actinic. The brown in the background gets too drowned out with too much blue.


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## Off_register (Feb 5, 2015)

Thanks man! I am very happy with the work that Florian did. I love the color! The yellows, Oranges and Reds was what I was looking for. Wanted it to feel right in the Oak Stand and canopy. I have the Current USA LED light so I was going crazy with color options plus I couldn't get a good exposure with my cell phone with all that white light. It now looks like the first pictures I took. I just have the blue for night time now.

Sorry we got carried away with the 3D background talk. Didn't mean to hijack your thread. Hopefully you can get more opinions on your setup. Personally, it looks great to me. Excellent approach, not sure if anyone has any comments about changing that lol.


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## adampowers22 (Nov 19, 2015)

Glass ordered and design finalized for this tank (FINALLY). I've been pre-cycling the sump for about 3 months now so it should be ready to go as soon as the tank is filled, cleaned and buffered. Glass should arrive in about 2 weeks. There are still some questions around filtration and plumbing but the basics are shown in the diagrams. As always comments and suggestions welcome.

https://siclid.net/2016/08/10/final-des ... rner-tank/


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