675g Cichlid & Panaque breeding tank

[Kostas]

Hi,

I wanted a temporary setup to upgrade my 220g tank till i have a place i can build the 6x4x2m one i want. So, i went to order a 500g tank to upgrade the living quarters of my cichlids and plecos. When i told a fish store i know and are friends with the owner, about what i wanted, he offered me his old display tank that he can't setup at the new location(he moved his shop this summer), a 3x1x0.93m 675g tank with a 220g sump! He gave me a great deal and took him on immediately! The only problem was that the tank was spoken for by another person earlier and that i couldn't fit it at my house. The other person stumbled on the difficulties of moving it, so it was finally mine! After a good deal of searching, i found a crane with experience moving big tanks through tight spots(it could only get in from a front window, stand and aquarium separately). I arranged the move and one Saturday, two weeks ago, it was airborne!

Here are a few photos of the tank


and sump


And the place its getting through. I will set it up along the wall next to the window


Tank moving day!(first two photos courtesy of my friend Dimitris Lysikatos)










The tank freshly inside


And now, after brushing and sanding all the rust off the metal base, two hands of minium, one of PU paint, a thorough clean up of the inside of the tank and resealing the bottom for added safety(tank is 6-7years old)

[NCE12940]

What an adventure! I look forward to seeing what you do with this behemoth

[Kostas]

Thank you It will be setup as a breeding tank for Panaque L27 "Araguaia", Baryancistrus L81, Leporacanthicus L240 'Special', Trachelyoprterus insignis, Megalechis thoracata, Platydoras costatus, Cryptoheros nanoluteus(a beautiful small cichlid) and maybe Pseudacanthicus L25. The other inhabitants will be medium-large central and South American cichlids, as they are in my 2meter tank. They cohabit peacefully with my catfish, no bitings. They all are big pets...including the Panaque!

Of the species mentioned, the only one i don't have yet is L25. Do you see problems with them cohabiting with large Panaque? I will try to get the L25 as juveniles and not adults which tend to be more frisky when wild caught. My Panaque were very frisky initially but have settled down well now. They were even eating from the same piece of food yesterday for the first time!

Last Saturday i went to get rocks for the tank, to make caves for all these species. Here is an idea of what the formations will look like. I will make sure most caves are made to the standards of place caves, with one entrance and small enough opening for the male to block the female. A few will be left open for hiding and for spawning caves of other species

The rocks in the first pictures are around 30cm...














Do you think these should work if i fill the gaps with reef putty(grey color) or small pebbles and keep only one opening of apropriate size for the plecos? I think they should be ok but would appreciate your input.

I will be making the caves this week inside the tank and after curing the silicone, i should be able to fill the tank finally

[Viktor Jarikov]

Wow. I'm floored by this tricky tank transfer. Will be awaiting pictures of the tank filled and stocked!

Sorry, cannot help you with your questions but thought I'd mention that 3m x 1m x 0.93m comes to 737 US gal and 615 UK gal nominally.

Will your floor support such a huge weight of the tank as it seems the tank won't be sitting on a concrete foundation of the building?

[Kostas]

Thank you for your help with the calculations! I did the math with 90 instead of 93 just to "sum it up" since glass brings it somewhere around there. The sump is around 850l as well, so the total water in the system will be even more.

The houses in Greece are made of armed concrete. This is a single story house with no basement, so the tank practically sits on the foundations. I will install HDPE pieces underneath the stand legs for leveling and the feet of the stand have closed ends, so bigger surface area to sit on the floor. Might break a tile when filling but should be ok otherwise

[Kostas]

How I intend to setup the stones in the tank:

[Kostas]

And here is the sump






The setup is behind of schedule due to difficulties in getting the sump under the tank and due to the main pump of my 2meter tank, failing this weekend...Lost all weekend watching over the fish....

[Tony4143]

looking good bud, what plecos will house this beast?

[Kostas]

Thank you It will be setup as a breeding tank for:
Panaque L27 "Araguaia" pair
Baryancistrus L81 trio
Leporacanthicus L240 'Special' trio
and maybe Pseudacanthicus L25 pair
I have all of them apart from the L25


I got the sump in place today




Also finished the varnish coats on the underside of the wood the tank rests on and smoothened part of the aquarium rock structures. I am trying to source the needed components for the tank to run in time and will try to ready and position the rocks in the aquarium within this week so that I can get it running at the end of next week hopefully

[Kostas]

First trial fill








So far so good, no leaks

[Jobro]

Please keep the updates coming

Best luck with your project.

[Fundulopanchax76]

Hi ! I have been ever interested, how people who place such a big rocks into a tank dont affraid that they will break the glass ? How will you do this without any risk ? And when you place them how will you know they will not fall and break everything ?

[Kostas]

Here is how it's done

Emptied the aquarium, dressed the aquarium base glass with 4mm HDPE and slate above as a solid base for the rock work




Pilates in the aquarium...





I trial filled the sump...














No leaks thankfully!

I got the Sieve filters that I had ordered


I glued the HDPE and slate on the bottom using Aquarium Munster Orca Underwater Glue, made part of one of the sump return lines to conceal it beneath the rock work, smothened part of the granite rockwork and added it in the aquarium but did not glued it due to lack of epoxy










Today, I smoothened the rest of the rockwork and added it to the aquarium. No epoxy yet, so nothing glued yet








On Monday, I will go looking for epoxy and polypropylene parts for the overflow and return lines

[Fundulopanchax76]

So you will glue the rocks ?

[Kostas]

Yup, with reef epoxy(Aquarium Munster Construct). I am still searching for it though

[Jobro]

No updates? =D

[Kostas]

Just an idea of the tank now

[Jools]

Just to say I love this thread and the update looks really good!

Cheers,

Jools

[Kostas]

Thank you very much Jools Means a lot

A short video of our 3400 liter, 850 gallon tank

[Viktor Jarikov]

Wow, gorgeous tank! What a labor of love it is! Love the ever busybody hoplo cats. I don't keep planted and natural-looking tanks but I admire their looks and those that do. Who is feeding on the chewed up plant?

[Kostas]

Thank you Victor Pterygoplichthys joselimaianus rasps on the Echinodorus bleheri leafs. For the rest of the chewed up plants, Severum and Mesonauta are to blame. I hope plants grow well enough to cope with the damage and still look good enough.

[Kostas]

After a long time, here is a video of the tank as it is now

[Viktor Jarikov]

Masterpiece.

[Kostas]

Some new photos




Andrinoacara rivulata


Green Terror & Cryptoheros nanoluteus


Panaque L191


Megalechis thoracata


Herotilapia multispinosa


Trachelyopterus insignis




Cryptoheros nanoluteus






Baryancistrus L81




Leporacanthicus L240 trapping, he should be guarding fry now


Baryancistrus begginii