5ft Column Fish Tank (The Classic Fool)

[PeteMakstar]

Hi there, this is my first post on the site and I'm rather embaressed about what I've just done. I'll cut to the chase, I saw a 5ft Column Fishtank on Ebay with a RRP of £559 and obtained it for less than £150. I did no research.

I'm now at work, researching these aquariums and I fully realise that I am the classic fool. I feel for the tank without thinking about the welfare of the fish.

I've read that these tanks are a nightmare (and I was SO excited about this last night, you wouldn't believe). There is obviously no surface area and fish really don't like swimming vertically that much!!

Realistically what would you do? I am planning on this being a coldwater tank. I wanted to put a number of Black Moores into the tank anlong with some chubby fantail type goldfish (I sincerely apologise for the poor terminolgy, I am a n00b as you might say).

Should I give it a go or sell immediately??? I've heard that the fish will probably die very quickly due to the un natural conditions.

Does anyone in here have a column tank setup that has been sucessful???

I am utterly ashamed of myself and very angry that I didn't reasearch this more extensively.

Any advice at all would be most appreciated, thank-you.

Pete.

 

[loneranger]

Hi Mate,
Have a look here
New Cylinder Pipefish and Seahorse Tank - UltimateReef.com
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[loneranger]

Hope the links a help. Anyway, most of the issues can be got around, to a certain extent.
Surface area is important for gas exchange, you can help this along by buying a powerhead and pointing it upwards at the surface or even an airline with the diffuser just under the surface to cause aggitation.

As for fish don't like swimming up and down, not sure, but you could look for very docile fish. Not sure on varieties (more of a marine person), had you been going marine, things like blennies, gobies, hawkfish.

Goldfish probably aren't gonna work as the filter needs to be over sized. Although I suppose you could upgrade that tho, not sure but some of the fancy goldfish also look quite docile to me, so maybe a goldfish person could advise better?

I've seen similar tanks to the one in the link set-up for Anolis lizards, that looked COOL. Just an idea.
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[PeteMakstar]

Hi, oh how I wish I'd been wise enough to purchase a tank such as that.

But no, my predicament is much worse, please find attached a photo of the tank I've purchased. I'd say saltwater and tropical are definately out of the question! Even real plants are probably out of the question as.....how would you plant them?!

I am a fool.

Any advise would be greatly appreciated.

If I do stock this, I will not be overcrowding it or putting any big fish in at all.

Also, this tank does come with a powerhead and also an air pump, I assume the airstone will be weighted and it'll sink to the bottom allowing bubble to rise from the very base of the 'column'.

I fell for its impressiveness without really thinking.

Quick question, do you have to buy special cleaning magnets for acrylic aquariums? I've used magnet cleaners in the past and am worried the inside magnet may scratch the acrylic???

 

[missileman]

That look like a nightmare to try to keep clean, ie.. partial water changes and gravel vacuuming ect...

 

[fort384]

regular magnets will scratch the acrylic. Most LFS sell mqgnets made for acrylic tanks though, and that should be fine.

I am wondering how you are going to clean it?

 

[beglely]

you could always sell it again urself??? maybe turn a profit?

 

[PeteMakstar]

So I'm guessing no one here has a successful setup of a tank such as this then and most normal fishkeepers would run a mile from a tank like this..... yes??!

I could give it a go? Few docile chubby little fantails, they might love it in there!?

 

[CaptainAhab]

Yes.. The lack of lateral swimming room and surface area are just going to be a problem in the long run. I'd look at small fish and distinguish between those that like the bottom, top and middle of the water column. You might be able to squeeze a few different species in there.

$1,000,000,000 question... When one of those fishes dies and floats to the bottom, any idea on how you're getting it out? I would gather that's gonna be one monster gravel vac.

I think you're spot on though: regrettable impulse purchase.

 

[HooKooDooKu]

I would say since you've got it, have a go at it. It is a lovely piece of furniture, and I love the "plant" that is in it (I assume it's fake).

Others have already talked about how to over come the low amounts of surface space, so I believe the real question is what can you stock it with.

Some of the first things that come to mind include snails and algae eaters. Things that can clean up "that dead fish at the bottom of the tank" for you. Beyond that, I would say any physically small fish such as tettras or guppies, things that can hide in that huge plant in the tank.

If it's to be setup as a salt water tank, I'd like to see if you could produce a "kelp forest". You've got the volume of water that the tank could house many smaller sized salt water fish.

 

[meegosh]

I would strongly advise you to stay away from corys since they like a gulp of air every so often. That would be quite the trip to get a breath of air. Frogs would be out of the question too for the same reason.

My head hurts just thinking about cleaning the gravel in that thing!

 

[musicman]

5g can make a comfortable enviorment for a Betta. They are surface breathers so surface area for gas exchange isn't as important. You could even get a ghost shrimp or two to help you keep the bottom clean.

 

[asudavew]

pacu?

 

[beglely]

musicman, i believe you read the post wrong. Its 5 ft, not 5g. And I too would love to see the gravel vac for this (let alone the fish net your going to need haha)

 

[FishCrazyBenBOMB]

I can admit, it's a very cool tank and piece of furniture. Down fall is it's not at all good for fish.

I suggest you just try to resell it for some profit, if not the same price. Just invest into a better tank. I don't think it will be worth the time and effort trying to keep this tank.

 

[colematthewmalaka]

I'd sell it and get either a nice cylinder tank like the one loneranger showed us, or a nice average box tank, bowfront would be neat.

 

[SWerner13]

Have you seen that recent movie with will smith? something with the word 7 in it i can't remember. Anyway i have no idea if this is realistic or a movie thing but he had some freakin tight jellyfish in a tank just like yours lol

 

[missileman]

Another worry I would have is O2 levels at the bottom of the tank.
Gas exchange takes place at the surface so make sure you have plenty of circulation to draw the oxygenated water to the bottom.

 

[PeteMakstar]

I had a job convincing my girlfriend to let me buy this and have only just got away with it so I think I'd better set it up for a bit at least and just put a couple of coldwater fish in. If it's really that bad I'll re-sell on Ebay and am sure I'll make a profit.

Spoke to the seller last night, really nice guy. Says (don't know how true this is) that it's relatively easy to run. He says the powerhead is extremely powerful so the tank stays clean and also means any water heated at the top (by the heater) is sucked down immediately so the tank maintains a good constant temp should I want to use it for tropical fish (as did he). He mentioned that he tried the whole 3 levels thing, top feeders, bottom feeders etc. And said it worked well, some of the fish even bred in there, so can't be that bad. He found the tropical fish all hung about at the bottom of the tank.

Says he carrys out a partial water change once a week and a proper clean once a month, he has modified an algae scrubber type thing (I assume he's attached it to a pole of stick or something? That he uses to scrub the inside). I'd better give it a go, if I just have 2 or 4 small coldwater fish in there I can't see how thats cruel. They'll have lots of space, a very clean tank and bubbles too. Water circulations gotta be half decent I hope. If only for a couple of months, if all else fails I can take the fish back to the petshop and sell the tank on Ebay.

I'd love to have it full of seahorses or jellyfish or marine fish (not sure it'd be possible) but really can't afford. Just want a low maintainance coldwater tank that looks good and the fish don't die on me all the time (I've had bad luck with tropical fish in the past). I'll let you know how it's progressing...

Thanks for all the tips and advice. Really appreciate that.

I assume PACO means idiot or worse in another language???!

 

[HooKooDooKu]

...If it's really that bad I'll re-sell on Ebay and am sure I'll make a profit...

Isn't that called the bigger fool theory?

If someone wasn't willing to out-bid you on ebay right now for this item, why on earth do you think someone will later pay more that you paid for it (especailly when you consider you have to sell if for what you paid for it + what you paid in shipping just to break even).