Getting down to it!

[KPhilly]

I'm closing in! My 100 gallon Redwood Finish tank comes in tomorrow! I'm making this thread to get any advice and just to maybe show new aquarists how I went about my tank. I will post the pictures of my supplies and step by step process as I go! Super excited about my aquarium and can't wait to get it going! Lets get started shall we!

Supplies:
X2 50 Lb bags of white play sand (Came from Home Depot for about 4 bucks per bag)




X1 Submersible heater up to 125 Gallons (64 bucks)





X1 PH Test & Adjuster kit (14 bucks)





X1 Fusion Smart temp aquarium thermometer (6 bucks)





X1 Nutrafin Cycle (22 bucks)







X1 Aqueon Aquarium Plant food





Currently these are all the supplies I have. I'm missing gravel vacuum, algae scrubber, fish food, etc. I will have more of these supplies as I get closer to putting in my cycle fish. My plan for cycling goes like this. Tomorrow when my tank arrives, (will post pictures) I will clean my sand thoroughly and lay it in the bottom. Fill the tank with water whilst letting everything soak like the heater, filter, etc. Then I'll add the cycle and turn everything on and let it run for a week. Doing my regular 10 percent water changes weekly. After one week, I'll introduce my live plants. After two weeks, I'll introduce my cycle fish. Around that time, I'll have gathered my remaining supplies. I will keep everything updated with pictures as I go! I'm super excited and have done the best I can to gather information from reliable resources! I am welcoming any support and all advice! Thank you all veteran aquarists and hopefully I can help any newcomers as well!

 

[Cynic]

My advice is throw the Nutrafin Cycle in the bin along with the PH adjusting chemicals.

Get your hands on some pure ammonia and do a fishless cycle.

Also for tanks over 55G I normally would recommend a backup heater.

Finally what sort of filtration system will you be setting up?

 

[KPhilly]

I believe this is the one.

 

[KPhilly]

Is this part of it?

 

[Cynic]

Is this part of it?




View attachment 181663

Correct. That's a HOB (Hang On Back) filter. You're going to need to find out how many GPH it pumps.

 

[Zactheninja]

I don't think that would work for filtration for a 100 gallon.

 

[KPhilly]

I was told 480 GPH

 

[KPhilly]

Not sure if this has anything to do with it but my tank is higher than standard tanks. It's 39"Lx20"Wx26"H.

 

[Cynic]

I was told 480 GPH

If so that's adequate but I'm pretty dubious...does it have a brand and model name?

Not sure if this has anything to do with it but my tank is higher than standard tanks. It's 39"Lx20"Wx26"H.

That works out to be 88G by my calcs....higher tanks do suit certain fish like angel fish better but for the most part they are disadvantageous to a lot of the larger fish species out there due to reduced width.

 

[KPhilly]

I'm thinking about making a small species community tank.

 

[Newkeeperotis]

I would suggest an external canister for a tank that large it's better to over filter than under so never fear going with to much filtration I have a canister on my 35 gal community tank which has an hourly rate over a 1000gal/hr the larger out lay of cash now will save you so much money in the future and so much time

Hope this helps

 

[KPhilly]

I'm not entirely sure what a canister filter exactly is. How much cash are we talking here?

 

[Newkeeperotis]

They are quite expensive to buy to start but you save so much on media and buying fish as you'll have so many fewer problems a canister sits in the base of the stand and there's an intake and an outlet in the tank that's it then 2 pipes down to the filter the water then goes through a ruck of different medias in mine I have ceramic tubes in bottom then coarse sponge then 2 sets of bio media then a fine sponge to catch the small partials

 

[Athaocity]

You can introduce your plants right away right after you add your sand in the tank. Plants will play a good part in cycling too.

 

[Rodeo one]

Maybe I missed it but didn t see API test kit on the list. You ll need to test for ph, ammonia, nitrites & nitrates.
Would reccomend a fishless cycle, also. There s good info about it under Freshwater Getting Started stickies. Best of luck!

 

[Aquamandan]

Gotta get the API Test Kit for pH, Ammonia, Nitrates and Nitrates.

 

[KPhilly]

It's in there pictured on the first page.

 

[KPhilly]

I think I'm going to try and go with small species of fish just so i can have more fish! Maybe 2 or 3 large ones. Things like cherry shrimp, glow tetras, neon tetras, Cory cats, etc. If y'all have any recommendations please feel free to share! If you will, post a picture with your fish.

 

[KPhilly]

I've done some research on my filter, it's an Atman AT-F203 internal filter. It pumps 2000 L/H which comes out to be around 528 GPH.

 

[KPhilly]

If so that's adequate but I'm pretty dubious...does it have a brand and model name?

That works out to be 88G by my calcs....higher tanks do suit certain fish like angel fish better but for the most part they are disadvantageous to a lot of the larger fish species out there due to reduced width.

It's a bow front gallon which I believe bumps it to 100 or just a bit over.