need some help on some decisions for my 88 gallon aquarium

[smmers57]

hello im new to this forum and ive kept fish for a few years but not very big tanks im now looking at a 88 gallon/330 litre tank,ive been tryin to decide for months on what to do with it i want fw but not sure if i want mbuna cichlids or just a community tank,what would u suggest and also what sort of decor should i have i seem to like rock piles like stacking rocks and stuff with sand but what would u suggest thank you in advance for any comments

 

[logansmomma1228]

Welcome to AA! This site is great i hope you enjoy it here

88 gallons is a good size tank, you could do all sorts of stuff with it! If I had a 88 gallon tank I would do community with tons different fish: tetras, cories, some rams maybe.... gouramis or something. you could google stocking an 88 gallon tank and you will get all kinds of ideas Following!

 

[smmers57]

thank you seems nice here hope i can decide,its just hard because mbuna are nice but seem hard to find and can only have them which may be boring but its just all so exciting i cant decide,is £360 a good price for a brand new 88 gallon tank with built in filteration 3x t5 lights,heater and stand and some extras with free neext day delivery

 

[Aquarium1]

well, what kind of filtration, and how many watts for the lighting and heater? Congrats btw, and welcome to AA

 

[logansmomma1228]

I'm not sure how much that is in USD, but it sounds like it might be a good deal. T5's are nice.. lol.

Yes it sucks with some fish because you have to do species tanks -_- That is where multi tank syndrome kicks in and you need more tanks so you can get more kinds of fish lol.

 

[smmers57]

well it says 900 litres per hour and the lights are 3x 39w,thank you you seem very nice check this link and tell me what you think thank you in advance x Cabinet Fish Tank Aquarium 330 Litres hood / filtration 120cm

 

[smmers57]

thank you,you all seem very nice,well it says 900 litres per hour powerhead and 3x 39w and a 200w,check this link its the one im looking at and tell me what you think thank you in advance x Cabinet Fish Tank Aquarium 330 Litres hood / filtration 120cm

 

[Aquarium1]

well 900 liters power hour is only about 237 gph, you want to try to achieve 880gph or at least 3,300 liters per hour, so you might wanna look for another filter maybe to add in addition to the one it has (3000 liters or so per hour). 360 Euros is about 455 US dollars.

 

[Aquarium1]

Oh yeah, and that light (I think it was 3x39w wasn't it) would be perfect for a low light, low tech set up, with crypts, anubias and java ferns, etc.

 

[logansmomma1228]

holy crap 455$? That is a lot lol

 

[smmers57]

oright what filter would u suggest and its not euros its pounds which is not much more in dollars what sort of gravel should i use i was thinking sand and some big rocks but not sure

 

[Aquarium1]

It would be 100 more US dollars actually, $545. For filter, I'm not sure what you all have available in the UK. Do you have any sites you know of to order fish supplies from? With substrate, not sure if you have it there, but, Pool Filter Sand works really well. Might be located in local hardware, lawncare and pool supply stores/departments.

 

[logansmomma1228]

+1 on the pool filter sand if you can find it.

 

[smmers57]

i couldnt find any pool sand so i brought play sand which is in 1 of my 25 gallon tank and in a 40 gallon it looks quite nice but im not sure what filter they are same filters as in u.s so please help me :L

 

[Aquarium1]

Do you have any sites you know of to order fish supplies from?

? Canister filters are probably your best bet. Play sand, isn't so good since its got a bad habit of creating anaerobic gas pockets.

 

[TCool]

well 900 liters power hour is only about 237 gph, you want to try to achieve 880gph or at least 3,300 liters per hour, so you might wanna look for another filter maybe to add in addition to the one it has (3000 liters or so per hour). 360 Euros is about 455 US dollars.

Except it's not 360 Euros, it's 360 pounds, which is currently ~545 dollars. Before the financial crisis hit I'm pretty sure that would've been about $720. Looks like the dollar is still up a bit.

EDIT: LOL, didn't notice that there was a second page and someone already corrected the dollar amount. My bad.

 

[Aquarium1]

It would be 100 more US dollars actually, $545. For filter, I'm not sure what you all have available in the UK. Do you have any sites you know of to order fish supplies from? With substrate, not sure if you have it there, but, Pool Filter Sand works really well. Might be located in local hardware, lawncare and pool supply stores/departments.

She told me, and I reposted the currencies lol.

EDIT: lol np

 

[TCool]

? Canister filters are probably your best bet. Play sand, isn't so good since its got a bad habit of creating anaerobic gas pockets.

Someone recently posted an article that talked about those gas pockets. It basically said the gas isn't dangerous and it is actually nitrogen build up. The sand houses some other forms of bacteria (if deep enough) that converts the nitrate to nitrogen, and then the bubbles rise to the surface and off gas effectively denitrating your tank. I've been planning on looking into this more since I happen to have another 50lb bag of play sand sitting around, but I haven't gotten around to it yet.

EDIT: Just thought we could use another edit.

 

[BillD]

You do not need 10 times volume of the tank turned over per hour. That lighting should grow a fair number of plants; I'm growing lots with less.

 

[taylorodw]

Yep, with 117w over 88 gal you are probably into mid-light territory, if they are daylight bulbs. T5 are brighter than WPG calculates.

With those lights (if they're daylight spectrum), you will definitely have to plant the tank, or have big algae problems.