on a budget 75g what are the absolute necessities?

[kaz]

ok I just bought the 75g stand for $151.00.

this tank is going to be a planted low medium light. the following is in the list that needs to be bought:

rena xp3 $ 110.00
hydro inline 300w heater $ 50.00
light fixture $ 110.00
eco-complete $ 22.00 per 20lbs bag
timer outlet $ 35.00
plants $ 55.00
driftwood $ 50.00
caves $ 50.00

my question is what is the absolute necessities I need to start this tanek running and transfer my current 20g fish & all to this 75g?
is it ok to just have the filter and heater? or the filter with light fixture only for now? etc. my current 20g tank never had a heater because it would always be at 72 degrees without one but I bought a few months ago a heater to keep it at 78 degrees, the point is that the fish will not die if I do not have one for the time being.

What are you opinions on must have first things to be able to start?

 

[SeymourFRESH]

hmm if your fish do fine at room temperature you can save the heater for later. otherwise i would just add an airstone on that list

 

[kaz]

hmm if your fish do fine at room temperature you can save the heater for later. otherwise i would just add an airstone on that list

what is the airstone for?

 

[quadrider5953]

if you absolutely need eco complete get it, if not get 2 bads of pool filter sand, looks nice and is cheap $5-$12 for a 50# bag, you would need 2-3 bags

You can wait on the timer if you turn the lights off manually

caves could also wait, i think, depends how you are going to set it up

HTH

Kyle

 

[SeymourFRESH]

err by airstone i meant to say air pump

 

[QTOFFER]

I would place the heater up there with the filter in terms of priority. The fish may not die at 72o, but they will surely be stressed because they are tropicals that need warmer temps. Add to that the stress of being moved, the possibility of a mini cycle.... I would definitely get the heater.

The driftwood and caves are lowest priority. Fish will survive fine without them for a while. You can even use you old decorations for the time being to help fill in the huge voids.

You can also put off adding the plants, light, and timer until you're sure the tank is cycled and stable. This will allow you to spread the cost over a longer length of time. Plants live fine in an uncycled tank, but since you're on a budget, they can be given a lower priority.

No need to rush. If it takes a few weeks, or even months to aquascape the tank to your liking, you'll just get that much more joy out of its completion. Good luck!

 

[Lonewolfblue]

Necessity #1 - Eco Complete. Once you put the fish in, you won't be able to put Eco in unless you move the fish out, as well as the filter. It gets extremely cloudy and needs time to clear, and not sure it would be good for the fish. Eco ships in liquid, and you don't rinse it. So Eco first, then the filter and heater. then you can move the fish over, and run the old filter with the new to assist in the cycling.

Here's what my tank looked like after filling with the eco complete, and I ran the water slowly on a plate so it didn't cause a lot of substrate disturbance.

 

[shawmutt]

Second on importance of the heater. Not only is it important to keep the temp of the tank higher for tropicals, it is also important to keep the temp stable, especially this time of year. You can buy a power strip and light timer for a lot less than $35.

 

[kaz]

ok so what I have understood is that I will need to get eco, filter, heater, light, driftwood, caves and finally the plants all in this order?

if so how much of eco to do 3inch back 2inch front, keep in mind I will setup no co2 low-med light plants and not a jungle either if you know what I'm saying. I was also thinking of covering it with a small layer of tahaitian moon sand. how many days or time did it take to clear, keep in mind I need to do this in the garage then emtpy most of it out to move it to the dining room and transfer everything within hours. lfs is wanting 29.99 per bag of eco, and same price for moon sand.

seymour: thanks I do own a rena airpump that I will put in the 75g. I just didnt know what an airstone is for havent did any research on what to put on the other end yet.

I thank you all for the attention and time.

 

[Lonewolfblue]

ok so what I have understood is that I will need to get eco, filter, heater, light, driftwood, caves and finally the plants all in this order?

if so how much of eco to do 3inch back 2inch front, keep in mind I will setup no co2 low-med light plants and not a jungle either if you know what I'm saying. I was also thinking of covering it with a small layer of tahaitian moon sand. how many days or time did it take to clear, keep in mind I need to do this in the garage then emtpy most of it out to move it to the dining room and transfer everything within hours. lfs is wanting 29.99 per bag of eco, and same price for moon sand.

seymour: thanks I do own a rena airpump that I will put in the 75g. I just didnt know what an airstone is for havent did any research on what to put on the other end yet.

I thank you all for the attention and time.

I would say this order:
1. eco
2. filter & heater (Since you are going with inline, easier to set it up together at the same time rather than the heater leater. Could be messy removing the hoses to cut out a section to add the inline heater in the output line.)
3. driftwood
4. caves
5. light
6. plants

You can use just the regular lights that come with the tank until you get the plants, and get the good lights just before the plants.

I'd say 2-3 inches of eco like you said will be just fine. I have mine 3-4 inches.

 

[hashbaz]

I also suggest getting the heater right away - and I personally don't like the caves in a planted tank.

You also could wait on the timer. I got a nice digital timer at walmart for $10.

It's best not to mix ecocomplete with anything else.

Aquariumplant.com is selling ecocomplete for $22 per bag including shipping! (no taxes either) Ecocomplete seems to very a bit from batch to batch. My first batch caused a lot of clouding (but not too terribly much - and cleared in a few hours) and my second batch caused absolutely zero clouding. I would just add the ecocomplete in the tank's final location.

I don't think an airstone/air-pump is needed unless your tank is overstocked.

Is it possible to wait on the filter? Kaz could move the old filter to the new tank. Same amount of fish, same amount of poop, same amount of bacteria to eat the poop, just more water - or does it not work that way? I would think the bio-filtration would be fine, even though the mechanical filtration would be short-handed.

 

[Lonewolfblue]

The only problem could be turn-over rate. If the old filter is only rated for a small tank, it won't have the thoroughput of the new filter, and ammonia could build up in a larger water volume. And with a slower rate of flow, the other end of the tank may have no flow and ammonia build-up unless you put in a powerhead to keep the water circulating through the whole tank, which would be another expense of something you don't need in the end, as the main filter will provide enough total circulation.

 

[kaz]

the tank I bought did not come with hood or lights, I just remember I need to get the glass hoods too.

 

[TwoHobbies]

Is it just me that thinks echo--and--budget don't go together.

I'm thinking sand--and--budget go together much better.

Echo for a 75g (thats a pretty nice budget)

Don't get me wrong, if I didn't have a budget, I'd have echo in mine. But I did and I don't.

 

[kaz]

ok this is the update last night I ordered six bags of eco, stand, xp3 and heater. over 400 closer to 500 small fortune I think I am opening up a fish store lol

 

[newfound77951]

In reference to the other posts that indicated an air pump.....in a planted tank, even one w/out CO2, I would think an air pump would be detrimental to the plants. A power head to move the water around on the other side from the filter would be a great idea, but I think the airstone would cause too much surface agitation for the plants.

Sorry I didn't see this thread sooner....I am on a budget too and went with an HOB filter rather than a canister....would love a canister but $22 for an Aquaclear 70 (on a 55) vs $100 ++ for a canister was a no-brainer for me. Even if you had 2 HOBs on your 75....still cheaper. Not as good, I admit, but lunch for a couple of weeks outweighed nice filter! (Starving graduate student here)

 

[kaz]

what kind of powerhead? would the one I have now on my 20g work for that ?

 

[Lonewolfblue]

the tank I bought did not come with hood or lights, I just remember I need to get the glass hoods too.

Depends on the fish you have. I have glass tops, but haven't used them after the first week, lol. Have not had jumpers yet.

 

[tropicfishman]

Don't forget your test kits if you don't have them yet. If you don't have them here's what you'll need: FW Nitrate, FW PH, FW Nitrite, FW ammonia, FW KH + GH, FW Phosphates.

You may wanna purchase some ammonia detoxifier of some kind, I prefer Kents, IT works great but smells horrible. some Clorine detoxifier and even some Tank clarifier for those times when the tank gets cloudy.

You may wanan go to walmart and pick up a few small cheap things like Filter cleaning brush's ( $3 ), an algea cleaning brush or magnet, A gravel cleaning sipon, assortment of nets, and a bottle of the spray on tank cleaner " safe and Easy " is awesome to have, you can clean the outside glass, hood, filter with it and removes anything from limebuild up to mold, really handy to have around. Thats just a few things I thought of that you may not have all together your looking at about 65 bucks, BTW if you order the test kits you can getthem alot cheaper than you can at a LFS, Thatpetplace.com has some good deals, I ordered all my test kits anda few other things for around 50 bucks including shipping, My LFS wanted 19 bucks just for the API ammonia test kit

 

[Lonewolfblue]

You may wanna purchase some ammonia detoxifier of some kind, I prefer Kents, IT works great but smells horrible. some Clorine detoxifier and even some Tank clarifier for those times when the tank gets cloudy.

The only chemicals you need IMO is a dechlorinator like prime, and then if planted tank, your ferts. No other chems should enter the tank, IMO. IME, clarifiers don't work, and if you have plants, they will take up the ammonia for you, so no need for ammonia detoxifiers. They also will starve the good bacteria of the food source to keep the tank cycled.