New Tank Setup

Good day Forum,

I have been out of the fish game for quite some time now. I had plenty of tanks growing up. then Got rid of them when I went to university.

I have recently bought a second hand tank for R4k from someone on my street. I want to put it in my office.



Im not sure if this is a good purchase or not, I cant see much from the photo. But I'm going to fetch it tomorrow. So I hope I haven't over paid or been ripped off.

Size:
1600 x 900 x 500mm

Includes:
The tank , the stand all the filter material all the food, the heater the lights
All of it

The reason for my post, is that I would like to rebuild this tank completely and do it right, Its quite a large tank, at least compared to any of the previous ones I have ever had. So I am just looking for any advice or help with getting it setup.

With it being in the office I need it to look clean and respeiciticle at all times, so maybe some people can give some advice on how best to setup the tank so it doesn't get super full of algae etc.. Im not sure what filters etc this includes, but I assume I will need to buy new ones..

I am going to have to get some lights to make the tank visually appealing and act like a feature.


Long term view for the tank would be to get a decent amount of plants, ( I haven't played with CO2 before). And will be tropical fish. I like the smaller fish that school.

Goal is not to over populate the tank, but to rather have a nice balanced ecosystem that is fairly self-maintaining.

Any advice or links to maybe equipment etc that others are selling would be greatly apperciated.

 

Howzit!

I would advise going more ecosystem aquarium in terms of maintenance etc and avoid any filtration outside of the tank for peace of mind.

That's what I've done with my work tank and people are always so surprised with how little I do to keep it looking so good.

10cm thick substrate (pool filter sand or blasting sand) with some type of nutrients beneath to get things going.

Perhaps some aquasoil or root tablets capped with the main substrate.

Get a timer for the lighting so you don't have to worry when you're not there.

I'd go for smaller fish which get chunky over time. Fewer problems etc. I have a 100L tank with 14 black neons, 10 cardinal tetras, bristlenose plecos and countless guppies and shrimp. Oh, and 1 male Siamese Fighter. Have built up the numbers slowly but surely. I don't do water changes, only top-offs. The tank is super healthy and balances itself especially in terms of fish numbers. The Beta fish picks off guppy fry.

My two cents' worth.

All the best!

 

Thanks for this, this is exactly what I was hoping to achieve.. I am glad that it is possible..

Does having a bigger tank make this easier or harder? I think this one is about 700L..

I think I would like to go more eco system based aqaruim. With a variety of fish..

Would you advise against getting some of those big horn snails etc in there to get the tank going before adding any fish?

Is there any type of aquarium monitor that can tell me about the water quality etc?

Where the tank will be placed is going to be tricky to do water changes. Especially if I had to do 70L a week.. So I'm also glad to hear that you don't do that many..

With regards to adding plants? Can I do that from the start? Or do I first need to get the tank to cycle for 2 or 3 weeks?

 

Have a look at Father Fish on YouTube

 

A bigger tank definitely makes it easier to get that balance. You can put more plants, larger filtration system and more water means more time before any pollutants become a big issue. Just keep in mind it will take some time before you get to this balance and to make sure the tank cycles properly...

Snails are great imo because they help clean the bottom. just do your research on what snails you get as different snails have a larger biolode than others and reproduce quicker...

You get those stickers for nitrates and pH indicators. Never used one so not sure how good they are..

And far as I know, you can add plants from the day you set up. They'll probably help with the cycling as they'd offer surface area for beneficial bacteria as well as assist with oxygenating the tank for the bacteria too.

 

As T. Guppy said, the bigger the water volume, the less likely you are to encounter big water quality issues in a very short time.

I would suggest you plant as heavily as your budget allows from day one. The plants will help with filtration and will be key to battling algae over time as they compete with algae for nutrients.

 

Thanks all for your replies and suggestions.
it is very encouraging to see that we have made the right move so far and that what I am trying to achieve is indeed possible.

Can I please get some advice on the planting, I am not too knowledgeable on the topic.
I love the idea of a heavily planted tank, and we are not in a rush to overload the tank with fish.

Is this something one could get some plants from fellow forum members? Or do you have to go to the shops and buy them?

Can people suggest some hardy plant names that I can go and search for..


Do I need to put any sort of soil under the stones for the plants? I remember as a child, my plants just always slowly died away.

Do I need to get some sort of special LED lighting for the plants? This tank lighting looks pretty bad so Im sure I'm gonna have to do something there anyway to make it look good.. So if anyone could recommend something here.

Then in terms of filtering, I don't think this tank has a filter. Im going to see it in person tomorrow night. But what sort of under counter filter would I need?

 

Plants propagate quite easily from cuttings, so you will be able to get some from forum members. You might just break your bank account if you want to go buy enough plants to fill this size tank from the start.

Substrate is something that will be determined by your budget in my experience. Going the aquasoil route for a big tank like this will be very expensive if you just want to dump it full of substrate. Depending on what you want to spend, you can also look into a dirted setup or even just a sand substrate with root tabs and dosing the water column with liquid ferts for growth.

If you have enough plants from the start, you can get away with a smaller filter, but it sounds like you are looking into a canister filter, so that is a good way to go.

As for the lighting, you do not want to skimp on this. Depending on your plants you will need a good light to help with growth. Personally I have gone with a very entry level LED light for my first tank, and found that it mostly did what it is supposed to, but some of my plants do not get enough light and grows "leggy" as a result. On a smaller tank I have gone the DIY route and put an LED flood light on it. This gave me much stronger light and better plant growth.

Good luck with all the choices you have to make. Do lots of research and you will be just fine.

 

Hey all Just some updates on my tank Build it has gone really smoothly so far.

I donated the fish to a member on this forum.

We have then taken the tank back to our workshop to clean it up and repair it.


I will post some pics of the build.

 

So we have reworked the metal stand,

We have severely re-inforced it..

We added two more cross members at the top, and then we also added re-enforcement on the feet. This will then also act as the shelf for the sump fitler.

We then also sanded it down and coated it with a primer and then a black Hammerite finish.

This is a big tank, so it needs to have a strong base that holds a lot of water...

 

Next, we decided to ditch the built-in side filter as it didn't look very nice and was certainly not big enough for a 650L tank.

This filter had some holes drilled into the side glass for cables for heaters and pipes etc. We wanted to make a very clean simple looking tank so we then replaced the side panels with new glass that didn't have holes in and was not scratched.

The one big piece of glass was pretty scratched, So we decided while changing out the side parts to put a new front panel in. So got a new front panel made with Starfire Glass. So the front looks super fresh.


The old cross strut supports was broken and it had these strange trays, I assume for lights which we then completely removed.


We then also added in additional corner supports to help make the tank stronger..

 

Wow! You're really putting time into this tank, it's going to look amazing.

With regards to getting the tank balance and forming a nice ecosystem that mostly maintains itself, I'd have a look at MD fish tanks on YouTube. Some of his older stuff is very affordable and realistic to emulate based on exactly what you're after.

Hope it helps

 

So my 2c

The MOST self sustaining type of fishtanks would be dirted substrate tanks.

More info on this would be from Father Fish on youtube.

For my 3ft setup:

So basically what it is is a thick layer of compost/mud about 2-3cm thick and a 2cm of sand ontop of that

To ballance all the nutrients that is being released by the very rich soil you put a lot of plants in there

No water changes needed
No filtration needed


Yes i run filtration - medium sponge filter
I do not do water changes just water top offs maybe once a monce as needed

Life stock in atm
Bristle nose Plecos
False kohaku swordtails
Sakura red cherry shrimp

Yes they all are breeding in their

I have no algea issues

Lights are on 12+ hrs a day
But no direct sun light



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IMO

I stay away from aquasoil as it has a "shelf life" so after a few years it has to be replaced
Never used it and I will never use it. Not saying it is correct with the info i have but just my opinion.

Aquasoil on that tank $$$$

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Yeah, so from my research and watching Father Fish, I think the soil just adds mess and complexity. Im going for a low-maintenance long-term setup.

It seems that a decent thick, sand substrate will certainly do the job. Nutrients etc will all fall into the sand over time acting like soil. ( might need some root tabs etc to get things started initially).

I have gone with a full 8cm of pool filter sand at the bottom ( 3 x 40kg bags is what it took). This will provide a nice solid deep substrate for the plants to root into. And I have buried 4 or 5 balls of dirt into the sand. (I just dug holes and stuck a tightly squeezed ball of dirt in the hole and then covered it up.) I then have also just loosely scattered some dirt over the top lawyer to make it not look so white and clinical. This will settle with time,


I have also decided to go with a crazy oversized sump... I feel like you can't have too much filtration. So the sump tank itself is about 250 Litres . So about 650L in the main tank and 250L in the sump. This should help dilute all the chemicals and bio load etc..



I am struggling with the sump media, This stuff is not cheap. And tbh it's just basic plastic or sponge.

I bought 8kg of blue balls (this was almost over R900.00) and then I decided that the pet stores etc are just ripping the ring out of it, So I bought a whole bunch of pot cleaners from checkers.. (not anto bacterial)..


The idea with the sump from right to left is as follows:

1: Gerneal sponge, big holes, Where most of the mechanical filtration will happen, There is also a lot of surface area here for good bacteria to live.

2: This is a large chamber, with the idea of this being the quarantine tank, or just having some shrimp and plants as part of a natural filter system here.. (It will also be an option for a floating media should we need that in the future). Currently I have a big airstone in here.. (No air stone in the tank, as I want to CO2 that). heater is installed in this chamber.

3: This is where all my bio media is going. The blue bio balls (I'm largely disappointed with these..) Followed by finer sponge (currently pot scourers). I do want to add about 10kg of ceramic rings to this section or in bags in chamber 2. Again I am struggling to part with nearly R1000.00 for some ceramic rings. So if anyone has any DIY suggestions here please let me know.

4: This chamber is for chemical filtration. The idea here is that we get some activated charcoal. Currently, it's just housing all the original plastic decorations from the OG tank, as it has some beneficial bacteria on it, and it provides a decent amount of surface area in the interim. Also open to some suggestions of other chemical filtering options I can put here..

5: Currently just housing the pump. Again I went oversized here. 5000L per hour. I put a ball valve on here to be able to manage the flow. On full tilt it's like bloody Vic falls in the tank, So it's probably doing half that atm. ( I feel like it's quite a bit of wasted space atm. Are there any filters that can happen here?


I would love to hear any suggestions or comments on my SUMP setup.



Here is how the overflow system works. Does one add any filter media here?

 

I wouldn't fuss too much with regards to filtration ( unless you're planning on heavily stocking the tank ). The plants and that substrate system are going to work wonders with regards to surface area for beneficial bacteria and managing nitrates.

You've got good flow in the tank in the tank too which is great.

Hopefully others can chip in on ideas for DIY filter media

 

Why the need for dedicated chemical filtration? Will you be dosing chems on a constant basis that you want to remove? This will also affect any liquid ferts you put in the water column. Rather focus on mechanical and biological filtration and you will be good.

The idea of having a QT as part of your sump is not something I would suggest. You run the risk of infecting your whole system if you do end up with a sick fish in there. Rather look into a separate QT with no ties to your main tank.

This will be an awesome setup once you have it completed.

 

If you quarantine fish in the same system you can just as well throw them all together because that makes no difference

What you can use it for is more of a grow out space for the fish or put in more of your finicky plants in there.

I would ditch the bio balls, not alot of surface area on it really in comparison to ceramic blocks
I saw a video on youtube saying that 1 ceramic block has about 1000 times more area than blue balls, i know the price is rediculous but adding 20 blocks a month should not be that bad on the pocket

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