470 gallon plywood tank build (in progress with photos)


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almost full!
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don't know when I'll be ready for fish or how I'm going to cycle it, but it will be as soon as I can!
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How is it looking? How long are you going to leave the water in for?

You could use tetra safe start and fully stock it to stop aggression by adding the fish in stages I would definitely look into it I have used TSS many times but not with cichlids but I know it can be done
 
  • Thread Starter
  • #104
full to the top!
tank 5.jpgtank 6.jpg
I'll keep it full for a week just to be sure everything is OK, I've still got to sort out the filtration system before I start thinking about cycling and what not.
 
Well I'm definitely impressed! That's a giant tank and I'm guessing the money was minimal comparatively. I'm going to have to follow this thread more closely! Very exciting!
 

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WOW! Exciting. Congratulations, that appears to be a huge hurdle you just jumped. The rest if frosting.

Best of Luck.
 
Yay for full H U G E tanks!
Looks great! Glad that the sealing-job was successful!

So have you decided how those awesome rocks are going to be configured in there? I'd build a background wall with some of them
 

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  • Thread Starter
  • #114
HI all, I've decided to scrap the siphon overflow because it was to big and bulky (I think the tank takes up plenty of room by its self without over sized equipment) and I'm going to drill the tank and install bulkheads instead. It's not what I wanted to do at the start but given the amount of flow I'm going to need it just seems more practical. So I've ordered two 2" bulkheads from the US. (I'm hoping postage won't take too long) Anyone know the flow rate of bulkheads this size? they'll have an elbow then strait to the sump so there shouldn't much restriction on them.

As always, thanks for all your help and support guys!
 
That is an insane tank. Great job!

If I were to build a tank that size my wife would undoubtedly float our divorce papers in it. lol
 
That is an insane tank. Great job!

If I were to build a tank that size my wife would undoubtedly float our divorce papers in it. lol
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Well it is officially apparent who is the boss over there lol O0
 
Well imagine if you just bought it out right it would be around 3500 to 4000....

"Imagine" how much you would "SAVE SAVE SAVE" if you just built one yourself...

Compare it to a clothing sale...

If she bought a beautiful bra for 100 dollars THAT would be foolish BUT if she spent 100 dollars and got 5 bra's and a manicure... that's a great deal!.... something like that... *evil grin*

Wifey should TOTALLY understand the savings
 
  • Thread Starter
  • #119
HI guys, the tank is going awesome. I got the bulkheads today and installed them immediately. All went well, no problems or leaks so I started on the filtration system which I have finally figured out. I'm using a plastic 55 gallon drum with a 1500 gph pump at the bottom. All my bio media will be in mesh bags hanging in the water and the mechanical filtering will be a couple of filter socks attached to the pipe coming from the tank. It's a very simple setup that will take improvements easily the only down sides so far is that it doesn't fit under the tank and it's a bit noisy but I'll fix the noise later. Oh and I also did a little aqua-scaping (couldn't help myself)
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the photo's came out really dark for some reason, I'll see if I can get better one's later.
 
That looks great! I don't know how you managed to not do it as long as you did .
 

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Lookin' awesome!!!

I like the simplistic drum idea. Normally the simpilest answer is the best answer
 
I can't help but think that eater changes are not going to be fun or easy. How are you planning on tackling that?
 
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  • #125
Jonez, we recently installed a rain water tank out the back so all I have to do is plumb a tap from the pump on that tank to the drum on the fish tank. Then I'll run a siphon from the fish tank and replace that water with stored rain water from the tap. It's safe clean water with no chemicals, the only down side is my heaters will work over time to maintain the temp and there will likely be a small Ph swing but as long as it's slow and not too much the fish won't be bothered by it. That's the plan anyway, I'm hoping it will be as simple as it sounds!
 
Very impressive man. You are going to have an awesome setup when you get everything done!
 
Jonez, we recently installed a rain water tank out the back so all I have to do is plumb a tap from the pump on that tank to the drum on the fish tank. Then I'll run a siphon from the fish tank and replace that water with stored rain water from the tap. It's safe clean water with no chemicals, the only down side is my heaters will work over time to maintain the temp and there will likely be a small Ph swing but as long as it's slow and not too much the fish won't be bothered by it. That's the plan anyway, I'm hoping it will be as simple as it sounds!
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Genius idea Scott. Let us know how that works out.
 
Idk how much more work it would be for you, but you could install another PVC pipe into the bottom of the back of it with a valve and just open the valve to drain however much water you want out for the water change. It'd be cool if you could rig up an attachment for the filter pump like is on pools for the vacuum, where you could hook in an attachment to clean the substrate into the filter, then you wouldn't have to change the water just to clean the debris out. Then do whatever you were planning for the refill water.
 
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  • #129
Hay guys I've decided to add another drum to the filter so I can put buffer media in there instead of the first barrel. I recently managed to get my hands on a few abalone shells (when I say a few I mean about two hundred) that will make a perfect buffer material but they wouldn't all fit in one drum sooo...
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Now I have two! All I did to join these two was make a 2" U pipe that makes the water in both drums stay the same then added a 1000Gph pump to the second drum to exchange water with the first drum. now I have more than enough room for all my bio media.
Can anyone think of another reason to add another drum(s) I can get them for $15 each lol.
This project is going so over the top and I haven't even got fish in it yet! lol!

Eric360, not a bad idea, I do need a way of getting rid of debris from the bottom and It's hard because the tank is so tall... Definitely something to think about.
 
  • Thread Starter
  • #131
CatfishJack, I like the giant fluid bed filter idea but that K1 stuff is kind of expensive for what it is, basically bio-balls that float.
 

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If I understand this right, you screwed you 3/4 Plywood together w/o a frame and then build a skeleton frame inside out of pine? Or is their another frame I am not seeing?
 
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  • #133
ooosparkeyooo, yes that's exactly what I did, the outside 'box' is 3/4' ply with a sub frame made from 35x90mm pine. the hard part was putting all 600 screws in it. anyone could do it though, with a little patience and concentration.
 
  • Thread Starter
  • #134
New fishies!!!

Just got back from the fish shop with my brand new Pseudotropheus cyaneorhabdos (maingano).
it was a good trip to I asked for 9 and he put them all in the bag (it was only a short trip and it's a big bag so they were fine all together) and he said he gave me a free one because he had a bad fin, but when I got home and counted them there were 12!
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pic is a little blurry sorry.

I'll post a few more photo's once they settle in.
 
  • Thread Starter
  • #137
I called to let them know as soon as I seen how many there were and they said it was fine so long as I come back again sometime! In the photo it looks like a two tailed fish with no head but it's two fish, one behind the other.
 
Congratulations you must be very excited to finally get some fish in your home made tank such an achievement well done.

Ill be keeping my eye out for some more pictures
 

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  • Thread Starter
  • #143
MY fishies up close.

Copy and paste the url.
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thanks Lucy, I googled it and all I could find was an old forum post saying I had to use a code or something
 
You're welcome!
It might have been an old post.

Your fish are so cute. They look happy!
 
  • Thread Starter
  • #145
my Ph and ammonia alert tags
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I don't know how well they really work but if they're as accurate as the packet says (ammonia will show within 10 minutes and Ph within 20) I'd never trust them to replace normal testing but an extra fail-safe can't hurt.
 
Very nice And yes, you're correct, they really don't replace proper testing but it IS nice to have a warning if something changes suddenly.
 
my Ph and ammonia alert tags
View attachment 110835
I don't know how well they really work but if they're as accurate as the packet says (ammonia will show within 10 minutes and Ph within 20) I'd never trust them to replace normal testing but an extra fail-safe can't hurt.
Click to expand...

I know some fishrooms where every tank has those so at a glance you can tell if you have a problem somewhere.
 
  • Thread Starter
  • #150
i've never seen these. do they change as the water changes or are they one time use only?
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the round bit in the middle changes coulor as the water changes and they last up to 6 months. they take a few days to start working properly but once they do you get an instant reference every time you look at the tank between water changes (I usually do two tests a week one before and one after my water change)

Has anyone ever noticed if lager tanks with a small bio load take longer to cycle?

My maingano have been in there four days now and I have been feeding (sparingly) four times per day and have yet to see any ammonia or any other change in water parameters other than a decrease in tannins since I started using Purigen (added two days before the fish) So I'm wondering if the ammonia will just need time to build up to .5 ppm or something before I see a cycle take place.
Or maybe the small amount of nitrogenous waste that is being produced is absorbed by the purigen...
I'm a little lost on this one, I've never had trouble establishing a stable cycle before...
 

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