Pegwood Posted June 21, 2009 Report Share Posted June 21, 2009 Hi, I am pretty excited! I have just brought a super 5ft tank and cabinet, 2nd hand but in good condition. I am having a taller base made to fit under the existing cabinet as it is too low at the moment. I will be buying a pump & heater (that is all I need as some equipment came with the tank), can anyone recommend the best size/type to get. There are some 300 watt/34cm on TM at the moment...any good? Hoping to have the new base made this weekend, thank goodness for big brother's! Can't wait to get some fish but I will have to be patient I guess as the tank will have to settle ...is that right? Can I put plants in straight away though? Thanks Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ryanjury Posted June 21, 2009 Report Share Posted June 21, 2009 Congrats on finding a tank The size of the heater depends on the size of the tank I have seen 5ft tanks range in volume from 200-600+L depending on their height/width.. 1W per L is a rough guideline of what you should aim for but more wont hurt, it also pays in larger tanks to have 2 smaller ones so you have back up and also if one jams on it takes it longer to cook your fish and hopefully you can notice and save them.. I would recommend you spend a bit of money on a descent brand heater (I recommend Jager, aqua one, fluval etc but others will comment I am sure). I am a bit of a cheap ass and a few years ago brought 6-7 jebo 300W heaters for $20ea brand new 3-4 went back i the first year under warantee broken and now a few years later only one still goes and the temp in that tank ranges quite a few degrees by itself. All the second hand ones of a descent brand are still going strong. Filters are down to personal preference I like the cheaper aqua one CF1200's they are big and work very well and also very well priced.. Others will swear by eheim they are better filters but probably not worth the 2-3times more you will pay for them its over to you really Your tank doesn't have to "settle" as such a few days with filters and heaters running to let things stabalise would be good. What fish are you planning for this tank? With a tank as large as a 5ft tank you wont really have to cycle it just add a few fish at a time feed lightly and keep up with water changes you should have enough volume that you wont get nasty ammonia spikes etc. Plants can be added whenever you want to. I would also say that there seems to be alot of problems with disease at local petshops so a quarantine tank (or buying fish from good sources) would be recommended. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LYNDYLOO Posted June 21, 2009 Report Share Posted June 21, 2009 Good Luck with your new Tank Setup, hope it all goes well Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pegwood Posted June 22, 2009 Author Report Share Posted June 22, 2009 Thanks for the info, it is much appreciated. I will look for the ones you have suggested. The tank has an undergravel filter which the guy in Wet Pets said was excellent for the tank. I thought that if it wasn't he would have reccommended me buying a new one from the shop? As too fish, I love Discus but the prices are abit much for me at this time, my long suffering husband really likes the Electric Blues & Yellows so may go for them. I will have a good read up on them on the net though as I thought the were an aggresive fish?? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LYNDYLOO Posted June 22, 2009 Report Share Posted June 22, 2009 If your wanting Discus, Discusguru is the Man to talk too Awesome guy to deal with, his Discus prices are awesome too Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
michael.qian Posted June 22, 2009 Report Share Posted June 22, 2009 I don't keep any discus myself. But I would advice you to be very careful with your water parameters when keeping discus, they are very fragile, won't tolerate nitrate levels over 20ppm (I think). For a discus tank, best to have lots of plants, they help with reducing nitrate as well. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
phoenix44 Posted June 22, 2009 Report Share Posted June 22, 2009 e. yellows are pretty peaceful. some say they are a community fish even. ive had them in normal community tanks, and they keep to them selves - but they look really really nice in an african setup. have a look HERE. e. blue haps are awesome but get a little larger, and take a while to colour up but are a truly spectacular fish. some people like UG filters, and some don't. I usually stay away from them cause I know i can get lazy with cleaning tanks, and well UG's are not so good if you get lazy :lol: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Caryl Posted June 22, 2009 Report Share Posted June 22, 2009 Personally I like under gravels, but only in small tanks (say 2ft or less) as I don't think they are good enough for a larger tank - but can be used in conjunction with other types of filters. When you say you need a pump, everyone seems to assume you mean a filter. Do you mean a pump to run the under gravel? The canister filters other have mentioned all have a pump built in. A pump on its own is not filter. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ryanjury Posted June 22, 2009 Report Share Posted June 22, 2009 If you and your husband want to go down the african route feel free to drop in and see me, I breed both yellows and electric blues and have plenty of african tanks I am always happy to talk about them and show you what I keep with them and what works.. There are a few pics of my fish and tanks here http://s47.photobucket.com/albums/f183/ryanjury/ I am not a fan of undergravel filters and they are no good in an african tank as the africans dig them up making them useless.. Also for a discus tank (unless you buy adults) you probably want to go with a bare bottomed tank to grow them out in as you can keep it cleaner.. Some say they are easy to keep, I think it is a case of they are very easy to keep alive but alot of work to get them to their full potential, ie fully grown up and coloured. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
whetu Posted June 22, 2009 Report Share Posted June 22, 2009 Hello Pegwood, congrats on your new tank! That's an excellent size for a nice, stable setup that you can experiment with, without too much going wrong. Excuse me if you may have mentioned it in other posts, but I'm not clear if you are brand new at keeping fish or have some experience? If you're new to the hobby I would suggest concentrating on making sure your setup is both easy-care and flexible. By easy-care I mean choosing fish and plants that are very hardy and keeping your stocking levels low. That way you can make a few mistakes and your fish will survive - it can be a big learning curve! And by flexible I mean choosing fish that are compatible with lots of other types of fish (ie non-aggressive, requiring neutral water conditions). That way if you change your mind over time about what kind of fish you want to keep, you're not too restricted by their existing tank mates. Have fun and keep asking questions! :bounce: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
michael.qian Posted June 22, 2009 Report Share Posted June 22, 2009 I would also advice you to get a proper canister filter that suits the capacity of your tank? Undergravel filter eventually become clogged and cleaning can be a pain. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pegwood Posted June 23, 2009 Author Report Share Posted June 23, 2009 Hi everyone, Thanks for all the info it is very much appreciated. I had a 3ft tank many years ago, it had undergravel glass filters and worked really well with water cahnges once a week. I had 6 Discus in that tank. Unfortuately when I moved from that house I was unable to take it with me I am really in the newbie stage as that was many years ago and things have changed so much. :-? We have decided to go with the African's after all and I have 10 E. Yellows arriving soon and kindly being looked after until my tank is ready. I will look at getting E. Blues also and see what other fish that may be suitable. I will get a different filter system then, what type would suit my size tank & fish? Can I plant out the tank or not, would Africans dig them all up? Thanks again everyone. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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