125 Gallon Tank

[Amunet]

So, finally got our larger tank and I'm SO excited to get it up and running already! Just have to wait to get everything though heh.

Here is the tank... 125gal... 6ft long... not sure how wide.

Purchased it from the Petsmart across town. The 1 near us had one, but it had some cracks in it so yeah... def wasn't getting that one.
Plan on having mainly a sand substrate w/ eco-complete in the areas where the rooted plants will be (far left corner).

The play sand...

Went to Lowes first, but they didn't have any, so went over to Home Depot. Only 3 dollars a bag, can't beat that price... but then again... we did just buy dirt... heh

And the box w/ the 2 bags of eco complete in it heh

We got some plants in already for the tank. I'm actually not sure what some of them are. Only one I know are the vallis. Also have 2 sword plants (compacta I think) that came out one of our 10gal tanks.

Ordered some anubias and java fern as well that will be tied to the wood we're putting in.

Here is one of the pieces of wood. Need to chip off some of the rotten bits, but I really like it. Has nice deep grooves in it that I'm sure the fish will like to hide in

Still waiting on 2 more pieces to come in.


Fish we're thinking about getting for the tank...
Clown loaches... want at least 4.. hopefully will get 5 or 6.
Giant Danios (about 5 or 6)
Black Ghost Knife
Tiger/Green Barbs (not sure how many)...
2 or 3 ropefish (maybe)
6 cories that are currently in our 29gal (3 skunk, 3 julii).. might get more of the same or different kind to bump their numbers more.
2 maybe more clown plecos

and probably something else... not sure.

Not entirely sure on the whole setup yet. I know I want the left side to have the rooted plants along with plants tied to wood... and I know I want some open space for the fish to just have that clear area.
We're still waiting on the filter to get here (along w/ everything else mentioned), Fluval FX5.... and we still need to buy a Python thing for water changes and a heater or 2. We're also trying to find some slate and pretty smooth rocks to put in the tank as well. We're gonna be headed to a garden center tomorrow to hopefully find slate, and to the dollar store (for the rocks).
And yep, that's it so far!

 

[lyotim88]

nice tank. I want the 125 so bad

 

[Amunet]

Thanks
Really hoping it will look ok once it's all setup w/ plants and everything.

Some more photos of setting it up!
Got the fluval fx5 filter yesterday along w/ the last 2 pieces of driftwood.
Not sure we can use the wood though b/c it is SUPER light and may be too soft. Soaking them now though, so we'll see.
We also went and got a python thing. Well it's not a python brand one, it was some other one they had a petsmart.
We found out while filling the tank that our water pressure sucks too much to actually do water changes from the kitchen sink, so we're going to have to do them using the outside garden hose faucet thing (which would've been great to know before b/c it would've saved us a lot of money if we had known we could've bought the shorter one.. SIGH!)
Also bought 2 heaters and a background for the tank. It's one of those that's blue on one side and black on the other. We're using the black side.
So on to the pics...

Parts of the fluval... and our dog Cid being nosey

DH putting the filter in to the cabinet... we were both surprised at how large the canister is! Oh and Cid once again being nosey

We had 4 people last time (including myself) moving the tank inside.... it was only myself and DH having to lift it up on to the cabinet... thought I was going to die! Thing weighs a ton!
Anywho, here's the tank w/ the sand and the eco complete in it (eco is on the far left).

And here it is filled up. Took about an hour to fill it up to that point. We went ahead and put a couple of things in. Forgot to mention that we went to the garden center down the road to see if they had any slate. They did but nothing that we wanted. They did have a bunch of nice large smooth river rocks though. Got 5 of them for a little over 3 dollars Really like the look of one of them b/c it looks like weird fatty rancid meat lol I'll get a better photo of it once the water has cleared.

Still need to get a couple more things... Still waiting for anubias and java ferns to arrive in the mail.. hopefully will get that Monday. Also need to get some Prime, some fluval filter media stuff and flourish.
Uuuhm what else... really hoping that by next weekend we'll be able to get some fish. No I don't plan on putting fish in to an uncycled tank Just hoping that the mature media that I put in will multiply quickly and everything stay steady

 

[lyotim88]

looking good. The mature media will be able to support the bioload that it was supporting before

 

[paul_219]

Very nice tank. Looking g00d.

 

[Amunet]

looking good. The mature media will be able to support the bioload that it was supporting before

*nodnod* I'll be adding ammonia to the tank to keep the bacteria alive. Just have to figure out how much to put in Might plop in a bunch of trumpet snails as well.

Lets see.... Petsmart didn't have Prime, so just bought some pond dechlorinater. Also got the fluval stuff. Set up the filter and have it going now.. yay! Has great surface agitation!
Also bought some rocks from the dollar store. Aaaand... think that's it.
Found out that the java fern and anubias were JUST shipped... grrr.. so hopefully it gets here quickly. And I forgot that we're still waiting to get the Red tiger lotus as well. Travelling from malaysia so I can forgive it taking forever hehe

 

[Amunet]

And some photos now! YAY!
The water was SUPER cloudy w/ the stuff from the sand, but that filter is definitely doing its thing b/c it has cleared up a considerable bit. Still a little cloudy, but at least now you can actually see the stuff in it heh

Full tank shot.. yay We just threw in the stuff that's in there to see how it looked, so things will be moved around once we can start getting the plants and wood in there.

Close up of the castle! heh I want to drill some holes through the top so no air gets trapped. We got this a Looooooong time ago for a 5gal, but it was way too big. Never had room for it in our other tanks so of course had to put it in this one Looks all tiny now

Just some of the rocks and the eco complete coming through the sand heh I know some people would want that clean sand look, but I don't mind a little messy look. It'll be covered by plants, wood and more rocks anyway

And finally my weird fatty meat rock! I dunno why I like it. First time I saw it I said EW... heh I think the garden place might have more like it, so could get some more! Muahahaha

 

[Amunet]

Heh... think I'm gonna have to do a water change. Added ammonia yesterday, and I think I may have added a bit too much. The water has gone cloudy again, so taking that as a good sign that the bacteria is multiplying, but ammonia reading is still pretty high.... oops lol
Still need to check other stats though. If I get some nitrite, I'll just leave it be and remember not so much next time hehe

So yeah, my hopes to getting fish this coming weekend don't look too great. Booo... that's ok though I guess. Give us more time to set it all up the way we want. Easier to do w/o fish getting in the way heh.

 

[Bigpig]

Sweet tank

Need to put in a few huge bits of bogwood imo.

lol I din't think the fx5 was that big its huge!!!

 

[england]

looking good, would be channa heaven, shame there banned there
the fluval fx5 is great no

 

[AdAndrews]

nice, i wish i had a 125, think how much water i would need to change lol

 

[Amunet]

Thanks everyone
Yeah, the fluval is VERY nice so far! Was very surprised at how quickly it cleared the water and I love the water movement at the top. Was afraid we'd have to setup noisy air pumps and such to get the water moving, but nope Also it's SUPER quiet! You hear a low humming, but that's it and you tune it out after a while. So far, definitely worth the money
I have a piece of wood ready to go as soon as we get in the anubias and java fern I ordered At least I hope it's ready to go and actually sinks lol
We have 2 more pieces that I'm soaking at the moment. Hoping they will sink, but they're super light so doubt it. Might have to glue them to a piece of slate or something.
Channa... are those snakeheads? Those are pretty neat. Didn't know they were banned here though.. that stinks.

Couple more photos. Put some of the plants in to it. Think we're gonna have to buy more heh. Probably just get some from Petsmart if theirs look ok. Not worried about getting snails. I actually really enjoy pond snails Plus they might die while the tank is cycling anyway, or if not, the clown loaches might find them tastey

So anywho, here's what I've done so far. Plants aren't in perma positions, but I wanted to get them out of the other tank. Was getting way too crowded in there! Fish had barely enough room to swim around.
Also added some of the dollar store rocks to help weigh down the plants and keep them in place.

And another shot... that bare area between the 2 plants will probably have a sword plant there. Nothing is set in stone yet so *shrugs*
Didn't put the sword in yet b/c it has a bit of a BBA problem. Trying to get rid of it by overdosing w/ excel. No luck yet, but hoping it'll die soon!

We need to find some more caves for the tank. Will probably have to get fake stuff for now.

 

[england]

yes snakehead's....some people ruined it for evryone, releasing them in the wild and because of warm weather in florida etc they took of and decimated the local wild life.......

i love my fx5 best investment ever, so quiet, but those two minutes seem to go on and on

 

[Amunet]

yes snakehead's....some people ruined it for evryone, releasing them in the wild and because of warm weather in florida etc they took of and decimated the local wild life.......

i love my fx5 best investment ever, so quiet, but those two minutes seem to go on and on

Ah I figured that was why they were banned. Thought I remembered reading somewhere about snakeheads ruining the wildlife or something *shrugs* Yes... people are stupid.......



Forgot to mention that I'm waiting to do a water change. Gonna wait til tomorrow to see what happens. If ammonia is still really high, then I'll do a water change
Might have to add some more mature media. Gonna have to go out and get some more filter bags though

 

[Amunet]

Alrighty! Did a water change in the tank. Took out about 10-20% of the water. Gonna wait about another hour to check the ammonia. Hopefully it'll be down a little It wasn't really that high before, but *shrugs*
And I wonder why the mature media isn't doing anything. Maybe it's just taking a while to build up or something... *shrugs* Oh well!

I'm just so eager to get fish in to the tank! heh