My 60 Gallon custom tank

[fishface NJ]

Best of luck!

 

[AquaForge]

Wiring is “done”. I got everything functioning but need to clean up the wires a bit more but it’s a very tight space. Less than 2 inches of space between the gear and the tank.

 

[AquaForge]

Chaeto spiraling magnificently(see video)!Apex programming completed to enable automated water changes and tank maintenance. My inner geek is so jazzed at all of the doodads and thingamabobs.

 

[AquaForge]

Setup a small wifi dosing pump with 5 gallons of KW. Still tweaking the amounts a bit but man its so much more stable with a dosing pump vs manually dumping in KW.

 

[AquaForge]

Finished setup of my mixing station. Needs a few tweaks but well worth it

 

[Gumbies R Us]

Finished setup of my mixing station. Needs a few tweaks but well worth it

Mixing station looks great!

 

[AquaForge]

Mixing station looks great!

Thank you!

 

[AquaForge]

Just a quick share on diving into the world of DIY copepod and phytoplankton cultivation. Like many of you, I’m always looking for ways to enrich my tank's ecosystem without breaking the bank. The cost of keeping up with phytoplankton and copepods from external sources quickly added up, pushing me to look for sustainable, at-home solutions.

After some digging and setting up my own cultures, I’ve managed to produce about 2 gallons of phytoplankton weekly. It’s been a learning curve, but the satisfaction of contributing directly to my tank’s health and stability has been invaluable.

Really, it’s a testament to the endless learning and adaptation in our hobby. Wanted to share this small victory and maybe inspire others to explore similar paths.

 

[AquaForge]

So, now I have 3 tanks 60, 40, 13.5 all up and running very well I’ve decided to tear dow 60&40 and get a IM 150 Lagoon. It arrives Tuesday. In anticipation I just finished my DIY sump. So many lessons learned by building my first tank from scratch. New sump will be in the basement, which will allow better access for everything. Right now under my 60 I’m completely out of room. By setting up in the basement I’ll have a ton of room to be neat and organized.

Here is the new 55 sump with a Bubble Magus Curve 7 Extreme. Banana for scale

 

[AquaForge]

Doing some designing for the plumbing. New sump is going right under the new tank in the basement. Designed this to fill the ugly hole I made in the floor plus add some support. Left hole is for left tank return. Three holes in the center are for the overflow and the right hole is the right side return. The 3 small holes are for any controls that I may need to run from the basement although I do not envision that yet, its best to be prepared. They are 10mm and I have rubber grommets to go in there. The holes are perfect for 1 inch pipe.