18' x 9' x 3.5' catfish tank build in progress.....

Danyal

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Nov 26, 2006
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have you thought of trying enductors? with as much pressure as those big pumps would be pushing you could probably get 5x the flow. how long do you think it will be before your fila(if it is) will outgrow the tank?
 

necrocanis

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Eric A;2778463; said:
Love how the fins are still on the jag cichlid. I wonder what a short-body fish's skeleton would look like compared to a normal one...
I plan on keeping them mostly intact depending on how they come through the degreasing process. Short bodied fish for the most part don't actually have any less vertebrae than regular shaped fish. Their spinal column actually is the same length just twisted and disfigured. I posted some pics up somewhere about it a long time ago. You can actually look at pics of most full grown short bodied fish and see points where the spine is poking at the skin. It's actually the soft tissues that are rearranged to give it the shorter look. It's basically like they have a really bad case of sculieosis(spelling), kyphosis(spelling), or endosis(spelling). I'll have to try and find those pics again.

MyFishEatYourFish;2777610; said:
wow those skeletons are really cool.
i did one of my 27" redtail cat, i let maggots clean it and boiled it, then soaked it in bleach. mistake, the bones were so brittle. but rtc have bug heavy bones so i got it together after many many hours, then my fing ferret knocked it down and completely trashed :( how do you treat the bones before assembling?
Never use actual bleach(chlorine) on bones, it breaks down the calcium bond and cause it to deteriorate over time. Use ammonia, or acetone to degrease with for several weeks, and then use peroxide to whiten. Hope this helps. After drying out of the peroxide solution I coat the bones in either glue, or mop-n-glow depending on the size.

wow_it_esploded;2777641; said:
Although I would have gone with concrete blocks on this one, great job! I hope to see this filled soon... Actually, I think we all hope to see this filled soon!
I really hope to see this filled soon. lol

Danyal;2779438; said:
have you thought of trying enductors? with as much pressure as those big pumps would be pushing you could probably get 5x the flow. how long do you think it will be before your fila(if it is) will outgrow the tank?
I'll have to look into it. Might not be a bad idea depending on the costs involved. At the rate that the fila is growing I'd say never. The largest one I've seen an actual documented case on that was too big for this tank was the one that was caught by Larry Dhalberg. It weighed over 407 lbs and was around 8.5' long. 8.5' just happens the be the internal measurement of my tank from front to back. The onlything I really worry about with him is the height of the tank, but I plan on building a larger outside tank years from now. 17.5' side to side, and 8.5' front to back internal dimensions. I think He'll do fine unless you ask members from another site. lol. If it's indeed capapretum like I believe then it shouldn't get much larger than a jau, and it'll be fine for life for sure then.:naughty:
 

Danyal

Gambusia
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Nov 26, 2006
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enductors don't cost very much at all to make out of pvc, iirc the guys on RC were making them for about 6 bucks each. personally i think a 6' cat would be a bit too large for the tank. i saw the one caught by larry, i love hunt for big fish. did they ever show the video of the fight?
 

necrocanis

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Alright everyone I'm a little excited! I just got in some dermestid beetles for my skull and skeleton cleaning. Now I can clean them much faster. I put some old tetras, bumble bee catfish, and baby limas in there last night and voila skeletons this morning. lol. I'll have to try for pics tomorrow or something. Should be exciting though.
 

snaggle

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necrocanis;2783838; said:
Alright everyone I'm a little excited! I just got in some dermestid beetles for my skull and skeleton cleaning. Now I can clean them much faster. I put some old tetras, bumble bee catfish, and baby limas in there last night and voila skeletons this morning. lol. I'll have to try for pics tomorrow or something. Should be exciting though.
That means you have alot more time to work on the tank :headbang2
 

necrocanis

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snaggle;2784943; said:
That means you have alot more time to work on the tank :headbang2
Actually the point is to make money faster so that I can afford to work on it lol.

nitrofish1;2785441; said:
there better be water in there
I just watered the beetles a few mins ago, so technically there is!

Oh! Maybe I'll make this tank a giant terrarium for dermestid beetles and eventually when the colony is large enough I can put whole deer and elk in for cleaning!:headbang2

JK! PSYKE!!
 

basslover34

Jack Dempsey
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necrocanis;2786315; said:
Actually the point is to make money faster so that I can afford to work on it lol.



I just watered the beetles a few mins ago, so technically there is!

Oh! Maybe I'll make this tank a giant terrarium for dermestid beetles and eventually when the colony is large enough I can put whole deer and elk in for cleaning!:headbang2

JK! PSYKE!!
Or the bodies of those who keep demanding water in the tank :headbang2 :ROFL: :grinno:
 

cvermeulen

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Danyal;2779934; said:
enductors don't cost very much at all to make out of pvc, iirc the guys on RC were making them for about 6 bucks each. personally i think a 6' cat would be a bit too large for the tank. i saw the one caught by larry, i love hunt for big fish. did they ever show the video of the fight?
I looked into this a bit... I think you mean Penductors, or Eductors (easy to combine the words by accident). They work like the python faucet attachment, and take a high pressure output from a typical pump and turn it into a venturi, drawing in a whole bunch of extra fluid for extra circulation. I think this would be a great way to get massive circulation with a same-level filtration system like the one you have planned, without using a huge pump.
 

necrocanis

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Could be a cool thing to work into this project. Someone have schematics for one that will produce 5000-10,000 gph? I've read up a little and I'm still not exactly positive what I would need or where I would get the propeller thing. Is it like the propeller on a remote controll boat or sub? Thanks for the great ideas guys. Sounds like some people have trouble keeping the blades spinning in the right direction also.
 
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