Starting 75gal help!!!

[rlstoll]

Hey everyone. Just got a great deal on a 75 gal tank and stand. I am now going to try to build a nice cichlid tank while updating the whole process on here. This will be a slow process as I don't want to rush anything. And I will be doing some plumbing work to make this set up great. Any suggestions from all of you will be greatly appreciated along the way.

Here is the tank.




I will be using Andrew McFaddens suggestions from his cichlid article. I will order the 2 filters hopefully soon. As for the heater and lights I would like some suggestions. Any suggestions at all will help relatively new to the hobby. Thanks!!

 

[bevoholic]

You are one lucky guy. I would love to have a tank that big. That stand is beautiful as well. Does it have doors? I'm relatively new to this hobby as well, so while I don't have any info for you, I can say that I'm excited to watch your progress.

Are you planning to fishless cycle your tank?

 

[Mrs.h2012]

Hey everyone. Just got a great deal on a 75 gal tank and stand. I am now going to try to build a nice cichlid tank while updating the whole process on here. This will be a slow process as I don't want to rush anything. And I will be doing some plumbing work to make this set up great. Any suggestions from all of you will be greatly appreciated along the way.

Here is the tank.

I will be using Andrew McFaddens suggestions from his cichlid article. I will order the 2 filters hopefully soon. As for the heater and lights I would like some suggestions. Any suggestions at all will help relatively new to the hobby. Thanks!!

You are so lucky!!! That will be a beautiful tank! So I'm assuming you know about cycling? Do you have a test kit yet? Don't be afraid to ask questions no matter how dumb you may think they are, doing things the right way will pay off
In the end. I can second this. I had fish four years
ago for about a year, I had so many fish deaths it makes me sick. At the time I thought it was part of the hobby and that fishes just didn't have a long life span. Now I know all the mistakes I made contributed to all the fish deaths I had. I've been back in the hobby for going on 6 months and have only had one fishy death, and that was due to bad stock.

 

[rlstoll]

You are one lucky guy. I would love to have a tank that big. That stand is beautiful as well. Does it have doors? I'm relatively new to this hobby as well, so while I don't have any info for you, I can say that I'm excited to watch your progress.

Are you planning to fishless cycle your tank?

Thanks! Yes it does have doors. Unfortunately no one around to help me turn it around to get a pic of it. Yes I will be doing a fish less cycle. I will be able to use media from my other tank to speed the process up considerably.

 

[bevoholic]

That's awesome! Keep posting pictures as you get it going.

 

[rlstoll]

You are so lucky!!! That will be a beautiful tank! So I'm assuming you know about cycling? Do you have a test kit yet? Don't be afraid to ask questions no matter how dumb you may think they are, doing things the right way will pay off
In the end. I can second this. I had fish four years
ago for about a year, I had so many fish deaths it makes me sick. At the time I thought it was part of the hobby and that fishes just didn't have a long life span. Now I know all the mistakes I made contributed to all the fish deaths I had. I've been back in the hobby for going on 6 months and have only had one fishy death, and that was due to bad stock.

Yup. I do know about the cycling process. I have been through it once before and will do it again. I know I need to do it all right to make this tank last and be a healthy place for all my fish. Can't wait to get it all set up. I also use the master API test kit.

 

[Mrs.h2012]

Yup. I do know about the cycling process. I have been through it once before and will do it again. I know I need to do it all right to make this tank last and be a healthy place for all my fish. Can't wait to get it all set up. I also use the master API test kit.

Sounds like your on the right track! What type of cichlids are thinking of having?

 

[rlstoll]

Sounds like your on the right track! What type of cichlids are thinking of having?

I think I might do a lake Malawi theme. I really like yellow labs. So maybe that's the route to go.

 

[rlstoll]

Any stocking suggestions for that type of tank? I think I am going to do a sand bottom with mainly rocks as the decorations.

 

[rlstoll]

I'm going to go ahead and order the filters. Any suggestions? I'm thinking of just getting the 2 that Andrew McFadden suggests in his article. Maybe if there are any different options for these for a good price let me know. I can get both for a total of about 150 I think.

They are:
1. AquaClear 70 Power Filter - 110 V, UL Listed (Includes AquaClear 70 Carbon, AquaClear 70 Foam & AquaClear 70 BioMax

2.Rena 721 Filstar XP2 Canister Filter

 

[Mrs.h2012]

I'm going to go ahead and order the filters. Any suggestions? I'm thinking of just getting the 2 that Andrew McFadden suggests in his article. Maybe if there are any different options for these for a good price let me know. I can get both for a total of about 150 I think.

They are:
1. AquaClear 70 Power Filter - 110 V, UL Listed (Includes AquaClear 70 Carbon, AquaClear 70 Foam & AquaClear 70 BioMax

2.Rena 721 Filstar XP2 Canister Filter

Many here will recommend a canister over an HOB (hang on back). I think from what I remember, canisters have more options you can customize when it comes to what kind of media you put inside the filter. I'm not all that educated on filters yet, hopefully someone else will chime in on this.

 

[nereksnad]

greetings.

A canister filter has more filter volume (space for water, and media). this usually means it can support more BB.

 

[rlstoll]

Well I was thinking of getting 2 filters. I think that is what his article suggests. Maybe get 2 canisters then?

 

[abrinn23]

I think the general consensus that I've noticed on here is that if you are going to get a HOB filter you cannot go wrong with aquaclears. I believe the aquaclears 70 model would be fine with a canister. Personally I'd get the aquaclear 110....but I do have a habit of going overboard especially with filtration

 

[Mrs.h2012]

I think the general consensus that I've noticed on here is that if you are going to get a HOB filter you cannot go wrong with aquaclears. I believe the aquaclears 70 model would be fine with a canister. Personally I'd get the aquaclear 110....but I do have a habit of going overboard especially with filtration

Which isn't a bad thing, I think having more filtration than you need is never a bad thing! On my 30g I have an aquatech 30-60 and an aqueon 30 lol.

 

[nereksnad]

on my 55g tank i run 3 filters atm because I manage to make it a lil' bit overstocked. More filtration doesn't kill the fish, it just kills your wallet.

 

[abrinn23]

I run 2 Marineland Emperor 400's on my 75 for only three fish...a bit much but my water is always crystal clear!

 

[rlstoll]

Wow that is a lot of filtration!! Does any one have a picture a canister and how it looks in and out of the tank?? I would like to see how it's set up.

 

[Andrew McFadden]

Wow that is a lot of filtration!! Does any one have a picture a canister and how it looks in and out of the tank?? I would like to see how it's set up.

If I remember right and without figuring it all out again I believe I recommended those models ( should have said in the article) for 6 times turn over rate, it may have been 8. The more the better with these little dudes. So if you can afford it I'd step it up to the ac70 and xp3 to be honest. Its all up to you but its recommended to have 6-10 times turn over.

I'll get right on that for the pictures for the rena

 

[Andrew McFadden]

Canister pictures
This is the xp2
The little lever in between the hoses stops the flow and unlocked it. So it won't siphon before you pull it apart. After you unplug it you pull the lever up. One tube is in and one is out




This pic is showing the top of the filter with the hoses pulled off very easy and fast for maintenance.




This one shows you what it looks like on the inside. I run bioballs in one basket and sponges in the other.


All canister filters are a little different but the water feeds threw on the outside of the baskets then gets pulled up threw the baskets and pumped back to the tank. As you can see the baskets are pretty big so you should be able to imagine the amount of bacteria it can hold.


The hob filter I have ceramic rings in the bottom then stuffed with filter floss. The floss gets cleaned every couple days because it clogs up fast.