Fish's new tank project

[Fish]

Update:

Here is a shot of the underside of the bottom piece of the stand (the 5lb weight is just holding it down while the glue hardens):





I am putting my power bar upside down on the underside of the stand so that I can route all my wires through the holes and then have the tank in the middle of the room with only one electrical cord connecting it to the wall. I glued the power bar inside a Tupperware container so that it will be impossible for any spilled water to get to it. I also bought a mountain bike tire tube and cut it into four lengths. I will lay the rubber strips along the frame rails and then lay the board on top of them (and the sump etc on top of that). I am expecting that it will provide some cushioning and prevent vibrations from being transferred to the stand (like a rubber mounted motorcycle engine?).
Sorry, that paragraph was probably confusing...


Yesterday I cleaned all my plumbing connections with pvc solvent and glued them together. Because of the diversity of my pieces, I had to buy pvc glue, abs glue, and abs to pvc glue! I still have three full jars if anyone needs - seriously.

Today I sanded, rinsed, dried and taped all my plumbing to get it ready for painting:






And ...............





.......here is the result:






The bottom pipe is my intake from the closed loop bulkhead
The middle pipe is my sump return line
And the top pipe is my closed loop return line
Hope you like it.

And thanks to Andy for putting me onto abs fittings - it allowed me to turn a tighter corner from my closed loop bulkhead and fit my pipe within the frame.

Cheers!
- Chad

[Fish]

Well, I know people are still looking at the thread, so im just gonna keep on posting.

I did a rush job of turning the setup into an emergency holding tank yesterday:







Because I picked up a special guest. Everyone - I would like to introduce you to Mac:





I would like to thank the good follks a Gold aquariums for getting him in, and especially Tim for letting me know he was there. I was really glad to find that Mark still has a good supply of nutritious and delicious snails - I picked up a bag of them and Mac is smashing away as I type (the sound brings back good memories of when I had Ike).


Here he is showing off:





- Chad

[EmilyB]

He's gorgeous !

[Delphinus]

Wow the colours are awesome. Makes me almost want to setup ("yet another") tank so I could keep one too!

[OCDP]

Wow.. what a beauty.

A mantis tank looks like it would be lots of fun....


Do I ever hate this hobby.

[Fish]

Thanks guys!
The original plan for this tank didn't include a mantis. The idea was to have a soft coral garden that I could comfortably work in and prune. I guess I can still do that... just with an element of danger now. Seriously though, after keeping my first mantis I was smitten, they are easily the most rewarding animal that I have ever kept in this hobby (I've never had a puffer though... their owners seem pretty attached to them too).
I have always wanted a peacock but my past nanos were too small for one.

I guess my new goal is something like:

"devote vast sums of time and money to the keeping of a single, small, invertebrate"


- Chad

[Joe Reefer]

Love the mantis!!!

[muck]

Fantastic Chad.. time to invest in some gardening gloves.
I'd go for some stainless steel mesh meat cutting ones..