Hello,
I've been playing with simple aquariums most of my life. My Dad even tried his hand at making a 10 gallon tank out of plexi-glass back in the 70's. It worked well until it aged some and the glass began to fog and scratch.
For the past 20 years I've had a few tanks, increasing in size along the way. Currently we have a 55 gallon setup in our home office.
My DIY quest began a few weeks ago due to a filtration issues. Rewind to last spring, we had a friend give us a small plastic pond and set it up just off our back porch. Of course it had to have some fish so my wife brought home some small gold fish. When fall came the issue became where to put the fish. She decided to add them to our tank and they quickly took to their new home.
Hence my filtration issue. 7 growing goldfish put a huge bio load on this tank and our filter hanging off the back could not keep up.
Through much searching and investigation I have settled on an overflow and sump design. The prototype is installed and has been running for nearly a week with excellent results. Some tweeking and fine tuning is needed but this system is going to be a standard for me from now on. As soon as I can, I'll post pics.
While searching for ideas, I have come across designs for in-tank backgrounds. Mainly fabricated from styrofoam these scenerys have caught my attention and I can see me making one soon.
I'd love to hear about other DIY projects.
Dave

Pics in my Album are of my 240g stand and canopy. DIY.

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http://s1050.photobucket.com/albums/...eefingMadness/

Thats a very nice tank. The stand and hood look great!
I love all the pictures of beautiful salt water systems.
I'd like to setup a salt water system but am nervous about the complexity.
Someday I'll get the nerve and start one..

Dave

Heres how complex mine isn't. I have a skimmer, 220lbs of Live Rock, a 1-2" sand bed, and 4 poweheads. Doesn't get any easier than that. For lighting I use 2 175w Metal Halides

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http://s1050.photobucket.com/albums/...eefingMadness/

welcome aboard!

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"Being ignorant is not so much a Shame, as being unwilling to learn".-- Benjamin Franklin

Hi Dave. Welcome to the forum.

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Aquatic Engineer

Thanks for all the warm welcomes. We have evicted all the gold fish from our 55 gal tank. We split the heard between a 35 gal my son has and a new 29 gal we just purchased for the rest. They will return to the pond come spring.
The new overflow / dry sump I have added had been working ot to keep up with all the mess the goldfish dumped. I will make time this weekend to do a bottom sweep and service to it.
Looking forward to populating this tank with some tropical fish!
Right now we have 2 baby bala sharks, one med size plecostomus and one ?? I will be seeking advice on a healthy mix of compatible fish for it.

Hi and Welcome to this great forum!!!

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Custom Overflow Boxes, Standpipes, and Macro Algae…

http://www.aquariumoverflow.com