75 Gallon Build

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I have 2 emperor 200's hanging on this tank....Was thinking of adding a marienland 360c canister.....Will this combo be plenty or will it still be cutting it short?


It depends on stock....Oscar Messy... Filter more , a school of Tetras less....

get the picture...

the GPH rating is basically without or Clean Filters...so typically in order to get the BB you don't change the media just rinse with Tap.

For a 90 I would have gone with 2 Emp 400's

If you can add the canister that should give you plenty.

IMO with a stocked tank, you should be around 10x gallons per GPH.

So you should be over 900 gph total in say a slightly overstocked African Cichlid Tank.
 
Wont the fish just blow around:lol: Wow though....so I need like a 5 sumthin to get there. Stupid lfs.
 
Ok, I just bought a Aquatopcfs500uv canister. On top of the 2 200's this should get me there:D I wish I would have just went with an 110 aquaclear and a canister....o well. I am too far in my cycle to ditch those emp 200's :lol:
 
if you really want to change the filters, you can just transfer the current media into the new filters, your cycle shouldn't have any problems :)
 
That's what I'd do. Even if it's later down the road, I'd probably ditch the HOB's and just use the canister if it is rated to handle it on its own. I don't have the specs in front of me so I can't say.

Overfiltering is good and all, but in the case that it's unnecessary I'd personally minimize it just for the sake of not having tons of things plugged in the wall.
 
Ok...Updates on my tank.
Ammonia-1
nitrite-2
nitrate- between 5&10
ph- between 7.4&7.8
I think its comming along nicley:cool:
Jeta: The filter claimssss 525gph with a UV light. In the future I will either look at chaning out the 200's for a aquaclear 110. I will see how the tank progresses with the fish in there. Either that or I will just add another canister. I just can't wait to put some fish in this tank!!!!
 
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Ok Cycle and picture updates....The cycle is moving right along.....its only been 1 week so far.
ammonia-2
nitrite-off the chart
nitrate-20
ph-7.6
I also have added a picture of the tank completed with the new aquatop cf500uv canister installed and running. Let me know what you all think!
60630-albums9586-picture38796.jpg
 
Ok, after yesterdays testing on the tank I left it alone for a day....Today ammonia dropped down to 1, Nitrite is still PURPLE, and nitrate is 40. Ph-7.6 to 7.8. I guess I could use a little guidance here. Should I does the ammonia back up or is it time to swap some water out to bring my nitrite back down to earth?
 
RedNeck said:
Ok, after yesterdays testing on the tank I left it alone for a day....Today ammonia dropped down to 1, Nitrite is still PURPLE, and nitrate is 40. Ph-7.6 to 7.8. I guess I could use a little guidance here. Should I does the ammonia back up or is it time to swap some water out to bring my nitrite back down to earth?

You should leave the water as-is. As the bacteria colonies continue to form, the nitrite levels will balance themselves out. During the Nitrate stage (final), you will need to start your water changes. You will want to wait until the nitrite levels are all but gone to start water changes. Sounds like all is progressing well, though quite fast, considering you only had the gravel from the pet store to jump-start the nitrification process.
 
Ok great. Yea I was surprised it was going this fast too. Don't I have to keep the ammonia up as food for the bacteria or will the nitrites take care of that? Sorry, this is my first fishless cycle.
 
RedNeck said:
Ok great. Yea I was surprised it was going this fast too. Don't I have to keep the ammonia up as food for the bacteria or will the nitrites take care of that? Sorry, this is my first fishless cycle.

There are actually 2 unique types of bacteria involved in the cycle. One type to convert ammonia to nitrite and another to convert nitrite to nitrate. Since you don't want to starve the ammonia > nitrite converting bacteria, you will need to add small doses of ammonia daily, until the nitrites read 0 and the nitrates continue to rise. You will not need to add a lot of ammonia, keep in mind. You may want to keep adding to 2 to 3 ppm while your nitrites are still elevated. To figure out how much to add, you can find some ppm calculators on the web that will help simplify.
 
Ok the cycle seems to be moving right along. The ammonia drops to .50 every day and the nitrites are slowley comming down...the nitrates are right around 20-40. (y)
 
confusing test results today....
Ammonia .50
nitrite still above 5
Nitrate...dropped to 10
ph still 7.4
what in the heck does this mean?
 
RedNeck said:
confusing test results today....
Ammonia .50
nitrite still above 5
Nitrate...dropped to 10
ph still 7.4
what in the heck does this mean?

Don't be overly concerned with the nitrate levels while cycling. It will fluctuate through the life of the tank. Just keep an eye on the ammonia and nitrites. Once the nitrites hit 0 and the ammonia is hitting 0, you should be good. If you are still dosing with ammonia to 2-3 ppm, I would guess you have about 3-4 days left in your cycle at the rate it has been going.
 
Ok so I've been kicking around the idea for my tank stock now for a little while. I like the Haps/peacocks idea. I also wouldn't mind firemouths. If I went 2 male FM route I was thinking of getting a rasberry serevum and then maybe 2 male blood parrots.Eventually a sailfin pleco.....Feel free to say this is wrong! I just want to bounce ideas off of people that know what they are doing!
 
So I am at witts end with this fishless cycle. It makes no sense to me what is happening. It was cooking and moving along so fast and now it seems like it just stalled. Ammonia has stayed at .50 for the second day in a row now. Nitrites have been dark purple since halfway through the first week...PH is stayin the same pretty much. Nitrates went from 40 to barley nothing. I am pulling my hair out with this one! :banghead:
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RedNeck said:
Ok so I've been kicking around the idea for my tank stock now for a little while. I like the Haps/peacocks idea. I also wouldn't mind firemouths. If I went 2 male FM route I was thinking of getting a rasberry serevum and then maybe 2 male blood parrots.Eventually a sailfin pleco.....Feel free to say this is wrong! I just want to bounce ideas off of people that know what they are doing!

Aren't raspberry severums dyed? Go to deathbydyeing.org to find more about that
Blood parrots can also be dyed
A sailfin pleco needs a 125 gal tank
 
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