125 gallon build

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quinnmquinn

Aquarium Advice Activist
Joined
Jul 20, 2014
Messages
168
Recently got a 125 for a good price on marketplace. I want a very natural river like look. I already have a school of 6 angelfish I’m growing out. I’ll show the build step by step here.
I recently got driftwood in from manzanita-driftwood.com. This is the approximate arrangement until the substrate is in and I can try and tweak it.
image-2020-08-31-12:46:16-061.jpg
I have noticed there aren’t a lot of 6ft light options so I ended up with the Beamswork FSPEC. The light seems strong and has 48 par at 18” depth. But it looks rather harsh, like office lighting. I can see where some would like the look as it does say “I am a display case” for a statement, but I prefer a more natural look.

I also have 2 pen plax cascades (trust the brand on my smaller tanks) 1- 1000
And 1-700.

I still haven’t jumped on substrate. And I don’t plan on using CO2

All I’m really waiting on now is my friend to get back from vacation to polish the tank.
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Questions:

1. With both those filters the flow rate is 450 gph, is this enough? Also how should I set up the flow nozzles/bars with such a big tank? I’d prefer to have all the tubing tucked to one side but that seems bad for flow.

2. I want to do black lava rock substrate but I realize that may be too big/harsh for bottom dwellers. I would like to mix it with sand but have a bad premonition about how it’s going to look, and then being stuck with a huge tank filled with something I don’t like. So with crushed lava rock and black diamond sand how would that mix? Would the lava come up to the top or do you think it would stay mixed?
 
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I also ordered plants from aquariumplants.com, so we’ll see how that turns out.
I ordered:
Purple cambomba
Dwarf hair grass
Helferi
Jungle val
Ludwigia
Trident java fern
Wisteria
Tiger lily
Hygrophila araguais

Are any of these doomed to failure without CO2?
 
I have the black diamond sand in a 90, threw a few pieces of lava rock in there just for added decor, after awhile they are just buried under the sand. On a side note, I have the beamswork fspec 72" on my 125 too. Love it! Hard to beat for the price
 
Also, on a side note, I've learned from experience that the bigger the rocks in the substrate are, the harder to vacuum and clean properly. My 125 has 2 525 gph canisters, and 2 big sponges under ML 160 power heads. One canister still left the water a little hazy, 2 has cleared it up. I think the issue is since the tank is long its hard to get water flow to move detritus around (without blowing fish everywhere)
 
I have the black diamond sand in a 90, threw a few pieces of lava rock in there just for added decor, after awhile they are just buried under the sand. On a side note, I have the beamswork fspec 72" on my 125 too. Love it! Hard to beat for the price


Hmm okay, I’m thinking maybe a half and half mix, maybe more lava so the lava will be through out all the layers and the sand settles in. Maybe I’ll test it in a 5 gal.
The light is really good for plants and very cheap for its purpose. Need to put in a little more money for the aesthetics though. I’m so used to my one that cycles through the day on my small tank.
 
Also, on a side note, I've learned from experience that the bigger the rocks in the substrate are, the harder to vacuum and clean properly. My 125 has 2 525 gph canisters, and 2 big sponges under ML 160 power heads. One canister still left the water a little hazy, 2 has cleared it up. I think the issue is since the tank is long its hard to get water flow to move detritus around (without blowing fish everywhere)


Wow that’s a lot of filtration, what kind are they? Now I’m wondering if my filtration is going to cut it :/. This is my first big tank, my other tank is a 36.

I’m thinking to put the spray bar on the side panel if it will help with flow, just trying to figure in let outlet placement.
image-2020-08-31-15:10:30-175.jpg
 
They're Sunsuns. That one is stocked with 2 angels, 11 discus, 1 acara and 2 pictus. I have a 100 gallon African cichlid tank with a Sunsun 525gph, a fluval 406, a sponge, and 2 aquaclear 110 hob's. It's heavily stocked tho and they are messy. I'd try the 2 you have, and if it's not enough get something bigger or another medium one and add
 
My experience is that the tanks stay cleaner if it's about 10 times the capacity to rate flow. On a regular tank with dirty cichlids. Cuz I figure the flow is actually about 60% of what they rate it after media, etc. A tank full of danios and tetras of course don't need that much
 
I have 2 Beamswork Ea fspec and 1 Da fspec model. Big difference in the lumens. Ea is softer, Da is almost too harsh, but good on a deep tank or like you said, with live plants
 
They're Sunsuns. That one is stocked with 2 angels, 11 discus, 1 acara and 2 pictus. I have a 100 gallon African cichlid tank with a Sunsun 525gph, a fluval 406, a sponge, and 2 aquaclear 110 hob's. It's heavily stocked tho and they are messy. I'd try the 2 you have, and if it's not enough get something bigger or another medium one and add


Ah I see, yeah we’ll see if the 2 can manage for now.
That sounds like a really good stock!! Like I said I already have 6 angels. I’m planning on adding 7-8 pearl gouramis. And for the bottom either a large school of pandas or some pictus. People kept telling me they were to rough with the angels though!! I was going to fill out the rest with tetras (typical), but one of my hobbies friend recommended a school of 5 discus instead. To me that sounded to overstocked, but you never know. Anyway now he’s got me caught in the allure of discus.
Would you mind posting a picture of the tank?
 
Oh wow they’re beautiful. Did you buy them large or did you grow them out? What I’m reading is that the big discus aren’t as hard, just need to maintain high temps, but they get their bad rep from the juveniles. How hard are they for you?
 
We bought them from a guy who sold them for his dad, getting out of the hobby. They're Stendecker, we couldn't have afforded them retail, tbh, but he was pretty fair rehoming them. I've found them pretty easy actually, we do a weekly water change, and they eat high protein flakes. They didn't like the beef heart. Actually none of my cichlids really liked it, I fed it to the dogs, haha! They say they don't like current and only use dim lighting. Mine hang out in front of the power head at times, and don't seem concerned when I switch on the light
 
One pair has spawned in there, as have 2 two angels twice. Both of the angels are female, but they guard the unfertilized eggs like a m&f. Weird
 
Wow sounds like you lucked out. I know they are a hefty tag, the only reasonable ones are the little ones, but then comes the problems.

I think if I get discus it will be down the road, because of the price, but I’ll be sure to save a spot in my tank for them.
The angels must be jealous of the discus lol.
 
Haha! Yeah, we had the tank running for awhile before we got them. Your right about the prices. But, everyone in there gets along great. We have lots of cichlids, so compared to some of our other tanks, that 125 is a retirement community
 
Got the tank sanded and tested some driftwood arrangements. Going for the “triangle” look, let me know where I could improve!
image-2020-08-31-12:46:16-061.jpg
 
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