# My New Aquarium



## ian8834 (Sep 22, 2008)

Here are pictures of my new 125-gallon aquarium. I have 3 Oscars about 9-10" long, and a 13" pleco. In the next few days, I will be adding another large pleco.

I've also been thinking about changing this to a discus tank. Possibly with a stingray? I've also thought about growing some Flowerhorns. I'm not too sure what I want to do with it yet. Suggestions would be appreciated!


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## Riceburner (Mar 14, 2008)

nice. great to have the real estate eh?


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## conix67 (Jul 27, 2008)

Nice tank! but even at 125Gal it looks too small for those big boys!

Is this tank sitting on main floor or in basement? I'd like to have a large tank like this eventually, but will be sitting on main floor. Would we require some sort of structural enhancements to support the weight of a tank larger than 120Gals?


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## ian8834 (Sep 22, 2008)

conix67 said:


> Nice tank! but even at 125Gal it looks too small for those big boys!
> 
> Is this tank sitting on main floor or in basement? I'd like to have a large tank like this eventually, but will be sitting on main floor. Would we require some sort of structural enhancements to support the weight of a tank larger than 120Gals?


I have it in a third-story apartment. I kind of wondered about it, seeing as to how it weighs about 1500 pounds when full. However, some people that work for the apartment company actually helped me out when I was setting it up, so I didn't worry about it too much.


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## conix67 (Jul 27, 2008)

If you're living in an apartment with concrete floor, I don't think there's anything to worry about.

I believe main area of concern is floors with wooden joists, especially if they were built just to meet the building code. There's no *specification* or *users manual* in a house where it specifies load limit per square feet or something. Does anyone have any idea?


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## Sunstar (Jul 29, 2008)

And houses that use chipboard floor joists as modern houses are built with... argh, don't get me fired on teh floor joist rant... chipboard.. meh! Nice tank and those fish must be HUGE


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## conix67 (Jul 27, 2008)

Sunstar said:


> And houses that use chipboard floor joists as modern houses are built with... argh, don't get me fired on teh floor joist rant... chipboard.. meh! Nice tank and those fish must be HUGE


Hi Sunstar,

The chipboard you're referring to must be "engineered floor joist". The chip board must be sandwiched between two wood pieces to form an I beam. If that's what it is, it's supposed to be one of the better joist system available. Usually an upgrade from typical 2x8 joists.

The advantage is that it will be more resistent to humidity and won't bend like wooden joist, so you'll have less chance of having "floor creaks". I'm not sure if it is stronger though, but I thought it would be.

I'm not aware of other chipboard joists 

By the way, the subfloor can be chipboards too. Those are cheap boards, and they aren't very strong for subfloor (I think it's called aspenite or OSB).


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## Ciddian (Mar 15, 2006)

WOw!! Big oscars! <3


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## Cory (May 2, 2008)

Provided you're going to get rid of the oscars, a few flowerhorns would be great in there. If you wanted to redecorate entirely, you could do discus with plants and schools of small warm water fish along with some corydora.


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## ian8834 (Sep 22, 2008)

Cory said:


> Provided you're going to get rid of the oscars, a few flowerhorns would be great in there. If you wanted to redecorate entirely, you could do discus with plants and schools of small warm water fish along with some corydora.


I had thought of that. I am NOT doing flowerhorns anymore. I decided against trying to mess with hybrids.

I was going to make it a discus tank. However, I am a student with little time and energy to devote to ensuring proper water conditions that they need. I need something a little more flexible.

Today I traded all the oscars for a black knifefish, a needlenose gar, and a elephant nose. Plans next week are to take out all decoration and gravel, and to put sand in there. Possibly get a couple real plants, I don't know. Then, the final step will be to add a stingray!


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## Sunstar (Jul 29, 2008)

They have stingrays at Alternative Aquariums the last time I checked.


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