I did the unthinkable

[boogiedogo92]

I bought the top fin special for 399 plus tax, i found out its a Marineland/ perfecto tank which is a nice upgrade from the A named company whos heaters kill fish.
im going to pond armor the stand. I will update in 3 month period because this stand will get wet at some point.  

Edited May 13, 2022 by boogiedogo92

[Tihshho]

These 125s always caught my eye. Congrats to your new setup!

[boogiedogo92]

On 5/12/2022 at 10:26 PM, Tihshho said:

These 125s always caught my eye. Congrats to your new setup!

Thank you, hopefully i can report with the pond armor on the joints that it never failed haha. 

[boogiedogo92]

So the pond armor did its job already- i had a intake hose pop off while moving the Cascada Max flow,  I checked the area it that it dumped about 2 gallons on and it looks good- didn't swell at all- one problem ive had was. I leveled this tank empty- filled it up- was about .300-.400" off from being level left to right then only .125" off front to back after compressing the carpet- i went ahead drained ans theb shimmed the high side and gave it a full send once it was level front to back and with In about an 1/8 inch left to right. Went ahead and moved the oscars over- i bought a hang on the back 110 by seachem, 10/10 oscar poop smells about as bad as reptiles so i like to use carbon in a HOB to keep smells down between W/c. .. now i need to build a new 1in or 3/4 in drain system for water changes - this 1/2in system i have takes way too long.  Then i want to note that the lights suck that come with this. 

Edited May 17, 2022 by boogiedogo92

[nabokovfan87]

On 5/17/2022 at 2:42 AM, boogiedogo92 said:

i bought a hang on the back 110 by seachem,

Interesting! I might have to ask you some stuff about it via DM.  It's the only one I haven't used.
 

On 5/17/2022 at 2:42 AM, boogiedogo92 said:

Then i want to note that the lights suck that come with this. 

are they something like an aquasky LED or Tube?

On 5/17/2022 at 2:42 AM, boogiedogo92 said:

I leveled this tank empty- filled it up- was about .300-.400" off from being level left to right then only .125" off front to back after compressing the carpet- i went ahead drained ans the shimmed the high side and gave it a full send once it was level front to back and with In about an 1/8 inch left to right.

I probably should check all my tanks filled.... I always check them empty and then glance at them full.  With a tank that big, pretty critical step.  Nice touch. I wanted to ask, you mentioned the pond armor on the surface of the stand.  Would you ever consider adding a rubber mat as well just to keep the surface from absorbing any water or does that seem like overkill?

[boogiedogo92]

On 5/18/2022 at 3:21 AM, nabokovfan87 said:

aquasky LED

It worse then those even- its like a single flexable strip attached to the underside of a hood- which the hoods are nice aluminum to my surprise. 

 

On 5/18/2022 at 3:21 AM, nabokovfan87 said:

Would you ever consider adding a rubber mat

I did under the Cascade Max flow- i seem to always make some short of mess with it water wise. But i think for this "exterior MDF board" they build this stand with it is a requirement to seal the edges.

 

On 5/18/2022 at 3:21 AM, nabokovfan87 said:

It's the only one I haven't used.

I will tell you im using it mainly as a sponge/ chemical filter, they've updated the basket on the 110 too - it now had a vent on the bottom side under that section that shrinks down where the water inlet is. I have seen it was a major mod people did in the past to prevent water from bypassing on max flow flow setting.  

I do need to add a larger air pump to the tank- i have the battery backup aquarium co-op air pumps and those dude- the seem to struggle with the depth and tube length i am using on this tank. 
 

so i should be turning my tank over about 7.5 times an hour with the known flow out of the max flow (somewhere around 550-600gph)and the Seachem 110 advertised flow which I'm guessing is pretty close to being correct from just eyeballing it. I may try another cheap brand big canister filter thats big since these oscars make such a mess but sadly even then i think i am still going to be do 30-50% water changes still a week in this setup

[nabokovfan87]

On 5/18/2022 at 3:15 AM, boogiedogo92 said:

I will tell you im using it mainly as a sponge/ chemical filter, they've updated the basket on the 110 too - it now had a vent on the bottom side under that section that shrinks down where the water inlet is. I have seen it was a major mod people did in the past to prevent water from bypassing on max flow flow setting.  

That's exactly what I was going to ask about. How is the basket designed.

The tidals probably work really well stuffed with sponge if you can get the water forced through it.

On 5/18/2022 at 3:15 AM, boogiedogo92 said:

I do need to add a larger air pump to the tank- i have the battery backup aquarium co-op air pumps and those dude- the seem to struggle with the depth and tube length i am using on this tank. 

Tetra has an AP150/300 might be what you need.

On 5/18/2022 at 3:15 AM, boogiedogo92 said:

so i should be turning my tank over about 7.5 times an hour with the known flow out of the max flow (somewhere around 550-600gph)and the Seachem 110 advertised flow which I'm guessing is pretty close to being correct from just eyeballing it.

I ran 2x 75s on my 55g and 75g. On that big of a tank I'd probably run 2x the 110s just to get enough circulation.

Edited May 18, 2022 by nabokovfan87

[boogiedogo92]

On 5/18/2022 at 6:16 AM, nabokovfan87 said:

etra has an AP150/300 might be

Ha i just bought the ap300 before i saw this.

[nabokovfan87]

On 5/19/2022 at 10:50 AM, boogiedogo92 said:

Ha i just bought the ap300 before i saw this.

Sweet! Let us know your thoughts.

[boogiedogo92]

On 5/19/2022 at 2:12 PM, nabokovfan87 said:

Sweet! Let us know your thoughts.

It doing fine, its putting out more then enough for 3 air stones. I ended up buying a fluval aquasky light- it looks good- stand with the sealant looks great still- no swelling yet haha. Oscar are in that 5-5.5in range now. Im still doing weekly water changes out if habit. I did get two Rafael catfish- they look small but are 3-4 in and their heads are about the same size as the oscars. - the oscar is about 6-8in closer then the catfish. They are feisty catfish- they come rolling out fast at night. 

[nabokovfan87]

Very cool.  Tank looks awesome.

[boogiedogo92]

 This is only like 3 day of feces from these things.  Too, but the air pump is a beast and the air in the lines are louder then the pump. But it has a very slight hum the microphone picks up very well