Sounds like a good idea if you're getting it from a lake, however a good overnight (maybe two day) submersal should kill off anything that shouldn't be on there.no1dad1983;1062731; said:
building a 1000 gal concrete block monster tank
- Thread starter wizzin
- Start date
Welcome to MFK!!! yeah, usually, you want to boil it, but the one piece is 4 feet long x 3 feet wide x 2 feet tall, so boiling is out of the questionno1dad1983;1062731; said:
They sat out in the sun for a few weeks, and I scrubbed them good. I'm going to treat the whole tank with some meds after the final fill just to be safe. Not much else I could do with pieces this big.I've been doing a lot of thinking about this tank. Once I get the final coat of sealer on it and the background goes back in the way I want it, I'm thinking about creating some "pockets" on the back wall for plants. I'm going to try planting some amazon swords and water ivy ( Hydrocotyle leucocephala) all over the back. I'm going to try to aquascape the thing out so that it's interesting from an environment standpoint.
I said this WAY back in the beginning that I would love to try arowana and discus. I've seen it done with asian aros and discus, but never a SA theme. The more I've thought about it, the more I want to try for a more realistic Amazon look. I'm planning a bunch of hyacinth and water lettuce to keep nitrates as low as possible, and since it will be a continuous R/O drip, the water quality should support discus. The only concern is whether the discus will be stressed from having arowanas swimming over them.
I'm very close to buying a package of discus from Keystone aquatics (19 assorted but mostly red turquoise) and while I know they aren't wild or natural, the species is correct. The 15 red turqs are juvy, so they are young enough to train to cohabit the tank with the aros. I also plan on keeping the aros busy with insects above the waterline so they aren't tempted by the shiny blue discs of food swimming below.
I've been looking over plants at lowes for above the waterline, and I really want to have it filled with live plants above the water. I've added a spray bar to the design to pump tank water up and spray over the back wall where the plants will be. Thinking that the cleansed water that would be the bi-product of the plant consumption would trickle back to the tank adding to the natural characteristics of the water.
I just ordered a beckett 3500gph pump for the primary filter pump, and I already have a 2500gph for the undergravel jet circulation system. Now if I can just get sanitred to help me out I'll be back in business. I really want to get this done, and It's driving me nuts not being able to proceed.
What do you guys think about the discus thing?
I said this WAY back in the beginning that I would love to try arowana and discus. I've seen it done with asian aros and discus, but never a SA theme. The more I've thought about it, the more I want to try for a more realistic Amazon look. I'm planning a bunch of hyacinth and water lettuce to keep nitrates as low as possible, and since it will be a continuous R/O drip, the water quality should support discus. The only concern is whether the discus will be stressed from having arowanas swimming over them.
I'm very close to buying a package of discus from Keystone aquatics (19 assorted but mostly red turquoise) and while I know they aren't wild or natural, the species is correct. The 15 red turqs are juvy, so they are young enough to train to cohabit the tank with the aros. I also plan on keeping the aros busy with insects above the waterline so they aren't tempted by the shiny blue discs of food swimming below.
I've been looking over plants at lowes for above the waterline, and I really want to have it filled with live plants above the water. I've added a spray bar to the design to pump tank water up and spray over the back wall where the plants will be. Thinking that the cleansed water that would be the bi-product of the plant consumption would trickle back to the tank adding to the natural characteristics of the water.
I just ordered a beckett 3500gph pump for the primary filter pump, and I already have a 2500gph for the undergravel jet circulation system. Now if I can just get sanitred to help me out I'll be back in business. I really want to get this done, and It's driving me nuts not being able to proceed.
What do you guys think about the discus thing?
I really like the idea of arowanas and discus. I think in a tank as large as yours, especially with the height, there won't be a problem there, as long as your discus are large enough, or your arowanas small enough to begin with. From my experience, discus are tougher than many give them credit for, especially once they have settled in.
My only concern having dealt with large predatory fish is that... well.... Big fish eat little fish.... Your timing would have to be perfect...
IF you do discus only i would put some neons in there.Becasue i herd that if you add neons with them it gives them a sence of security or something.
The discus see the neons and say well those little guys are safe I will be too. But I think a planted amazon tank would look amazing especially a school of 500+ tetras!!!!fish_monger;1064694; said:
thanks guys. Yeah, i'm fighting with it in my head right now. On one hand theres the all monster way 
With aros n ??? pbass? etc 
and on the other, there's the river bio setup with tons of tetras, discus, dwarf cichlids and other little buggers. It's possible that I start with the small stuff and if I get bored with it or change my mind to monsters, I can always move all the small guys into other smaller tanks and monsterize the 1k. Which is by my recent calcs, actually closer to 1200gal not including the 100gal filter.
Oh, and GooDyboy420, come on down! Bring the stone to facade the exterior of the tank.! I need a flagstone like this:
With aros n ??? pbass? etc and on the other, there's the river bio setup with tons of tetras, discus, dwarf cichlids and other little buggers. It's possible that I start with the small stuff and if I get bored with it or change my mind to monsters, I can always move all the small guys into other smaller tanks and monsterize the 1k. Which is by my recent calcs, actually closer to 1200gal not including the 100gal filter.Oh, and GooDyboy420, come on down! Bring the stone to facade the exterior of the tank.! I need a flagstone like this:
I can get something like it, its called Durango Mountain Ledge...wizzin;1065361; said:thanks guys. Yeah, i'm fighting with it in my head right now. On one hand theres the all monster way
Oh, and GooDyboy420, come on down! Bring the stone to facade the exterior of the tank.! I need a flagstone like this:
www.eldoradostone.com
www.stcroixstone.com
www.culturedstone.com
those r the brands that im reps with so
