New 125 Gallon Build

Starting my 3rd tank about a year into the hobby. I have a 20 gallon tall and a 65 gallon currently. I picked up a new 125 over the Thanksgiving holiday and have been slowly collecting everything I need to get it started. I finally finished building and painting the stand yesterday. I used the King of DIY's video, only difference is I added some trim pieces. Only thing I have left to do is start cleaning the sand which I am not excited about, order plants, and get fish. Tank will mainly house Rainbows, not sure what else yet.

One of the FX4s has been on my 65 gallon for the last 2 1/2 months, and there is a sponge filter in each of my other tanks I'll be moving to this new one as well.

I was able to rip out the LED light from the hood light that came with the 65 gallon that I'm no longer using and mount it inside the stand which you can see in the pics.

125 Gallon 72" x 18" x 21"
2x Fluval FX4
2x Fluval E300 Heaters
2x Fluval 3.0 Lights
Fluval Q2 Air Pump
2 Sponge Filters
Spider wood, mopanI wood, and dragon stone
Black Diamond Blasting Sand

I'll add more pictures once it is has water and fish.

 

Really nice! I am looking at a 125. The stands they sell look cheap though. Yours is way better.

 

That's awesome my tank is only 30 gallons.

 

Really nice! I am looking at a 125. The stands they sell look cheap though. Yours is way better.

Thanks. It is pretty sturdy and it seems like enough people have used this design that I don't think I'll have any problems with it supporting the weight. This is the video I was talking about if you are interested:

 

Got the tank set up minus the plants and the 2nd FX4 and two sponge filters that I'm going to move from my other tanks . Ordered a bunch of plants that should be here Tuesday hopefully . Still quite a bit of bubbles on the glass and whatnot from when I filled it up yesterday .

Love the black diamond sand but cleaning it sucked!

Hope to be ready for fish next weekend .

 

Looks great!!!!! Good work work!!!!!! Got the same tank with just 1 FX4 and it stays clear as glass.....can only imagine how good yours will stay!!!!!!

 

The build is looking great!

Repurposing the LED as a utility light is perfect.

I like how it's trimmed out also and the attention to detail with the caulking.

If I can make a suggestion, install some vertically mounted power strips on the back corners and on the middle column.

That is my next project for our 75g's cabinet stand.

Keep us posted with updates!

 

The build is looking great!

Repurposing the LED as a utility light is perfect.

I like how it's trimmed out also and the attention to detail with the caulking.

If I can make a suggestion, install some vertically mounted power strips on the back corners and on the middle column.

That is my next project for our 75g's cabinet stand.

Keep us posted with updates!

 

Well done !
I will enjoy watching this grow while you do all the hard work !

 

Yep, I plan on hanging the power strips like that next weekend !

 

Plants are in. Going to move the other seeded FX4 and sponge filter over on Friday and get some fish Saturday hopefully.

Jungle Val
Dwarf Sagitarria
Amazon Sword
Java Fern
Crypt Lutea
Anubias
Anubias Nana petite
Staurogyne Repens

 

The other Seeded FX4 and sponge filter added today. First fish are in . Tried a new lfs about 45 minutes away in Dayton that has a huge selection of fish .Probably be going there from now on. Picked up 3 yellow rainbow fish. 2m and 1f. And also 2 huge Bolivian Rams .

 

So far so good. I've managed to not kill all of the plants so far with the exception of the two anubias Nana petite which I thought were hard to kill. These are the ones I glued onto the tree looking driftwood . I trimmed the roots a little before I glued them so not sure if that did it or what . They aren't completely dead but not looking so hot. The crypts are getting new growth for sure .I also added some pogostemon stellatus octopus this week .

Fish are good I'm pretty sure the yellow rainbows have even spawned. Today I added three dwarf neon rainbows and an emperor pleco. My phone doesn't want to focus on the rainbows but I got one of the pleco

 

Currently about 3 months in on this tank. So far so good. I've been adding fish pretty much every 2 weeks. I've added a few more plants. Pogostemon Stellatus Octopus, Cryptocoryne Wendtii, and Red Melon Sword. I quit the ferts for a while because I was getting some brown algae at the beginning. Just started dosing again now that it has gone away. Current fish stock is:

2x Dwarf Neon Rainbow
3x BosemanI Rainbow
3x Yellow Rainbow
2x Kamaka Rainbow
2x Trifasciata Rainbow
2x Bolivian Ram
1x Emperor Pleco
1x Rainbow Shark
17x Rummy Nose Tetra
4x Clown Loach
4x Nerite Snail
MTS
1x Deepwater Creek Austrailian Rainbow (Currently in QT)
2x Denison Barb (Currently in QT)

 

The tank is looking great.

Those rainbows and rams have some great color.

Keep up with the updates

 

I'm just starting a 125G build as well. Enjoyed reading your thread. Can't wait to collect all the pieces so I can start to hardscape. Mine is 90" wide, so I plan on doing three 30" distinct hardscapes that flow into each other. Big canvas to work with.