New Big Tank, Lots Of Questions.

[llamalord305]

I recently was walking through Petsmart, and I saw a bunch of tanks that caught my eye. They were about 50-75 gallons. I gotten my dad's support (and funds!) to set one up. (Oh, and I used to have a small tank with a Betta in it, that explains my posts and seniority in the forum.) Here come the questions!

1. Tank size: I was thinking about a 55 gallon, which is nice, but is there is a tank that is a bit bigger that may give some other advantage, I might get it.

2. Filter: Ive been reading, and found there are many kinds of filters. I've narrowed it down to a "power" filter or a canister filter. They say power filters are inefficient, and canister filters are way better. I honestly don't know, and I don't want to waste my money on some thing expensive when something cheaper could have gotten the job done. Does my selection of fish affect this?

3.Substrate: What would be the best kind? Sand, gravel, rocks? Does this also depend on fish?

4.Plants: I don't want to do that many water changes, and I heard plants "eat" nitrates. Will this effectively reduce how many water changes I have to do? Does the substrate affect what plants I can use?

5.Water Changing: Man I'm going to sound dumb, but how should I do a partial water change? And what is a gravel vac? Would I need one? I've heard of some devices that can pull some water out, like a vacuum? Laugh now if you like.

6.Snails: I think snails would be really cool to have in my tank. Would my tank size permit it? Most snails don't attack fish, right? but some fish attack snails? Do they really work against algae?

7. Fish: How much fish would a 55 or 60 gallon tank have? I was thinking about a school of cherry barbs, a school of tetras, and I really want (only one tho) a rainbow shark or a red tailed shark. I was thinking about some Gouramis, but can I have more than one in a 55-60 gallon? I wanted dwarf gouramis, but I fell in love with the sparkling gouramis. However it says it isn't very easy to take care of. What are other types of pretty fish that are easy to take care of?

8. Quarentine: Do I really need one? What is the minimum size I need? Can a 2.5 gal work?

My uncle works at a Big Al's so I suppose I'll be getting all the stuff there. Its a good fish store, right?

Oh Jeez, that was really long. I dont want to take away too much of anyones time, you dont have to answer all of the questions. Thanks in advance. :]

 

[cowboy507]

i will try my best.

I recently was walking through Petsmart, and I saw a bunch of tanks that caught my eye. They were about 50-75 gallons. I gotten my dad's support (and funds!) to set one up. (Oh, and I used to have a small tank with a Betta in it, that explains my posts and seniority in the forum.) Here come the questions!

1. Tank size: I was thinking about a 55 gallon, which is nice, but is there is a tank that is a bit bigger that may give some other advantage, I might get it.
bigger the better is what most will say, 55 gal is a good size

2. Filter: Ive been reading, and found there are many kinds of filters. I've narrowed it down to a "power" filter or a canister filter. They say power filters are inefficient, and canister filters are way better. I honestly don't know, and I don't want to waste my money on some thing expensive when something cheaper could have gotten the job done. Does my selection of fish affect this?

3.Substrate: What would be the best kind? Sand, gravel, rocks? Does this also depend on fish?
this one is on you, usually it wont matter, but if you go with small bottom fish, like some small cories then sand is better because of their sensors

4.Plants: I don't want to do that many water changes, and I heard plants "eat" nitrates. Will this effectively reduce how many water changes I have to do? Does the substrate affect what plants I can use?
weekly water changes will still be needed

5.Water Changing: Man I'm going to sound dumb, but how should I do a partial water change? And what is a gravel vac? Would I need one? I've heard of some devices that can pull some water out, like a vacuum? Laugh now if you like.
use a gravel vac, or a python. a gravel vac basically picks up all the debris that is on the bottom. yes you need one.
a python is pretty much the same as a gravel vac but it connects to a faucet and drains are refills your tank from there

6.Snails: I think snails would be really cool to have in my tank. Would my tank size permit it? Most snails don't attack fish, right? but some fish attack snails? Do they really work against algae?
snails would be fine, there are many choices, anything from a MTS to an assassin snail. as far as i know they dont attack fish, but yes some fish will eat snails, they help a little with algae.

7. Fish: How much fish would a 55 or 60 gallon tank have? I was thinking about a school of cherry barbs, a school of tetras, and I really want (only one tho) a rainbow shark or a red tailed shark. I was thinking about some Gouramis, but can I have more than one in a 55-60 gallon? I wanted dwarf gouramis, but I fell in love with the sparkling gouramis. However it says it isn't very easy to take care of. What are other types of pretty fish that are easy to take care of?
you have lots of possibilities.

8. Quarentine: Do I really need one? What is the minimum size I need? Can a 2.5 gal work?
i dont have one, but it is recommended. a 2.5 gal would be rather small, but will work.

My uncle works at a Big Al's so I suppose I'll be getting all the stuff there. Its a good fish store, right?

Oh Jeez, that was really long. I dont want to take away too much of anyones time, you dont have to answer all of the questions. Thanks in advance. :]

hope i helped some.

 

[waterdrop]

I see you're one of the 2-L'd llamas

You've done a good job of summarizing all the considerations and topics you'll need to go through on your way to having your first nice big community tank. Its more questions than will work right away in the forum format I think, so I'll just try some starter things.

A wonderful treat to get to be choosing up in that size range! Any of those will make your water chemistry and fish environment easier than a small tank would be. Placement availability in the house may have an influence on what you can get and weight, so be sure to think about those. I believe some feel that the typical 55 can get a bit "tall and skinny" feeling after you've had it a while, so you might want to go all out for a 75 if you and your dad feel you can make that work. It will, however, entail somewhat more expense in filtration, heating and lighting, so if that's an issue you might want to make listings and work up some scenerios before starting to make purchases. So an area with strong support, not in direct sunlight, with good ventilation and temp range and not in a place with high household traffic such that it might get bumped!

Right along side the size decision, be working on filtration as this is the heart of the hobby, as you may know. Its true that those size tanks have pretty much passed up internal filters and its probably going to be between 2 HOBs or one or two external cannisters. Having two is an advantage for backup and for alternating cleanings. In general cannisters will have more media volume (just about the most important aspect of filtration) than HOBs and that's part of the increased price. There is also more flexibility in what and where you can put in the trays, although AquaClear HOBs have pretty good flexibility. Cannisters can run more quietly if water noise might be an issue. The contenders in cannisters are Tetratec, Rena, Fluval and Eheim. There are good and bad things about them all and its a big topic to compare them, done all the time over in the hardware section.

Not only is the filtration device important but your knowledge of filtration in general is important. Take the time to search threads on filtration and begin to learn about the three functions of filter media: mechanical, chemical and biological. Learn about flow rate, media volume, filter maintenance etc. but most of all the types of media you'll need to start.

For moving quickly to getting started your homework is to read the Beginners Resource Center here and pay special attention to the Nitrogen Cycle, the Fishless Cycle, the Fish-In Cycle and the Tank Startup Guide (or whatever its called!) You'll want to break your thread topics into individual questions about particular things.

Hopefully this will lead you to a Fishless Cycle of your tank and filter and during the 2 months or so while you're doing that it will be the perfect time to learn about fish stocking (compatibility, stocking amount, shoaling sizes etc.) and to begin to learn a few things about the plant topic. Aquarium maintenance will come in there somewhere and I'm sure the members can easily get you up to speed on that prior to having your fish.

Congrats on your big move up and I hope it goes well and we can all give some bits of help!

~~waterdrop~~

 

[llamalord305]

Wow, thanks for the replys. I think I want to go with one cannister. I would go for two, but they are a bit pricey. I'll look up some prices.
Pardon me, but I still don't understand how the water is taken out without tipping the tank over or using a bucket or something....

 

[mickspark81]

WOW..you sound like me a month ago I had a million questions (and now many more). The advise i was given was to treat google as your best friend..eg. if you want to know what anything is then chances are google will find it.

These forums are really really helpfu and have guided me through a fish in cycle (didnt know about cycling at that point due to no advise from LFS) and also sucesfully advised me in the complete treatment of ich at the same time

Remember tho. Not everyone is 100 % right all of the time and you should research everything (if poss) and try not to take one persons answer as gospel as ive already made a couple of little newbie "mistakes" as ive intently scanned and digested pages of text about "preventitive medication for ich" only to later discover its not at all recommended.


Hope you have as much fun as ive had since i started ;-)



*If in doubt. Read some more ;-)*

 

[cowboy507]

Pardon me, but I still don't understand how the water is taken out without tipping the tank over or using a bucket or something....

this is what the gravel vac is for
here is a quick link (thanks google) that explains in detail how to use
http/www.firsttankguide.net/siphon.php