# My 500 Gal



## AKSkirmish (Jun 24, 2005)

Here is alittle updated shot of the tank-

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## Winkyee (Feb 17, 2003)

Tank looks really good AK,


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## AKSkirmish (Jun 24, 2005)

Winkyee said:


> Tank looks really good AK,


Simple and clean=me likey :nod:

Appreciated Pete


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## Death in #'s (Apr 29, 2003)

i love pacus when they get big
just oogly when babies

sick tank


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## AKSkirmish (Jun 24, 2005)

Death in # said:


> i love pacus when they get big
> just oogly when babies
> 
> sick tank


Appreciate the kind words man......


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## CichlidAddict (Jul 1, 2005)

Looking good! What is that fish above the pleco in the fourth pic?


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## AKSkirmish (Jun 24, 2005)

CichlidAddict said:


> Looking good! What is that fish above the pleco in the fourth pic?


Thats my 11 inch Freddy


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## Trigga (Jul 1, 2006)

Nice tank ak.. I like my non planted tanks the same way... A piece of driftwood and some gravel. It's all about the fish inside it.


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## AKSkirmish (Jun 24, 2005)

Trigga said:


> Nice tank ak.. I like my non planted tanks the same way... A piece of driftwood and some gravel. It's all about the fish inside it.


Thanks buddy....I can't afford to have too much more in the tank----My pacu will already push them huge pieces of driftwood around where he pleases....That and the fact he will eventually need every inch of space possible when he gets bigger....

But overall I prefer this look in tanks.....


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## Trigga (Jul 1, 2006)

Lol yeah that pacu makes the tank look small Especially in the last shot... I can't even imagine how
much bigger it could get your going to need an indoor pond man!


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## maknwar (Jul 16, 2007)

AK, what are the dimension of your tank? Is it glass or acrylic and who made it?


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## AKSkirmish (Jun 24, 2005)

maknwar said:


> AK, what are the dimension of your tank? Is it glass or acrylic and who made it?


Bottom footprint is 6 x 4 foot....Custom made glass tank


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## Murphy18 (Oct 17, 2008)

Monster tank!!, loving that driftwood too


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## t-man (Mar 15, 2007)

AKSkirmish said:


> AK, what are the dimension of your tank? Is it glass or acrylic and who made it?


Bottom footprint is 6 x 4 foot....Custom made glass tank
[/quote]
NICE! Black or Red Pacu? Just curious ,why did you pick that footprint? I have a 450 gallon that is 8' x 3' , I like the length but I wonder what it would be like to be 4' wide.


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## primetime3wise (Sep 28, 2003)

great setup, i like that lighting for those fish. nice clown knife, one of my favs outside of piranhas, how big is it?


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## AKSkirmish (Jun 24, 2005)

Murphy18 said:


> great setup, i like that lighting for those fish. nice clown knife, one of my favs outside of piranhas, how big is it?


Thanks-
I always run reef combo's as far as lighting goes on my tanks-I just like the overall look better....CK is about 18 inch now a days


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## primetime3wise (Sep 28, 2003)

wow, that's awesome. do you feed the CK live, or? not sure if it is frowned upon like in piranhas (harhar). like i said one of my favs outside of piranhas, only other i like more is hoplias aimara.


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## AKSkirmish (Jun 24, 2005)

primetime3wise said:


> wow, that's awesome. do you feed the CK live, or? not sure if it is frowned upon like in piranhas (harhar). like i said one of my favs outside of piranhas, only other i like more is hoplias aimara.


Thanks for the kind words-
My Clown Knife is stuck on feeders-I have tried to break him from that several times-After 3 months of not eating-I gave up......He won.....It is also frowned upon.....


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## primetime3wise (Sep 28, 2003)

AKSkirmish said:


> wow, that's awesome. do you feed the CK live, or? not sure if it is frowned upon like in piranhas (harhar). like i said one of my favs outside of piranhas, only other i like more is hoplias aimara.


Thanks for the kind words-
My Clown Knife is stuck on feeders-I have tried to break him from that several times-After 3 months of not eating-I gave up......He won.....It is also frowned upon.....:nod:
[/quote]

i kinda figured that it would be very difficult to give a CK anything other than feeders. he must down a few dozen at a time. they are interesting to watch feed. i have heard of smaller knife fish, like the african knife, taking to non-live foods, but i know that CK's are difficult, if not impossible to break away from live...though 3 months w/out food is a long ass time! your right, he did win, lol.


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## AKSkirmish (Jun 24, 2005)

primetime3wise said:


> wow, that's awesome. do you feed the CK live, or? not sure if it is frowned upon like in piranhas (harhar). like i said one of my favs outside of piranhas, only other i like more is hoplias aimara.


Thanks for the kind words-
My Clown Knife is stuck on feeders-I have tried to break him from that several times-After 3 months of not eating-I gave up......He won.....It is also frowned upon.....:nod:
[/quote]

i kinda figured that it would be very difficult to give a CK anything other than feeders. he must down a few dozen at a time. they are interesting to watch feed. i have heard of smaller knife fish, like the african knife, taking to non-live foods, but i know that CK's are difficult, if not impossible to break away from live...though 3 months w/out food is a long ass time! your right, he did win, lol.
[/quote]

Yeah-That was when he was under the 4 inch mark as well-I had to cave or he was going to die of starvation.....A few people have been able to train them to prepared-And boy oh boy what a diffrence in growth it makes.....

I usually end up just dumping 2 dozen feeders weekly into the 500 and just let him eat as he pleases...It sucks but not much more can be done...


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## Alex 22 (Jun 13, 2009)

Nice tank and pacu


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## AKSkirmish (Jun 24, 2005)

Alex 22 said:


> Nice tank and pacu


Appreciated Alex


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## His Majesty (Apr 5, 2005)

love that tank AK. very nice

and im so envious of your knifefish.


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## AKSkirmish (Jun 24, 2005)

Trigger lover said:


> love that tank AK. very nice
> 
> and im so envious of your knifefish.


Appreciated greatly....I enjoy my knife as well..Neat fish to own thats for sure-Neat to watch him hunt and eat...


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## Blue Flame (Jan 16, 2006)

Very nice!

The tank is so wide, makes it look like a 4' tank to me. I bet it must be a real pain to clean?


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## AKSkirmish (Jun 24, 2005)

Blue Flame said:


> Very nice!
> 
> The tank is so wide, makes it look like a 4' tank to me. I bet it must be a real pain to clean?


I dont clean any of my tanks-
I pay to have my LFS maintain them for me....I just sit back and enjoy them now a days...Got tired of that work along time ago man...

It goes both ways when owning a tank like-Sometimes I love and other times I truelly hate dealing with it....The 4 foot width is certainly nice for the fish-But at my height-I can't even barely touch the bottom of my tank....


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## Winkyee (Feb 17, 2003)

AKSkirmish said:


> I dont clean any of my tanks-
> I pay to have my LFS maintain them for me....I just sit back and enjoy them now a days...Got tired of that work along time ago man...


 LAZY BUGGER....LOL


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## AKSkirmish (Jun 24, 2005)

Winkyee said:


> I dont clean any of my tanks-
> I pay to have my LFS maintain them for me....I just sit back and enjoy them now a days...Got tired of that work along time ago man...


 LAZY BUGGER....LOL
[/quote]

It's the only way to be after these years------Not lazy-SMARTER is how I like to see it....


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## Death in #'s (Apr 29, 2003)

AKSkirmish said:


> I dont clean any of my tanks-
> I pay to have my LFS maintain them for me....I just sit back and enjoy them now a days...Got tired of that work along time ago man...


 LAZY BUGGER....LOL
[/quote]

It's the only way to be after these years------Not lazy-SMARTER is how I like to see it....
[/quote]
with that big ass tank i would do the same


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## AKSkirmish (Jun 24, 2005)

Death in # said:


> I dont clean any of my tanks-
> I pay to have my LFS maintain them for me....I just sit back and enjoy them now a days...Got tired of that work along time ago man...


 LAZY BUGGER....LOL
[/quote]

It's the only way to be after these years------Not lazy-SMARTER is how I like to see it....
[/quote]
with that big ass tank i would do the same
[/quote]

Cost me $50 weekly to have it done...Not too bad IMO.....


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## Death in #'s (Apr 29, 2003)

AKSkirmish said:


> I dont clean any of my tanks-
> I pay to have my LFS maintain them for me....I just sit back and enjoy them now a days...Got tired of that work along time ago man...


 LAZY BUGGER....LOL
[/quote]

It's the only way to be after these years------Not lazy-SMARTER is how I like to see it....
[/quote]
with that big ass tank i would do the same
[/quote]

Cost me $50 weekly to have it done...Not too bad IMO.....
[/quote]
how many gallons do they change?
clean filters to?
do they add chemicals ??


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## AKSkirmish (Jun 24, 2005)

Death in # said:


> I dont clean any of my tanks-
> I pay to have my LFS maintain them for me....I just sit back and enjoy them now a days...Got tired of that work along time ago man...


 LAZY BUGGER....LOL
[/quote]

It's the only way to be after these years------Not lazy-SMARTER is how I like to see it....
[/quote]
with that big ass tank i would do the same
[/quote]

Cost me $50 weekly to have it done...Not too bad IMO.....
[/quote]
how many gallons do they change?
clean filters to?
do they add chemicals ??
[/quote]

I change anywhere from 300 to 400 gallons weekly in this tank....
Yes they clean my huge sump...
They add anything I wish to the tank and take weekly water Params as well


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## Death in #'s (Apr 29, 2003)

AKSkirmish said:


> I dont clean any of my tanks-
> I pay to have my LFS maintain them for me....I just sit back and enjoy them now a days...Got tired of that work along time ago man...


 LAZY BUGGER....LOL
[/quote]

It's the only way to be after these years------Not lazy-SMARTER is how I like to see it....
[/quote]
with that big ass tank i would do the same
[/quote]

Cost me $50 weekly to have it done...Not too bad IMO.....
[/quote]
how many gallons do they change?
clean filters to?
do they add chemicals ??
[/quote]

I change anywhere from 300 to 400 gallons weekly in this tank....
Yes they clean my huge sump...
They add anything I wish to the tank and take weekly water Params as well
[/quote]

thats worth it


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## AKSkirmish (Jun 24, 2005)

Death in # said:


> I dont clean any of my tanks-
> I pay to have my LFS maintain them for me....I just sit back and enjoy them now a days...Got tired of that work along time ago man...


 LAZY BUGGER....LOL
[/quote]

It's the only way to be after these years------Not lazy-SMARTER is how I like to see it....
[/quote]
with that big ass tank i would do the same
[/quote]

Cost me $50 weekly to have it done...Not too bad IMO.....
[/quote]
how many gallons do they change?
clean filters to?
do they add chemicals ??
[/quote]

I change anywhere from 300 to 400 gallons weekly in this tank....
Yes they clean my huge sump...
They add anything I wish to the tank and take weekly water Params as well
[/quote]

thats worth it








[/quote]

Sort of and sorta not actually-

I have to pay for water going out and water comming in-----So If I change out 400 gallons-I pay for 800 gallons of water........Let alone what ever else I need for that weekly maitnence


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## Death in #'s (Apr 29, 2003)

AKSkirmish said:


> I dont clean any of my tanks-
> I pay to have my LFS maintain them for me....I just sit back and enjoy them now a days...Got tired of that work along time ago man...


 LAZY BUGGER....LOL
[/quote]

It's the only way to be after these years------Not lazy-SMARTER is how I like to see it....
[/quote]
with that big ass tank i would do the same
[/quote]

Cost me $50 weekly to have it done...Not too bad IMO.....
[/quote]
how many gallons do they change?
clean filters to?
do they add chemicals ??
[/quote]

I change anywhere from 300 to 400 gallons weekly in this tank....
Yes they clean my huge sump...
They add anything I wish to the tank and take weekly water Params as well
[/quote]

thats worth it








[/quote]

Sort of and sorta not actually-

I have to pay for water going out and water comming in-----So If I change out 400 gallons-I pay for 800 gallons of water........Let alone what ever else I need for that weekly maitnence
[/quote]
dident think of that

and i wonder how big these quote boxes will get'
like filla whole screen lol


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## AKSkirmish (Jun 24, 2005)

Death in # said:


> I dont clean any of my tanks-
> I pay to have my LFS maintain them for me....I just sit back and enjoy them now a days...Got tired of that work along time ago man...


 LAZY BUGGER....LOL
[/quote]

It's the only way to be after these years------Not lazy-SMARTER is how I like to see it....
[/quote]
with that big ass tank i would do the same
[/quote]

Cost me $50 weekly to have it done...Not too bad IMO.....
[/quote]
how many gallons do they change?
clean filters to?
do they add chemicals ??
[/quote]

I change anywhere from 300 to 400 gallons weekly in this tank....
Yes they clean my huge sump...
They add anything I wish to the tank and take weekly water Params as well
[/quote]

thats worth it








[/quote]

Sort of and sorta not actually-

I have to pay for water going out and water comming in-----So If I change out 400 gallons-I pay for 800 gallons of water........Let alone what ever else I need for that weekly maitnence
[/quote]
dident think of that

and i wonder how big these quote boxes will get'
like filla whole screen lol
[/quote]

Basically yes-They will end up filling the screen....

Yeah I get hard owning this big tank man-----It's nice to have for my fish---But I pain to own in everyother aspect of the hobby.....I spend alot of money to keep up on this tank.....

Damn pacu---You better taste good one day you SOB......


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## BUBBA (Sep 4, 2003)

nice set up that would be perfect for Rays


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## roccov12345 (Sep 26, 2008)

Ak, great tank man! You always contribute great visual/informational substance to this forum and I'm sure, like myself, many are appreciative.

Quick question, you might have mentioned it before do forgive me if its repetitive, did you have this tank custom built or is there a manufacturer that makes a tank this size? I really like the monster foot print. What are the specs (size wise)?


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## AKSkirmish (Jun 24, 2005)

BUBBA said:


> Ak, great tank man! You always contribute great visual/informational substance to this forum and I'm sure, like myself, many are appreciative.
> 
> Quick question, you might have mentioned it before do forgive me if its repetitive, did you have this tank custom built or is there a manufacturer that makes a tank this size? I really like the monster foot print. What are the specs (size wise)?


Appreciated greatly-

I baught this tank from a crab wholesaler that was moving locations and didn't want tank anymore-They had it custom built years ago by a private individual......

There is no one that builds custom tanks up here that will stand by a guarantee...So I jumped on it when I had the chance to save my Pacu.....If it was not for my Pacu-I would not own this tank....









Manufacture wise-Many would build a custom tank to your specs in the lower 48 or surrounding area's...

My tank is 6 foot by 4 foot by over 3 foot tall.....500 gallon custom double walled tank....


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## Armand_caribe (Sep 9, 2009)

OMG that's a hughe tank bro!!!!







....







A mixed pygo shoal would make it look the nuts from my own point of view though.

I am thinking about 3 piraya, 3 to 5 caribe and 3 to 5 reds....









Congrats.


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