New 125 Gallon!

[rhetor]

Once i finished building the stand for my new 125gallon tank, I got to work real quick at setting her up!

Filled it up with filtered water (we have a home filtration system that is way overkill) and stabalized the ph. I also took one of the power filters from the old 55 gallon (which has bacteria beds) and put it in the new 125 gallon to build up some bacteria, and tossed the trusty old goldfish in there.

The tank is needed to house my Pacu, who is about 17-18" long. He really is like the family pet, eats out of your hand and loves table scraps. He comes to the top and lets you pet him!

Anyhow, right now i have 3 ugly looking powerfilters sitting on the tank and a Powerhead to get some current in the tank. This set up is simply to ugly and a bit noisy.

I would like to buy a canister filter but i'm a bit confused by the price range. It needs to be able to support 125 gallons, and hopefully be pretty cheap without losing functionality. I really like the idea of an attachable bio wheel set up that i saw.

What would you guys recomend? I'd also like to put some plants in the tank, the Pacu doens't seem to like veggies very much at all so i'm not too worried about him munching down on them. Whats the best gravel to use for plants?

Once the tank is all set up, i'll post some pics for you guys.

Thanks in advance.

 

[BrianNY]

What an interesting set-up rhetor . If you want to eventually get rid of the HOB filters, then you'll need 2 cannisters for that size tank. Especially with fish as messy as a pacu. Bigalsonline has the best price. I like fluval, but others here have there preferences. SUggest a Fluval 404 to start.

Get medium size gravel for your tank. You don't want anything so large that it can trap uneaten food.

 

[rhetor]

Thanks for the advice Brian.

I was looking at the Magnum 350 set ups, they seem to be full of features, and i've found a number of very low priced webpages that stock them.

Obviously i'm not too keen on spending a real lot of money, especially since i have already invested in the old HOB filters. They are old, but they still work fine and its a shame to let them sit unused :?

It's all worth it, though. This Pacu really is an amazing creature. He outgrew his 55 gallon, actually i bought him at way too big for a 55gallon, and finally worked up enough cash to get him the 125. He seems happy.

He absolutely loves to chew on dog food. He also seemed to like human fingers. He latched onto my finger mistaking it for food, and i had to drag him across the tank by that finger untill he let go. Hopefully a bit of blood isn't poisenous to him

Any how, I'd like to hook up my powerhead to a biowheel and put an intake screen on it. I had it set up to an undergravel in the old 55gallon, and it really made a mess under the gravel.

Can i get by with a single 350gph canister filter? Maybe i can leave on one of the HOB filters, the newer one. I beleive its rated at 280gph, it supports up to a 60gallon tank. The power head will also be going.

What do you guys think?

 

[harleychick]

I think .... no, you can't get by on a single 350 gph canister filter. With a messy fish, or any fish for that matter, it's way better to have too much filtration than not enough. You could get by with what you have, but bigalsonline is really pretty cheap. Another big canister filter would make your life sooooo much easier and probably make your fish happier too. Do yourself a big favor and save up for it.

 

[rhetor]

I spoke with the owner of the LFS, he is unfortunately going out of business, but he has a setup using a seperate in line pump.

I did some research into the inline pumps, and found i could get a 700gph pump for about $90, This looks like the route i will take. I would love to have as much filtration as possible without blowing these fish around. The pump would probably run at about 500gph with the filters set up and including the verticle rise of the tubing.