GeeTee Posted June 6, 2005 Report Share Posted June 6, 2005 G'day all, I've been following the site now for 3 weeks, looking for info after buying a tank for my son for his b'day.I got all keen after seeing his tank and decided to build myself one. It's now built and I would like some idea of what filter,heater etc is needed to get me going. I did a search and couldn't get a straight forward answer to suit my tank so I am in your capable hands. The tank is 80cm x 40cm x 40cm approx 120 litres.I have had different opinions from my local pet stores about the filter,one saying 300l/h and the other saying 800l/h.Heater 200 watts. Please help me get pointed in the right direction and give me any info on the DEFINATE gear I need to keep the fish safe. Cheers Greg Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
livebearer_breeder Posted June 6, 2005 Report Share Posted June 6, 2005 200watt heater is smart, minimum filtration is 3x literage, so your looking at 360 LPH minimum, i personaly always like to go overboard on filtration, it generally means i can do less maintenence on the tank. Shae Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Snowman Posted June 6, 2005 Report Share Posted June 6, 2005 I would go for a 300 watt heater as there is very little price difference, it should use a bit less power as it will heat the water quicker and if you decide to get a bigger tank the heater will still be suitable, filtration is easier, you can under filter but cant over filter, depends a bit on what sort of fish you intend to keep, would you like an internal (in the tank) or external that you can hide? Myself i prefer external as they are easier to service and less obtrusive in the tank, also depends on your budget. I can recommend the Eheim external filters, a 2213 would do the trick quite well. If you can afford a bigger one means less cleaning and again if you get a bigger tank you wont need a new filter. I think most on here have started with a smaller tank, then bigger tanks then more of the bigger tanks LOL The most limiting factor is space to put the tanks (and keeping the peace with the missus) LOL Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
livebearer_breeder Posted June 6, 2005 Report Share Posted June 6, 2005 The more the heater clicks on and off and powers up the more elecetricity it sucks, so a 300watt heater will use more electricity to keep a 120l heated than a 200watt will. I would reccommend a External Canister Fluval 204 or 304 for your tank. Shae Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
suphew Posted June 7, 2005 Report Share Posted June 7, 2005 Sorry Shae this isn't true, it takes X amount of energy to heat X amount of water. If you have a bigger heater it will just heat the water faster, so bigger heater = more power but shorter time, smaller heater = less power but longer time. It works out the same in the end. I would recommend buying two smaller heaters, that way if one fails (which they almost all do after a while) there is another in the tank to keep the temp up while you replace the broken one. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
deeveus Posted June 7, 2005 Report Share Posted June 7, 2005 I have a 300 watt heater in a 130l tank, it heats water changes very quickly and due to the fact it is overkill, the heater itself doesn't have to work so hard so often, hence a longer life hopefully. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
misnoma Posted June 7, 2005 Report Share Posted June 7, 2005 I agree with snowman on the heater size thing. I bought a 300W heater in the weekend, was $2 more than a 200W.... easy choice really Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GeeTee Posted June 7, 2005 Author Report Share Posted June 7, 2005 Thanks to everyone, makes life very easy. I am thinking external filter for easy acess for maintenence.I will look into to the mentioned filters, the main filters sold around here are Aqua One.Are they any good,for ease of purchase,or do you think take the time and buy one on the net purhaps? What about test kits?Most talk I've noticed is on ph and nitrate. As for fish give your ideas.It will be a community tank.I'm not over excited about small fish but I would have to have some.Sharks I like,Bristle nose don't look real good but a mate has one,seems to have a bit of personality,maybe even something that might breed for me. Cycling???? with or without fish???? Thanks again Greg Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Snowman Posted June 7, 2005 Report Share Posted June 7, 2005 Test kit wise it would pay to have ammonia, nitrite, nitrate and ph. The first three will give you an idea of how well the cycling is going and be usefull for checking how often you need to do water changes. I like to cycle the tank with a couple of fish then add some more slowly, say a couple a week to let the bacteria adjust, fish wise the sky is the limit, depends on your prefrence, swordtails and guppys are livebearers and breed easily. The advantage of a b/nose is that it will also clean up the scraps, there are gold b/nose but i'm not sure if they are available in Aussie, just be aware if you get big fish they will most likely eat smaller fish, swords and guppys will eat their young if hungry. There is a huge range of tetras, gouramis, barbs etc but its best to check on their compatibility with other tank mates. I liked the red tailed shark (until it decided to chase all my other fish) so traded it in. I haven't used the Aqua One filters but i'm sure others here have so someone should be able to comment on them. Gold b/nose female Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GeeTee Posted June 7, 2005 Author Report Share Posted June 7, 2005 Thanks Snowman,is the b/nose yours? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Snowman Posted June 8, 2005 Report Share Posted June 8, 2005 Yes, my female and got a male that lay eggs about every 3 weeks, got a 3ft tank with somewhere around 80 in it ranging from 10mm to 50ish mm. They look cool all being in one tank. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GeeTee Posted June 8, 2005 Author Report Share Posted June 8, 2005 Those gold b/nose do look good against a dark background. I will be building a hood for my tank tomorrow, what is the best lighting and/or bulbsfor the job? Cheers Greg Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chim Chim Posted June 21, 2005 Report Share Posted June 21, 2005 Hi Geetee and everyone , Yep agree with you guys, a bigger heater is the way to go. I too have similar dimensions as you greg, just marginally bigger, ~136L, upgraded from a 20L tank! bought lots of gear for it, 50w heater etc. I didn't know if I was going to be serious about fish keeping and didn't want to start off paying too much to begin with. Now that I've upgraded to a larger tank, I foolishly tried to use my 50W heater which was on constantly (no surprise) and my water wasn't heating up kept at a constant 24-25 C which was basically around room temp. I bought an Aqua One heater 150W which cracked and decided to shell out and get a 250W Fluval heater which is fantastic. There was hardly any difference between the two, in fact they were probably the same price (~$50) however it was worth it, I don't ever have to worry about the heater at all. I also have an internal power filter which replaced my crappy undergravel filter (it was terrible, my water was practically greenish within days despite feeding very minute amounts of food) and this power filter is pretty cheap ($24 brand new as a clearance stock) it is a 1200L/h power filter second largest power filter of the aqua one range, and it's fantastic. Only thing to worry about is since it's so powerful, it can 'blow' your fish around. I have small fish and they don't really get affected by it at all, in fact my red tail shark 'surfs' in the current. It's always better to overkill the filtration than less filtration. As far as light is concerned, I recommend the aqua one reflector lights, double bulb if you can, it helps with plant growth. Get one that is very similar to the size of your tank, ie if you have a 3ft try not to get a 2 ft light since from my experience in trying to save money, I bought a 2ft light for my 3ft tank and it created dark spots on either side of the light within the tank where the light didn't reach. Also getting a good air pump is good too, again a larger one for your tank is probably better since an underpowered one will not be able to push enough air through large amounts of water, also you will be able to hook more things eg ornaments that release air bubbles from a single pump. I also recommend stress coat, does a fantastic job at eliminating heavy metals and chlorine from tap water, fantastic stuff. I add half a teaspoon per 40L and works a charm. Highly recommend it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GeeTee Posted June 25, 2005 Author Report Share Posted June 25, 2005 Hi Chim, Thanks for the input,today I bought a filter,aFluval 204 canister and a heater, a stainless steel Aqua One with the controls on the outside of the tank,and a test kit.the only thing I need now is some lighting,so your info will help there. All I need now is for the good wife to let me take it inside and set it up.(and some fish). Once it is cycled, with a few suicide fish as a mate of mine calls them,I am looking at putting some guarami's,silver sharks,bristlenose and something small and pretty,neons probly.We'll see how I go. Greg Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
plecs Posted June 25, 2005 Report Share Posted June 25, 2005 Are you aware of how big silver sharks get??? plecs Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pearlyred Posted June 25, 2005 Report Share Posted June 25, 2005 Hi there, Gouramis are nice, but they aren't the easiest fish to keep. They seem to succumb to a lot of diseases, mainly fungus type things. Many of them seem quite picky about their water conditions so I dunno if they'd be great for a beginner. We've had a few and personally i won't get any more. They're just too much trouble to me. Just my two clicks anyway.. PR Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GeeTee Posted June 26, 2005 Author Report Share Posted June 26, 2005 Hi plecs, Yes I am aware of the size they grow to, but I figure buy some small ones and once they outgrow the tank build a bigger tank,or trade them on smaller ones if my wife has her way. PR thats a let down I have found some info that said they weren't to hard to keep,they may have been talking on behalf of more experienced people perhaps. thanks Greg Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pearlyred Posted June 26, 2005 Report Share Posted June 26, 2005 If you like the look of them GT go ahead and have a go with them. We may just have had some bad luck with the ones we've had, I don't know. They do seem to suffer from fungal diseases a lot though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GeeTee Posted June 27, 2005 Author Report Share Posted June 27, 2005 Now that I have the filter and heater,what are your opinions on positioning the inlet and outlet pipes,and heater for most efficient results? To do with fish,electric yellows and blues are nice but can be aggressive,do the more aggressive fish go out of they're way to attack other fish or is it just if they get to close. Greg Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bluetom Posted June 27, 2005 Report Share Posted June 27, 2005 electric yellows etc. will take like 24 hours to start taking to the neons etc, the are also african cichlids therefore like very alkaline water. Most other fish prefer neutral or slightly acidic, not pH of 8 as they like. They really need to be in a tank with other cichlids otherwise chaos will rein. I'm pretty sure i'm right, feel free to correct me anyone. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Caryl Posted June 27, 2005 Report Share Posted June 27, 2005 You are right Blutom, they are Africans and should be in an African set-up, not suitable for a community tank. Inlet pipe should be as close to the bottom as possible with the outlet at the top to create flow. Heaterstat should be almost horizontal and as low as possible as heat rises so it is most efficient like that. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vapo Posted June 27, 2005 Report Share Posted June 27, 2005 I would position the inlet and outlet of the filter as far apart as possible, with the inlet being as low in the water as possible and the outlet close to, but below the water line. Having the outlet high will help with aeration of the tank and having the inlet further away will encourage greater circulation of the water. Hope this is what you meant and not just which way to direct the outlet. Also, the heater should be fairly deep (it will probably have a maximum depth limit), but not touching anything (gravel, side of the tank, etc) as heat will rise. Keeping it close to the flow of water will help distribute the heat too. Vapo. **EDIT** Oops, didn't read the last post and seem to have repeated everything Caryl said. Nevermind. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GeeTee Posted June 28, 2005 Author Report Share Posted June 28, 2005 Thanks to all, that was great.Everything answered spot on. The concern with the filter, was whether to place the pipes close together or to spread them out. The heater I would have just had it vertical,not any more. Keep cichlids out of community tank,got it. If I was to make it an African set up are the fish easy enough for a beginner to keep? If so I imagine the different fish(cichlids) will live happily together and not fight amongst themselves? Thanks again,most helpful. Greg Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bluetom Posted June 28, 2005 Report Share Posted June 28, 2005 i have not had any problems with my malawi tank, they all get a but nippy at times but because i have 18 they spread it out amongst themselfs. african aren't too hard to keep, just need to have high pH, i achieved that using a black marble as the substrate. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GeeTee Posted June 28, 2005 Author Report Share Posted June 28, 2005 Black marble,please explain. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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