Setting Up A Larger Aquarium

[blfoster]

I'm thinking of setting up a larger aquarium (at least 50 gallons), but I have some questions first.

1. Rinsing the aquarium and gravel - with the smaller aquariums I've had in the past, before I add fish I rinse everything out by putting the aquarium in the bathtub and letting water run into it for awhile. That won't work with a larger aquarium, though. I'll never get a 50 gallon tank with 50 pounds of gravel into the bathtub and out again without breaking something. How do you rinse the stuff?

2. Water changes - I have a 15 gallon aquarium right now. Each week I change out 3 gallons of water (20%). If I don't add any more fish, can I continue changing out only 3 gallons?

3. When doing water changes, how do you get the water in, and where do you dump the old water? I use gallon jugs, but that's a lot of trips to and from the bathroom with a larger tank.

4. Is 50 gallons big enough for a common pleco?

5. If I reuse all my old decorations (including live plants), can I safely cycle a 50 gallon tank with 15 inches of fish in it?

 

[voo]

1. Put a small amount of gravel in a bucket and wash it in the bath. When clean, empty it into the tank and then rinse some more gravel. That's how i rinse mine with any tank.

2. No, you'll still need to be changing around 20% of the tank. If you removed just 3g from the tank you'll be doibf a 3.3% water change. That will leave a lot of pollutants in the water still which will build up over time. Even with a small amount of fish, over time everything will build up.

3. A lot of people with bigger tanks have been using a python. You can get it in the US. it attaches to a tap/sink and you use it to remove water from the tank and fill it up again.

4. Dunno.

5. No. You'll need to use the same filter that you have in your 15g as that's where all the bacteria will be. Some might be on the gravel if you're using the same stuff (without rinsing it)

 

[jayjay]

50g is not a big enough tank for an adult/large common plec.

 

[blfoster]

3. A lot of people with bigger tanks have been using a python. You can get it in the US. it attaches to a tap/sink and you use it to remove water from the tank and fill it up again.

It's safe to run water directly from a tap into the aquarium? You can't treat the water as it's coming in from the faucet. Do you wait until the aqaurium is full and then treat the whole tank?

 

[Bex]

Hi

We made our own python hose following the pinned topic in the DIY section and it works like a dream. Our tank is 105 UK gals so we really needed it. A lot cheaper than buying them as you can only get them online (if you are UK) and they are about £40-60 I think.

We just keep adding dechlor every so often while it is re-filling. If you don't havea mixer tap and have to use cold water, just re-fill slowly so the tank temp dosen't drop too much