Plz help me plan a 450 gallon

[kaz]

forgive me of my wrong doings.

 

[Samper]

Kaz
I appreciate your reply and please don't get the idea that this tank is just going to turn into a sewer. It will be taken care of but I want to minimize what the owner has to do once I'm not the caretaker anymore. This is why I'm here asking questions. I also appreciate the precious lives that rely on me to survive and I don't plan to do this just half right. I would agree that a big lava lamp would be better for this guy but I made him agree before I even started this project that he would have to listen to me in order to take care of this or he would just be wasting his money.

 

[Lonewolfblue]

Just another thought here, yes, you can have a low maintenance planted tank. And go only with low-light plants so there's no need for CO2. My 26G planted tank, now that I got rid of the unstopable hornwort, lol, has been virtually maintenance free, other than my normal PWC's. And the fish love the plants. Gives a sense of security.

You could also do a lot of fake plants as well, but won't look so natural. I'm only running about 1.25W/G currently, and have L. repens, a pot of clover, and java moss. Java ferns would work great too. And there's a wide variety of low light and even some medium light plants that will do well in a lower light setting. The only pruning I did was pull out my java moss off the driftwood, about a years worth of growth in low light and boomed when I upped the lighting, which I now dropped back down, and it's growing back nicely. As for the L. repens, some are now almost touching the surface. Haven't done anything to them since planting them 2 months ago or so. And with lower light, they just grow a little slower, but are doing well. So just a little more for you to think about and talk to the other person about. A low light tank, if done right, will only take as much real maintenance as doing just a non-planted tank. And if you did decide on this, I'm sure there's a lot of people that would help in the plant selection as well.

Oh, and one other thing, a planted tank doesn't need to be fully planted either, like some of our tanks. You can add driftwood, ornaments like caves and castles, etc, or a shipwreck, and then just have selective plants in strategic areas. It will still give the fish a sense of security. Also, for maintenance purposes, I wouldn't fully plant anyways, like my 26G. I have driftwood with java moss on it, and my other plants are strategically placed for the easiest maintenance, which is no more than the regular non-planted maintenance, other than maybe pulling java moss out once a year or giving my L. repens a trim once every 3 or 4 months when it reaches the surface.

 

[kaz]

Sorry.

 

[Lonewolfblue]

Sorry.

Don't worry about it kaz. That's how we all learn, is by input from others and we do appreciate your input. We all learn by our own mistakes, even if corrected on occasion, and then move on with a greater wealth of knowlege. Keep up the good job.

 

[Samper]

Does anyone have any pics or diagrams showing exactly how these canister filters hook up and work?
The FX5 says it comes with a dvd but I'd like to be getting familiar with them how they work and what sort of maintenance they need.

 

[Guest]

Samper I wish I had a pick of the 450 reef tank the owner of my old fish store had. It was a real nice treat to see the thing well maintained everytime you would go into the store. When I had my 210gal I just robbed his idea of filtration. I used a 30 gal tank for a wetdry filter and was running an 1800gph magdrive pump. Just that wet dry filter was enough to keep up with about 50 to 60 chiclids I had in the tank. If you did that 450 of yours the 75gal sumps would work awsome, or maybe a prebuilt 125. Its 72x18x22 I think and that would give you more than enough room for bio media, plus other stages for foam filters, heater and pumps. That would make everything hidden so you could just sit back and watch. Hopefully none of the employees start shirking there duties. Get about 500lbs of gravel and a couple hundred lbs of rocks throw them in there and start buying lots of assorted african chiclids. They will love the rocks, and when they mature will breed and overall the tank will not be bad to take care off. Maybe use the magfloat to clean the glass of algea depending on what lights you use for the thing and a humongous gravel vac. Other than that looking at a huge rock wall with fish darting in a out is really cool. Oh, yeah whenever I would walk by my 210 all the chiclids would follow you to that end of the aquarium. Nice HTH

 

[PauloSilva]

I'm loving all these ideas getting thrown aroud myself... but do yourself a favor and research the african cichlids. that is the kinda of tank thats gonna keep ppl looking at it.

 

[Lonewolfblue]

I'm loving all these ideas getting thrown aroud myself... but do yourself a favor and research the african cichlids. that is the kinda of tank thats gonna keep ppl looking at it.

There are a lot of fish that will keep people looking. Cichlids are just one area. Another area is community fish like large schools of tetras and rainbowfish. And then throw in a couple larger eels like fire eels. That's another one that will draw them in. Even throw in a few sharks. That is another. My recommendation is to get the owners thoughts as to what he wants, and work around that. Doesn't hurt to show different ideas that you have, but the ultimate decision is the owners. Whatever direction he decides to go, we are available for any assistance you might have.