# Time for changes (long)



## BrianNFlint

I've had my tank for almost 5 years now and it has not really changed much since i first set it up, so its time for major changes.

Heres how my tank is setup now:
(I lost several fish from a heater mis-hap right before moving from Michigan to Oklahoma and have been planning a re-do since then)

Tank: 75g Long
Substrate: 120 lbs natural medium gravel
Substrate: 40 lbs crushed coral (mixed with gravel)
Filtration: Magnum 350
Filtration: (2) Penguin 1140 Power Heads (with sponge pre-filters) powering RFUGF
Filtration: (1) Penguin 660 (with sponge pre-filter) powering DIY Bio-Filter with Bio-Balls & Bio-rings
Decor: 140-160lbs Lace Rock
Fish: (4) Red Zebra (1m/3f), (2) Yellow Lab (2f), (1) Demasoni (M), (10) Red Top Zebra (5M/5F)

If you subtract total gallons - substrate - lace rock i probably actually carry 55-60 gallons of water with this setup.

Total Filtration: 1095 gph (75 gallons 14.6x/hr, 60 gallons 18.25x/hr)

This display is just bealtiful and i am completely happy with it but its time to try something different.

Future Setup:

Tank: 75g Long
Substrate: 90 lbs play sand
Buffer: 20 lbs crushed coral (in DIY filter)
Filtration: DIY Wet Dry 300-350gph with Bio-Media from current DIY Filter
Filtration: Magnum 350 Water Polishing setup running in chamber of W/D Filter
Filtration: (2) Penguin 1140 Power Heads (with sponge pre-filters) running 6-8 jet USJ
Filtration: (1) Penguin 660 (with sponge pre-filter) powering DIY Mechanical/Buffer filter
Decor: 70-90lbs lace rock
Fish: (4) Red Zebra (1m/3f), (5) Yellow Lab (1m/4f), (12-15) Demasoni (Mixed), (4) Red Top Zebra (1M/3F)

Total Gallons - Substrate/Decor + W/D Filteris probably 70-75 gallons..

Total Filtration: 1395 gph (75 gallons 18.6x/hr)

I think *** figured out a way to do all this filtration with most current being from the USJ

I am going today to get storage totes to put the fish in, PVC, Padding for under the sand, and sand. I plan to have the 2 1140's mounted toward the top in the outside corners with the sponge filters pulling water from the top of the tank pumping it through the USJs.

I'll get a 20 or 29 gallon tall to make my SUMP and will use the DIY overflow with a 350-400 gph pump.

I want to either have 3 stacks of rocks or one continous stack, but much smaller than it is now. i want more open water. Im thinking i can stack smaller rocks mostly to the top of the tank in the corners to hide the USJ plumbing and one in the middle.

I'm open to any suggestions or comments as i am starting this project. Sorry this is so long!!


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## BrianNFlint

So i went to Lowes today and got most everything i need to switch over.

This is what I got:

100 lbs Sand
20 feet 1/2" PVC
PVC Fittings and adapters
13" x 48" x 3/4" Styrofoam
A tube of silicone to "glue" the foam to the bottom of the tank

I still need to get some new crushed coral for buffering but i think that might wait until the W/D is ready to install.

I started the USJ system. Heres a pic of 1 half of it nearly completed. None of it is glued together yet, and most of it will probably not be so i can easily reconfigure.










Tomorrow i will clean the sand and make the other half of the usj system.. The plan is to break the tank down monday night then tuesday afternoon put it back together with the new substrate and jet system...

I am curious as to how long it might take for the bio-filter to recover after removing the UGF & Substrate.

Comments? Suggestions?


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## BrianNFlint

More than 50 views and no comments?


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## BrianNFlint

Heres a pic of the completed USJ system. It has 6 jets and that looks to be plenty.










I'm open to any suggestions or comments.


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## alicem

BrianNFlint said:


> More than 50 views and no comments?


We are interested in watching your progress


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## Rockydog

Are you planning on using the styrofoam as "padding"? If you are, its not a good idea because the fish like to dig and will be constantly chewing up pieces of styrofoam. It will drive you crazy getting the pieces out of your tank. Instead, get some egg crate, in lighting department of lowes, etc. With a pair of side cutters you can cut this to to any configuration. Lay your ugf system into cut out areas of the egg crate and attack with electrical ties, lay your sand down to the level of the egg crate, place your rock base, then add the rest of your sand/gravel.


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## BrianNFlint

I might run back by Lowes today and swap out the styrofoam for egg crate. I have been debating between the few for a little while now, but never considered them tearing it up..

As for progress, I cleaned all the sand... oh joy!! Then i decided to setup a 10g with sand to throw the fish i want to get rid of in.. Also it seemed like a good idea to do a "test run" on a smaller scale before i tear my 75g all apart.

Its not a beautiful display but will work to hold unwanted fish or fry.. I threw a trash bag on the back to hide the wires and such but dont care much for it. maybe if i had spent more time with it and got it flat.. heres a pic..


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## BrianNFlint

This was the tank a couple years ago. It had a DIY rock background with about 30 caves in it plus all the lace rock. It got too restrictive as the fish matured so i took out the background shortly after this pic. I also removed many fish to allow more space for the remaining fish to grow.










This was the tank a couple weeks ago.. "Before pic"









During.. At this point I had removed probably 1/3 of the gravel!! 









Tote full of rock!









Tote full of Fish! 









Tote full of gravel!!









Tote full of sand!









Everything laid out. Its ready for sand!









Sand is in! Woo Hoo!! Partially filled.. Waiting for sand to settle.. 1140s are on powering the jets.









Still really cloudy but i added the fish so I can get to bed!









Heres a close up shot of the tank.. 









So that was a couple hours ago. With all the filtration running its clearing up nicely.. My water was always crystal clear with my gravel I hope it is with sand.

The jets blow hard enough to keep everything stirred up, but not hard enough to hurt anyone. When i first reintroduced the fish it would push them around some but they are already getting used to it.

The cichlids seem to really enjoy the sand and the jets! They are already sifting through it and moving it around.. As soon as the males realised there was more than sand in the tank they started harrassing their respective females.. I like the new look and the extra space. I ended up using all of the lace rock.. Man this stuff is addicting!!! Once you start you cant stop till its all gone! hahaha

So all in all I spent about $40 to convert.. not bad at all and I am very happy with the results thus far..

I'll post some better pics once i've had time to clean the glass up and the sand settles..


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## nicholas316

nice work, how is ur ph and stuff


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## Hoosier Tank

Nice job! It looks like all your pre-planning really paid off. I can hardly wait to see pics of once it clears up this morning.


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## maxwell1295

The transition pics are pretty cool and the fishing product looks great. Nice job! :thumb:


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## BrianNFlint

Here is the final update to this part of the remake..

I ended up using only about 50-60lbs of sand in the show tank. It seemed to be enough but i will keep the rest incase i need to add more in the future. As of 10:30 last night the water had pretty much cleared up with only a very slight hint of cloudiness.. Heres a pic.










Today the water is crystal clear.. just like i like it.. I took a couple pics but its hard to get a good one during the day. The money shots come at night which i'll post in the next few days in the photography forum..

The ph is right where it needs to be. I ended up keeping about 35 gallons, so i only ended up doing about a 50% water change. I added a little Kent Cichlid Chemistry to bump it up a little since i removed all the coral.. Its now 8.2 - 8.4.

My real concern is an amonia spike since i removed so much gravel, which i had been using for years to keep my bio-filter stable.. I'll be doing twice weekly 25% water changes until it recovers.

I removed 5 fish, all male Red Top Zebras, leaving me with 1m/4f.

Next in the remake i'll use the styrofoam i bought to make a foam/concrete rock background.. This should be a nice test since i'm not real artistic like that.. Also i don't want to use it if im going to lose more than 2" of footprint.. I just got alot of space back i'm not ready to give it up yet!

So heres this mornings pic.. Not the best but not bad for a day-time pic.. I'll try to get many and more detailed pics over the next couple days..










I'd like to hear some feedback.. What do you guys think? What could I do to make it even nicer?


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## GLOCKMAN30

I love it. Looks great like it is. BTW, are the UGJs your only filters? and how are they working for you?


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## Deeda

Your tank is looking real good. Much better with the sand instead of gravel.


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## BrianNFlint

I'm running the UGJs, Magnum 350, and a DIY filter under the canopy.. Its well filtered..

I like the added space in the tank, as do the fish!

Today I added 3 yellow labs and 2 demasoni (its all the store had that i wanted).. Its definately looking better..

Thanks for the comments!


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## mbeattyptc

Just curious.....but what kind of sand did you use?


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## BrianNFlint

Quickrete, I think medium.. It has more pebbles than i would have prefered but it dont seem to bother the fish.. they are much smaller than my gravel was.

It was cheap.. under $5 for 50lbs.


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## Dewdrop

Wow that does look real nice but I liked it before too. Good job :thumb: Those filter are over my head though.


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## vfc

Are you having any trouble keeping the cichlids from digging around the output jets and exposing the white piping?


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## BrianNFlint

I wouldn't call them problems, but toward the back of the tank, under the rocks you can sometimes see the PVC.

I've added about 20 more lbs of sand to cure this and it seems to be helping but to me its not an issue.. You cant see them unless you are looking for them.


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## Matt54

tank looks great :thumb: ...I am planning the switch from crushed coral to sand and have entertained the idea of the UGJ as well. Might just copy your upgrades, as I also have the same size tank. any info on the DIY filter in the canopy??? 
Was the background you had in the tank the cave grotto style???using gutters? did you like it or more importantly did your fish like it??? :fish:


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## BrianNFlint

The DIY in my canopy is a 3 foot section of 4" PVC, loaded with bio-balls, bio rings, crushed coral, and some filter floss. Its powed by a Penguin 550 power head.

The background I had was the gutter style, i actually got the idea from "Tropheus Dubiosi Breeder" and I liked it when my fish were small-ish, when the got bigger the females would still use it to get a break from the males. What I DIDN'T like about it was that I lost about 4" of tank space.

Good luck with the upgrade.. if you have any more questions feel free to ask! :wink:


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## Eb0la11

BrianNFlint I'm interested in some of your tank and had a few questions.

The first is how you like the Under sand jets? I am contemplating putting them into my 120 gallon that I just bought. The time to do it is now since its bone dry and I got my fish in a 50 gallon and they are doing fine, so this could be a time to do a real good setup to make sure I got a nice looking and operating tank.

So aside from a general description of how you like the USJs, how did you decide on the direction of the jets? I noticed you put them all around the perimeter facing towards your rock structure. How is this in combination with your filter? Where is your filter? I read that you have a canopy one but I havent read anything about those. Where is the intake for it?

Also, does debris ever settle on your rock structure since there is nothing moving it off of it on that side?

Does debris settle behind your jets ever along the front wall?

What is your regular maintenance routine now?

The USJs are of my most interest of course. Nice work man!


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## BrianNFlint

I really like the jets. They are effective, they cause enough current that my fish wont get lazy, and with my setup it distributes 600gph of filtered water through out the tank.

The jets are not glued in place so i can change the angle depending on how i stack my rocks. I have considered adding 45s to the tees so i can adjust them east and west as well. Because I dont stack my rocks the same each time i clean my tank i decided to keep the layout basic with the ability to modify it in the future.

The Magnum is in the center of the tank, the power heads are toward the outside corners, and the diy filter is just sitting on the bottom of the tank on the left All of the power heads have large sponge pre-filters. I dont want the DIY pump picking up alot of debris - I just want it circulating alot of water. The DIY filter returns the water through a 1/2" PVC spray bar also inside the canopy.

I dont find alot of debris in my tank at all. I have the jets adjusted so they spray just over the rocks and only sand settles on the rocks. I have never seen anything settle behind a jet. The jets blow themselves clear if a bulldozing mbuna tries to burry it.

My maintance schedule is fairly relaxed.. I clean the sponge filters about every 2 weeks, I clean the magnum once a month, and the floss in the DIY when it gets dirty - not very often. I change about 35% of the water weekly. The only chemical I add to my tank is Stress Coat.


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## Eb0la11

What made you choose Quicrete sand instead of play sand? I just grabbed some sand at the home depot. I saw quicrete sand and passed on it for play sand, there was no pool filter sand which is what I was looking for... Will I be ok with play sand?


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## BrianNFlint

Mostly texture. I didnt like the play sand Lowes had available and the quickrete seemed like it would be something different.

Your play sand should be fine just rinse it really good. When you think its clean, do it a few more times...


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## GLOCKMAN30

Hey Brian, your tank looks great :thumb: . I am setting up a USJ system for my 75gal. Plans are to use Â½â€


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## GLOCKMAN30

Sorry, double post. Darn PC. Mod please delete this one.
Thank you.


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## BrianNFlint

I used 5/8" rubber tubing and used slip fittings. You can find them at Lowes or Home Depot.

The way you are thinking will work, just run the tubing under HOT water and stretch it over the PVC.

I am using 2 1140s with my 6 jet system.. I dont know if it will blow enough to run all 6 on one powerhead.


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## danielle l.

looks very nice congrats! it was a pleasure watching the entire process unfold. i'm currently in the planning process myself for my UGJ & eggcrate design. i havent had any luck finding eggcrate @ my local hardware stores or homedepot. but i'm a try lowes today.


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## CDMOK

This is an old thread but I guess it was bumped. It's been a while - but welcome to Oklahoma, Brian! It's always nice to find fellow adicts...err...aquarists locally :thumb:


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## BrianNFlint

danielle l. said:


> looks very nice congrats! it was a pleasure watching the entire process unfold. i'm currently in the planning process myself for my UGJ & eggcrate design. i havent had any luck finding eggcrate @ my local hardware stores or homedepot. but i'm a try lowes today.


Lowes dont stock it, Home Depot does, look in the lighting section - its there but its really hard to find.. Ask an employee if you cant find it.

Good luck!


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## BrianNFlint

CDMOK said:


> This is an old thread but I guess it was bumped. It's been a while - but welcome to Oklahoma, Brian! It's always nice to find fellow adicts...err...aquarists locally :thumb:


I lived here from 1980 until 1999, and just couldn't stay away! So i'm home... now with my family! Thanks for the welcome!


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## Donna01

Great looking tank, Hope I can get mine to look half as good :wink: Might I get some more information on your The DIY in my canopy is a 3 foot section of 4" PVC, loaded with bio-balls, bio rings, crushed coral, and some filter floss. Its powed by a Penguin 550 power head. I am going to be building a hood for my tank and to have this up under the hood sounds great two me. I'am new at Cichlids I wish I would have done some looking a resource information befor I got the first 4 fish for my tank. I now have the resources I need to help me setup a great home for my babys :thumb:


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## Donna01

*BrianNFlint*
might I get your help on how you built your "DIY filter under the canopy" Thank you for all you updates and photos of your tank gives me the hope I can get a great working tank.


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