6ft Tank Upgrade

[Mr. FishMan]

I'm upgrading my established 55 gallon tank to a 6ft 130-50 gallon tank and any tips/advice on the best way to go about it are much appreciated. I have 2 HOB filters on the 55 that I'm going to use on the new tank so I already have a lot of cylced media and I plan on using the water from the 55 and then filling it up the rest of the way with new water to act as a large water change, but i might be changing substrate. Will this cause a swing in the water chemistry? Or will I be fine putting the fish in right away? The fish will be in a couple 5 gallon buckets with an airstone while I'm making the switch.

 

[reefdiver]

I have done it pretty much like you stated. You will see a little fluctuation but it will not make much of a difference.

 

[kardash]

The substrate will most likely not make much of a change with the parameters. I have done this many times with good results. Once you get the tank up and running, check the parameters and make the needed changes to make the parameters right. Once they are spot on, add your fish

 

[Mr. FishMan]

That's good to know. Thanks for your guys' input. What kind of substrate do you suggest using? I'm thinking about having this tank be my first live planted aquarium but I dont know much about keeping plants yet. I've been doing a little research online and I see a lot of people are using either dirt or sand or layers of different substrate so I'd like to get some more opinions.

 

[Jev12]

For plants I I think Eco complete Is an excellent substrate

 

[kardash]

I'm no planting expert so I will not be able to help on this one. I kept semi-planted tanks but they weren't anything special, I only used sand. At one point I used Eco Complete but it didn't really work out that great for me.

 

[Mr. FishMan]

I'm probably gonna go with some kind of sand. The eco complete is a little too expensive for me, but It sounds alright. Anyone use black diamond blasting sand?

 

[bud29]

I'm probably gonna go with some kind of sand. The eco complete is a little too expensive for me, but It sounds alright. Anyone use black diamond blasting sand?

I have used it, it looks very nice. My only complaint is that I got the "extra fine" 40/80 grain size, and it gets kicked up super easily.

 

[Mr. FishMan]

I have used it, it looks very nice. My only complaint is that I got the "extra fine" 40/80 grain size, and it gets kicked up super easily.

So I went out last night and picked up 100 lbs of this stuff. I didn't want to get it too fine so I'm glad I went with the medium fine I think its 20/40. I spent a good 5 hours (at least!) rinsing it all and I'm going to be adding it to the tank today. What's gonna be the easiest and the best way to prevent the tank from clouding? Should I add the sand, then fill up the tank or the other way around?

 

[bud29]

So I went out last night and picked up 100 lbs of this stuff. I didn't want to get it too fine so I'm glad I went with the medium fine I think its 20/40. I spent a good 5 hours (at least!) rinsing it all and I'm going to be adding it to the tank today. What's gonna be the easiest and the best way to prevent the tank from clouding? Should I add the sand, then fill up the tank or the other way around?

The best way IMO is to lay down the substrate first, then fill the tank. I usually put a saucer on the bottom to pour the water on to, as to not kick up anything.

That stuff can be quite a pain to rinse! I spent a good 4 hours rinsing the blasting sand for my 55, cant imagine rinsing even more!

 

[Mr. FishMan]

The best way IMO is to lay down the substrate first, then fill the tank. I usually put a saucer on the bottom to pour the water on to, as to not kick up anything.

That stuff can be quite a pain to rinse! I spent a good 4 hours rinsing the blasting sand for my 55, cant imagine rinsing even more!

I filled the tank exactly as you stated. Thanks for the tip, it worked like a charm. And yes, it was a HUGE pain. I think I may have inhaled some of the silica dust as I've been suffering from a scratchy throat and have been having problems with breathing and chest pains as well.. I didn't even think to read the warning labels before starting to clean it. So ill probably be going to go get checked out by the doc sometime this week.. Anyway, Im pretty satisfied with the look of the blasting sand. Ill upload some pics when I get a chance to take some.

 

[Mr. FishMan]

Using fake plants until I can afford live, but Im really liking the sand so far. And with the black backround as well, all the colors kinda pop. What lighting would you suggest to start with for some low tech plants? And what are some low tech plants? haha

 

[bud29]

Looks good! How tall is the tank? The distance that the light has to travel determines what lighting level you have at the bottom of the tank.

 

[Mr. FishMan]

Thanks. The tank is about 24 inches tall.

 

[bud29]

Is there a center tank brace? If so, you could use two 3' dual T5HO fixtures. On this size tank that would get you low-medium light. Some low-light plants include crypts, anubias, java fern, java moss, and wisteria.

 

[Mr. FishMan]

There are two, not really center, braces where I could better fit three 2' fixtures. Ive been looking at T5's but NO not HO. Doesn't HO stand for "high output"? And thanks for the plant suggestions, Ill definitely look into those and see what else I can find!

 

[bud29]

Yes, HO stands for high output. NOs would really be super low-light on that tank, I would go for the HO. Aquatraders has inexpensive 24" T5HO fixtures, while they aren't the most quality they would definitely grow low-light stuff.