# 55G Mbuna tank build up #2



## Steve C (Oct 9, 2011)

Well here we go again  Picked up another 4ft tank yesterday. It was listed as a 60g but measurements are 48.250" x 12.5" x 22" so it's 1" taller than my other 55 but I'm callin' it a 55g This one will be going along the wall opposite of the other 55 I just finished building and is now cycling. Found this one not even 2 miles from my house, came with the stand and snagged it for $75. Factoring in the fact it was just a stones throw away from my door as well as how clean it is I think it was a pretty good deal.

First thing to do was to do a leak test on it this morning, holding water is always a plus in a tank lol. It passed with no problems....










I "think" I made the decision to stock it with ...

1-M/4F Pseudotropheus socolofi
1-M/4F Cynotilapia Afra
1-M/4FMetriaclima estherae
5-Synodontis multipunctata

Not set in stone yet, but I am leaning that way.

A trip to Lowes to get the needed supplies for this tanks DIY 3D background....










I'm planning something similar to the basic idea of my other 55g where I did the back lite cave openings behind the background, but I plan to do this one a bit different. Rather than a cave opening style like on the other one, this one I am thinking of doing more of an open water "trench" where the 3D background slopes down on an angle and a lot more of the tank near the top and almost the full length of the upper part of the tank is "open water" with the back lighting cold cathodes like on my other build. Also planning on doing this background more of a tan/brown color instead of gray tones. And in addition to the blue back lighting like on my other tan, I am thinking of adding some yellow & orange cold cathode lighting as well which will run off a timer so that the open water will be blue during the day and during the night, but in the evenings it will be yellow/orange to simulate sunrise/sunset.

So basically somewhat of a combination of these two pics to use as the basic design ideas.



















Then with the addition of the yellow/orange cold cathodes along with the blue ones it will give it this sort of look morning&evening...Hopefully.










Steve


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## fusion (Jun 21, 2012)

opcorn:


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## GTZ (Apr 21, 2010)

fusion said:


> opcorn:


 opcorn: :drooling:


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## cherokee2871 (Jun 1, 2007)

opcorn: Cant wait to see this. Last one was awesome.


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## Steve C (Oct 9, 2011)

Started work on the 3D background today. The way I have it planned out I will probably be doing this background in about five to six total sections. I was able to get the very first two sections done tonight. After siliconing pieces of foam and carving them out I quickly went over them with the heat gun to give the foam a real nice texture before paint/color. I then coated it with a base layer of Grey Drylok to seal the foam as well as give it a nice light base color. Then I went over that with some tan color Fusion paint to give it the tan tone I want this background to be. Then added some dry brushing with grey, dark olive, buff brown and white dry brushed highlights. The tall slate looking style pieces are actually about 4" from the back glass so fish will be able to swim behind the tall upshooting pieces.























































Hope to get more done tomorrow.


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## metricliman (Sep 3, 2012)

Looking good!


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## Steve C (Oct 9, 2011)

Working on a few more pieces. Have them cut out and siliconed up just waiting for them to dry so I can start shaping and painting.


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## fusion (Jun 21, 2012)

Looking great already steve


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## metricliman (Sep 3, 2012)

Why is there a gap on the left? Are you going to put an intake there?


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## Steve C (Oct 9, 2011)

Yep you guessed it. I am going to buy another Xp3 and then mount the down tube intake in that spot then build a cover for it so it is completely hidden from view.


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## Steve C (Oct 9, 2011)

Left side carved out and shaped.....
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Base coat of Drylok applied
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Main color applied Tan Fusion
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Mocked up in the tank so I can measure for building the side panels now
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## Floridagirl (Jan 10, 2008)

Looking good!


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## Steve C (Oct 9, 2011)

Progressing nicely on this one. I picked up a Xp3 off ebay last night for $66 and also a 48" reef LED blue moonlight fixture for $16. Should be here this week...Woo Whooo!


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## Steve C (Oct 9, 2011)

48" LED Moonlights came today.....


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## Steve C (Oct 9, 2011)

Added some rocks this evening. Went with some contrasting colors in this one, mostly lava rock and a few other different colored rocks. Probably will add a few more once I get ready to fill the sand in it....


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## fusion (Jun 21, 2012)

Still looking great :thumb:


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## Steve C (Oct 9, 2011)

Rena Xp3 for this tank was dropped off today....


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## Steve C (Oct 9, 2011)

Now that I got a few rods out of the way back to this project. Trip to Home Depot today to get wood and materials for building the canopy for this one. I had said to myself that I would not build a canopy for this one but I never can just leave well enough alone it seems. So built this one in about 3 hours of work this evening. Still have some trim work then sanding and staining but it all fits and came out pretty well.



















Did this one so the majority of the top opens up for easy access.


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## badspellar (Oct 14, 2009)

You're pretty talented and have good vision. Love the man cave/shop (flatscreen while tinkering!)


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## Steve C (Oct 9, 2011)

Another trip to Lowes/Home Depot tonight. They always know when I'm working on a new project because I'm there 4-5 times a week when I am lol. Finished up the canopy tonight and got it stained and 3 coats of polyurethane on it. (BTW it closes nice and flush but theres a cord holding up the one end in the picture 









Also working on the stand. I'm using the metal stand for it that I bought with the tank but I decided it needed to match my other aquarium better so I decided to build a wood stand facade so basically it is going to be just a wood shell 1/4" oak sheeting that is attached with industrial strength velcro and sides into a lip on the corner. Once stained to match the canopy it will look nice in the same room with the other tank and stand. Once the trim is on it it will hide the fact that it is just a shell when it is done.









Then I started messing around with the lighting tonight. Lots of wiring and repositioning to do but this is the idea I was mentioning about the combination of blue LED moonlights and Yellow/Orange lighting to give it about an hour of sunset before it goes to full blue moonlights. Once the new Cold Cathodes get here tomorrow and it's all positioned it will look much better but this pic will give you a brief idea of what I'm shooting for.


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## metricliman (Sep 3, 2012)

Looking good yet again Steve. Are those just LED strips you get on Amazon and such?


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## Steve C (Oct 9, 2011)

The blue moonlights are a saltwater reef 48" unit with 24 LED's. Then the yellow and Orange are CFL (party bulbs) in 5.5" reflective pans. Still waiting for the Cold Cathodes to come today, dang slow mailman lol. Fed-ex did delivery my 48" Odyessa 10000k & acentic fixture a bit ago at least :thumb:


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## Steve C (Oct 9, 2011)

Cold Cathode lights as well as 48" Odessya T5 lights came today...

Cold cathodes mounted behind tank...









Tank in place in front of the cold cathodes...









Overhead T5 lights on...


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## Steve C (Oct 9, 2011)

Cabinet facade is all done, just have to urethane it tomorrow. The whole front of the cabinet pulls right off it's Velcro mounts to provide full access to filters and equipment underneath it. Picked up some pure white sand as well as about 30 more lbs in rocks today. Just have to finish the side panels of the rock background, hook up the filter with some new hoses, finish up the sunset lighting mounts, silicone in the background once and for all, then it'll be ready to fill with water and start cycling.


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## sweety (Jan 10, 2010)

Looks fantastic, yet another great project of yours :thumb:


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## Steve C (Oct 9, 2011)

Left side panel and intake cover done...
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## kittyk (Sep 20, 2012)

Wow !!! That's going to be a very cool tank. Looking forward to seeing the progress


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## Steve C (Oct 9, 2011)

Spent the last couple hours down in the shop building the right side panel for it. Now the whole background is done so I'm glad of that because now I can final clean the tank tomorrow and get it all siliconed in place for good. Then start washing sand and putting sand in it probably Wednesday after it has had a chance to off gas. So with some luck it will be filled with water and ready to cycle sometime next week (still have to get my hydor inline heater first).

In the right upper part above the right panel I am going to cover that with the same blue as the background upper section and then get a 12" cold cathode to light up the upper right part just like the back which should look really nice.


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## fusion (Jun 21, 2012)

Great job steve


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## metricliman (Sep 3, 2012)

One recommendation: i think the right side looks a little too uniform, maybe have a little "peak" in the corner?


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## Steve C (Oct 9, 2011)

I could do that. Or maybe remove some of the front edge as well to make it more sloped. Might fiddle around with that soon as I get a chance to get back on this one.


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## Steve C (Oct 9, 2011)

Obviously still needs repainting, but does this look a bit better?


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## Steve C (Oct 9, 2011)

Some really cool looking petrified rocks I picked up at the LFS over the weekend...


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## Steve C (Oct 9, 2011)

Background is now all siliconed in and drying. Time to freeze my hands off washing sand this weekend.
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## Steve C (Oct 9, 2011)

Done and filled with water today. Check out the "tank setups" forum to see pics.


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## zquattrucci (Apr 25, 2012)

love it but think it would be cool if you could put a peace on top with some hanging down so it gave that cave feel just a idea that i think would be awsome


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## ratbones86 (Jun 29, 2012)

zquattrucci said:


> love it but think it would be cool if you could put a peace on top with some hanging down so it gave that cave feel just a idea that i think would be awsome


+1


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## thatbb6 (May 3, 2012)

Some hot spots from the light. Are you planning to move them back away from the tank a bit? Btw, nice canopy. How much did you spend on the canopy materials?


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## Steve C (Oct 9, 2011)

No they are positioned where I want them, the position of them gives it the look of "rays from the sun" which is what I was going for and why they are mounted on an angle from highest point of the rock BG to lowest point. Didn't keep real close tabs on the canopy for this one but I know it wasn't more than about $40 total on canopy materials.

This tank has been cycling for a couple weeks now, here's the current pic of it with some more rock and a couple small pieces of Malaysian wood in it.


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## DanniGirl (Jan 25, 2007)

The background looks good. Proportionately, the directional lighting balances out the tank. Job well done.


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## Steve C (Oct 9, 2011)

Thanks DG. Well I just had a really nice surprise, just tested the water parameters about 10 mins ago and my readings tonight are...

Ammonia- 0
Nitrite- 0
Nitrate- 30
PH- 7.4

Gonna do a small water change tomorrow and see what that drops the Nitrate down too and then I'll be ready to stock this one anytime now. Just have to decide what I want to stock it with, but that's the fun part.


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## Steve C (Oct 9, 2011)

Started stocking some fish in this one this evening. So far four very nice looking yellow labs and two Snyo catfish. Still have more to get but that will start this tank now.


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## Steve C (Oct 9, 2011)

Some more pics with more fish added, yellow labs, Red zebras and Labidochromis sp. Mbamba as well as some synodontios cats


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## cichlid_crazy (Jul 24, 2012)

Those are some quality looking fish, very nice :thumb:


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## rockonaaron (Nov 27, 2007)

That looks amazing! Really great job, inspiring!


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## Steve C (Oct 9, 2011)

Pretty much done with this one now. Recently added another pair of female Mbamba for the male, as well as another zebra (this one a Cherry red 4" one). Only thing I plan to add now is maybe one more Cherry red and another 2-3 Synodontios catfish and this tank will be fully stocked. Then it will be on to the next project! .. After the holidays I am planning a 7ft in wall built where not just the background will be a DIY background, but the entire wall I am erecting in the basement office is going to look like a 8ft x 10ft DIY rock wall with the 7ft tank mounted flush into it. Should be pretty neat when done but that project is going to be a long one. I'll start a thread on that project after the holidays when I start building.

For now here is this tank pretty much done and stocked with the newest fish.


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## ratbones86 (Jun 29, 2012)

:thumb: :thumb: :thumb: :thumb: :thumb: :thumb: awesome man. im jealous lol. love the total effect you should do a video of both your tanks


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## bft3278 (Oct 18, 2010)

Steve you my friend are crazy! What are your plans for the big tank? Best thing I did was build an automatic water changer for mine, I never do anything to my tank other then scrape the glass. Are you building a wall or putting it in an existing wall? If you build one I would use mold resistant wall board and put a dehumidifier in your pump room if it's enclosed. It will save you alot of headache. Anyways always enjoy your builds and can't wait to see your next one!


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## Steve C (Oct 9, 2011)

bft3278 said:


> Steve you my friend are crazy! What are your plans for the big tank? Best thing I did was build an automatic water changer for mine, I never do anything to my tank other then scrape the glass. Are you building a wall or putting it in an existing wall? If you build one I would use mold resistant wall board and put a dehumidifier in your pump room if it's enclosed. It will save you alot of headache. Anyways always enjoy your builds and can't wait to see your next one!


Thanks guys. I'm enjoying both tanks a lot, I sit and just watch the fish and lose all track of time pretty often. I wish I would have got back into this again sooner than I did.

On the new project I am going to be building a new wall to mount the tank into. Basically what I have is I built a wall about 7 years ago that sectioned my basement off where 1/3 of it I turned into a shop where I built custom fly rods for my business. So now I am going to section the other 2/3 in half so I will built a wall to make about an 10ft x 10ft office. Then I'll still have about 10ft x 10ft open behind the tank when it is built into the wall as well as a doorway that leads to the laundry/utility room so I shouldn't have issues with moisture I don't think. Plus having the utility room right there I'll have a sink/water only about 12ft from the tank so that will be nice.

As to the tank I "think" I might have one I am hopefully getting from a guy on a local cichlid site which is a 265g ....84" x 24" x 30". I think I will hopefully be getting that one sometime in January. If by chance I don't, then I plan to build a plywood 96" x 24" x 30" tank myself. But we'll have to see what happens, I hope/think I'll be able to get the 7ft one from this guy to use.


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## ratbones86 (Jun 29, 2012)

steve come down to indiana and build me backgrounds for my 2 55 gallon tanks!!! i have an extra bedroom you can chill in till u finish lol!!


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## Steve C (Oct 9, 2011)

ratbones86 said:


> steve come down to indiana and build me backgrounds for my 2 55 gallon tanks!!! i have an extra bedroom you can chill in till u finish lol!!


Too bad you weren't closer or I'd come over and give ya a hand building some backgrounds for your 55's for sure.

Well I had a 10g tank that finished fishless cycling a couple weeks ago and has been just sitting that I have been dosing with ammonia every few days to keep the bacteria alive, so I decided to do something with it today. So went to work with the jigsaw and mounted it in the center of one of my 55g stands, then picked up a nice active betta. Might add a school of neon's and see how they get along.


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## ratbones86 (Jun 29, 2012)

i wouldnt add anything with the beta. they are fighting fish for a reason. i went into the pet place where they go and i seen a beta in with convicts and the beta killed the cons.....so i wouldn add anything with the beta or they will die.


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## Steve C (Oct 9, 2011)

I've been reading quite a bit about what tankmates are okay with betta and seems Cardinal Tetras (not Neon like I thought) are okay with them most times. From all I have found it seems about 75% of the people have no problem with putting cardinals with them in 10g tanks. Sounds like it depends on the battas personality as well though just like with cichlids. So I think I'm gonna try about 6-8 cardinals with him and keep a close eye on them and see how they do. If they don't do well then the cardinals will come out and be taken back for store credit. I'll let ya know how it goes.


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## metricliman (Sep 3, 2012)

Steve C said:


> I've been reading quite a bit about what tankmates are okay with betta and seems Cardinal Tetras (not Neon like I thought) are okay with them most times. From all I have found it seems about 75% of the people have no problem with putting cardinals with them in 10g tanks. Sounds like it depends on the battas personality as well though just like with cichlids. So I think I'm gonna try about 6-8 cardinals with him and keep a close eye on them and see how they do. If they don't do well then the cardinals will come out and be taken back for store credit. I'll let ya know how it goes.


I would personally just put in some pygmy cories and an oto.


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## sweety (Jan 10, 2010)

ratbones86 said:


> i wouldnt add anything with the beta. they are fighting fish for a reason. i went into the pet place where they go and i seen a beta in with convicts and the beta killed the cons.....so i wouldn add anything with the beta or they will die.


 Had my male betta (plakat) in with my young FM's & con as a temp measure & yes he gave the smaller FM a bit of a hard time & picked a fight with the con a few time as they were both the same size as him but once the con got a little bigger (1/2") it ripped my fighters fins to shreds so a betta killing cons would be a first tbh. Yes fighters don't like their own kind even mating can be fatal for the female if it's done wrong but they aren't that bad with other fish as mine (had a few) have lived with cardinal, neon & lemon tetras without any probs apart from the betta getting it's fins nip time to time have even kept them with female guppies but they will shred male guppies tails. Adding the betta last stops most of the problems


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## Steve C (Oct 9, 2011)

Ended up going with a small group of Neon Tetras (they were out of the cardinals) and so far the Betta and Neon's are just completely ignoring each other so they seem like they are going to get along just great.


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## MSUDawgs56 (Feb 1, 2005)

Great job with your setup. Love the lights. I have never seen anyone do this and I must say it is nice. You are skilled my friend.


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## Steve C (Oct 9, 2011)

Just an update. I added some live plants (Java Fern) to the tank today. I really like the overall natural look they give the tank, and the added benefit of lowering nitrates will be nice as well. First time using live plants, but for sure will not be my last.
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## mhough260 (Mar 22, 2013)

Awesome build, Steve!

If you dont mind me asking, what substrate did you decide to use and how do you like it?


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## Steve C (Oct 9, 2011)

Updating this one. This tank has been up and running for about two years now. It;s went through various changes in stocking and I added some wood to it as well as you can see in the following pic which is it's current state...










But now I think it is time for a revamp and upgrade. The fish that are in it are getting pretty good size and I really want them to have more room. The 12" front to back of the 55g is just too limiting for them IMO so I'm getting a 75g 18" front to back this Friday for these fish. I'll be starting a new build post in the DIY section for this as I build a completely new 3D background, redo the wood stand that is coming with the 75g I'm getting, going to build a new canopy and change out the substrate probably to black, add some more wood etc etc. Should be a much nicer home for these guys so they can stretch their fins better when finished.


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