# 150 Gallon growout build for My L134 Leopard Frog plecos



## davej (Apr 28, 2010)

I have been breeding my L134 plecos pretty steady now for the last a year+. Being fairly sucessful with them as you can see.





I had set up three 40 gallon breeders all with their own XP3's and have used a Digital Aquatics RKL for temp control.
It is a fair bit of work cleaning and doing the water changes on three separate tanks, so I decided to upgrade to one bigger tank.
After looking for a few weeks on Craigslist, I came across a great deal on a 150 gallon tank that was formerly used for a reef.
The previous owner had a SPS reef set up only to have his cleaners blow a breaker while he was away for a couple of days.
Needless to say he lost the whole reef, as a result he just wanted to get rid of it and let it go at a great price. 









It is super strong and built with a double 3/8" laminated glass bottom and starphire front glass.
The bottom is drilled for reef overflows, one of which I will plumb in for water changes. 
The other holes will get capped off with bulkheads, more on that later.
As well it is eurobraced with no center brace. Great for catching fish, but this has presented its own set of problems, none of which are a deal breaker.
With the help of Gary, Ming and Tony from here we picked it up and delivered it to my place.









One of the issues I came across was that the Eurobracing was 3" across.
This caused issues with the pickups and returns for my Eheim that I planned on using.









So the answer was to drill the Eurobracing.
I decided to do it on the ends as there would be less load than the longer pieces on the front and back.
Turned out to be pretty easy with a diamond drill bit. Took less than 10 min per hole.









Now the pick ups and returns fit in perfectly. I put the two pickups at the back at either end and the retun is straight down at the front 
washing across the front glass.

















Much neater than my other option, as well it doesn't interfere with the glass tops.









I used one of the bulkheads to plumb in a drain line. I put a standpipe at the depth so when it fully drains 50 gallons gets changed out.
I have been doing 1/3 water changes on the 90 gallon breeding tan twice a week with great results.
As well I have a screen over the top to save anybody getting sucked down the drain.









Underneath I have a good quality Ball valve that I picked up fro Coris. 
Now I just have to turn the valve and in about two minutes, 50 gallons of water is drained into my house plumbing stack.









I have a digital aquatics controller on the tank to control my temp. It controls a 300W Aquamedic titanium heater. It has no problem keeping the water at a steady 84 F
I have a second 300W heater, a eheim jager that is set to kick in only if the temp drops down to 83.5. So far it is redundant but a good failsafe.
It has only come on during the odd water change when the refill water is a degree or so colder.
As well I monitor my Ph with a pinpoint monitor. I could have bought a module to add to to the DA controller but already had the Pinpoint.

For filtration I am running a Eheim 2080 that I picked up from someone that had used it for only 4 months before his wife made him get rid of all his tanks and fish. 
This thing is a workhorse and does a great job keeping the water crystal clear.









As well I am using a 15W UV sterilizer as well as a phosban 150 reactor with purigen in it.
Between the eheim the UV and the purigen. I have no water issues whatsoever on a heavily loaded tank. 
I use the quick filters on the powerhead intakes to scrub the water before it enters the UV or the reactor.
I find these things great for removing the larger particles from the water column and change them out every couple of weeks.









I ended up designing my own glass top. 
I picked up an aqueon versa top for a 75/90 gallon tank. It is designed to be used with a ceter brace wich I dont have.
I have run the top sideways from fromt to back and then had a piece og 6mm glass cut to cover the middle of the tank.









You are only allowed 13 pictures to each post so will start another entry to continue.


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## 2wheelsx2 (Apr 21, 2010)

Nice to see a journal on this Dave. Glad to see that great tank being put to good use.


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## monkE (Aug 4, 2010)

a shame to hear what happened to the previous owner.. but nice score for you! can't wait to see how this setup looks full of those L134's!


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## davej (Apr 28, 2010)

I am going to run three sets of the marineland double bright fixtures front to back on the tank.









I have since put in a bunch of wood and some of my "pleco condos" as a few friends call them.
Now everybody is happy with more room to swim and grow.


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## tony1928 (Apr 22, 2010)

Very nice Dave! With all that stuff going on, you somehow have made a 150G appear small! LOL.


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## Diztrbd1 (Apr 21, 2010)

agree with Tony lol Awesome setup Dave, loving the stumps in there!


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## target (Apr 21, 2010)

Looks great. I'm going to have to get some more frogs for my tank nearer the end of the growout, add to the 3 I already have.


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## davej (Apr 28, 2010)

I love the look of the stumps as well. 
As you can tell.


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## Ahriman (Nov 22, 2012)

great looking setup. I love the look of those plecos.


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## Bien Lim (Apr 21, 2010)

great lookin set up


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## davej (Apr 28, 2010)

Thanks guys,
Still needs a bit of tweaking with the layout of the wood, but It'll come together.


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## bonsai dave (Apr 21, 2010)

The set up is looking great Dave. Good Job.


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## Fourstreeman (Apr 23, 2010)

Nice work Dave!

Those L134s look pretty packed in that 150 gallon..... And once I get my Pleco tank up and running I will need to do something about it....

Mike


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## davej (Apr 28, 2010)

Got my new lights today. 
Makes a big difference.


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## 2wheelsx2 (Apr 21, 2010)

Looks good Dave. Too bad it's like lighting up a ghost tank....darn plecos huh?


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## davej (Apr 28, 2010)

Yeah its funny, you'd think the tank was empty.
But that's far from the case.
If you sit in front of it, there is a lot of action.


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## 2wheelsx2 (Apr 21, 2010)

davej said:


> If you sit in front of it, there is a lot of action.


That's just telling us we need a vid!


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## davej (Apr 28, 2010)

2wheelsx2 said:


> That's just telling us we need a vid!


Lights are out already will try and get one done tomorrow


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## davej (Apr 28, 2010)

2wheelsx2 said:


> That's just telling us we need a vid!


Alright here it is, shot a quick one after turning the lights on to feed em.
Should have seen them scatter.


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## 2wheelsx2 (Apr 21, 2010)

Nice vid Dave. Do they come out more if you use the moonlight mode? That's the one annoying thing about the Marineland lights is that the moonlight and the main lights are a rocker switch so it's only one or the other and has to be manual.


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## Bien Lim (Apr 21, 2010)

very nice set up!! thats why ur not in plant anymore.


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## davej (Apr 28, 2010)

Bien Lim said:


> very nice set up!! thats why ur not in plant anymore.


Yup, got the pleco bug.
No pruning anymore! Lol


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