Wellydave Posted October 14, 2012 Report Share Posted October 14, 2012 Hey guys im new here and fairly new to the whole fish keeping thing, basicly a couple months back i brought a 140ltr tank and set it up with a few live plants and tetras guppies and algae eaters but have since decided it is far to small so have been out to see peter at port nicholson glass and he is building me a new tank 160cm x 60cm x 70cm with a sump set up for filtration whitch will be 100x50x50. Now i want to do this tank properly and have it heavily planted and have lots of smaller schooling fish with maby a couple blue rams. So the questions i have for you all are 1. Best sugestions for substrait im currtently leaning towards a mixture of seachem flourite, seachem black sand flourite and silica sand but am open to sugestions 2. Co2 systems. I have seen a couple of the sodastream co2 systems as of late and was thinking about duin the same sort of thing but using a co2 canister from my paintball gun that i have spare. Have any of you done this and if so o you know where i can source a regulator from to fit? 3. Lighting. Leaning towards 2 x 250w metal halide's do you think this will be sufficent? If not what do you all sugest? 4. Where is going to be the best place to source plants as i am going to need quite alot of plants and want them to be good quailty to start with so there isnt so much mucking around with replacing dead plants and such And finaly stocking i really want lots and lots of smaller schooling fish eg neons and that sothe scale of the tank looks huge with a couple bigger fish say maby 2 blue rams as i love the colour and shape of them Thanks for any help on the matter will be starting a detailed build thread once my tank arrives and construction starts on the stand Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wellydave Posted October 14, 2012 Author Report Share Posted October 14, 2012 One last question filter media i was thinking of mabie dojng a mixture on the 3 different densitys of poret foam and mabie some noodles or something along those lines but yet again all sugestions are welcome thanks for any comments/ help with my questions just want to do it right the first time haha Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SamH Posted October 15, 2012 Report Share Posted October 15, 2012 1. Best sugestions for substrait im currtently leaning towards a mixture of seachem flourite, seachem black sand flourite and silica sand but am open to sugestions If I had the money to cover the whole tank in Flourite, I would. Just one kind will do, take a look at the different types on their website and decide which one you want. 2. Co2 systems. I have seen a couple of the sodastream co2 systems as of late and was thinking about duin the same sort of thing but using a co2 canister from my paintball gun that i have spare. Have any of you done this and if so o you know where i can source a regulator from to fit? Getting enough CO2 into the aquarium from a paintball tank is going to be tricky with such a small cylinder. If you do decide to do that, you'll need an adaptor to fit between the paintball cylinder and the regulator. If it were me, I'd use a big cylinder for a tank that size, it's better to get a big bottle so you don't have to fill it up so often. 3. Lighting. Leaning towards 2 x 250w metal halide's do you think this will be sufficent? If not what do you all sugest? It depends on the height of the aquarium, more details are needed regarding aquarium dimensions. 4. Where is going to be the best place to source plants as i am going to need quite alot of plants and want them to be good quailty to start with so there isnt so much mucking around with replacing dead plants and such Ask around on the forums, some local members might have a few they can spare or just buy them off TradeMe. Growing your own plants would be the best option though. And finaly stocking i really want lots and lots of smaller schooling fish eg neons and that sothe scale of the tank looks huge with a couple bigger fish say maby 2 blue rams as i love the colour and shape of them Is that a question? If so, yes small fish will work wonders for a planted tank. filter media i was thinking of mabie dojng a mixture on the 3 different densitys of poret foam and mabie some noodles or something along those lines but yet again all sugestions are welcome thanks for any comments/ help with my questions just want to do it right the first time haha Mechanical media first, most coarse to least coarse, followed by biological media. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wellydave Posted October 15, 2012 Author Report Share Posted October 15, 2012 Ok so as for the co2 how would i go about sourcing a larger tank? For the lights my tank is going to be 700mm high so will 2 x 250w's do the trick? For the fish i was more just looking for sugestions of smaller cool looking schooling fish thanks for the quick reply like i said im fairly new at this so have lots of questions haha :facepalm: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SamH Posted October 15, 2012 Report Share Posted October 15, 2012 Usually your local welding supplies store or a decent fish store should have larger CO2 cylinders, they run up around $200-$350 but are a must have on a large, high light tank. I have no experience with MH so hopefully someone who has can answer that one for you. A personal favourite of mine is the Ember Tetra, they're slightly smaller than neons but about twice the price. Neons are good for large shoals, cheap and easy to come by. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sophia Posted October 15, 2012 Report Share Posted October 15, 2012 there are so many little fish to choose from.... how about you give us an idea of the colour you'd like, or the sort of behaviour, ie peaceful shoaling or chasing and zapping around etc? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dachende Posted October 15, 2012 Report Share Posted October 15, 2012 And finaly stocking i really want lots and lots of smaller schooling fish eg neons and that sothe scale of the tank looks huge with a couple bigger fish say maby 2 blue rams as i love the colour and shape of them Perhaps Harlequin Rasbora (great schooling / shoaling fish) Cardinal Tetra (bit more expensive than neons, but lots more colour) Rummy nosed Tetra Those are all good for mid to high water level (i.e they don't really spend much time near the bottom) Then you could add life to the bottom by adding Corydoras (min school size of 5-6) That's where I'd head Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sophia Posted October 15, 2012 Report Share Posted October 15, 2012 680L of minifish !drool: a big shoal of corydora would be cool Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wellydave Posted October 15, 2012 Author Report Share Posted October 15, 2012 wow i really like the rasboras are cool! im not really too fussed on colours in perticular just want a nice big community tank with plenty fish and plants and lots of movement haha so far the fish short list consists of 10 or so neon tetras 10 or so glow light tetras 10 or so black neon tetras 10 or so harlequin rasbora's 10 or so cherry barbs a few khuli loaches (not shure on spelling and also was told they like to burrow so mabie not?? any ideas on what they would be like with ripping up pants and such?) 2 Ramirezi Blue's mabie 4 if they will be ok with all the other fish a few shrimp's to cruse around too they creep me out but look cool haha i was at a pet store the other day and they had 2 little tiny fish in one of the fresh water tanks that looked like clown fish same colouring and such but they were tiny i cant remeber what they were called but the guy there said they will not grow much bigger than that would of been like 1 - 2cm max any ideas on what they would have been? would like some of those too haha but like i said any sugestions on cool looking school fish are much appreciated thanks Sam for the info on co2 will have a look around for a bigger tank Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wellydave Posted October 15, 2012 Author Report Share Posted October 15, 2012 oh just seen some other fish to add to short list cochus blue tetras & pearl danios also looked at the cory doras def have to get a few hehe i remember seeing them in the pet store all hangn out in a big group it looked quite cool Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dachende Posted October 15, 2012 Report Share Posted October 15, 2012 I've got a kuhli loach in my heavily planted tank. I thought he was deceased, as I hadn't seen him in 3 months. Then when I was re-arranging a few weeks ago he popped his head out through some rocks. Moral of the story is, great fish, but if you have anything in your tank you will never see it Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dachende Posted October 15, 2012 Report Share Posted October 15, 2012 i was at a pet store the other day and they had 2 little tiny fish in one of the fresh water tanks that looked like clown fish same colouring and such but they were tiny i cant remeber what they were called but the guy there said they will not grow much bigger than that would of been like 1 - 2cm max any ideas on what they would have been? would like some of those too haha Perhaps it was dwarf puffers or bumblebee goby ? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wellydave Posted October 15, 2012 Author Report Share Posted October 15, 2012 just had a look definately not puffer and dont think they were bumble bee gobys but posibly? these two tiny fish were orange and white striped looked so cool but super small and im fine with rarely seeing the khulis haha definatly keen on some as long as they arent going to terrorize my plants :slfg: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SamH Posted October 15, 2012 Report Share Posted October 15, 2012 They could have been Dario dario or Scarlet Badis. It's best to go with one type of schooling fish, that way you get the best effect and they stick together more closely. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wellydave Posted October 15, 2012 Author Report Share Posted October 15, 2012 hmmm nope not those oh really? i wanted lots of little schools crusing around :slfg: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SamH Posted October 15, 2012 Report Share Posted October 15, 2012 Fish tend to school when they feel threatened. Have a look at any of the top Nature Aquariums in the aquascaping contests, they all use just one type of shoaling fish and it's clear why. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wellydave Posted October 15, 2012 Author Report Share Posted October 15, 2012 yeah true true didnt actualy think of that haha just been going mad looking at fish ok well ill have to choose summit eventualy needa get tank here and set up first tho haha getting a bit ahead of myself Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
F15hguy Posted October 15, 2012 Report Share Posted October 15, 2012 Consider LED lighting, looks expensive initially but you save it all back and more in less power and no replacing bulbs. a big school is definitely more attractive, although saw a tank with one school of rummynoses and one of glass bloodfins, it kinda looked like half the fish were swimming backwards at first glance. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The_Laura Posted October 15, 2012 Report Share Posted October 15, 2012 WoW !drool: That's a decent size tank to play around with! *jealous* I agree with the others, large schools look amazing! We had a school of over 100 penguin tetras and it was an incredible effect, even more so when you start to look into the brighter neon/cardianals/harlequins/glowlights etc, it gets a bit schizo with too many varieties. Although I did see a 500 litre that had a large school of peguins and a large school of neons, and the penguins hung out at the top in a large schoal, and the neons grouped really nicely too. So it is manageable. Ultimately your tank! But it would be a nightmare to try and catch them again if you decided you wanted to minimise the species! HAHA Can't wait to see pics as you go! :spop: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wellydave Posted October 16, 2012 Author Report Share Posted October 16, 2012 yeah have decided im going to stick to 2 or mabie 3 schools of different fish then have some corys, blue rams and some khulies today i went all over the place looking for ither a co2 cylinder or co2 extinguisher no luck then went up to a mates place who is also a fish keeper. turns out he has a co2 fire extinguisher sitting in his van 2.5 or 3.5kg unused he was holding onto it incase he decided to go for a planted tank but has said i can have it for cheap/free so bonus :happy2: just about to order the regulator, diffuser/bubble counter and anti return valve :happy1: i love ordering things online from over seas the anticipation makes me excited :slfg: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SamH Posted October 16, 2012 Report Share Posted October 16, 2012 Whereabouts are you ordering your CO2 gear from? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
blueether Posted October 16, 2012 Report Share Posted October 16, 2012 Wow, yhis sounds like a great play thing - cant wait to see it. I think I would go for 2 or 3 large schools of mini fish, maybe 5-10 kuhli loaches (such cool fish), and another 10+ cory (I would go with corydoras sterbai). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wellydave Posted October 16, 2012 Author Report Share Posted October 16, 2012 Whereabouts are you ordering your CO2 gear from? was going to order from fish street but if you can suggest a better or cheaper site id be keen to check it out Wow, yhis sounds like a great play thing - cant wait to see it. I think I would go for 2 or 3 large schools of mini fish, maybe 5-10 kuhli loaches (such cool fish), and another 10+ cory (I would go with corydoras sterbai). yeah that seems like the plan i saw some cool corys on t.m last night while browsing but will have to do a bit of research and find some i really like Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wellydave Posted October 16, 2012 Author Report Share Posted October 16, 2012 oh another question whats the difference between 5k and 9k diffuser's and also am i better off buying a 9k small diffuser/bubble counter or the large one for 4 times the price? links here small diffuser http://www.fish-street.com/co2_diffuser_9k_professional?category_id=56 large diffuser http://www.fish-street.com/co2_diffuser_9k_professional_big_size?category_id=56 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SamH Posted October 16, 2012 Report Share Posted October 16, 2012 Nah I go with Fish-street :thup: The 9k is bigger so offers better diffusion. Also have a look at inline diffusers on TradeMe if that's your sort of thing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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