Upgrade to a 55 tank

[Fish Lips]

hey folks,

For the past couple of years I have had a 10 gallon tank with 4 scissortails and 4 red eyes. I have decided to upgrade to a bigger tank, a 55 gallon. But with this new commitment I have a couple of questions. ( sorry if I repeat previous questions but Im new to the site)

1. Are kits the best way to go, (vs buying everything seperate) if so who makes some decent high quality kits?

2. Real Plants, I'm thinking of giving them a try but have no idea where to start...any links or articles I can read?

3. Anyone from Canada know of a decent online retailer?

Thanks,
Fish Lips.

[Somethingfishy]

Hi and welcome fish lips,

First of all well done on the upgrade to a 55.

What kits are you talking about? Testing kits? Varying opnions on these.
Not a big plant grower myself I would not know where to begin? Sorry
The Canada I will leave to those in Canada.
www.bigalsonline.com ships to Canada but don't know how good theyare?

[Fish Lips]

Sorry for being unclear, by kits I meant tank, filter, lights etc. Now That I think about it, the largest kit I have seen was only 30 something gallons.....Anyway, I am going to a shop tonight to put the $$ down on a model I saw last week.

[targaboy78]

Hi Fish Lips,

Congratulations on the upgrade.

Big Al's is really great and they have many locations in Ontario.

MISSISSAUGA
SCARBOROUGH
BARRIE
BRAMPTON
HAMILTON
KITCHENER
LONDON
NEWMARKET
NORTH YORK
OTTAWA EAST
OTTAWA WEST
WHITBY

Brampton may be close enough for you to visit personally, but if that isn't the case, you can always purchase on-line and they ship for free.

If you decide to go - go on a Tuesday night 7pm... "Feeding Frenzy" Night. The ones in my neighborhood, have 2500 gallon tanks with some massive sharks, moray eels and other predators. Amazing to watch.

One of the groupers has a head larger than mine, it was real freaky. I had a staring contest with him and he was only about 3 inches away from my face. He won. No fair, no eyelids.

Anyway, I hope this helps.

[Grant R]

Congrats on you're upgrade - good move

i've had an 11.1 Gallon for little over a month and I'm already upgrading to a 45 gallon !

I presume then the tank you are buying doesn't come with the heater / filter etc ? If not, there are quite a few on here with 55 gallons who should be able to advise you on the best ones to get.

As for the plants, I'm thinking of doing that too soon, so I know how you feel on that one !

[fishfreek]

All the kits I have seen have been LFS bundles or some stuff at wal-mart.

Personally when I look at kits I usually see items included that are fairly standard like heater, thermomotor, single light fixture, plastic tank cover, UGF or some hang on filter, etc.

Usually the selection of items are not exactly the size or type that I would personally get if I was to buy the items independant.

If your just starting out then they are ok to get. But if you want to go planted the single strip light fixture will not work for your needs very well. Thus the plastic tank cover will not suit your needs sine it is usually made to only have a clear plastic insert for the single bulb fixture.

Also, price everything out seperate that is in the bundle. You might just find the kit price is the same or maybe even higher than geting the tank, stand, lights, heater, filter, etc seperate in the first place.

A scruplious LFS might price the kits at a bit higher margin because they can move more product that way.

[robertmarda]

Congratulations on your decision to upgrade to a 55 gallon tank. I have one too and I love it. It fits perfectly in a corner of my living room.

One possible caution with plants is that unless you want a snail population you will need to treat the plants to get rid of snail eggs or just keep the plants in a separate container of water at the appropriate temperature for a few weeks. I know some people consider snails part of their eco system and if you would too then this is not an issue. Others consider snails as pests. I consider most snails to be pests.

I have 4 or 5 different types of plants in my 20 and 10 gallon tanks and I like them all. I don't know the names of the plants I have, however I think that these would be great plants to have. They multiply and/or grow quickly and yet they don't grow so fast that you have to crop them every day. Corvuscorax can tell you the name of three of the types of plants I have since he gave them to me.

Also keep in mind that some fish will eat and/or destroy plants (I don't know if yours are among those that will ruin plants) so choose your fish carefully (assuming you plan to get more) so that you can keep live plants. I started into plants just before my fish grew enough and started destroying them and so I now have no live plants in my 55 gallon tank. My 8 inch pleco, 6 inch convict chiclid, and 6 inch crayfish don't seem to appreciate plants.

[jollyone11]

targa does big Al have a web site and if so can i have it please .thanks.

[targaboy78]

Hi Jollyone11,

Yes, they do.

http://www.bigalsonline.com

From this site you can get into their US and/or Canadian sites.

Happy Shopping.

[mitche8359]

Hi Fish Lips,

Another thread was talking about size of tanks. I have a 55g and really wish I had a 75g tank which is deeper. I only realized I wanted the deeper tank after I switched to a planted tank. Something you might want to consider.

I haven't seen any kits for 55 set up. I have seen some for 30 but wouldn't buy them as the stuff I see in them are usually cheap and not how I would set up the tank. I'm looking at getting another tank through an auction or second hand. Get the whole set up. Even though its used, should save 100s of dollars starting out.

Tom