Need advice on a freshwater setup.

[Frogger19]

Ok, back at this again. Just completed the bar arm rail. Decided to go the freshwater route in the tank and get a bunch of cichlids. Need advice on a freshwater setup.

Since the tank already has 2 overflows and I habe a 100 gallon underneath for a sump...I might as well use it. How should I set up the filtration and what should I buy? What temperature should I keep the tank at? Also, what should I do for lightning?

Thanks!

 

[Delapool]

Any LED white/blue light strip light would do here I think as no plants involved.

 

[agrasyuk]

Looks like there is a canopy to hide the light and plants are no concern . so really any source of light will do, perhaps a led shoplight?

Temperature - 78 is a safe bet. Adjust per your specific stock

As for sump you will naturally need a return pump, I liked the eheim compact I had. My return was routed into perforated plastic container with foam to catch debris and then stove cleaners for bio media out of which it dripped into the sump.

 

[Frogger19]

Looks like there is a canopy to hide the light and plants are no concern . so really any source of light will do, perhaps a led shoplight?

Temperature - 78 is a safe bet. Adjust per your specific stock

As for sump you will naturally need a return pump, I liked the eheim compact I had. My return was routed into perforated plastic container with foam to catch debris and then stove cleaners for bio media out of which it dripped into the sump.

Thanks for the reply. What if I wanted to just have some simple lake moss or something to that effect in there? Would any fancier lighting be required? Im leaning towards the florescent T% shop light idea.

Thanks

 

[ZxC]

Thanks for the reply. What if I wanted to just have some simple lake moss or something to that effect in there? Would any fancier lighting be required? Im leaning towards the florescent T% shop light idea.

Thanks

If you go with T5's you'll have no issues growing most plants. how man bulbs are you looking at?

 

[Frogger19]

If you go with T5's you'll have no issues growing most plants. how man bulbs are you looking at?

Im not sure. I was just looking at picking up a couple of 2 bulb fixtures from Menards. Tank is 210 gallons at 72in long I believe. Do you think 4 bulbs would be enough? I want the tank to be bright.

 

[ZxC]

Im not sure. I was just looking at picking up a couple of 2 bulb fixtures from Menards. Tank is 210 gallons at 72in long I believe. Do you think 4 bulbs would be enough? I want the tank to be bright.

Depends on how well the reflector's are made. If they have polished aluminum reflectors, 4 is loads of light, 2-3 would be better suited. If they have crummy reflectors or are T5-No output (not T5-Hight output) than 4 should be good. Keep your photo period to 6 hours a day to start, are you may have an algae farm.

 

[Frogger19]

Depends on how well the reflector's are made. If they have polished aluminum reflectors, 4 is loads of light, 2-3 would be better suited. If they have crummy reflectors or are T5-No output (not T5-Hight output) than 4 should be good. Keep your photo period to 6 hours a day to start, are you may have an algae farm.

Sounds good. Thanks for the advice!

 

[coralbandit]

I like the versatility of dimmable LEDS. They allow you to change your mind and the strength of the light..
Beamsworks DA FSPEC are reasonably priced...Especially for 72" fixtures.
https://www.amazon.com/Beamswork-FSPEC-Aquarium-Light-Freshwater/dp/B01LFF07EC
Add a $5 dimmer from Ebay and you are there !

 

[Frogger19]

I like the versatility of dimmable LEDS. They allow you to change your mind and the strength of the light..
Beamsworks DA FSPEC are reasonably priced...Especially for 72" fixtures.
https://www.amazon.com/Beamswork-FSPEC-Aquarium-Light-Freshwater/dp/B01LFF07EC
Add a $5 dimmer from Ebay and you are there !

Nice! Would just one of these do the trick?

Thanks!

 

[coralbandit]

I use 2 of the 36" finnex 24/7 and 2 of the DA FSPEC on my 180.
The 24/7 are really like an accent lamp with their feature being main reason they are there.
The 2 FSPECS light the tank up pretty nice by themselves .
I chose 32 @36 for ease of install and incase something goes wrong I am only 50% screwed !
I have several of the FSPECS and none have failed yet..Finnex 24/7 is 33% failure rate so far..
There are many threads on the DA FSPEC on TPT if you are thinking of plants. They probably have but more insight ,but the ones I read basically liked the light.
I don't keep live plants in my 180..Well my fish don't let me keep live plants ....
I may tray again soon. I use the f specs on many of my grow out tanks[40b] with low light plants and have them dimmed down over 50% to keep algae reasonable..