CichlidFish.com - Fish That Think.

You are too funny DeapseafisherMAN. No, of course, I wasn't offended!! How would you know! Thanks for changing the wording...hahaha, just saw that in big bold orange letters! Anyway, the people at Custom Aquatics told me as long as it's not sitting parellell to my floor joints that I should be fine. Still waiting to hear from my Uncle. Fingers crossed.
I'm going to do lots of research on Sumps and yes I will certainly come back to you directly deepseafisherMAN for info on which africans to put together because I'm quite clueless on that and you just can't trust your LFS to give you proper info, as they just want to make a sale. I remember when "Finding Nemo" came out and they sold them to all those bubble headed soccer moms who wanted to shut up their screaming kids...they sold all those poor little salty fish to people that put them in fresh fish BOWLS!!!! Ugh...now that makes me want to cry! My question to that was ...how come these parents didn't question spending $40 on a "goldfish". Oh man.
Ok...can someone answer me w/substrate?...oh and how much for a 180?!?! I guess I'd need an entire beach worth! I hear crushed coral is good at maintaing water conditions. I want a very natural tank...no crazy colors...other than the fish!

Ok, Custom Aquatics said I should go with FI-CAB361616..which is a 36"L x 16"W x 16"H acrylic bio ball filtration sump w/water change system. ($269.99)
And 2 AQ-TVOVERFLOW...which would be 2 built in aquarium overflow boxes. Suggested to get three sided so they can go in the end corners as to not block the view. ($60 each)
And then a WP-PCMAKIII which is a mak III Gen X PCX-30 water pump...875gph at 14 ft draws 100 watts of power. ($89)
This is what they suggest filtration wise.
Do you guys agree?!?! I do all this myself as my husband couldn't give a crap less about fish. If they don't have hockey sticks in their little fins and are beating eachother up...he's not interested.

The numbers add up, I am not an expert on large tank filters, but I looked at what they are offering you, and it will work. Now that does not mean there isn't a less expensive system out there that would do the job.

On the weight issue, again, I would have someone who knows about home construction look at your location, and tell you. If your Uncle can tell you for free, great, if not someone will be able to for a relativly nominal fee. A wise investment in my opinion.

As far as your substrate goes, you don't want more that 1/4 or 1/2 an inch in depth. Your Africans will more than likely dig in the gravel, and might make some large spots of gravel that *could* become anaerobic, which is not something that you want.

If you're running a sump, you don't necessarily need to buy crushed coral for your substrate. What you could do (my personal favorite option) would be to go buy 20 or 30 lbs of base rock from your LFS. Base rock is basically dead coral and is composed almost entirely of calcium. It tends to sell for pretty cheap (as low as a buck or two per pound), but doesn't, IMO, look very good in an aquarium. Any local pet store that has saltwater fish ought to have, or be able to get you, base rock. Don't let them try to sell you live rock, as this will be entirely pointless for a freshwater aquarium (yeah, been through that one, lol). You could also use crushed coral in your sump-anything you want will work. The sump is really the ideal place to have your buffering agent (which is what your coral or base rock will be) because of the high rate of water flow.

How does your tap water test? The reason I got into africans is because of the liquid cement that pores out of the faucets around here (pH greater than 9, alkalinity off of any measurable chart I've found, and a hardness of around 100 ppm). Starting with really sorry water is helpful for africans, but they are about the only fish that its safe to change water conditions for. I guess thats at least part of the reason why I love them.

Good luck with the weight of your tank.

--edit--
I forgot to mention another option. There are some types of playsand that will work as bufering agents (Southdown a.k.a. Oldcastle, to name one) that will work and be a LOT cheaper than anything else. A sand bed can be a pain to take care of, though. If sand is something you want to look into, post back.

Oh my God Guys...I'm sooo upset!!! My floor thing-a-majiggers run parallell to the tank!!!!!! My project is on hold for now untill I can get my uncle out here (not easy..he lives in Pittsburgh and is very busy w/his business).
I am soo freakin bummed I can't even tell you!!!
I got so much good info from you guys and now what!?!? I'm gonna go flush my head down the toilet.

Boy, that sucks...

You may still be able to come up with a way to do it without too much renovation, and if not, you could always go with a smaller tank. That still could be quite the bummer though...Good luck.

Well little lady, I must say I first thought man myself (that's just my nature when I'm writing sorry). As far as the sump info I've got a great site I think You should check out it talks about the benifits of the sump tank and also walks you through building your own(I think) but there is diagrams on how they work.

http://www.MELEVSREEF.com/whatsump.com

As long as your weight is good this site will walk you through everything you want to know about sump systems.Good luck hope it helps!:D

O.K the site has changed a bit since the last time I visited so....go to this address instead. When you get there just scroll down the page until you find something that you would like to look in.

http://www.melevsreef.com/links.html

sorry for the trouble. The top address will get you there but you still have to find his sump section.

Thanks Tug...that site is awesome! That guy must be really really amazing! It's extreeeemely insightful and wow..the pictures alone could keep me occupied for days!

Unfortunately I'm so damn bummed about the weight of this project I can't get happy.

I talked w/my Uncle last night and he said it'd be easy to reinfoce the floor from below (well...to him...not to me!).
He explained what I'd have to do which doesn't sound all that difficult. My brother has worked in construction and would be able to do it w/no sweat I'm sure. But unfortunately it'd be quite messy and directly underneath where my tank would be sits my gorgeous (very expensive) pool table. Now...it'd be easier to part the sea than to move this table and I sertainly don't want anyone standing on it working over it!!!! Ugh!!!!!!!!!!!
Oh I don't know.
Maybe after a bottle of Jack Daniels this weekend things will look better........or worse as I'm hurling.

Yeah, just be careful not to drink any Jack Dempsies. They tend to not appreciate it, and may show some stress...

Well I'm real sorry about the weight issue, but here's an idea you might like.

You said you have a pool table so how about adding a small bar and using the tank as a back drop behind the bar.? I don't know what design the room is but no pool table should be without it's own bar.

So not only do you have a place to kick back and enjoy some pool with friends you have a great place to showcase your new tank! It sounds like you'll be doin' a bit of drinking anyway so why not impress some of your friends with your design abilities.

BEWARE OF THE JACK!!!:nono:

Ya know Tug..that's a great idea and one that I did give a little thought to but...and I do mean BUT the thought of having a fishtank down there scares the crap outta me because of flying pool balls!!! Could you just see that disaster?!?!? There is also a dart section. Things are always flying around dangerously...especially when we all get drinking!

I'm just sooo in love w/the idea of a room divider and it's kinda what I had in mind when I had the house built (why I wanted the half wall opposed to the full wall).
I think I'm determined to make it work...actually I AM determined. My brother is coming over today and we are checking things out and seeing where we can start on bracing the floor.
My uncle (along w/the super cool people at custom aquatics...where I got all my quotes on parts) assured me that if I brace the floor I will be ok.
Do you guys dissagree? Please let me know your thoughts.

And Tug...I can't stay away from the Jack! I love it! I know it's certainly not a real girly drink but it's the ONLY alcohol I like the taste of....weird hu?!? My husband and his friends tease me all the time. Not that I'm some kind of lunatic alcoholic...only on the weekends but I sure do get my butt kicked by it the next day! Ugh. Don't worry Deepseafisher...I won't drink any Jack DEMPSEYS! Haha.

I certainly think the floor braces will solve your problem. I'm all to familiar with an idea that won't leave your head.

As for the pool playing, it sounds like you could use some lessons J/K.

Yet another idea, I did my 120 gal. in all black(gravel,decor. etc.) and then added nothing but green plants to accent. It turned out so GOOD! When you have nothing distracting you from the fish they really stand out. But I love the black theme, I've converted almost every tank I own to that now, so I'm kinda partial to the set-up. Well anyway congrats on the decision!

Ok, here's my revised plan.
I reinforce the floor from below. We are going to sister up the joists and then also add brackets running opposite. This apparently will make my tank safe (Good God, I hope so). I'm still concerned w/the weight so I'm gonna do this.
Stay w/the length and the height BUT cut back on the width. instead of 72x24x24 I'm going to do a 72x18x24. This brings me from a 180 to a 135! This may also alow me to have a little smaller of a sump...?!?!? maybe?!
But this will still give me the room divider, just not as wide..wich I'm fine with.
Whaddya guys think?!

And Tug...I'm actually not bad at pool but when the crowd has a few too many people think they can get "creative" w/shooting by trying to jump balls on the table ..which usually result in a danger zone. Not to mention some of my girlfriends are pretty bad. As for the darts...they're just plain dangerous!

Its good to hear that you won't have to nix the idea completely. I was a little worried for you there for a minute. Good luck with the rest of your tank.