Scored a free huge tank. Is stocking different now?

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FishyMamma

Aquarium Advice Freak
Joined
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Location
Cherry Hill, NJ
Hi all, I will be picking up a free, new-to-me, 150 gal. aquarium with stand and light (possibly more). A children's museum is remodeling and it must go on the 30th of July. [emoji16]

I'm a moderately experienced fish keeper and have had several tanks in different sizes, but never one bigger than a 55 gal. - which was a community tank.

Here's my question, is stocking a 150 gal. tank different from stocking a 55 gal. tank besides having room for more schools? Are there different considerations in some way?

This will be a planted tank and fishless cycled. As I have learned the hard way, bottled bacteria doesn't do jack so I'll order "used" filters from Angels Plus ASAP.

Thank for your help.
 
Take a look at Craigslist in your area. Perhaps some locals are needing to rehome fish too large for their tank.
 
Hi all, I will be picking up a free, new-to-me, 150 gal. aquarium with stand and light (possibly more). A children's museum is remodeling and it must go on the 30th of July. [emoji16]

I'm a moderately experienced fish keeper and have had several tanks in different sizes, but never one bigger than a 55 gal. - which was a community tank.

Here's my question, is stocking a 150 gal. tank different from stocking a 55 gal. tank besides having room for more schools? Are there different considerations in some way?

This will be a planted tank and fishless cycled. As I have learned the hard way, bottled bacteria doesn't do jack so I'll order "used" filters from Angels Plus ASAP.

Thank for your help.


NICE!! Congrats on your find! Are you going to do lots of schools or a couple of big fish? Ever considered goldies? :D
 
It really depends what you want to do.

With a big tank you have more options. You could certainly do larger schools or you could different, larger fish.

A lot depends on the dimensions. Is it a 6ft tank?
 
Hi all. I don't know the exact dimensions yet. I won't know until I see it to pick up on the 30th. It'll be a couple of hours drive just to get there. I'm hoping it's on the long side instead of tall - I have short arms!

I like the ideas of a large schools of smaller fish.

I haven't figured out numbers yet, but this is what I'm thinking for stocking. Open to thoughts!

Electric blue rams (cichlids - get a school of about 5 juveniles)
Schooling: Neon tetras
Schooling: Rummy-nose tetras
Endler' Livebearers or killifish
Schooling: Albino cories
Schooling; Panda or other colored cories
Zebra Danios
swordtails of some sort
mollys of some sort
gourami (several: opaline and various bright colors)
Nerite snails
 
Whether the 150 is a long or short, you are still going to have a large area to fill. Might take a day and visit your local rock yard. Its fun to rummage through the rocks searching for that trophy and it's so much cheaper than the LFS.
I bought 330 lbs of Texas Holey rock for about 20 cents a pound. I aquascaped a 120, 65 and a 29 gallon with it. In the LFS Holey rock was going for around $1.50 a pound.
Remember the new tank is going to be heavy so have plenty of strong hands handy.
A long snaggley peice of Manzanita wood might look good in that big tank., it doesn't stain the water as much as most driftwood does. It's not readily available in most LFS but can be bought on line. Got 2 large pieces in my 120.
Good luck.
 
Whether the 150 is a long or short, you are still going to have a large area to fill. Might take a day and visit your local rock yard. Its fun to rummage through the rocks searching for that trophy and it's so much cheaper than the LFS.

I bought 330 lbs of Texas Holey rock for about 20 cents a pound. I aquascaped a 120, 65 and a 29 gallon with it. In the LFS Holey rock was going for around $1.50 a pound.

Remember the new tank is going to be heavy so have plenty of strong hands handy.

A long snaggley peice of Manzanita wood might look good in that big tank., it doesn't stain the water as much as most driftwood does. It's not readily available in most LFS but can be bought on line. Got 2 large pieces in my 120.

Good luck.



Thanks! This is really helpful. That's exactly the kind of info I need. I'd love a Manzanita piece (s). That's a good suggestion. I'll check out a rock place for aquarium safe rocks. There's so much more to research now! [emoji16]

I already figured I should put the aquarium on the ground floor where there is no basement underneath. I'd be afraid it would collapse the floor!!

We have beautiful wood floors. I'm thinking of getting Home Depot to cut a long mat to the length of the tank to protect the floor. Anyone do something like this?
 
Your tank when fully decked out will weigh at least 1500 lbs.
I've never used a floor mat, my floors are flagstone (indestructable) but those durable thin rubber mats you typically see under exercise machines might work.
As for aquarium safe rocks, Don 't fear limestone. You will find such negative information about it. I keep many different varieties of so called soft water fish (tetras, Plecos, south american cichlids) and they thrive amongst the limestone.
Hope this helps.
 
Thanks, V227! Great suggestion. We use those mats under our exercise equipment and it didn't occur to me to use them with the tank. That will be easy.

I'm watching YouTube videos now to learn about the equipment needs. I'll need to change my filter style for sure. I've only used HOBs before.
 
I run two aqua Clear 110's (hob) filters on my 120. I like how easy it is to clean them out. Canister filters are fine too, just a little more difficult to maintain. Sumps are probably the
Best type of filtration but you have to have a drilled tank. I've had no experience with a sump system.
 
Yeah... assuming that the tank isn't already coming with one, you'll want to set up a sump filtration for an aquarium that size. There are probably some canister filters that can handle that much volume (or you could set up multiple canisters) if setting up a sump is out of the question.
 
I definitely would wait until you see the tank to worry about filtration. Without knowing the dimensions it is hard to get a feel for filtration.

There is also a good chance it has a sump or is drilled already.
 
Scored a free 150 gal. tank. Is stocking different now?

Hey all. I picked up the tank today. It measures 67" L x 13" W x 18" H. According to AqAdvisor that makes it about a 65 gal tank. NOT a 150 gal as I was told. However, it is plenty big for me, and was free, so I am not complaining.

It did not come with filters of any sort, nor are there holes for a sump. So what kind of filter do you all recommend?
 
I'd probably go with a canister, but a solid HOB is still an option. Even 2-3 sponge filters would work if you prefer to keep things simple.
If you're feeling adventurous, and have the money & space, you could drill your own holes and go the sump route. [emoji41]
 
A tiny bit of disappointment on the size, but a free tank is great.

My recommendation is a AquaClear 110 - it runs around 500 gph. 79.99 free shipping on amazon and some other sites. Sometimes there are sales and coupon codes, sometimes they don't work for Fluval products.

The nicest thing is the ease of cleaning. Would also say Purigen and Matrix would get my vote for filter media to add to the 110. I run them both now with mine and love them.

As for fish Rummynose are good schoolers.

You can't really beat the color flash of Neons (also consider Green Neons) Sometimes the big box stores get in 50 at a time Neon Tetras for the $1. Tetra sales. Depending upon the store and how the fish arrive would possibly be good. Knowing the day for store fish arrivals is nice.

Consider a shoal of Dwarf Cories -Pygmy Cories frequently available, Hastatus (are harder to find) and Habrosus a cute fun cory, also called salt AND pepper Cory - but not the same as Peppered Cory (similar look but larger fish).
 
Please don't make the mistake I did once by depending on a single heater-! I lost most of my livestock duia long weekend away when my single heater failed...
 
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