Im totally lost! 120g tank setup!

[librarygirl]

Hi and welcome! A 120 gal Cichlid tank? I'm so jealous! LOL

Good job on getting the API kit; it's a must-have, really.

Prime is a dechlorinator which you'll need to use to treat your water before water changes. It's really the best one out there. Purigen is different and you probably won't need it.

So you're going to upgrade your current Cichlid tank into this one? Buy your new canister (a canister is probably a must for a tank size that large. I think either the 5x5 or Eheim would be a good choice. You could fill it with media you have on your current Cichlid tank and then fill the rest with new media if there's room, then just move the fish right over. As you add more fish just to it slowly and monitor your water in the meantime in case of any temporary toxin spikes while the bacteria adjust.

Also how do you change water now? Do you use buckets or do you have an automatic changer? if you use buckets, a changer like the Aqueon is a must-have; you hook it up to your faucet and can drain and refill the water without using buckets. Much faster and easier too.

Two heaters would probably be needed; try to get something adjustable. The Aqueon heaters have worked well for me.

Good luck and post if you have more questions!

 

[mohican]

I run 2 Rena xp on my 125, does great. I would recommend the fx5. It has more options and way more GPH than combining filters. If I could unpiece mine, I would get that. Definitely get 2 -300 watt heaters, maybe ones with separate temp probe so u can adjust heat without getting hand in tank. Hope my tips help in ur decision.

 

[mohican]

Also, what r ur plans for lighting? R u doing any plants?

 

[Tstewar82]

Ok lol, ive been away for a while catching up on sleep and ALSO!!! Building this 120g stand!! I think it came out pretty dang good!! WAYYYY Cheaper then having anyone build it for me!

As I was catching up on all of these posts I saw this one comment from another member here

Scott F "Fair warning, it's addictive (though from the sound of things, the warning's coming a little late)"

This place is like taking a bottle of Grey Goose to an AA meeting

You go to meet others of like mind and interest and the next thing you know...

BAM your in the back seat drinking together!

HA, thats a little late night humor.

Anyways, lets see I'm gonna try and answer everyone's questions that they had for me.. Ummm.. Ah Ive decided to go with the Fx5 as the canister. I cant justify the Eheim right now.. Also where i think I'm going to be placing this thing is right in front of my bed I don't want any HOB's on the tank...

Heating, I know at least that I will be adding two 300w heaters in the tank. Thanks to Paytertot.

Substrate, I've got bags and bags and bags and bags of rocks.. I do think that I'm going to make this a Cyphotilapia Frontosa tank since I cant find anything else that gets along.. Im thinking maybe 5 or 6 in this tank since they get pretty big. I understand they like to hide in things, and judging from my one I have now that fact is true.

So substrate id really love to do and sand bottom but the sand is insanely expensive!! Unless you guys know of a cheaper safer alternative??

Decor, I'm still surfing the net for things.. Im waiting until Tuesday rolls around so I can visit my LFS (the honest one) to see what kind of rock/decor he has to offer. So that's where I'm at with the decor.

Plants?? Believe me that's one thing id absolutely love to put into this tank but I do not know a single thing about taking care of them..

Lighting, as far as I can tell the light that came with the tank is.. Let me get up and look... Ok well i tried to find out what type of lighting it is and I ended up not being able to get the light out without breaking it so I left it alone.. As of right now I do not know what type of lighting I need for frontosas'. Any suggestions? I'd appreciate it..

Ok lets see what else.... Hmm..

Ah yes Prime. What I do for current water changes I have three 5g buckets that I use, what I do is fill all three, ill put a cap about 3/4 of the way full with prime, put it in let sit till the next day. During water change I vacuum the rocks. After i take out 25% ill put the new water in. That is how I perform my changes. Anything wrong? If so id love to be set straight!!

I did however impulsively today buy 100ml of purigen with the mesh bag that I'm going to try in my 40g I'm aware that ill need to still use prime.

What i'm not sure of though is cleaning that crap with bleach. I think ill just be buying some more purigen instead of chancing that...

As for saltwater.. Lol again.. Id love to have a 120g salt tank. One day I will. But for now I am going to get that 40g vacant and turn it into a clown tank. I have another 27g tank that I was going to start up but decided not to, that I will use for a hospital tank.

I think its cool that there are people out the that will take the time to read my ramble. I appreciate each and EVERY one of you. Thank you all who congratulated me.

As for pictures. I'm taking them but as far as uploading goes, I'm clueless as to how to do so.. Input?? Tank you guys!!

I hope everyone had an incredible day!

 

[Nu-Nu the eel]

Lol i read the ramble! Haha jk it was interesting. If you are not going to have plants then the lighting doesnt matter at all. The lights that came with the tank will be fine as long as you dont want plants. For decor get a huge piece if drift wood, it would look amazing. If you want sand buy some pool filter sand... Its like 10 bucks for 50 pounds or something.

 

[paytertot]

I agree with the pool filter sand, I used it in one of my tanks and I love it, plus it was cheap at my local ACE hardware store. Like 12 dollars for 50 lbs.

Edit- I enjoy reading your rambles, because you are one of the cooperative and.. well.. reasonable members here! Lol. You do your research, and I love that. I tend to get very frustrated very quickly with members that don't research and don't want to listen. Lol

 

[Tstewar82]

Nu-Nu, Payter, sit back and enjoy my book. I"m questions galore, haha. I'm most definitely going to be getting the pool filter sand, without a doubt. I'm so sick of looking at rocks...

I'm glad to know lighting is not a problem. That is a load-off believe me... I was stressing about that..

Nu-Nu I plan on getting a nice piece of driftwood. But ya know, I just cant escape the fact that I want some caves lol..... I've yet to figure out how I'll make said caves but, I'm sure it will hit me one day while I'm walking down a hallway or something.

Paytertot thank you for liking my rambles lol.. More importantly thank you both for taking the time out of your day to read them!

But sadly.. I hate to say its gonna be a good month maybe before I even fill this thing up... I'm trying to figure out a way to get it outside and clean it... Is vinegar a good way to clean it? I'm not sure where I picked that up at..

Geez, I love forums...

 

[paytertot]

Yes vinegar works great. As far as the caves go, look about cichlid caves, or cichlid stones or whatever, see what you think. Or if you'd rather just silicone some rocks/slate together.

 

[Tstewar82]

Ah, ok then sounds good I will clean it with vinegar next time I get at chance. Thank you for the cichlid cave reference. I'm going to look at that tomorrow at work. As for now I'm gonna go sleep next to my empty tank.. Have a great day tomorrow!!

 

[Tetra1990]

For sand/rock decor, go to a hardware store or garden center. Way cheaper.

 

[Carl1]

Hi Timothy, im new to aquariums so i could be wrong but just read the post on how you do your water changes , as i understand it water treated with prime is only effective for 24 hours, i let the water stand for 24 hours & put the prime in about an hour before i do my water change.

 

[tamtam]

Sounds like you are making great head way, I'm pumped to see some pics! Though can't really help with the uploading as I've never done... but after a quick mess around here I think if you go into the advanced option(not quick reply) it gives you the little picture option, with the mountains and sun? I think if you upload your pic to photo buckets you can get the proper link and use it in there to get the pic up. Worth a shot. lol.

As for your water changes, is there a reason you leave it 24 hours? Like to let your PH settle? If everything is fine right out of the tap you don't have to let it sit and I would do as a PP mentioned and wait on the prime. You probably aren't doing any damage by putting it in early, the dechlor works regardless but one of the things people love so much about Prime is the detoxifying of ammonia it offers which is what only sticks around for 24-48 hours.

As for caves, it may not be the look you really want but I know lots of people use terracotta pots, it can be really hard to get caves big enough for larger fish and the pots work wonderfully and are pretty cheap too! I think if done right they can really make a neat look too.

 

[Tstewar82]

Carl, to be honest with you I was under the impression that I needed to let the prime sit in with the water for several hours to do its job. I'm certain I'm wrong about that, as I am in most cases. In fact I'm sure that you my friend are correct.

I was not sure if I could fill the buckets up, treat with prime, then perform the change. I thought there was a waiting period.

That's good to know though because I was getting a little tired of that!!!!

TamTam that was the reason for letting my water sit. Lol, I won't be doing that anymore.
Also TamTam who is PP? I'm a bit lost I went back and looked for a PP and couldn't find that person. Sorry if I misread.

TamTam that teracotta pot you suggested is an absolutely fantastic idea!! I can always silicone some water stones to the thing to give it that natural look?? Can't I?

Also!!! Guys I found out late last night that my fish is an imposter. He's not a cyphotilapia frontosa. He is a Buttikoferi cichlid!! I've read up a great deal on these things and basically my tank plans have went to crap...

I read that these things are killers when they mature more.... I don't want a killer I want a colorful family tank.... I've read that if you put fish the same size, different species, that they should be fine in a community tank.. Also these things get up to 15 inches long! So once it gets even the slightest bit bigger then his mates should I expect to come home to half eaten fish??

That's all I've got for now. Until I get some input of past experiences with these little guys I'm not sure what I'll be doing. Hope everyone has a great day today!!

 

[paytertot]

Only effective for 24 hours? No no, that would mean we would have to put prime in our tank every 24 hours. One the prime has done its job, the chlorine is gone.
That being said, there's also no reason to wait so long, I use a python to change my water, therefore no bucket, therefore the water goes straight from my sink to my tank. In this case, you would just pour the needed amount of prime in the tank before you start putting the water in.
In fact, I wouldn't wait that long simply because the water needs to match the temperature of the tank. If you wait, its harder to do that.

 

[Tstewar82]

Ok so Payter, I'm a little confused sorry. Let me see if I understand this clearly. Use the python to siphon my tank gravel, then dose the tank water, switch python thingy so it flows from sink to tank, adjust sink temp so it matches the tank water, fill tank. Then I should be good to go? That's what I'm getting out of that.

Sorry if I'm at all frustrating!!

 

[Mrc8858]

Ok so Payter, I'm a little confused sorry. Let me see if I understand this clearly. Use the python to siphon my tank gravel, then dose the tank water, switch python thingy so it flows from sink to tank, adjust sink temp so it matches the tank water, fill tank. Then I should be good to go? That's what I'm getting out of that.

Sorry if I'm at all frustrating!!

That's it..so much better then lugging buckets around haha

 

[Carl1]

Hi guys just a clear up on prime, not only does it deal with chlorine it also deals with chloramine thats why i use it.When prime deals with chloramine it turns the amonia from this into a non toxic state, after 24 hours the amonia will then become toxic to the fish again, the reason for dosing with prime say 1 hour before you do a water change is so the bacteria in your tank would have 23 hours to deal with the amonia in its non toxic state, therefore you would not need to dose with prime every 24 hours because your bacteria will have done its job. That being said if you do the water changes as per pp & dose the tank it would then be a mute point.

 

[paytertot]

Ok so Payter, I'm a little confused sorry. Let me see if I understand this clearly. Use the python to siphon my tank gravel, then dose the tank water, switch python thingy so it flows from sink to tank, adjust sink temp so it matches the tank water, fill tank. Then I should be good to go? That's what I'm getting out of that.

Sorry if I'm at all frustrating!!

yep, thats it exactly of course you wont switch it to flow to the tank until after youve made sure the temps match. also i dont want to be confusing, but i do another little extra step because my hose is so long. when im finished siphoning the gravel, i take it out of the tank and i kinda lift the hose up and follow it back to the sink to make sure im getting all of the dirty water out of the hose and into the sink... if that makes any sense..

 

[Tstewar82]

Mrc, thanks for the clarification buddy.

Carl thank you sir for giving me a better understanding on prime I will now clean my tank add prime, wait a little bit and then complete the process. While I'm waiting I will make sure my temps match up.

Btw any advice on getting an accurate temp reading on the new water when adding to the tank sO they match?

Payter thank you very much I appreciate the dedication you three have to your hobby and mine!! I have a strong understanding now of how to properly do this change!!

 

[tamtam]

Carl, to be honest with you I was under the impression that I needed to let the prime sit in with the water for several hours to do its job. I'm certain I'm wrong about that, as I am in most cases. In fact I'm sure that you my friend are correct.

I was not sure if I could fill the buckets up, treat with prime, then perform the change. I thought there was a waiting period.

That's good to know though because I was getting a little tired of that!!!!

TamTam that was the reason for letting my water sit. Lol, I won't be doing that anymore.
Also TamTam who is PP? I'm a bit lost I went back and looked for a PP and couldn't find that person. Sorry if I misread.

TamTam that teracotta pot you suggested is an absolutely fantastic idea!! I can always silicone some water stones to the thing to give it that natural look?? Can't I?

Also!!! Guys I found out late last night that my fish is an imposter. He's not a cyphotilapia frontosa. He is a Buttikoferi cichlid!! I've read up a great deal on these things and basically my tank plans have went to crap...

I read that these things are killers when they mature more.... I don't want a killer I want a colorful family tank.... I've read that if you put fish the same size, different species, that they should be fine in a community tank.. Also these things get up to 15 inches long! So once it gets even the slightest bit bigger then his mates should I expect to come home to half eaten fish??

That's all I've got for now. Until I get some input of past experiences with these little guys I'm not sure what I'll be doing. Hope everyone has a great day today!!

Sorry, lol, PP means previous poster. I spend too much time online I think. lol. As has been said prime works right away. Some add it to their buckets as they go, some right to the tank. It's just a matter of preference but now you can certainly save yourself some work.

You could totally attach some rocks to pots, so long as it's aquarium safe adhesive and rocks of course.

Sorry your tank plan is down the drain. Total bummer. At least you found now before it was too late.