OnlyGenusCaps

If it matters, I also did fill the absolutely massive gap between the top frame and the tank all around the upper interior edge. Mine had over 1/8" gap in there at points, making the rim easy to wiggle around prior to the silicone application. I noticed that when pulled from the mid-points between the brace, I could slightly shift the panes of glass relative to each other at the nearest corner. That concerned me. So, I pumped a lot of silicone up under the interior rim. After it cured, I was no longer able to rotate the rim and thus the panels didn't experience the stress from that torque. Does it really help? Maybe. I noticed this on my first cheap 75, and so I've done this to all my large cheap tanks now. But I've had good luck so far, so that's nice. Oh, and because I was trying to get the plastic rim to bond with the silicone I used the GE 100% silicone for acrylic and plastic sheeting. The one in the red tube:

I'll second the mbuna! Some are saltwater colorful (a term that gets tossed around too blithely on the FW side, in my opinion)! There are more peaceful species, but they are all wonderfully active. As mentioned above, they love my hard water. You don't have to grow plants (sorry folks, that's a plus for me) - because they would eat them anyhow. And as herbivores, they love algae; meaning you don't see a lot of folks with serious algae problems in a tank of mbuna. Lastly, mine are trained to come to the surface to eat nori from my hand. They eat it with such fervor and roiling enthusiasm, my family have called them my "vegan piranhas". They are just loads of fun!

How fast can a barrel really go?! Are they rolling them at least? This sounds like a workout for Bavarian ale house workers in prep for Oktoberfest!

I have zero doubt that is true for you! 😎 You are absolutely the PVC Guru! I suspect, if for some reason, there was a situation where the world needed to get a computer chip on a PVC rather than silicone board - you'd be the man to save us all!!! 😄 In all seriousness, that sounds like something I might need to try if I do go the route of reworking my current sump. There is just so little space in a 10 gallon tank once a heater, sock, return pump, and skimmer are in there. Plus, I am currently trying out a fuge, so that takes up its own space. Are you going to setup a build thread for this tank, sump inclusive?

Love it! Tales of w wonderfully misspent youth. That was my problem - I didn't have a basement!

I do like my socks. Don't get me wrong. And actually, I think of FW there are no downsides! On my reef tank, the thing gets clogged to overflowing in like 3 days though. Where does all the gunk in a marine tank come from?! 😛 I hope AIO tanks with rear sumps catch on more in FW. Really I think only the Fluval Flex is being marketed as such though. I will say that I wish I had done my sock adjacent to the input like in some of the Trigger System sumps (CR44 and the like), so the water flowed down and then had to come up over the sock(s). My is a direct input design (partly because of space restraints) and it makes it just enough more of a pain to change the sock out that I do it less. Plus, I need the flexibility of the fabric socks and can't use ceramic filter "socks" (like the Rocky Mountain Rapid Rinse Eco-Filters). So, that's something to consider in your design anyhow. I'm even thinking about how I could replace my current sump to deal with this. And that's no small task!

As my tank matures, I find I really love the little critters that inhabit it. Ones I never thought about, but add so much character! Pods for the win!

I am so jealous! California newts are the species that made me fall in love with amphibians, and keeping any critters in a glass box. I was not allowed to keep them though as they were native.

I always pre-re-seal my larger Aqueons. By this, I mean I seal under the inside and outside of the plastic frame. Top and bottom. Does this add a lot of extra structural integrity? No, probably not. Will it prevent leaks from earlier bad silicon? No. Have I ever had an Aqueon tank leak? No. But that could just be luck. It does, irrationally, make me feel better though. If you are worried about the seals, remember that new silicone doesn't stick well to dry silicone. It means if you are going to do it, you kind of have to go all in, or leave yourself vulnerable to the seams between new and old. Were I do make the decision to reseal a tank like this, I would cut down as much from the inside as I was able and then reseal with a thick application along all the seams. Good luck! Sorry to her about your previous 75!

I have learned a lot by reading this thread! 1) So many people's homes are just infested with various mammals! I wish you all luck in your control efforts. 2) Not enough people keep reptiles and amphibians! I love the darts that @TOtrees's has! I have a few Oophaga pumilio right now and will be expanding my dart frog vivs in the coming months. Photo and thread forthcoming (it'll have a few aquariums in it too, don't worry!).

That's awesome! Thanks for sharing the article @BlueLineAquaticsSC! Interesting they are still making purely morphological descriptions for new species claims in this group. Someone needs to do some DNA work with this group!

This is perhaps my second favorite Haugaard & Høirup song. Translation of the title is something like "The Danish song is a young blonde":

Legit concern there! Creek and small stream specialists from alpine areas can be true cold water species (or high latitude species - like I probably wouldn't warm up a char or a burbot). Though certainly I am telling you things you already know. If you do let it warm a little, I'll be curious how it goes!

There are worse problems to have. I wonder if the teeny goby fry would make it with the WCMM in there? Mine in my outdoor pond are unrelenting predators - except to their own young. They even keep dragon and damselflies from breeding in there!

Your is even more sedate than mine is! Good on, ya! It's afternoon, I could use some caffeine now in fact...

What's your golden-brown? I like a nice Scotch whisky from time to time. Sure, it's less edgy than the topic of the song, but you know what, I'm okay with that.

You might try letting the temps go a bit higher to get the gobies to breed successfully. Most "cool water" fish kept in the hobby are really just temperate species that can take cooler temps in the winter, but also warmer temps in the summer.

Hey, now. @Zenzo was brought on, so I feel like we have a good cichlid anchor! 😃 There are folks who keep Africans here, myself included. I'd say you could do dwarf mbuna in a 65. 48"L would be better, but I think it is totally doable in 36 if rocks are put in correctly and you start with juveniles. You could also do something like Cyprichromis leptosoma, which are super cool to watch as they dart about! They are also vastly more peaceful than mbuna are. Ooh! Or you could do any of the smaller and more peaceful species of Julidochromis, like J. ornatus. They have a lot of the personality of the shellies, but they are more colorful, and they swim in neat ways you don't often see in FW, like upside down under rock overhangs, or backwards. They are like little submersible helicopters! Anyhow, I think there are a lot of options out there besides the default shelly types that are so popular right now. Not that shellies are bad. Just throwing out that there really are lots of cool choices that can be made besides those.

I was of this mind as well, until I got a marine tank. They are so much work!!! Don't get me wrong, I love my corals. But the tolerances for reef species are slim. Freshwater fish are trash fish (in the best way!) and marine systems are vastly for sensitive than I could have ever imagined! We need to work much harder to preserve out oceans. That's what I have learned so far. All that said, I have decided to sell the tank (if I can). It's too much. I would make my hobby feel like work. And I don't want that. This will remain an unrealized dream. And I'm okay with that.

This song always reminds me of a character from my youth - Nick. Even as a kid I knew something was bad in his life. When I was 13, I met his daughter one time as she was trying to get him up off the tracks before the train came. I'll never forget the helpless in her eyes, not just about the situation, but about the whole trajectory. Don't quite know why, but I've been thinking about Nick recently. Pretty sure he went not long after the train track incident. Do you ever look at people and wonder what their life story is? I do. Sometimes just people I pass on the street for no reason. You can never know another's life. Not fully. But our paths crossed. It's like the old Norse concept of "urð" (don't use the Wikipedia article to go off of, it's just about the norn anyhow, not the prechristian worldview). The fibers of our lives weave us together, but not forever. Anyhow, here is Frank Zappa (Also, I learned from this album cover that Mr. Zappa apparently dressed to the left - made you look! 🤣😞

What would you do with a 300 gallon tank...?

@Phoenixfishroom, I'd also suggest that if you want to go marine, the fluorescence on many of the commonly kept soft (softies) and large-polyp-stony (LPS) corals is outstanding! Again, not bioluminescence, but visually, I think it's even more eye-catching. Check out this zoa garden!

Guilty as charged. I like a lot of different music but I can't really do country or hip-hop/rap. I can handle some western music like Marty Robins or Gene Autry. But I wrote that because I was teasing Lefty-O a little. He's made some snarky comments on my posts here over the years that have made me laugh. I try to return the return the favor once in a while. 🥸 So, for you, I listened the the entire thing. Although, it took me about 4 seconds to know it was not going to work for me, and about 20 second to confirm I was not going to enjoy this song. The lyrics are fine. I mean they feel like they were written by Euripides. But all genres of music have lyrics that deal with tragedy; it's the style of the music that I think we connect with. Or don't. Here's some downer punk songs for you: That one is actually known for stopping people from following through with the subject of the song, so maybe not so bad in its outcome. Apparently, something about the line with apple juice and giving his mom a message. Here is another one that has some pretty sad lyrics: That one gets me. Possibly because I know a "Kristy". But there is still hope in this song. This one also is a hopeful view of the future from a bad situation: I know a girl who was strong enough to do just this. But, now, knowing what she went though, this one hits too. The lyrics are meaningful, but the vehicle for their delivery is just more palatable for me. That's all. This style may not be for you, just as I don't connect with the sound of country. But that's okay. Choice is a wonderful thing!

The first one - unlistenable. But the second is perhaps the only Merle Haggard song I can deal with. Even though his an Okie (BTW, growing up where I did in CA, we called still called "rednecks" "okies" until Jeff Foxworthy came around and killed that regional slur). Also, because of my Nordic background I thought his last name was pronounced "Hagoord" (Haggård) until I was far older than I want to admit. 🤣 As I age, I am worried that my kids will feel like this about me. Not exactly a real song, but definitely a feeling (one I couldn't escape driving in traffic tonight with the windows down listening to my music on full, as I looked through the rear-view and saw myself as just another car in the line):

Wonderful to see you back here! That's a nice looking crab! I'm assuming things are going well with the tank, and your others. I hope you are well too!