150g tank build

[Mr.Pleco]

Can't say enough about Craigslist. Bought a 180g and stand for $300 (ended up shattering while taking off sawhorses )
Few weeks ago I settled for a 150g dual overflow with sump, lights, stand and canopy for $550. Made sure to get this one in my room in one piece. After intense cleaning and hours at Home Depot planning the sump plumbing it is up and running.....until the pump died.
New pump comes tomorrow, then it's time to start planning.

Going with a 48in driftwood centerpiece
Sand (Still up in the air about what kind)
Plants (Have 2 2strip Coralife fixtures. 10k and T8 bulbs)
Fish (Most likely transferring my semi-agg to the 150g)

I'll put some pics up if you guys want.
If you know of good sand/small gravel that can be vacuumed and looks nice, let me know!

 

[Mr.Pleco]

After intense cleaning it still looks dirty...

After the water cleared...running Fluval 405

Sump plumbing. Little Giant pump

Still trying to waterlog driftwood...been soaking in the bathtub for over a month

I'll get better pictures as more happens. Let me know what you guys think!

 

[siva]

Sweet tank!

 

[Mr.Pleco]

Thanks Erin. Once I figure out substrate it'll get going pretty quick. I was going to order from Red Flint but the shipping was 10x more than the sand/gravel. I have play sand in my 50g which'll have cichlids soon and it looks nice with the gravel but it can't be vacuumed which I don't like.

 

[Fishkeeper26]

Pool filter sand?

 

[Mr.Pleco]

Pool filter sand?

I bought pfs originally from HDP but I hated the color. I have to check Pinch A Penny and Leslie's here in town and see what color their sand is.
And that's what I wanted to get from Red Flint but to have it shipped is crazy since they aren't close to Florida.

 

[Fishkeeper26]

Oh ok. I know some people use black diamond blasting sand

 

[CleverBs]

Oh ok. I know some people use black diamond blasting sand

do note that when using diamond blasting sand its not suggested to have fish in the tank that do any kind of sifting through the sand because it is very sharp and will damage the fishes gills. If you plan on putting cichlids in there Id say dont use blasting sand, I know people do it and its "fine" but if you can I would avoid hurting the gills of fish even if it doesnt kill them.

 

[Mr.Pleco]

Oh I'm not. Cichlids are going in my 50g with play sand. It's been running for a few months so it's good to go.
And yeah diamond is abrasive so wouldn't go there anyway just to be safe.
The 150 will most likely be all semi-agg and planted as well.

 

[Mr.Pleco]

do note that when using diamond blasting sand its not suggested to have fish in the tank that do any kind of sifting through the sand because it is very sharp and will damage the fishes gills. If you plan on putting cichlids in there Id say dont use blasting sand, I know people do it and its "fine" but if you can I would avoid hurting the gills of fish even if it doesnt kill them.

wow I saw your planted tank. That looks really nice. That's what I'm going for. What kind of lighting and co2 do you have running?

 

[Mr.Pleco]

After some research it looks like I'm going to go pick up some CaribSea® FloraMax™ Planted Aquarium Substrate at PetSmart. I try to avoid buying gravel and sand from chains as much as possible because it is so overpriced but it wasn't any cheaper on Amazon which is where I've built my tank from so far. Gotta love AmazonPrime trial.

Not sure how many bags to buy...150g tank...
original is 15lbs
midnight is 12lbs
I don't trust a lot of these 1in per gal rules or whatever they are. Half of the time it's not enough or way too much. So I think I'll go with 6 bags to start and see how that looks.

 

[siva]

Uh..I'm not sure. I can tell you the dimensions of my 55 are about 48 x 13 and I used about 75lbs..if that helps.

 

[Mr.Pleco]

PUMP IS HERE!! About to take the old one out and put the new one in.
Also, picked up a bag of flora max...PetSmart only had 1 bag so I'll get more on my way home from class at the other PetSmart.

It says it can be mixed with gravel so I'm sure I won't use all flora max to scape with....to save money

 

[maxwellag]

I bought pfs originally from HDP but I hated the color. I have to check Pinch A Penny and Leslie's here in town and see what color their sand is.
And that's what I wanted to get from Red Flint but to have it shipped is crazy since they aren't close to Florida.

I have pfs from Leslie's and this is what it looks like:

View attachment 61299

 

[Mr.Pleco]

I have pfs from Leslie's and this is what it looks like:

View attachment 61299

Thanks for the picture! Is it easy to vacuum without sucking it all up?

And I bought Flora Max for the plants which is a darker brown/red looks like, so I might just get more gravel and mix it.

 

[maxwellag]

Thanks for the picture! Is it easy to vacuum without sucking it all up?

And I bought Flora Max for the plants which is a darker brown/red looks like, so I might just get more gravel and mix it.

It is course enough to not get sucked up... (and I have an aqueon water changer) it tumbles around a lot though

 

[Mr.Pleco]

It is course enough to not get sucked up... (and I have an aqueon water changer) it tumbles around a lot though

I have a siphon hose with the head on it and an Eheim battery powered gravel vac. The gravel vac straight sucked up the sand so I didn't attempt to vacuum my 50g anymore (I stopped before I could see if it would go up through the filter...didn't want to risk breaking it).

So really if I do Flora Max and gravel in the 150g then I'll just use sand in my 10g that I'm redoing with shrimp after I move the goldfish and corries, so I won't be worried about vacuuming that since it won't get messy.

 

[Togliat]

You might need more than six 15lb bags.
I used 150lbs silicate sand #20 in my 155g tank....
But I have it 2-4 inches deep for plants.

 

[Mr.Pleco]

Oh for sure. I'm going to have to mix something with the Flora Max...I just don't want to do 2-4 inches for the whole tank of it (I'll go broke).

And since the Flora Max is reddish/brown I'll need to find sand or gravel that would look good with it.

 

[TheFishBoss97]

nice start

looks awesome

a series of giant anubias on that branch part sticking out of that DW would look sick