I have experience in much smaller tanks (like 55g+). But I just purchased a 120g and stand. Has gravel, lava rocks, some decor, an air pump and a heater. The previous owner said that the old filter he was running it with was too messed to salvage. Idk I never saw it. Anyways I am looking into canister filters now but is that the way to go for this size? Also what else should I have for a tank of this size? And the I am planning on putting into this tank are maybe an Oscar, jack dempseys, blood parrots, and maybe some other cichlids. Any help will be appreciated. Thanks in advance!
Setting up a 120g freshwater tank
- Thread starter Gman85
- Start date
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librarygirl
Look It Up
Wow that's a huge tank! I think a canister is probably the way to go although I'm not familiar with them (planning on getting one myself but haven't yet). Hopefully someone else can chime in. 
Wow that's a huge tank! I think a canister is probably the way to go although I'm not familiar with them (planning on getting one myself but haven't yet). Hopefully someone else can chime in.
Thanks I got it from a neighbor that was moving out of state. Hopefully someone who knows better can help more. Thanks for your insight tho.
Hello. Nice 120g. What kind of heater do you have? You will definitely need at least 2 filters for that sized tank. Aquaclear 110 HOB is good, but 2 of those will not be enough for your tank. Canisters are do-able, but very expensive. Get a fluval fx5. 1 of them will not be enough, so you might want to add another filter with it.
You got lights with the purchase?
You got lights with the purchase?
Hey thanks! The heater is a EBO-JÄGER 150 watt which I'm pretty sure that it's not big enough to heat the whole effectively. And yeah I also got lights with the purchase but they look like just regular fluorescent lights. I'm willing to upgrade if need to for the tank. I'm just trying to do this tank right the first time. As far as the filtration do you know of a good to great combo for this size? Also should I get power heads?
jetajockey
come get me tang police!
I put 3 150w jagers into my 125 to get it heated and it still only got up to around 80 max.
One of the biggest concerns would be stocking. Are you definitely going tropical? Not coldwater or native?
If you are stuck on sa/ca cichlids, figure out what you will work together before you go shopping, the last thing you want to do is get stuck with a bunch of incompatible fish. I know a 120 sounds like a lot of tank, and it is, but for the larger sa/ca cichlids (i.e. oscar, jaguar) it isn't.
One of the biggest concerns would be stocking. Are you definitely going tropical? Not coldwater or native?
If you are stuck on sa/ca cichlids, figure out what you will work together before you go shopping, the last thing you want to do is get stuck with a bunch of incompatible fish. I know a 120 sounds like a lot of tank, and it is, but for the larger sa/ca cichlids (i.e. oscar, jaguar) it isn't.
Yeah I'm probably going to get at least two bigger heaters. Any ideas? But yeah I'm definitely going tropical. On that note I was going to start a new thread on some good compatible fish. Cause I've heard about how random fish can get pretty crazy.
I got a decent amount of money to spend on the tank so I wanna get at least an idea or ballpark for how much I'm going to spend on it. And anything else I need I.e. powerheads or circulation pumps. Also yes it's going to be indoors. An my house stays around 70-75 f roughly. what HOB filters would you recommend?
2 aquaclear 110 are good IME. That should be enough for tropical fish.
Test out your current heater to see if it can maintain the desired temp in your warm house. People who keeps constant warm temp are able to use smaller heaters. Heaters don't burn out due to being "on" all the time. They don't last long from turning on and off all the time.
Test out your current heater to see if it can maintain the desired temp in your warm house. People who keeps constant warm temp are able to use smaller heaters. Heaters don't burn out due to being "on" all the time. They don't last long from turning on and off all the time.
boadams87
Aquarium Advice Addict
Gman85 said:
