My wannabe New Tank Setup good or bad?

[kaz]

Or course I'm partial to live plants and would love to lure you into the planted tank forum. Given the attention you are already giving to light you might just like the toys involved

so based on this comment here I am

So all this is what I came up with, what do you think?

Stock:
Freshwater Clams
2 Bolivian Ram
2 German Blue Ram
1 Pearl Gourami
1 Opaline Gourami
1 Gold Gourami
1 Neon Dwarf Gourami
1 Red Fire Dwarf Gourami
2 Boesemani Rainbow
2 Praecox Rainbow
10 Otocinclus Catfish
6 Cardinal Tetra or 6 True Rummynose Tetra
2 Sunset Platy
4 Neon Tetra

And a pleco don’t know which one yet is suitable and doesn’t grow as big to eat and clean the bottom of tank.

Tank setup:
75g trying to find a 60” long
RENA Filstar XP 3 Canister Filter
Coralife Turbo Twist 3X - 9 Watt U.V. Sterilizer
Hydor ETH 300 In-Line Heater-300 W
Aquarium Pharmaceuticals RENA Air Pump 300
Coralife Battery Operated Digital Thermometer
Tetra Water Wonders Driftwood Filter
1 Driftwood or 1 Root
Plastic Mats and Plastic Plants
Pool Sand

I like to do a setup with Moonlight, Day light and Dust and Dawn light with timers Fluorescent have no idea how to go upon this or which to get. Or what type of Kelvin.

And some black thin Substrate to Mix a little with the pool sand.

I think this is about it any advice and if all this works.

 

[Wizzard~Of~Ozz]

Personal opinion.

I use a single 50/50 bulb that comes on 25-30 mins before the main lights come on (50/50 is a T6 bulb 40w equiv.), then the 160w of no (2xT8 and 2xT12) come on, at night the mains turn off, followed by the 50/50 bulb 25-30 mins later. I also have a lightning effect cold cathode that runs all the time. I just got a timer relay today that supports lead and tail delay, I'll be wiring up a permanent setup for nightlights, dusk/dawn and day. using 2 relay's and this relay it should be easy.

Also, real plants are better IMO they serve a purpose and they give you something to work on and add to.

For driftwood I would go with a larger piece, root would be nice. (with some java moss attached and some fern growing at the top )

 

[Skyrmir]

I might suggest looking at an Eheim or a Fluval cannister filter instead of the XP3, mainly for durability noise. The Tetra Water wonders driftwood filters are a serious gimmick. They cut down the efficiency of the filter in them. With a tank that size I'd get a decent piece of real driftwood for about the same cost, maybe less. If it saves you money, apply it to a bigger/higher quality cannister filter.

I'd have to agree with Wizzard too, real plants are a huge help. My filters don't create a large water flow in the tank, so the plants help out a huge amount by being a natural filter. Since it looks like you really like Gourami's, and they create bubble nests, a low flow setup is probably going to be your best bet, but you have to have the plants or the water will get foul on you.

I don't know enough about gourami's to really say, but you might want to double check the adult sizes on them. At first glance that just seems like it might be a bit too many fish, Mainly because I know a few of those gourami's get pretty big.

 

[Jchillin]

That's a lot of gourami's...I would limit them to two and make sure they are similar sexed. Drop the clam if you are doing live plants...clams dig in the substrate.

The equipment you listed is fine. I second Skyrmir's suggestion of the Fluval. It's a nice, quiet canister and you can do a lot of things with the media baskets, flow rate and position of the outflow.

You didn't mention what level of lighting you were aiming for (low, med or high). Your decision will drive further discussion on additional equipment if you are going over 2wpg (CO2 injection and related equipment).

Take a look at the stickies at the beginning of this forum for additional info. This will help you decide.

 

[malkore]

I'm not sure I've ever seen a 60" 75gallon... 48"x18"x20" is the typical size. Never heard of a 75 'long' that wasn't custom built (and thus, spendy)

Any particular reason you want a 5foot long tank? Merely curious.

 

[Northwest-Wolf]

I think that setup is pretty good, other than the clams, as they dig in the substrate. But the other thing to look at too is they really don't move around much either, they find a place and usually just stay there. As for filters, I'd say the XP3 is a good selection, and do away with the other filter, and use the spraybar with the XP3. I will be moving my XP3 from my 55G to the planted 75G when I get it.

I'm currently trying to get my original Username back. This is Lonewolfblue. I went and changed my email address, now I cannot log-in, as it says my account is inactivated, and I didn't get an email with the activation link. Hopefully will get it resolved soon.

 

[Lonewolfblue]

I think that setup is pretty good, other than the clams, as they dig in the substrate. But the other thing to look at too is they really don't move around much either, they find a place and usually just stay there. As for filters, I'd say the XP3 is a good selection, and do away with the other filter, and use the spraybar with the XP3. I will be moving my XP3 from my 55G to the planted 75G when I get it.

I'm currently trying to get my original Username back. This is Lonewolfblue. I went and changed my email address, now I cannot log-in, as it says my account is inactivated, and I didn't get an email with the activation link. Hopefully will get it resolved soon.

Got my Username back....

 

[kaz]

I'm not sure I've ever seen a 60" 75gallon... 48"x18"x20" is the typical size. Never heard of a 75 'long' that wasn't custom built (and thus, spendy)

Any particular reason you want a 5foot long tank? Merely curious.

75S/100R/125R 60x18
advance aqua tanks

75S 60x18x16

 

[kaz]

That's a lot of gourami's...I would limit them to two and make sure they are similar sexed. Drop the clam if you are doing live plants...clams dig in the substrate.

The equipment you listed is fine. I second Skyrmir's suggestion of the Fluval. It's a nice, quiet canister and you can do a lot of things with the media baskets, flow rate and position of the outflow.

You didn't mention what level of lighting you were aiming for (low, med or high). Your decision will drive further discussion on additional equipment if you are going over 2wpg (CO2 injection and related equipment).

Take a look at the stickies at the beginning of this forum for additional info. This will help you decide.

every fish is giong to be a male, I'm thinking though maybe get one female one male for the g-rams and b-rams dont know yet if not all males. I considered the 1inch per gallon and to my knnowlede this stock is ok give or take.

I'm not sure if I can afford co2 and if I am ready for it so if I do place plants I like to that doesnt need co2 and not that many plants, I will be using fake plants for most of the tank.

my current tank is in the dining room next to the kitches about 15 to 20 feet of faucet. I'm thinking to put my new one in the living room and that is 40 feet away, will my python handle that distance if not I have a close window and about six feet away the hose outlet outside of my house.

and how do I go upon re-creating the dawn,dusk, day, moonlight looks with timer and what fixtures to get.

 

[Lonewolfblue]

my current tank is in the dining room next to the kitches about 15 to 20 feet of faucet. I'm thinking to put my new one in the living room and that is 40 feet away, will my python handle that distance if not I have a close window and about six feet away the hose outlet outside of my house.

and how do I go upon re-creating the dawn,dusk, day, moonlight looks with timer and what fixtures to get.

The distance should be no problem. My 55G needs a 75' python, and it works just fine.

As for recreating dusk-dawn, you need a fixture with moonlights (and a power cord for each) and a timer that handles them both separately. I got mine off Ebay. I even got my fixture on ebay as well. Saved some money for a good starter setup.

 

[Lonewolfblue]

Scroll through and check out some of the lighting here.

http://search.ebay.com/_W0QQsassZaquadealQQhtZ-1

The timer I got....

http://cgi.ebay.com/DIGITAL-LCD-TIM...ryZ46314QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

 

[kaz]

btw welcome back lol, ok so how does it work instead of having all the same fixtures I would put one that is dawn, one for day, one for dusk and one for night?

 

[Jchillin]

I'm not sure if I can afford co2 and if I am ready for it so if I do place plants I like to that doesnt need co2 and not that many plants, I will be using fake plants for most of the tank.

CO2 is only needed if you go over 2wpg with your lighting. If you are going to be under that level, there are plenty of plants that you can have in the tank.

 

[Lonewolfblue]

btw welcome back lol, ok so how does it work instead of having all the same fixtures I would put one that is dawn, one for day, one for dusk and one for night?

This one has only 2 settings, day on and night off. The blue plugs are for the nightlights, and the yellow ones for the main florescents. At the times you program, the lines just alternate so the main lights turn off and the nightlights turn on, or the main lights turn on and the night lights turn off. Then the 4 white ones are just regular plugs for like heaters and filters.

You can set different programs for individual days as well, like turning the lights on and off at a different time on Monday than on Tues, Wed, etc. Or you can set it to turn on and off at one time during the week, and another time for the weekend as well, or set the same times for the whole week. I really like it.

 

[kaz]

so what lights and fixtures do i get that have day/moonlight and be no more than 2wpg

 

[Lonewolfblue]

For a 20G, you don't want any more than 40W total. That's 2w/g.

 

[kaz]

Stock:
Freshwater Clams
2 Bolivian Ram
2 German Blue Ram
1 Pearl Gourami
1 Opaline Gourami
1 Gold Gourami
1 Neon Dwarf Gourami
1 Red Fire Dwarf Gourami
2 Boesemani Rainbow
2 Praecox Rainbow
10 Otocinclus Catfish
6 Cardinal Tetra or 6 True Rummynose Tetra
2 Sunset Platy
4 Neon Tetra

And a pleco don’t know which one yet is suitable and doesn’t grow as big to eat and clean the bottom of tank.

Tank setup:
75g trying to find a 60” long

I have found 60g long tank that is about 48x16x18 with stand and canopy for $200.00

so this makes me re-think my stock:
2 red dwarf Gourami
1 neon dwarf gourami
2 sunset platy
5 to 10 ottos
4 neon tetras
6 cardinals or 6 true rummy nose
4 g-rams
2 b-rams
and a small pleco to eat un-eaten food
does this sound better?

 

[Lonewolfblue]

I found this....

http://www.aquariumguys.com/20satellite.html

Here's more...
http://www.aquariumguys.com/fixtures.html

 

[kaz]

are those lamps easy to find for when replacement is needed?
what is a actinic lamp?
how many watts is recomended?

 

[Jchillin]

Bulbs are easy to find...it's the pin set up that is important when looking for replacements.

Actinic is a higher intensity "blue" spectrum bulb. Lot's of debate as to whether it promotes plant health in conjunction with the other 10K bulbs, but it will certainly not harm it and does bring out the colors of your fish.

Again, for the low-light tank, 1 to 1.9wpg. Beyond that, you are in CO2 territory.