# Start of my 125



## gtphale (Oct 12, 2008)

Well I picked up a used 125 a week or so ago. It is a six foot tank, was going to keep mbuna in it, but now I'm leaning towards Fronts. Good think I have a month or so to figure it out. Here is a couple pics of what I got to start with.

The aweful gravel that was in the tank.








Came with a biowheel penguin 330 and a 350 I'll be scrapping them and going sump or canisters.

The tank after ocean scene background was removed. And the wrecked stand it unfortantly had to come with.









I'm in the process of resealing the tank, painting the background black, and building a tank now. I'll post more pics as I finish these things up.


----------



## gtphale (Oct 12, 2008)

Here is the background painted 









Here is the stand in the process of being finished, still want to add 4 more 2x4 support brackets,but want to find my doors and space according to them.. Will be skinning in 1/2 in. birch plywood. With a matching canopy.


----------



## chrispyweld (Dec 20, 2005)

Did it censor Birch?


----------



## chrispyweld (Dec 20, 2005)

I guess it did!! :lol: :lol: :lol:

Can a moderator uncensored Bir-ch?


----------



## jfly (Feb 17, 2009)

:lol:


----------



## gtphale (Oct 12, 2008)

Well my silicon job must of been ok, the tank is still holding water.

Here are some updated pics of the stand.

One door and skin on.









And all done waiting to be stained.










I'll stain it tommorrow and post some new pics.


----------



## Dj823cichild (Mar 30, 2009)

Great job on your stand Gt it's kick ass! Good luck with everything else to.


----------



## gtphale (Oct 12, 2008)

Welp here is the finished stand, stained and with the tank on. It turned out ok but I'd do a couple things differant.

Doors look uneven cause of the trim. Looks like they are to low. Didn't compensate for the foam under the tank, which causes the trim on the tank to be seen. Hope it compresses enough that its not to noticable. Or since the stand is even maybe i'll remove the foam???

Over all I'm happy with the project and may work on the miters a bit more. Built the stand with a just a circular saw and jigsaw.

Well here is the stained stand. Going to work on a background next. Went golden oak since my trim is all oak colored, and I couldn't find bir ch colored stain.


----------



## bac3492 (Jul 25, 2008)

looks good


----------



## chrispyweld (Dec 20, 2005)

Nicely done GT!! Looks good. If you can level the stand I wouldst worry about the foam.


----------



## gtphale (Oct 12, 2008)

Welp got to do some work on the tank today. Been spending a lot of time with my daughter so the tank had to wait till she went to bed. :dancing:

Did the UGJ system today, will still need to find some powerheads to power this thing. I have it setup with 8 jets total. 4 on each branch, will run each branch with a seperate powerhead. Looking for something in the 800gph range, figure 200gph per jet.

Here's a pic.


----------



## bacondaddy (Dec 6, 2007)

that seems awefully powerful. i have 2 penguin 660 powerheads. 170 gph with 3 jets on each head. and it seems to be perfect. fish like to swim into the jets. 800 gph seems like they would not even be able to get near it without being blown across the tank. but your stand looks great!


----------



## gmaschke (Aug 23, 2008)

Ecxellent job on that stand its awesome. In fact it mayhave inspired me to buils a new one myself! Where did you get the cabinet doors from?


----------



## gtphale (Oct 12, 2008)

Doors are just oak doors from Menards. I can't believe how easy it was to build. After the tank is up and running I'll be building the canopy.

Here's a pic of the egg grate installed. Looking for some powerheads or filters now. Bacondaddy from reading the DIY ugj build, he recommends 200gph per jet. Hopefully more will put in some input on this. Maybe I'll start a new thread on it.


----------



## TheBanker (Jun 14, 2008)

nice job, so far. are you still going with fronts?


----------



## gtphale (Oct 12, 2008)

LOL I have no clue. So many choices, I think If I were to do fronts I would want a bigger tank. Thought about blue dolphins also. I'm so confused,seems that a tank this size mbuna would just get lost and out of sight.


----------



## kodyboy (Dec 9, 2007)

mbuna would not get lost in a 125 I have many in a 150 and they look great.


----------



## bacondaddy (Dec 6, 2007)

Yea. My 125 has 17 mbuna and 5 haps. it is hard to find decor to fill the tank


----------



## gtphale (Oct 12, 2008)

finally another couple hours to work on the tank. Still waiting for some stuff to come in. But this is what I have so far. Decided to do a skimmerless sump system we'll see how that turns out. Right now I'm waiting for some Lee speciman boxes to come in.

Well this is what I have so far. Redid the ugj system and decided to run it off of my sump pump.










Here is the media baskets and the ruber maid container









Decided to add legs to the bottom basket to let waterflow more freely.










Baskets in sump









Sump under stand hoping I left enough room to work under the tank stand. Might have to end up useing a smaller tote.










Well once the Lee containers come in I'll be able to fly on this thing.


----------



## gtphale (Oct 12, 2008)

Well so much for flying on this thing. Work got hectic, camping season started, and family took over my free time. Man life sure is busy.

Well I decided to make my own background, with styro and cement. We'll see how it turns out, comments would be awesome, since this is my first. Was looking for something like canyon rock so tried my hack skills and came up with this.

Couple pieces siliconed together, this is 2" styro.










Here is a third layer put on and some carving. I'll have some spots of this background almost 6" thick..










Little more detail on the cutting.









The finished product for time being.










Really hope this turns out the way I'm wanting it to. Will save me some cash for the extra fish I'm wanting.


----------



## Dj823cichild (Mar 30, 2009)

Looking good!


----------



## Dj823cichild (Mar 30, 2009)

Looking good!


----------



## aaronjunited (Sep 29, 2009)

this is awsome stuff mate. Are you a joiner. Did you know how to make the stand yourself? Or read a guide or what?


----------



## gtphale (Oct 12, 2008)

I'm just kind of crafty and like to play with things. Worked a lot with my dad growing up building decks, garages, bars , and all kind of other things.

Thanks for the props, I can't wait till I can get this tank fired up. I'm heading to the local swap in Oct. to look for some pumps for the sump and the ugj system.


----------



## aaronjunited (Sep 29, 2009)

good luck with it all mate. wish i could do things like that myself. might take a leaf from your book and experiment. I'm sure i could find guides on how to build myself.


----------



## gtphale (Oct 12, 2008)

Figure I'll just let the background fall into one post here's the link.

http://www.cichlid-forum.com/phpBB/view ... 68#1390768


----------



## gtphale (Oct 12, 2008)

http://www.cichlid-forum.com/phpBB/view ... 06#1391206

Just got done drylocking my background.


----------



## Guams (Aug 21, 2009)

This whole build looks good. The color of your background is sweet. This is inspiring me to build a stand for the 30(?)-gallon I have in my garage... it has a Christmas tree and two camping chairs in it right now...


----------



## gtphale (Oct 12, 2008)

LOL It happens, I thought my build would of been done back in July now I'm pushing to have it done by Oct 18th. We'll see how that goes. I had my cigar cases in the tank, some old magazines and other junk.


----------



## gtphale (Oct 12, 2008)

http://www.cichlid-forum.com/phpBB/view ... highlight=

Another update and a pic with the background in the tank.



















This background was done with drylock, I would use nothing but on any background I was ever to do again. All the detail is kept and once dry it is safe. Manafacture says wait a week before submerging underwater. So next friday I believe I'll be adding water. :thumb:

Now to start looking at more aquascaping ideas. :dancing:


----------



## aaronjunited (Sep 29, 2009)

lovely mate lovely


----------



## gtphale (Oct 12, 2008)

Welp Got the tank ready for the 25th. Going to the swap to pic up some mates. Here's a few pics, been really busy trying to get this finished up.

Here's the backside of my skimmerless overflow









Here's a front shot with flash on









Here's the flash off, weird in the pic I can see the stream of light but looking at the tank I don't see it. Hmm









A couple labs to test out the tank for toxins or anything else. Put filter media in the tank from my 55 so It should cycle really fast.









I built a really fast light bar so taht I could see into the tank. It will be incorperated into the canopy that I hope to finish in a couple weeks. I'll be on vacation next week so hopefully when I get back I can work on that.

The ugj and skimmerless overflows work quite nicely. My overflows are a little loud but its water trickly not toilet bowl. I have a few tricks in mind to quite things down even more. Going to make a cover and put sound deading material around that. Only annoying this is the pump, guess that is what you get when you buy cheap.

I need to add more rock this weekend, and going to add some java moss and fern to the tank. I'm running 4 compact flourecent bulbs at 60 watts. So I'm at 240 watts hope that is enough to grow those plants.


----------



## gtphale (Oct 12, 2008)

LOL I just turned my head and two of the labs are doing the dance. They have only been in there for 24 hours guess they like it. I'll cull the fry from them as they aren't a very good gene pool. Pure labs but low quality.


----------



## sinotto (Oct 15, 2009)

Nice job! It really looks wonderful :thumb:


----------



## Neogenesis (Jan 4, 2008)

Looks really nice!!! I just setup my 125 and can't wait to get it fully stocked. What do you have in mind to put in yours?

Scott


----------



## gtphale (Oct 12, 2008)

6 rusties
6 - 10 ngara acie depends on how they use the tank
15 Demansia
6 pearlmutts
6 polites
6 red cherry zebra's
6 syno cats
3 bristle nose
Thanks for the comments I have added more rock and put some java fern in the tank. Along with one anubius(sp). Changed lighting to 6500k seems a little bluer and easier on the eyes. Will post pics up on Sunday or Monday, get my stock on Sunday.


----------



## bacondaddy (Dec 6, 2007)

54 fish in a 125? is that a little overstocked?


----------



## gtphale (Oct 12, 2008)

For a 6 ft 125 I don't think it will be. That would be 45 cichlids, 49 at the most pending on how the acei use the tank.


----------



## iceblue (Apr 27, 2004)

Great looking build so far. :thumb:

Your fish list is really pushing it to the max but the beauty of the sump system is it can be modified to handle it. The only limiting factor is how much water your overflows can handle. It also helps to have as large a sump capacity as you can fit. The more water circulating the less likely you'll have spikes in water quality.

A few questions. What and how much bio media are you using? What will your final turnover of filtered water be and have you run the calcs for actual flow you'll be getting versus pump output?

I've found this head loss calculator to be a valuable tool for determining how much water is actually circulating in your tank. http://www.reefcentral.com/index.php/he ... calculator For a cannister system I've seen it recommended to have an actual turnover rate of 8-10 times the tank volume but you can go less for a sump system.

When your dealing with such an overstocked tank, water quality and maintenance are a huge issue. No such thing as overkill sometimes. :wink:


----------



## gtphale (Oct 12, 2008)

I'm running about a 14 time turnover as of right now. I using pot scrubbies for media, about 50 of them. I'm running 2 1.5" drains in my overflow boxes. That should feed 1900 ish gph on gravity feed. I'm actually pushing around 1700 gph from my pump and through the system. I still might add a skimmer overflow down the road to keep the top clean, but it would only be a small setup.

Well got my fish today, all are juvies except for the Rusties that I already had. Hope they don't decide to make a snack out of anyone.

5 rusties which are about 2.5 to 3 inches long
9 pearlmutts from 1.5 to 2 inches long, female is holding 
15 demansia all around 1.5 inches Probably will weed some of them out and replace. Quality of them isn't the greatest.
12 cherry red zebra's all around an inch
5 syno petricola's
10 acei ngara all at about 1 inch

Looking for final stocking of 
6 rusties
6 pearlmutts
15 Demansia
6 cherry red zebra's
5 petricola
probably 6-8 acei ngara
and 3 albino bn's

Here's a pic with stock in and rockwork done.


----------



## gtphale (Oct 12, 2008)

Bah wife played with camara, I'll have to get a better shot up. Now just to build that canopy.

Still thinking of one more species for this tank. Was going to do polites but couldn't find them at the swap. Maybe I'll just leave the stock list alone and play it as it goes.


----------



## gmccreedy (Apr 19, 2007)

Cool tank. Background is sweet.


----------



## JBGC (Aug 25, 2008)

Nice work mate.


----------



## gtphale (Oct 12, 2008)

I'm going to end up doing some differant rock work. I need some larger pieces in there to make it look less uniform.


----------



## sulcata2big (Oct 26, 2009)

nice set up :thumb:

mick


----------



## Ferdundra (Sep 29, 2009)

Very nice tank!


----------

