Finally Going Big!

[joe17]

Allright, so I finally got my hands on a 55 gallon tank! But it is absolutelly filthy. I've heard different opinions as to how to clean it - hot water only, diluted bleach, white vinegar and water, white vinegar and baking soda .... In your opinion, which is the best way to clean it out and disinfect it. (it used to house a snapping turtle....?)

Also, I have to get a filter and heater - any suggestion?!?! I currently have an aquaclear mini in my 10g but I was wondering what kind of filter you would recommend for the bigger tank. Picking up the tank tonight! Pics to come soon!!

 

[fluttermoth]

Try hot salty water first; a very strong salt solution will kill off any freshwater parasites/bacteria and is usually all that's needed.
 
If you have hard water deposits/limescale to deal with , then try the vinegar.
 
Can't really recommend brands of filter/heater, as I'm in the UK, but I would definitely think abut an external canister filter, if I were you

 

[joe17]

how much salt should I put in the water? And will.regular table salt do the trick?

 

[fluttermoth]

Yes, regular table salt is fine for cleaning. I just pour some into a bucket and fill it up with hot water; a small handful should be plenty.

 

[joe17]

after almost an hour of carrying buckets of hot water upstairs (I live in a basement appartment), the tank is soaking in a bath of hot salty waterin the garage for the night. Checking for leaks at the same time and will be cleaning it thoroughly tomorrow.

 

[Jbram]

I purchased a SunSun canister filter off of ebay for my 120 gallon and have been very happy with it.  Mine does 524 GPH, has 4 media trays and comes with extra floss, ceramic rings and carbon as well as all the necessary parts.  I got it for $80.  I was hesitant when I saw this one, I have never heard of SunSun but all the reviews I found on this filter were positive.  They have smaller filters, but check them out.

 

[joe17]

I will definately be looking into it! thank you! Where do you find the replacement cartridges for it? Do you simply biy them on ebay or is there a store that holds these? Sorry if this is a stupid question, I don't know anything about canister filters.

 

[Jbram]

You can buy replacement floss on Ebay, its about $15-$20 for 4 pieces, sometimes you can get it cheaper.  I think it is easier and cheaper to save a good piece of the original floss and stop by a hardware store and pick up a roll and cut your own.  You will pay pennies on the dollar compared to buying pre-cut.
 
I have actually taken ideas from other peoples posts and I use a mesh garment bag and have put  nylon scrubbers inside (make sure nothing is treated or has chemicals in it)  and use that instead of floss.  This seems to clog up less but does just as good of a job removing the solids.
 
Then I have ceramic rings on one of the other trays.  That is all the media I run in my filter now,  once my tank was fully cycled and everything was established I quit using the carbon so that the nutrients I added for the plants would have a better chance of being absorbed.

 

[joe17]

The tank is in place and cleaned out! Now waiting for the sand and decorations that I will hopefully be picking up tomorrow. Took two hours to clean it out properly but definately worth the elbow grease Does it ever make my 10 g tank look tiny beside it!

Thanks for the info Jbram! This definately sounds like the best road to take will be looking into it more for sure!

 

[joe17]

Sand is cleaned and tank is full of water! Got the fluval C4 for filtration since I got an unbelievable price for it ($50 for filter and all inserts needed) at my lfs! Water is still a bit cloudy from the sand but it should clear up soon I don't have any plant/rock/wood for the tank yet but I was thinking of starting the cycling process and adding those as the cycle progresses. This would allow me.to save up some money for more stuff to put in the tank. Would this be okey? Or am I better off waiting and getting all the deco before cycling the tank?

 

[laurac94]

I have an all pond solutions external 2000 on my 55gal and it does the job perfectly. It is slightly over stocked (my 40 gal cracked) but the filters are quite cheap and all pond solutions provide excellent service and next day delivery. I have 2 of these filters now and would gladly buy another if I was to get another tank.

 

[joe17]

So I did a little shopping for the tank today and came back with a couple interesting items

 
Two pieces of mopani wood, soaking

Once piece of lace rock that has been rinsed and put into the tank

 
along with a bag of flourite black gravel that will be rinsed and added to the gravel where the tank will be planted
 

 

[joe17]

While my wood is soaking and I am waiting for the tank to be ready to add fish, I have been thinking about the future stocking of thr tank. Right now it looks like this:

6x sterbai corys
9x bleeding heart tetras
7x rhomb barbs
2x holland or bolivian rams depending on lfs stocking
1x opaline gourami

other than the school of tetras and barbs (compromise with the boyfriend), the rest is still very flexible. What do you guys think of the stocking? Over stocked? Or do I still have room for a couple more fish? The tank will be relatively heavily planted with sand substrate.

 

[joe17]

allrighty, so pretty big update!

1. wood and rock are in place in the aquarium
2. lights have been bought : fluorescent fixture with two 32 watts T8 bulbs
3. Plants are in!!! now comes the waiting game of seeing how they grow into the aquarium. I added seachem flourish and flourish excel today after planting the tank.

New stocking list:
mixed tiger barbs (regular, green and albino)
serpae tetras
a pair of opaline gourami
a red tail black shark

The only thing missing is a glass top to protect the light fixture from moisture (which has been discontinued for my tank ...), a background and the fish! Pretty excited to see this tank when it's done It still looks pretty bear, but with a background and the grown plants it should turn out pretty nice. Will most likely be adding more soon

 

[Lunar Jetman]

In one of the earlier pictures it looks like you have your new tank in front of a radiator?