Dream House, Now For A Dream Tank

[Ch4rlie]

Cool!
 
Did not know that, always thought it was general rule of thumb being 1w per litre of water.
 
Going to try and remember that for future references.
 
I always go for a higher heater than necessary anyway, my 90 litre tank has a 300w heater! 

 
So that would possibly mean, for you, two 300w heaters and if worst comes to worst and one breaks down, one 300w might be ok to keep tank temp at acceptable levels until you get another heater.
 
In actual fact, might be good idea to have one spare in your kit cupboard. 
 
I keep a spare heater and a small internal U2 filter in cabinet just in case.

 

[DrRob]

You don't need 600W of heating, unless it's at 15C for a long time.
 
Water has a huge specific heat capacity, so will take a long time to change temperature. That maths may work if you take an average room temp, but 600W is definitely overkill. My 300 off litres of water sitting in my living room holds nicely with 1 150W heater. It has 2, but it works fine when you forget to plug one back in and is still nice and warm in the mornings. To be honest, the heaters are rarely on.

 

[Rockhoppers1964]

I am thinking 2 x 200w units, that will give me a bit of spare capacity and may help provide heat if one fails.
 
Should i include UV in the design, it easiser to put it in now than later ?
 
Andrew

 

[DrRob]

Personal opinion, invest in glass, a good tank is worth it's weight.
 
After that, a good filter with neat plumbing.
 
Lights depend on your plan, heaters can generally be quite cheap and everything else is icing.

 

[Rockhoppers1964]

Dr Rob, took your advice and went to a couple of fish shops over the weekend.
Took the Mrs to try and get her to buy into the idea, she is coming round more so now.
However i think it was a bit of a mistake taking her, now she has seen some very nice fish some of which she can not have (marines) and some which I think are beyond my skills at this time.
 
Went to FishKeeper in Edinburgh, they had a nice tank set up at the door, (similar to the size mine would be) with 2 Motoro Rays, must say they were very graceful and impressive swimming round the bottom of the tank. I like them she said, can we have them?
 
Blue Cobalt Discus, and Turquoise Discus also got some ooh's and aah's.
Flamed Tetra's and Bleeding Heart Tetras, Red Shrimp and a Clown Plec.
 
She likes colour, and big fish, so now i really need some help.
Have to narrow it down and find a collection with some big bright colourful fish and some shoaling fish.
Ideas ?
 
Was a bit concerned about going for a large tank, but what i have read and been told so far, the bigger the better, ( to a certain degree) as the volume of water compensates for mistakes / fluctuations in water quality.
 
Andrew

 

[fluttermoth]

Before you think too much about stocking, you need to know what your water is like (hard, soft, the pH) as it's much easier to get fish that like that water you have, rather than try and change it.

Your water supplier should have the info up on their website.

And don't worry about getting big tank to start with; much easier than small ones, part from the logistics of water changes!

 

[DrRob]

My best advice, pick 1 thing, anything, be it a discus, a plant, a tetra...
 
Once you've got the dream item, the rest follows. If you go with soft water because that's what's coming out of the tap then go for something Amazonian. Discus are great, but they're expensive fish, so watch the initial fish cost. Although if marine is on the table they're still cheaper than that.
 
Probably worth you looking at some of the you tube videos as well. A good way of getting the look of them once they're settled. Personally, for me, for softwater fish in big tanks I'd be looking at the geophagus, angels, discus and acaras. I'd probably also have a humongous shoal of cardinal tetras, but that's just me.

 

[matty1985]

I used to have a 1000 litre tank and there is nothing like seeing dinner plate size discus gliding around, if you want the wow factor and to look at your tank to chill out and relax go with discus, do your research tho. When it comes to keeping them its water quality, water quality, water quality !!! But with a big tank its easier, defo get a ro unit . You will not be disappointed with these amazing fish