Very tall aquarium--what do I put at bottom?

[kitties102]

Hi all,
I'm venturing into salt water for the first time. I bought a 55 gallon tank that is about 7 feet tall--I know it's not the best, but it's what I've got to work with.

My question is--what should I put at the bottom? Sand, gravel, something else? This hasn't crossed my mind before, but maybe it's best not to put anything at all, if that's even an option. The main problem is that it's going to be pretty difficult to clean anything as I won't be able to reach inside. Any ideas?
Thanks!!

Amanda

 

[BigRedsReefs10]

A 7ft tall 55 gal? That's going to be more trouble than it's worth IMO. It will be almost impossible to clean, scape, and get proper flow in. Why not pick up a 20 gal long tank and try that? Should be $30ish for the tank and you'll find it much easier and probably more enjoyable.

 

[PB_Smith]

7 feet tall?
is that including the stand?
What are it's width and length?
the overall dimensions will determine what you can house in there more than how many gallons it is.

 

[kitties102]

This is it:

http://www.amazon.com/Midwest-Tropical-Octagon-Aqua-Tower/dp/B000K7HL50

 

[PB_Smith]

ouch, you actually paid $1400 for that?
you could have gotten a LOT more tank for your money, completely set-up and stocked and still have a few bucks left over.

Sadly it is more a show piece than a practical aquarium and it really is not suitable for saltwater applications, so you should consider freshwater for that tank.
otherwise see if you can get a refund?
I honestly can't recommend salt water for that tank.

But, getting past that you will be rather limited in it's stocking capacity because you need to think it terms of the surface area, which is only 16" circumference. Also oxygenating that tall column of water may prove problematic.
You could put some smaller schools of tetras, cory cats, and similar smaller - medium sized fish, but due to the actual small amount of surface area, the stocking levels will be low, maybe a dozen or so freshwater fish.

 

[mariano999]

Send it bAck

 

[kitties102]

I got it for $150 used. After reading the responses and talking to my husband, I'm leaning toward going ahead and just making it freshwater and later turning our 90 gallon regular tank into saltwater. thanks guys!

 

[PB_Smith]

I got it for $150 used. After reading the responses and talking to my husband, I'm leaning toward going ahead and just making it freshwater and later turning our 90 gallon regular tank into saltwater. thanks guys!

Whew, that's a relief.
I was honestly sick for you when I saw the price tag.
For $150 not a bad deal.

 

[ScaryFatKidGT]

I would stay fresh water, use gravel at the bottom and maybe a larger piece of drift wood? like a 7' piece lol. I would stick with smaller fish as most fish want to swim side to side not just up and down, corys would only have the bottom and something like hatchet fish would only have the top so I would probably go with something like small tetras, danios or barbs and try to make the whole tank interesting and have hiding spots, idk what 7-8' object to use, you can figure that out lol, maybe suction cup stuff to the sides?

For a filter a canister or something is a must, a HOB would only filter the top 1/4. Maybe throw a jungle val in the bottom and try to get the world record for longest jungle val? lol

For sure get a magnetic algea scraper, I would use like a Fluval 406 for the filter and maybe get a powerhead, not to run all the time but to stur stuff up to clean it? You could maybe make your own 80" gravel vac lol, making it would take longer than cleaning the 16" round bottom

 

[kitties102]

I bought an eheim canister, so that's my plan for a filter for now. My husband is pretty handy, so I'm hoping he can rig up some cleaning tools and figure out some decorations...i can't find fake plants for sale online that are taller than 36 inches or so. The suction cups on the side aren't a bad idea, I hadn't thought of that! This is going to be an adventure.

 

[PB_Smith]

I bought an eheim canister, so that's my plan for a filter for now. My husband is pretty handy, so I'm hoping he can rig up some cleaning tools and figure out some decorations...i can't find fake plants for sale online that are taller than 36 inches or so. The suction cups on the side aren't a bad idea, I hadn't thought of that! This is going to be an adventure.

You can take the fake plants and pull the sections apart and stick them on the end of other section/strands to make them as long as you want.
Once you check it out you will see what I mean and that is how they make the differing lengths.
I do that all the time.

For your canister filter lengthen the intake hose to go down at least 3/4 of the way to the bottom, and the return at the top agitating the water.
That way you are moving the lower oxygen poor layers up to the top and thereby ensuring good circulation and oxygenation.
You also want to put a small, 1/4", hole about two inches or so from the top on the intake hose so that if any mishap were to happen with a leaking filter you wont drain the entire tank. That way if it starts siphoning/leaking the siphon will be broken when it hits that hole.

 

[Autumnsky]

Danios would be a poor choice. Right now thinking about stocking choices, most things I think of, most fish are the poor choices, more than good choices.

Anyone else, what about Kuhli Loaches?

 

[FWFishTanks]

I think fancy guppies would make a good fish for the tank's dimensions.

 

[Mebbid]

Some oto cats would work as well. You're just going to have to keep the stocking level very low on this tank due to decreased oxygen. I'd probably add a powerhead and airstone as well to the tank.

 

[FWFishTanks]

Danios would be a poor choice. Right now thinking about stocking choices, most things I think of, most fish are the poor choices, more than good choices.

Anyone else, what about Kuhli Loaches?

After thinking it through, Kuhlis would make a very unique choice, and if there was enough cover, it just might work.

 

[ArtistGardener]

It might be a challenge, but I would venture a guess that this will grow old very, very soon. What a strange product. I hope you post photos if you do get it going. And you most certainly will need a magnetic algae scraper. Good luck!

 

[kitties102]

Thanks for the advice on the filter hose lengths! I will follow it for sure. And I'd never heard of Kuhlis...they look fun, I just may get some once this is going!

 

[Bloodroot]

Thanks for the advice on the filter hose lengths! I will follow it for sure. And I'd never heard of Kuhlis...they look fun, I just may get some once this is going!

Kuhlis are great fun! And awesome bottom feeders!!! Make sure to give them as many hiding spots as possible and get 6 of them. The more hiding places you have and the more of them that you have in the tank the more playful they are. One of mine LOVES playing in the bubbles as they flow to the top of the tank. On the drift wood idea, if you could go find and clean at least one seven foot piece, I would drill/dig holes out along it to make mini caves. You could also attach plants/decorations to it with a fish tank safe glue. That way of you need to remove the decorations, for some reason, you remove the drift wood and all the other plants/decorations come with it.

I have also been loving my shrimp. They are wonderful little cleaners and I actually find them climbing all over my tank. You can get some pretty cool red ones... the name is escaping me at the moment.

As for the top I would persoanlly get one large school of xray tetras or something like that. 20-30 of them could make a wonderful display.

Sent from my SGH-I337M using Aquarium Advice mobile app

 

[Retired_AF]

This is one of the strangest setups I have seen but it has possibilities. To keep it interesting make sure you get different colors but also consider where they like to hang out. You would want some that like the top of the water, some that like midcolumn, and then the bottom feeders. I like the idea of a long, narrow piece of driftwood with plants attached along it's length and holes for the fish to explore.

 

[Dallascowboys16]

I honestly am drawing a blank on fish you could put in there safely and humanely. Id say fact guppies would be a good choice but Id say no to corys, most tetras, danios, gouramis, most of the common community fish that i can think of. Good luck though, this will be quite the challenge.