160Gal W/100Gal Sump Lake Malawi

[zoopkamol]

ok a few people asked me too do a journal of my 160gal tank with 100gal sump.
Never done a journal before so bear with me so here goes.
 
setup consists of:
Stand: metal 84"x24"x32"
Lighting:t8 4' 32w x 4 =128w
Tank: 84"x24"x18"  160 gallon
Filter: 100gal sump with aquamedic or6500 pump .~1300gph
Media: 5gal 3/4" washed rock, 5 gal 3/4" limestone, 3 gal bio balls, various filter pads, pot scrubers mixed in with rock
Substrate: playsand
Decor: rock (limestone, granite, rundle, river) undesided atm
 
Tank overflow is a overflow box siliconed to rear of tank with an oval cut along top of tank aprox 1.5"x 15" to a dual 1.5" intake(pic coming)
 
History of tank/sump
 
tank was a saltwater tank at a LFS that was moving and owner was blowing out complete systems cheap.
sump was retrofited to more of a freshwater setup. (pic comig)...my kid added some glass baffles required( hence the globs of silicone(pic coming)
both tank/sump were full of salty crustys and was a pain to clean(not complete yet)
seals on tank were at best 80% complete, chunks missing, loose. so i cleaned seals off and resealed(never done before and think turned out ok)
water testing sump now, sump full for 4 days now no leaks
 
thats pretty much where i am at now. silicone curing, friend coming over on weekend to put on stand.
once all is where it should be ill start the cycling process with seed media off my community tank.
 
stocking is still in air. Had some great advice from forum chat. All i know now is gonna be alot of rock mbunas.
pics will be coming as soon as i find my camera my kid had last....prolly under her bed.
 
any suggestions or critiques on anything or ideas will be greatly appreciated.
 

 

[ncguppy830]

cant wait to see pics sounds great

 

[zoopkamol]

ok got camera working after i found it in kids room covered in some jam like substance...thats another story..
update first then some pics.
found 2 300w heaters for $5 each at a flea market ..brand new never touched water
painted tank background and 1 side a blue.
started making my 2 spray bars for tank to 1- 23" bar and 1 45" bar.
still working on plumbing for sump to tank.
 
ok few pics...not the best shots as jam like substance was making me upset
 

Front shot of tank

overflow box ..still dirty must clean alot more

Sump...had to modify a bit ..pump moves alot of water fast rated for ~6500l/hr or 1350gph
stand is 84" long so thats a huge sump
you can see the dual overflow pipe on top of stand as they join together to make 1 pipe intake.

kinda a top angled view.
 
Cant wait to get set on stand to fully plumb in ...hopefully by this weekend
 
so much to do and work gets in the way too much.

 

[Blondielovesfish]

It looks great! I can't wait to see its progress

 

[TaurineLittle]

This looks like it will definitely be one to watch! Very keen for some progress shots  
Nice work so far

 

[zoopkamol]

Small update on tank setup
 
Tank is finally on stand and full of water doing a leak test for 48-72hours.
First real snag in setting up...tried to install overflow intake pipe on overflow box...got a small leak need to tighten more but hard to get a grip on fitting to tighten. So just gonna do leak test then fix this problem.
Made and painted 2 spray bars for outputs...havent tried on pump yet ..hope they work.
so now a few pics:
 

Tank on stand and full of water. You can see water on plywood from overflow leakage.
so far seals seem perfect.
you can see one of spraybars on edge of tank

Spray bar set in postion still need to plumb in once leak is fixed.
light diffuser on bottom of tank to distribute weight of rocks that will added later

Other spray bar hanging in basement after being painted.
Black spray bar for my other tank for the fx5.
 
So small update but at least setup is progressing along.
not much will be done in next week or so as busy with 2 weddings and a baseball tourney.
But stay tuned as one day tank will be completed.
 
once again any suggestions or critiques will be accepted.
See you soon!!

 

[zoopkamol]

Few days have come and gone and there is still water in the tank and no leaks in tank itself but gotta figure out overflow issue.
Hopefully it will just be a cleaning issue with possible debris affecting the seal.
Now off to drain the beast and fix the issue....
updates will follow

 

[Sickbound]

Way cool. Can't wait to see finished product!

 

[zoopkamol]

Yay figured out leak a couple days ago. Pump now plumbed in and circulating water.
Went out and got a pile of rocks....about 180lbs worth...prolly need 250lbs more ill know more once i wash rocks and place in tank.
here a pic of rocks before washing them,

pile at highest is 18" and pile is about 4'across
 
Time to start washing/scrubbing rocks. pics after all washed. and pic of plumbing too incoming.

 

[Blondielovesfish]

Looks good!
Looking forward to the pics

 

[zoopkamol]

As promised a quick update.
Tank setup but still need to add sand to display tank ...and still might move rocks a bit to try and hid overflow but all in all  im happy with first rock hardscape.

lots of caves/tunnels in rocks but rocks are packed fairly tight so might "loosen" em up a bit for larger gaps

Few pics of rockpiles...comments always welcome good or bad

pic of sump ..added chunk of styro as had some oversplash happening.
2 open spots for plant refugium and possilbly another gravelbed with small gravel
where white floss is now will be a sheet of thick foam

another shot of tank setup.
started cycling tank today...and scheduled filter cleaning tommorrow for my sig. tank so ill steal(permantly borrow) 25% of media from my fx5 and dump inton my sump
 
 
Once again updates will follow once more gets done (work gets in way easy)
any critiques or comments of rock setup or sump media or tank itself please do...Im a big boy and i can take critiques!!
SEE YA'LL SOON!!

 

[zoopkamol]

Ok ...got talking with the WIFE about stocking this tank and some ideas ...her idea has to be included (it was really my idea but ill give her credit)
her idea is ...yellow labs .....lol done wanted them anyways
 
ok thinking 4 species tank with bit higher numbers and a school of cuckoos cats <<<they are pricey $$$$$
 
so my stocking would be:
15 yellow labs (labidochromis caeruleus) aiming for 3-4M:11-12F .~$6/fish
10 white top afras (cynotilapia afra) 1-2M:8-9F ~$7/fish
12 demasoni  (pseudotropheus demasoni "pombo rocks") 2M:10F ~7/fish
4th species not sure yet but be 10-15 total
 
cuckoo cats thinking 8-10 of them ~$16/fish
 
so total fish be 55-62 total. and around $400ish not including 4th species
lots of inches of fish but my filter should handle it without too much of an issue.
 
any other stocking suggestions will be greatly appreciated. looking for color and fish moving at all times.

 

[Blondielovesfish]

Looks great!
The rocks do look like they need loosening up though.
 
The stocking looks good!
 
One of my friends brother recently set up a 360L Lake Malawi tank, it looked stunning! I'm not sure of the stocking but I'll find out so I can give you some more ideas

 

[zoopkamol]

That would be great Blondie on stocking list.
And soon as I get home tonight ..rolling sleeves up and "loosening rocks" .
Might just remove everything again and start over ....but this time group rock on floor with aprox same heights so can easily stack stable piles...
like anything will be easy ....there goes my night stacking rocks lol

 

[Blondielovesfish]

Okay, I managed to get the stocking list, I'm not sure of the numbers though sorry.
 
He had...
Electric Yellow 
Malawi Butterfly
Electric Blue
 
He did have a Demlsoni and a Bumble Bee but they were too aggressive for his tank so he had to return it.
 
That's all he could remember but they will hopefully give you some ideas

Also, have fun rock stacking