PokeSephiroth's Twin 55 Gallon Acrylic Project

Scored an awesome deal, two 55 Gallon Acrylic tanks, and a Fluval 206 (not pictured) for just $20. Well, I got one of the 55 Gallon Acrylic tanks and the Fluval 206 from a highschool friend of mine for free, and got the other 55 Gallon Acrylic tank from bronzefighter for $20...best part is, one of the tanks is already pre-drilled for an overflow system! How awesome is that?!

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All cleaned up, they were relatively clean already, so it was mostly just rinsing out all the trace substrate/gravel/sand in the tanks. I haven't tested for leaks yet, I will do that another day, when I can find a suitable, leveled, surface to put the tanks on, since our ground is un-level (blerg!).

I'm not exactly sure what I'm going to do with these tanks just yet. Perhaps I will replace the 55 gallon that's in the living room, and use the other one as a sump for the 55 gallon. But, I wouldn't want to waste the showy-ness of the acrylic... maybe I will just use my existing glass 55 gallon as the sump? *shrug* Whatever it is, I know I'm going to put them to good use.

Whatever I decide on doing with these two tanks, will be documented here...so, stay tuned and see what I do with them... or not do with them. Hah!

Here's a question though, I've noticed that both acrylic tanks have this weird paper backing along the bottom of the tanks, what the heck is it there for and why is it such a pain to remove?!

PokeSephiroth wrote:Here's a question though, I've noticed that both acrylic tanks have this weird paper backing along the bottom of the tanks, what the heck is it there for and why is it such a pain to remove?!

Does the weird paper thingy have any foamyness to it? Inside or outside of tank?  I have a 15 tall that has some foamy paper on the outside bottom... There for cushion maybe?

Nope, it just looks like as if someone used a gluestick and put glue on the paper, and stuck the paper onto the acrylic tank.

I've noticed it on one of my 8 foot long tanks, but it was the backside of the tank.

But with these two 55 gallon acrylic tanks, it's along the underside of the tank, on the outside.

All three tanks had the same type of paper too, it was brown colored. Lighter than a paper bag-brown. Kinda like a sand-paper brown.

note* You can see the brown paper stuff in the picture in my first post, it just kinda looks like "gunk" in the picture, but it's not. lol

Its the paper that comes on the acrylic sheets so they don't get scratched and they leave it on the bottom cuz most ppl don't look thru it..lol.. so If I were you I wouldn't stress about it. Its there to protect the bottom.

Awesome finds man! They don't even look cloudy! You could fill up ur glass tank outside to grow some of that Fairy Moss HAHA!

tayntdawg: Ohhh..yeah I guess that would make sense. LOL... but if it's supposed to "come off" like the other panels of acrylic, why is it so hard to peel off? Kinda like a stubborn sticker that leaves all its residue on the surface...

Yeah I'm not sweating it, I stopped caring after realizing that it wouldn't be seen anyway hahaha!! =P

DrakeAquatics: LOL!! That would definitely be a lot of fairy moss. Hahahaha, thanks again for more fairy moss! LuminousAphid gave me a small sample of his fairy moss and it is currently in the 20 gallon long tank, I'm really happy that I have more of this stuff now, though!

PokeSephiroth wrote:Here's a question though, I've noticed that both acrylic tanks have this weird paper backing along the bottom of the tanks, what the heck is it there for and why is it such a pain to remove?!

This protective paper isn't ment to be removed. The paper should also be water resistant. We all know how soft Acrylics are & how easy it is to scuff it up, put dings in and what not. The paper is added protection to keep the tank looking sharp and protect it from getting scuffed up during manufacturing, transport and set up.

Wow on the find Poke!! Aaaaaaaa neeeeew project is cooooming neatO!

I am trying to save $$$ for a bigOtank, ha!

I figured it wasn't meant to be removed, some of it started peeling off when I was washing the tanks... and then my OCD kicked in, and I was rubbing whatever I could rub off with my fingers, until I realized "wait... I'm not even going to see this side of the tank anyway." and then I stopped, before my OCD could take control again.    

Excited to see what you come up with for these tanks Angelo. I'll be following along in anticipation  

cichlid-gal wrote:Excited to see what you come up with for these tanks Angelo.  I'll be following along in anticipation  

The pressure is oooooon!! Hahaha, kidding :)Yay! I enjoy following other peoples documented progress with their tank setups too! It's like watching Tanked, but better, because it's actually freshwater fish!

Yes, I know they have one(1) ONE... episode that has freshwater but that was pretty "meh".

They did one episode planted tank.

I cant watch that show anymore, they shove lots of fish in tiny tanks
So I will watch your thread instead  

SiRWesDragon wrote:They did one episode planted tank.

.........I already mentioned this. lol.

MorganEA wrote:I cant watch that show anymore, they shove lots of fish in tiny tanks
So I will watch your thread instead  

Yeah, I don't know what the heck they're doing, I mean, the tanks look cool and all, but I'm curious...I wish they did a "Where are they now?" type of episode, where they visit their past customers and see if their tanks still have the same fish and whatnot.

It was my impression that Tanked did a few freshwater tanks....but they put the SAME fish in EVERY single time. borinnnggg. plus only a single season. ohh I forgot about the FW fridge one..so many fishies so little room for said fishies
oh god. the where are they now is probably people in debt because they had to pay other people to clean the massive tank because either a. it was too much of a chore or b they have no idea how to keep them stable.

Wait, I don't call watching the freshwater fridge one O_O... the freshwater episode I was talking about was the one where they made a pinball machine into a tank...well, into three separate tanks. Which is in Season 2. (I can't believe they made it to season 2, actually. Geez.)

PokeSephiroth wrote:I figured it wasn't meant to be removed, some of it started peeling off when I was washing the tanks... and then my OCD kicked in, and I was rubbing whatever I could rub off with my fingers, until I realized "wait... I'm not even going to see this side of the tank anyway." and then I stopped, before my OCD could take control again.    

that was my exact thought process too!

"damn this stuff is hideous!"  
"damn this is difficult to get off!"  
"i'm gonna shank someone soon!"  
...
...
"wait when will i ever see the bottom of this tank? never!"  

anyways, enjoy the tanks! drilling the back of that was the one of the nerve-wracking moments of my life... more then the time i was caught in a snowstorm on my motorcycle!

So Poke, how are you going to Tank these tanks? red tail sharks have my vote!

MRTom wrote:So Poke, how are you going to Tank these tanks? red tail sharks have my vote!

i vote for back to back shrimp tanks, using the drilled bulkheads to connect them! 110 gallons of RCS!  

bronzefighter wrote:i vote for back to back shrimp tanks, using the drilled bulkheads to connect them! 110 gallons of RCS!  

Excellent choice sir! I have to one-up you. I vote for 110 gallons of boraras maculatus!

MRTom and bronzefighter: I'm going to make them into a brine shrimp factory!!!! .... ~~ . . . . *crickets* okay, I don't know yet. LOL.

They're just in my garage now, taking up space for a while before I can figure out where I can put them. I'm really hoping to just replace my glass tank. That would be optimal, as the more tanks I put in my house, the more I cringe during water changing days.

No, I will not put an automatic water changing system in my house, no I will not buy a python water changer thinger, no I will not *insert 'wellwhydon'tyoudothisinstead?' here*.   

110g of freshwater clams! MOST BORING TANK EVER.

Trolololol!

Or a tank full of the most rarest fish. The invisible fish!

I say forget the 55's and concentrate on.... Hot Tub fish tank in the back!
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Lol that would make a nice koi pond.

DMD123 wrote:I say forget the 55's and concentrate on.... Hot Tub fish tank in the back!

How about a Garra rufa (Doctor Fish) relaxation station?!

DMD123 wrote:I say forget the 55's and concentrate on.... Hot Tub fish tank in the back!
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Oh told my boyfriend, once the hot tub breaks, I'm turning it into a fish tank hahahaha

bronzefighter wrote:

DMD123 wrote:I say forget the 55's and concentrate on.... Hot Tub fish tank in the back!

How about a Garra rufa (Doctor Fish) relaxation station?!

They have these hot springs in the Phillipines, and it's pretty neat having the fish nip at your skin. Hahaha

Your going to need to stack them, you are probably running out of space in your home...lol!

I like the brine shrimp idea. I don't know if you where joking but it's kind of a neat idea to start growing your own natural fish food.

Once I begin my WC project I probably will start breeding & housing feeders again so stackable 50's would be a neatO idea!

Lol there's no way I'd be able to pull that off. Brine shrimp raises nitrates so fast because they molt like crazy Hahaha... Yeah stacking would be my best bet

Well, here's an update! I've gone and turned one of the tanks into a goldfish tank. Went and bought some river stones today from a local landscaping place, only paid $5 for two 5 gallon buckets worth of stones. Lots of stones, awesome price.

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Thanks to Consecration, she gave me her two Oranda Goldfish, a Pleco named Hoover, a group of Bleeding Heart Tetras, 3 German Blue Rams, and a Molly , I put the goldfish in the 55 gallon tank, and bought em some friends! Yay! ( I STILL WANT A PEARLSCALE GOLDFISH! )
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Yep, I'm quite happy with how this tank turned out. I will add more plants when I can. I don't mind the goldfish eating the plants. Heh.

Now... what shall I do with that other 55 gallon acrylic tank.. Hrmmmm....

UGHHHHH... okay, so a lot of you have known that I had two 8 foot breeder tanks, well. I got rid of them (Thanks, Aquarium Co-Op!). And now I can put my twin 55 gallon tanks into motion!

I had already set up one of the tanks to be a goldfish tank, while the other acrylic tank became its sump. And now that I no longer have the 8 foot breeder tanks, those two tanks will take its place on the racks. Yahoo!!

It took me ALL DAY to get the fish in the 8 foot tanks and take the tanks out of the racks and into the van, but they're in the van now. Took another whole day (and night) to take out all the decor/fish from the 55 gallon tank, and transfer them onto the racks ONLY TO FIND THAT THE UPPER PORTION WAS TOO HIGH SO THE 55 GALLON TANK WOULDN'T FIT. UGH... RAGE.

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So, we chopped off part of the legs, and took out the concrete blocks on the bottom rack so that both 55's could fit on both top and bottom racks.

Took me the rest of the night to set everything back up again, but it's finally finished. Fish look happy (after swimming around in the 55 gallon sump for several hours, they definitely look a lot more lively in their original home, that's for sure!)

So, here are the twin tanks :)I still have to tweak more stuff, and add a couple more things. I actually like the aquascape this time around, compared to the first one I did before. More pictures and possibly a video, to follow, in the near (of far....depending how lazy I am) future!

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Nice! Looking nice!!! Are you planning to plant the sump too?

MrTom: Thanks!! :)as for planting the sump. Probably not. Servicing and even accessing the sump is SUCH A PAIN IN THE RUMP because it baaaarely fits on the bottom rack. There's only about a good... 2-3 inches of room, just enough to put my arm through. It's so tough, I can't even reach the bottom of the tank! .... if you bend a wrong way, you could snap/break a bone/dislocate your arm, if you're not careful.
Just trying to reconnect and plug everything in the sump took me a good 2 hours... and we're just talking...
1 sponge filter, 2 internal filters, 1 heater,  2 overflow uh... things, 1 pump to pump water back to the top tank, and I haven't even bothered plugging the UV sterilizer in yet. That will continue tomorrow. lol.


But yeah, I'd say the hard work is paying off.

IF anything, I'd probably use the "sump" as a refugium for... cherry shrimp, or something. =P
To feed to my goldfish as a weekly snack. BWAHAHAHA...

I love the layout of that tank Angelo. As for the sump, I will hope you don't have to get into that very often...what a pain. Maybe you can, in your spare time (how you do what you do amazes me), build a new double stack with better access.

PokeSephiroth wrote:MrTom: Thanks!! :)as for planting the sump. Probably not. Servicing and even accessing the sump is SUCH A PAIN IN THE RUMP because it baaaarely fits on the bottom rack. There's only about a good... 2-3 inches of room, just enough to put my arm through. It's so tough, I can't even reach the bottom of the tank! .... if you bend a wrong way, you could snap/break a bone/dislocate your arm, if you're not careful.
Just trying to reconnect and plug everything in the sump took me a good 2 hours... and we're just talking...
1 sponge filter, 2 internal filters, 1 heater,  2 overflow uh... things, 1 pump to pump water back to the top tank, and I haven't even bothered plugging the UV sterilizer in yet. That will continue tomorrow. lol.


But yeah, I'd say the hard work is paying off.

IF anything, I'd probably use the "sump" as a refugium for... cherry shrimp, or something. =P
To feed to my goldfish as a weekly snack. BWAHAHAHA...

Pretty cool Poke. You know when I see an open tank like that ideas start forming...   

Here's a little update of the 55 gallon acrylic tanks. I've somewhat neglected it, as far as plants are concerned, it was basically just a tank where I could toss any plants I didn't mind the goldfish eating, IF they ate em... which they did. So. Yeah.

I love my goldfishies! I just got three new ones from a friend, they're the gigantic ones in there (there's three of them)...two of which, have REALLY small fins for their body size, which I think looks weird, but in a cute way. lol...

But oh my gosh, look at that huge black moor!!

 

Okay, I need to stop coming in here to watch this video. I am on number 5. Its funny how they wiggle to swim around

Wait you watched the video 5 times??

They look so funny. At least they can swim. I've seen some goldfish that can hardly swim because of their body shape and finnage. Nice looking group.

Thank you, Donna! I'm really captivated by the black moors finnage, it's so ... Elegant looking, not like the other fins of the other goldfish. It's so hard to explain because I'm not good at explaining things. Lol!!