# im building 3 new tanks:-)



## cretinHOP (Jun 23, 2004)

im gonna have construction pics up of my new tanks
im building
96x25x18..for my xingu
96x30x18...for a shoal
96x38x18...rhomb experiment tank(in responce to the post about growing rhombs)

i'll have photos up tonight of the bare bones of all 3 or at least 2 if the hardware store wont deliver today


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## cretinHOP (Jun 23, 2004)

2 tanks first steps upper right is xingus lower left is the big one


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## LaZy (Jun 17, 2003)

Nice Start


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## cretinHOP (Jun 23, 2004)

thank you im debating on weither to build the reds tank as a 4x4 cube..a 4x5 or a 96x30...sigh donno. anyways those arethe starts of the 96x38 and the 96x25 the upper right one is in the sanding process i need to wait for a warm day for the wood to dry out more before i start to seal it its been raining for a couple days and the ply is a bit soft.


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## cretinHOP (Jun 23, 2004)

BTW...the stand under the lower left tank is for the upper right tank pretty much all puttogether i kept it basic and strong..


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## 2nafury (Jul 10, 2004)

nice stuff keep us updated...........


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## cretinHOP (Jun 23, 2004)

more to come all this week guys i wanna finish all three youre gonna be looking at some ugly pool paintthough lol no worries im covering it up..i couldnt find any otehr epoxy painta round me i guess i should have went to some boat stores eh whatever


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## Winkyee (Feb 17, 2003)

Looks great








Try to take pics of all the details and steps as you go,
Thanks for sharing these with us.


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## cretinHOP (Jun 23, 2004)

will do man BTW for furthur even cooler interest that big tank to the left is for a rhomb growing experiment. the one that is 96x38x18 all gonna be plumbed to self draina nd fill with a waterfall pumpin at like 1000 GPH for current and some nice day type lights and filtration...







im gonna get a 2"rhomb maybe a vinny or a rhombe from that area in puru where they get jet black if i can..and update you guys with measurements anchanges as he grows


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## cretinHOP (Jun 23, 2004)

here is a coupla closer views of a couple steps this one is some holes and screw holes puttied and shows some of the sonstruction the 2nd one is an overhead side shot and you can see how i made some o fit


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## cretinHOP (Jun 23, 2004)

btw these 2 are older pics of the top right one


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## DC_Cichlid (Jun 24, 2004)

sup bro, good job on the start of your tanks







... nice pics, but one question... how come you only made them 18" tall? i guess thats not bad, but i plan on building mine atleast 20-22"... keep it going man, cant wait to see when you got these up and running.


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## DC_Cichlid (Jun 24, 2004)

cretinHOP said:


> thank you im debating on weither to build the reds tank as a 4x4 cube..a 4x5 or a 96x30...sigh donno.


 96 x 30


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## DC_Cichlid (Jun 24, 2004)

oh, and the xingus tank... did you use just 1 plywood board for the face? as in 1 whole piece?, can you take some pics of the faces of the tanks, just wanna see how you did it.. AWSOME!!


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## cretinHOP (Jun 23, 2004)

yep thats one peice front i had the extra plywood so i made itthat way and yes you can make it out of peices like i am on the second one wher ei dont have too mych wood left from making the sides and bottom.I madethem all 18 tall because when you go higher you have tousethicker glass and i wanna be able to fitthem through doorways for sure. how i did it? just cout out a peice of wood that covered exactly the front ofthe tank i think you can see it if you look at thetop sid eview glued/screwed it in and then used a jigsaw to cut outthe windows.


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## cretinHOP (Jun 23, 2004)

OH! i will have pics from build to set up to adding fish to all finished just FYI


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## cretinHOP (Jun 23, 2004)

tommorow night..expect at least one more stand to be done and all three tanks HOPEFULLY sanded and maybe a first coat of poolpaint and photos detailing it and possibly a hood or two being built








..gonna go to work now -J-


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## SharkAquarium (May 16, 2003)

Very nice, and very cool. When you get a chance, please explain how you are going to put in the face glass, and keep it from leaking.

g


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## cretinHOP (Jun 23, 2004)

im going to run a generous bead of sylicone on the inside of the frame where im going to place the glass with the front of the tank face down on a level surface then with help carefully place the glass where i want it to be and press down in all corners and edges of the glass firmly and leave weight on the glass (on top of towels so it doesnt scratch it) for 24 hours, come back run quite a bit of sylicone on all the seams of the glass and tank and then attach the top front to back supports and let sit for a few days-one week before test fill. sound skippy to everyone?


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## Winkyee (Feb 17, 2003)

My creative juices are flowing..


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## cretinHOP (Jun 23, 2004)

well keep em flowing man as long as they are only the creative kind uhhh...<twinges>


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## cretinHOP (Jun 23, 2004)

man i am building 3 huge fish tanks at once and doing an experiment based on a great deal of personal curiosity i earned this!! LOL!


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## Drewzie (Jun 29, 2004)

haha, nice tatoo


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## cretinHOP (Jun 23, 2004)

yeah i got it at a biker place its all screwed up i love it i hear they sent it to some magazine and they have a pic of me flexing lol im kinda abig guy and they thought itd be ironic


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## Xenon (Nov 15, 2002)

this is an amazing thread.


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## cretinHOP (Jun 23, 2004)

eh were all amazing in someway





















(superman accent) just stay in school and drink your milk and you can be as big and strong as i am!


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## illnino (Mar 6, 2004)

im wanting to build one too, been wanting to build one for a few weeks now. where do you get the glass sheet, i havent seen anyplace that sells them. how much do you expect it to cost, and are you using colored epoxy(black)

here is a good site for those of u who want to make one... there are 3 articles on it, so read every one of them http://www.cichlid-forum.com/articles/diy_...od_aquarium.php


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## cretinHOP (Jun 23, 2004)

promises...Today is gonna be delayed and the weather is not so good these 2 days so no tank painting i PROMISE more pics this week so keep checking up wednsday the latest there should be more keep it goingthough and if i get a chance to do more today/tommorow there iwll be more then who knowsies..


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## illnino (Mar 6, 2004)

are u joining the boards iwth silicone and wood screws??


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## cretinHOP (Jun 23, 2004)

no i use 2"drywall screws and waterproof construction wood glue like liquid nails


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## cretinHOP (Jun 23, 2004)

i believe liquid nails has sylicone in it


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## cretinHOP (Jun 23, 2004)

ok UPDATES i had a really nasty hang over today and all i did was cut the wood for the third tank which is here. the third tank is gonna be a cool pygo shoal why cool you ask? because its only 16 inches deep WHAT HOW IS THAT COOL yous ay? because its 6 feet long and 4 feet wide and im making it that shallow because its going to replicate a drying out lake that is WHY ITS COOL! damn it and its gonna be full of super reds!


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## cretinHOP (Jun 23, 2004)

if im feeling better i should be up tommorow morning to finish putting together the first stage of the third tank and applying pputty to finish all 3 inside and out...i used fiberglass putty like bondo to do the inside and i use simple drywall putty for the outside because its very hard to sand bondo lol and you really only need that to fuill big gaps on the inside. the oustide will be pretty watertight too no worries.


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## DC_Cichlid (Jun 24, 2004)

48"wide...!! Gad DAMN!!... give er sh*t tomorrow man.. GET ER DONE!!


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## cretinHOP (Jun 23, 2004)

LMAO!!!!


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## cretinHOP (Jun 23, 2004)

LOL MY equipment list and costs...

10x ac500 for 32.99 each
3x via aqua canisters 49.99 each(to fill with biomedia)
3xsea chem matrix bio media 23.99 each
via aqwua heaters 9x19.99
via aqua 4900 water pump 2x49.99 each...1390 GPH

i considered getting 10 of those new whisper filters the ones that fill and empty and have wet dry but i donno anythinga boutthem so im just gonna totally fill canisters full of biomedia

781.74 total+s/h..ordering next week


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## qwuintus (Feb 3, 2003)

comments-

simulation of a dryed out river... well they dont stay dry all year...

and for 10x 32.99 thats 330 $$ + 6-8w each filter, and you have 10x to clean and worry about breaking down. for WAY less cost and maintainence do yourself a favor and build a wet/dry. you can drill holes for bulkhead and epoxy/silicone them to hell.


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## cretinHOP (Jun 23, 2004)

cant have a wet dry i live in CT we have weird weather in summer/winter =loss of power i live on a highway there is occasional rammings into a tele pole=loss of power=600+ gallons of water on my floor=destroyed house=pissed off i dontcare about washing filter sponges once a month and cleaning a lil canister once every 3 months


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## acidWarp (Jun 30, 2003)

cretinHOP said:


> cant have a wet dry i live in CT we have weird weather in summer/winter =loss of power i live on a highway there is occasional rammings into a tele pole=loss of power=600+ gallons of water on my floor=destroyed house=pissed off i dontcare about washing filter sponges once a month and cleaning a lil canister once every 3 months


 They have solutions to losing power, like solinoids that shut a valve when you loose power, or keeping the water level at a set place so when you loose power your sump fills up to a point before the water level in the tank goes below the intake (This is considering using overflows). If your return is under the water, or on the bottom you could use a check valve. Just some suggestions....


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## cretinHOP (Jun 23, 2004)

thanks, but i travel and it would be easier to have someone clean little sponges than to teach them how to deal with 3 wet dries. there is nothing im not gonna get froma wet dry that i cant get from a canister filled with bio media and an auto water changer. I do not know whats gonna happen when i go away and id rather just have its imple.I have considered a wet dry but in my situation its just not the best choice based on how i live my life. plus check valves can fail especially when they get gunked up with fish poop and slime lol..and BTW i know that rivers dont dry up all of the time my shallow tank isthe equivilent of a living diorama lol its a simulation which i think will be very nice its big in terms of swimming space so its fine for supers which are slightly elongated red bellies to begin with. its going to be evry heavily planted with dawrf swords and short plants and a peice of driftwood or a rock here and there just like itw ould be in teh wild ins omething drying up...the plants would bloom from the extra sun/extra biological poopy floating around in the water. wait and see mates


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## illnino (Mar 6, 2004)

cretinHOP said:


> shallow because its going to replicate a drying out lake that is WHY ITS COOL! damn it and its gonna be full of super reds!


 piranhas live in rivers, not lakes...


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## cretinHOP (Jun 23, 2004)

ive also considered building a LARGE hang on tank wet dry that copvers a large portion on the back of the tank and would have the same waterlevel as in the aquarium. This is still an option thatw oudl ad about 2 weeks to construction but who knows...the filtration options im using are liek 500$ total which isnt bad for 3 tanks one of which is 185..285...220 i dontthink building wet dries will cost much less the pumps would be 50 each plus all the media plus the acrylic it does have up sides though like i could hide the heaters who knows maybe i will do it just because its coolnow lol i dunno im looking at 6 weeks at this project to finish as it is especially if i keep sleeping in as i have been


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## cretinHOP (Jun 23, 2004)

ill there are some lakes located off of these rivers man lol and part of a drying up river would resemble a lake


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## cretinHOP (Jun 23, 2004)

there is even a river and lake varient of the elongatus if you know...an what do you think lakes are? its justa river that happens to be flwoing in and out of a big deep peice of land that is fuilled up with water


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## illnino (Mar 6, 2004)

yes, there are few that live in the lake that have been put there, but normally they are found in the rivers. also have you found a glass dealer yet.


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## cretinHOP (Jun 23, 2004)

no not yet i may use pecies of glass for the front devided and held in by a front support like the virtical ones you see on the upper righttank instead of one large peice if i get sh*t from them about the size of the glass or just buy used 55 gallon tanks for cheap take out the glass and have the glass cut


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## qwuintus (Feb 3, 2003)

How do you plan on bracing the tank.

Also, I stil see your argument debatable on the use of wet/dry. Sorry if I sound like I'm being pushy, but seriously a wet/dry is much more effecient and usefuly in everyway. In addition the concerns you brought up about leaking etc are easy things that people tend to push aside or dont even think of it- which leads to the ineviable. You also seem to be coming back to wet/dry as you brought it up in your later post.
Its also not hard to type an easy to understand step by step way to take care of your tank and leave it under the stand and let the tank-sitter know where it is.
$50 pumps? I hope your not using rios as return pumps.
Also, Im glad you chose to go with glass, but I hope you got lots of friends because those tanks are going to weight alot!


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## cretinHOP (Jun 23, 2004)

me and my mother can pick up the largest tank fully empty without the front glass which should add another 50lbs or something i am a 230lb weightlifter lol its not as heavy as youd think...as for the bracing im using a series of front to back bracing also lengthwise as you can see in the pics the braces are going in last the widest tank which im now shortening to 31 inches for the rhomb growout tank is going to have lengthwise braces one in the middle...one at each end and narrow ones in between the mid and ends it will be plenty sturdy and you will see the pics as i ifnish them personally...crazy or not i like wood tanks with front glass better than all glasstanks it makes the front panel a nice focus point.


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## qwuintus (Feb 3, 2003)

sounds like you got it down with the bracing. hope you have enough room- sounds like a big guy. also, how much is the epoxy coating going to cost you and have you been able to find different colors to choose from. I'm guessing only black and a few shades of blue.


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## cretinHOP (Jun 23, 2004)

JUST ODERED THE FILTERS AND EQUIP FOR 2 tanks!!!!....











































































































6x ac500 for 32.99each 
2x fluval 204 canisters 49.99 each(to fill with biomedia)
2x sea chem matrix bio media 23.99 each 
6x via aqua TITANIUM heaters 300 watt 6x19.99 
1x supreme mag drive (1200gph) 89.99 12 each total: 562.78...

gonna focus on finishing tanks and hoods for the rhomb and the pygo now pics to come as soon as i get a chance..J


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## cretinHOP (Jun 23, 2004)

enough room..they are going in the basement


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## cretinHOP (Jun 23, 2004)

update new pics for monday night of the completed hoods and sanded tanks...filters..and etc are on order


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## BUBBA (Sep 4, 2003)

Very nice tanks, keep us posted on the progress


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## cretinHOP (Jun 23, 2004)

canopy construction first pics...


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## stingray (Apr 2, 2004)

Beautiful profession work









I wish you much success with your new tanks

I follow you work every moment on this forum

I have built a new stand and a background and sides by mezelf for my new tank to

Keep on posting this interesting topic

Stingray


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## cretinHOP (Jun 23, 2004)

here are some canopy shots


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## cretinHOP (Jun 23, 2004)

DOS...top view i made it kinda random i like it that way.unsanded or painted its a start biatches


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## DC_Cichlid (Jun 24, 2004)

gj man, keep up the good work.


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## cretinHOP (Jun 23, 2004)

by the way i know thatthe boards are all diff sizes on the canopy and so are the spaces between them i like itthat way i need some sort of randomness in such a uniformly rectangular tank i hate "perfection" ok more pics soon..J


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## Uncle Buck (Jul 14, 2004)

Im realy interested in the fitting of the glass like george said.


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## cretinHOP (Jun 23, 2004)

stay interested you will see it soon enough


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## cretinHOP (Jun 23, 2004)

im driving out to sharkaquarium tommorow to exchange my 9" highback diamond for my new fish plus some cash im picking up 10 supers...1 sanchezi...and either a baby ven rhomb or a puru/guyana nots ure which yet im not sure if vens grow exactly the same size tehir sizes sometimes vary i think im gonna put em all into holdingtanks 30-55-10 galloners till everything is set up...ill take pics of the new fishies


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## mr.PIMP4969 (Jun 2, 2004)

hope you doo fine with no mistakes


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## DC_Cichlid (Jun 24, 2004)

Good luck Snoop DOGG!!!


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## cretinHOP (Jun 23, 2004)

ok hate me or not i got soem rhombs today total of 5 2-puru---2 vinny and one brazil i am putting them all in the large tank and letting nature take its course and decide me the strongest or if possible two(probobly not I know) dont be all about bashing me because of the money this is something i want to observe its part of what i am doing in the experiment and i dontcare about the $ as a whole..Jason


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## MR.FREEZ (Jan 26, 2004)

some experiment


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## cretinHOP (Jun 23, 2004)

its about the rhomb growing however i got juvis of 5 rhombs and teh strongest one will remain and will be the best eater/grower/aggressive unless he changes or something. RIght now the smallest puruvian is trying to attack the largest one which is a brazil in a holdingtank lol oh well


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## MR.FREEZ (Jan 26, 2004)

that kinda like buying em just to pit them agaisnt each other

your experiment just doesnt appeal to me, i think its a bit wrong


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## cretinHOP (Jun 23, 2004)

its as wrong as them doing it in a river and no more wrong than someone feeding cariba a mouse i mean c'mon seriously...I thought of doing this before and george said he thought of doing it himself to find the dominant fish i just am doing it. I value my fish highly but i seperate that from this because this is something that happens anyways. you wanna go down and tell the amazon river itself is wrong go for it yell at it too itd be halarious.


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## cretinHOP (Jun 23, 2004)

i am NOT pitting them against eachother in some dumb way I am tryingto get the strongest out of the bunch just like itw ould be in the wild among a group of young rhombs.


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## seharebo (Jul 19, 2004)

Some people are a little over sensitive....I say go for it and post the results when it is over.


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## DC_Cichlid (Jun 24, 2004)

seharebo said:


> Some people are a little over sensitive....I say go for it and post the results when it is over.


 I think its a cool idea man, if it does turn out with 1 rhom in the end hed better be one hell of a Crazy Mofo!









however, keeping 5 in the 55 gal right now isn't the best idea... you should get your tank set up for them, then add them and THEN thats when you should let nature take its course... just my 2 cents.


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## MR.FREEZ (Jan 26, 2004)

it just seems wrong cause that sh*t doesnt happen in the tank unless you put them in

that possition i know i happens in the wild and the mouse feeding sh*t is just part of the food chain

as far as im conserned.

are you going to attempted to breed them cause that would be the only reason i could

see someone wanting to do this so they have the "better" genes


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## cretinHOP (Jun 23, 2004)

go find me a white lab rat in venezuela LOL it happens cause we do it. I am doingthis not to be cool but pure curiosity it does happen in the wild and me putting rhombs ina tank is as natural as trhowing in a rat. DC...they are in submerged holding tanks inside of a large tank i got those plastic all perpous small aquariums with the vented lids and those are sunk underwater so the aquarium water circulates in and out.and they are chilling in those untill the tank is set up so they do not tear eat eachother


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## MR.FREEZ (Jan 26, 2004)

theoreticaly a rat like animal could fall into the river and i dont think it natural to

throw those 5 in a tank were if the weaker one gets picked on has no were to run

like in there natural enviorment the river which is a bit bigger and has a chance to

get away and become a strong specimen, know what im sayin man


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## cretinHOP (Jun 23, 2004)

ok well first off i can tell you the brazil rhomb is a p*ssy the two puru and the smallest ven are the most aggressive ones with the other being the larger ven the smallest puru swims up to the otehrs holding tanks and faces them head on lol while the larger ven tries to get a fin nip in while one swims past his area. The small ven rhomb took a bite out of a goldfish the same time george was movinga plant in his tank he didnt care at all...and the smallest puru already ate and is fin nipping a large tetra i put in there...we will see boys...im gonna get pics of them all up in about 30 minutes in thier holding tanks


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## MR.FREEZ (Jan 26, 2004)

well good luck







sounds like a wwe pay per view to me still what is it the

royal rumble


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## cretinHOP (Jun 23, 2004)

f*ck I GOTTA TAKE THOSE PICS BRB ALL! LOL


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## doctorvtec (May 15, 2004)

Just because one is "the toughest" doesn't mean it is going to grow to be the biggest, and I thought that was what this whole experiment is about.

It's genocide, you know what happens when you mix serras...


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## cretinHOP (Jun 23, 2004)

sorry guys best i could do for now is the large ven and the brazil i have an awful camera... but fyi the small VEN has eatenthe tail off of his tetra and they have only been in my tank for a few hours and the small puru is also feeding already!


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## cretinHOP (Jun 23, 2004)

lol ok guy let me explain this if i can weed outthe most aggressive specimen..he will probobly be the best eater and the most voracious think about it and there are NO guarentees with any ofthese fish which one iwll be the biggest so its all a chance so that too is an irrelevent comment. btw here is the brazil...


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## cretinHOP (Jun 23, 2004)

also the experiment is about growing out rhomb to whatever apparent maximum size it gets faster than 1/2"-1" per year. and with what i am doing this will be a much more accurate chart of a rhombeus growth rate than many other aquariums ources. based onm my trying to accurately replicate the conditions from competition amongst youngsters to the damn waterfall...its not so much about the absolute max size some locality variations in size exsist from what i have read or apprent maximum size but this may just be horse balogna. its about GROWING period...


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## micus (Jan 7, 2004)

doctorvtec said:


> Just because one is "the toughest" doesn't mean it is going to grow to be the biggest, and I thought that was what this whole experiment is about.
> 
> It's genocide, you know what happens when you mix serras...


 good point, and just because a certain fish right off the bat is the most agressive deosnt mean sh*t all, example, jonas's fish took 9 months to become agressive, before that it was a p*ssy, now i guarantee pound for pound hes one of the "toughest" and most agressive fish i know,

just give good tank conditons and a good diet and u should have all awesome fish,


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## cretinHOP (Jun 23, 2004)

sigh...i am trying to replicate competition amoung young fish i believe it is natural and part of a deveopment of an animal...


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## cretinHOP (Jun 23, 2004)

the fish have perfect water 7.0ph and all cleaned up rhombs love my water whenever i have had them they are all freaky deeky and as soon as i put them in my tank from the store they calm down as soon as my water hits em and they swim arround...the xingu i traded to for george had a tan upper body and had a rainbow sheen to his sides and ruby red eyes with his big silver scales it was the awsomest xingu rhomb ive ever seen in terms of color.


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## cretinHOP (Jun 23, 2004)

im already planning on an elongatus tank if you can imagine this..a 60x30 tank with rounded sides and a center devider in the tank made from glass that does not go all of the way to the sides but JUST so it guides the water in a circle so the water can flow and a perfect circle around the tank at a pretty good rate...and so he can swim all around and around with high rocks to make dead spots in front of them so he can rest witha thicket of plants in front of these rocks as well...being artistic helps in alotta plans i guess...cool idea ???????? lmao i need to give it a rest after this and work on my car or something for a switch ill save the elong idea for a while in the future


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## MR.FREEZ (Jan 26, 2004)

cretinHOP said:


> sigh...i am trying to replicate competition amoung young fish i believe it is natural and part of a deveopment of an animal...


 but tank space plays a major roll here dont it, yeah theres compition in the wild

but they can go off and find what they need else were, in a tank unless your buildin

one big ass tank they cant do that so it doesnt seem like it would be natural, they have enough space

in the wild to set up there own territory in a tank theres just one piece of reality to fight for


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## MR.FREEZ (Jan 26, 2004)

cretinHOP said:


> im already planning on an elongatus tank if you can imagine this..a 60x30 tank with rounded sides and a center devider in the tank made from glass that does not go all of the way to the sides but JUST so it guides the water in a circle so the water can flow and a perfect circle around the tank at a pretty good rate...and so he can swim all around and around with high rocks to make dead spots in front of them so he can rest witha thicket of plants in front of these rocks as well...being artistic helps in alotta plans i guess...cool idea ???????? lmao i need to give it a rest after this and work on my car or something for a switch ill save the elong idea for a while in the future


 the round tank sounds like a nice ideal


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## cretinHOP (Jun 23, 2004)

have you ever seen a net haul of rhombeus juveniles? you can get like a ton at once...i have seen a pic 500 fish in one haul and all rhombs.. they hide in plants when young they occupy pretty close proximities if i didnt mix a couple together these fish would NEVER have any competition because it is in a tank and btw im planting thick thick thick my tankw ith plants for these boys that reminds me sh*t sh*t sh*t lmao i gotta place the order...BRB..plenty of melon swords and a few amazons..combomba...pygmy...some fake floating plant bushes attached to a brach going in from the top of the water..some grassy plants i wish i copuld get star grass... maybe i will win tank of the monthw hen this is all done lol???


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## cretinHOP (Jun 23, 2004)

for future reference when the tanks are done this thread will be continued in the piranha info area under Rhomb tank experiment/built tanks myself


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## qwuintus (Feb 3, 2003)

good points, but unless you have a huge pond xxxx maybe even xxxxx, you wont achieve what they do natually in the wild.


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## cretinHOP (Jun 23, 2004)

my plant order you think this is cool anyopne who knows??

Sword, Amazon Compacta (Echinodorus bleheri 'compacta')(medium size 4"-6") x8plants

Sword, Amazon Sword (Echinodorus bleheri)(medium size 8"-10 x 5 plants

Sword, Broad Leaf Chain (Echinodorus quadricostatus)(medium size 10"-12")(sold 10 per order) ..5 bundles

Sword, Green Melon (Echinodorus Osiris)(medium size 6"-7x 6 plants

Sword, Narrow Leaf Chain (Echinodorus tennelus)(medium size 5-8 cm...15 bundles

Sword, Ruffle (Echinodorus martii)(medium size (9"-11") x5 plants

Pennywort, Brazilian (Hydrocotyle leucocephala)(LARGE 8"-10" bunch 6-8 stemsx 5 bundles

Bunched Plants : Cabomba Green (Cabomba carolina)(LARGE size 9"-11",10 bundles

Red Rubin Sword "Giant Mother Plant...1 plant


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## cretinHOP (Jun 23, 2004)

this is for both tanks most of the bushy and large plants are going in the rhombues tank the pygo tank is mostly gonna be small-medium swords and a few random plants and rocks


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## cretinHOP (Jun 23, 2004)

"good points, but unless you have a huge pond xxxx maybe even xxxxx, you wont achieve what they do natually in the wild. "...

i will get as close as i can.


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## cretinHOP (Jun 23, 2004)

oh btw...george knows someone who spawned rhombs in a 2,000 gallon tank he saw the fry ask him. the guy got a few pygos a bunch of gold spilos and liek 8 rhombs i believe 8 inches...


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## doctorvtec (May 15, 2004)

Nomatter what we say, we don't kno sh*t. We are definitly dealing with a pro here.


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## cretinHOP (Jun 23, 2004)

i would rather try and fail at something i want to do then give up because of what people say. I like to learn from mistakes rather than never having any mistakes at all. or takinga ny risks or trying to learn on my own something that people arenmt quite perfectlys ure about.period. im not a pro but i learn fast and i am a curious person by nature im trying this out and hoping itw ill provide some usefull information closer to what a natural growth rate for this fish is. if nothing comes from it then we know that taiwanese rhomb growing story is pure sh*t and we will have to deal with slow growing fish period because there is no way in hell they are going at this farther than i am in terms of plants...water change..current..enviroment..competition...and good food.and if anything i will have an awsome tank that i made myself. that looks like it is a slice of a river. hopefully anyways and one killer fish who will grow up thinking he is the king..and from all of this TLC..im sure BEAUTIFULL.all in all either way an awsome outcome.


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## PygoManiac (Jul 26, 2004)

Be sure to post pics of the tanks, after setting them up.


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## qwuintus (Feb 3, 2003)

good luck, i want to see more pics of the tanks though!!


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## cretinHOP (Jun 23, 2004)

lmao ok boys...info on everything..im about to place the order for the plants. big als should be shipping all my equipment soon as well i ordered it last week i have to go to a riverbed and find some nice worn rocks and gets ome driftwood soemwhere and floating bushy plants and on the tanks yeah so im gonna go work on them. the pygo tank is all put together as well as the hoods all i have to do is the front face and top lengthwise bracing for thr rhomb tank putty it and sand it these next few days are supposed to be nice so FINALLY i should be able to epoxy both up too pics up soon...J


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## cretinHOP (Jun 23, 2004)

oh btw boys i could be wrong but it seems like the largest of the two ven rhombs will be the king as he is trying to attack trhough his holding tank at full speed the other fish and the brazil rhomb is so beautifull i may just have to keep him out of the "ring" he is major white with yellow throat


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## Niche (Mar 9, 2004)

can't wait to see the pics


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## qwuintus (Feb 3, 2003)

What kind of lighting are you going to use for the plants?


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## cretinHOP (Jun 23, 2004)

the plants im using all come from south america so they are pretty low light plants to begin with but im gonna just use grow and sunlight type lights im getting my fixtures from a home improvement hardware type store since they have built in ballasts and are cheap as hell lol


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## qwuintus (Feb 3, 2003)

shop lights? got mine for about 7 bucks


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## cretinHOP (Jun 23, 2004)

lmao arent they great? you can use those fancy ass bulbs with them too and theya rent hundreds of bucks


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## cretinHOP (Jun 23, 2004)

glue setting on rhomb tank.


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## cretinHOP (Jun 23, 2004)

puttied rhomb tank


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## cretinHOP (Jun 23, 2004)

puttied pygo tank


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## cretinHOP (Jun 23, 2004)

I JUST ORDERED THE GLASS!!!!





















pretty good p[rices and i ordered it from a fairly pricey glass company each sheet of 93x16.5x1/4 plate was only 60$ im cutting off those front braces by the way dudes and dudets. i wanta more open view. more more more pics very very soon...Jason


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## EZ_Ian (Feb 21, 2004)

looks good, nice projects


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## cretinHOP (Jun 23, 2004)

a lil better eh? the view is going to be so much more open and will completely take your focus into the tanks...


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## qwuintus (Feb 3, 2003)

is it one large glass or 3 separate ones?


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## cretinHOP (Jun 23, 2004)

1 large peice for each tank


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## DC_Cichlid (Jun 24, 2004)

Looking good bro!
















Mines gonna be better :rasp:


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## Bluegill (Nov 28, 2003)

Are you sure you won't run into any problems with the glass bowing?

I mean that is a huge run of glass, and you said what 93 inches long, and a quarter inch thick?


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## DC_Cichlid (Jun 24, 2004)

Bluegill said:


> Are you sure you won't run into any problems with the glass bowing?
> 
> I mean that is a huge run of glass, and you said what 93 inches long, and a quarter inch thick?


 i dont think he said 1/4" thick... maybe 3/8 or 1/2.


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## Chief (Jul 1, 2004)

He did say 1/4 inch a few posts up....hope it is thick enough for that long of a piece.


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## Chief (Jul 1, 2004)

Keep the pics coming im curious to see the finished product :nod:


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## illnino (Mar 6, 2004)

are you ordering the plants from www.aquaticplantdepot.com, if not i highly suggest them, very cheap and very large plants for the price


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## cretinHOP (Jun 23, 2004)

you dont need glass over 1/4" thick unless youre going higher than 18 inches i made the frame for the glass thicker than standerd the EXPOSED area of glass is only going to be 88x like 11.5 inches....yeah lol lets see whos is better DC ...im glad youre excited though its cool to see it evolve..im using alot of bracing for the tank everything will be fine with the glass btw. and on aquariumplantdepot...their chain swords are way too expensive 1.10 apecie at aquariumplants.com its only 5 something for 10


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## AlienPunk (Jul 30, 2004)

this coming from a noob.....BUT...

I would recommend glass 1/2" or thicker....

from all the research I have done, most say 1/2" or thicker on anything bigger then 75 gal....

but imma noob..

just tell me to STFU...










great looking setup though...

my fiance's dad is going to build a 160 gal...im ordering the glass for him ..hopefully soon..since I work at a glass company...total is going to come to around $350.... (if i remember right...bad memory )for the 5 pieces...at 1/2" thick...


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## cretinHOP (Jun 23, 2004)

you only need thick glass as the hight of the tank goes up many people have built tanks with this formula. remember only 11.5" of the hight of the glass is going to be openly exposed to water pressure everything else is suppoerted by the frame.


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## DC_Cichlid (Jun 24, 2004)

AlienPunk said:


> this coming from a noob.....BUT...
> 
> I would recommend glass 1/2" or thicker....
> 
> ...


No no no, cretinHOP is right... i totally forgot that his tank is 16" tall... so yeh he only needs something thin...

I sure am excited man, cant wait to see are tanks running with the piranhas in em.


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## cretinHOP (Jun 23, 2004)

the tanks are 18" tall but the exposed glass is only 11.5 inches tall you can see i made the frame that holds the glass in pretty wide from top to bottom


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## NaTuReBoYz A_TROX (Jul 28, 2004)

i'm pretty new at this, so all you are doing is placing glass in the front? will the water leak between the wood and won't the wood soak up the water? or are you going to paint layers and layers of epoxy on it? thanks for the reply.


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## qwuintus (Feb 3, 2003)

Thats the plan- to coat with layers of epoxy. This will create a layer in which water will not penetrate the wood and provide a long, strong lasting skin to hold water.

Also the glass is placed after this process and siliconed to hell.

cretinHOP- you seem to know about plants.
Whats a good bushy plant that is durable, so that p's can rip it up and make a nest from it, but will not be fragile and die.


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## cretinHOP (Jun 23, 2004)

i donno that much about plants but something fast growing would work.I only know a very lil and what i like and that i want the enviroment to mimic the natural one.


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## cretinHOP (Jun 23, 2004)

finalized plant order...going in on monday...
6 compacta amazons
7 amazons
50 broad leaf chains
100 narrow leafed chains
15 green melons
10 red melons
3 ruffled
6 pennywort
5 alternanthera
frogbit and water lettuce
1 show sword..20 inch amazon.

lol







lets see if this is too much...


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## qwuintus (Feb 3, 2003)

how much was it... pm me if your not comfortable to share with all.


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## DC_Cichlid (Jun 24, 2004)

I think im going to order some plants from the same guy if he ships to canada, unless I find someone that lives in canada that can give me an awsome deal. My LFS charges me almost 6 bucks A PLANT!!! what a rip.. so im going to order a bunch from someone else. If anyone knows of a good site that DOES ship to canada, can you please PM me. Thx


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## cretinHOP (Jun 23, 2004)

my plant order is going to be about 300$ including shipping i am gonna order from aquariumplants.com


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## cretinHOP (Jun 23, 2004)

let me add lol i took tuesday off from work so i could work more on the tanks and relax so everything should be done by teusday/wednsday and i hope to test fill fridayish im gonna buy a new sander right now BBL LMAO...Jason


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## Niche (Mar 9, 2004)

DC_Piranha said:


> I think im going to order some plants from the same guy if he ships to canada, unless I find someone that lives in canada that can give me an awsome deal. My LFS charges me almost 6 bucks A PLANT!!! what a rip.. so im going to order a bunch from someone else. If anyone knows of a good site that DOES ship to canada, can you please PM me. Thx


 have u tried ottawa aquatics?


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## cretinHOP (Jun 23, 2004)

got my new sander...im loving this vinny rhomb i have hes all of 3 inches TL and he tries to swim right up to the powerhead outlet the best he can..he is curious of me ..he doesnt shy away from me at all and plays in the current ofr the longest time lol hes a lil baby he swims up to the current as far as he can go and lets the current take him back..turns around and does it again going all circles and sh*t lol


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## DC_Cichlid (Jun 24, 2004)

Niche said:


> DC_Piranha said:
> 
> 
> > I think im going to order some plants from the same guy if he ships to canada, unless I find someone that lives in canada that can give me an awsome deal. My LFS charges me almost 6 bucks A PLANT!!! what a rip.. so im going to order a bunch from someone else. If anyone knows of a good site that DOES ship to canada, can you please PM me. Thx
> ...


 Nope, but thanks... i did check out there site, but shipping costs will be crazy and the plants are almost the same price, thanks again anyway.


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## cretinHOP (Jun 23, 2004)

links to the new post....i added a new post because the pages starte dto pile up..i will do so every time the pages exceed 4 or 5


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## cretinHOP (Jun 23, 2004)

http://www.piranha-fury.com/forum/pfury/in...pic=50795&st=0&

sorry here...


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