65g angel tank (first spawning)

[zilla870]

eco-complete and mix with sand so its not so dark...is that ok.
fluval 404
heater

-----------above i am not set on----------------------
ok what would be a good hood and light so i get my 2watts per gallon

i saw a coral-life with lunar light that would do it but is their anything else out there.

any ideal would help. give them to me. i will go through them and find the most that are the same.

 

[zilla870]

fish: 2 to 4 angels, what a good non-aggressive loach and smaller 2-5"
plants:unknown at time probable some tall one like amazon sword, ozelot sword. and some mid size and what would be a good carpet plant.

i dont want alot of fish, i want 3-6" pretty, maybe a little aggressive but not fin nipper because of the angels. No discus

what about a electric yellow cichlid or peacock cichlid but plants my get pulled up
or a redtail shark?????

 

[mattrox]

fish: 2 to 4 angels, what a good non-aggressive loach and smaller 2-5"

what about a electric yellow cichlid or peacock cichlid

Water conditions not withstanding, they would be too agressive with Angels IMO.

 

[zilla870]

i guess if you go with african you have to do all african.

 

[mattrox]

You don't have to. I have seen a mbuna, hap., tangynika, Central American + Clown loach tank!!!! Npt to meantion the CAE'a that they had!

But you need to know behaviour and water prefs of the fish you have.

 

[zilla870]

thanks what about my other questions. and thanks on the fish question again

 

[SerLunchbox]

well, i personally use the 36" coralife lunar light. I have a complete 24 hour cycle on my tank with 3 timers for that light specifically.

There are other companies out there with lunar lights. i think orbit did one. They are priced about the same amount.

As for what you are not sure on, why are you not sure about it? As for a Heater i would look on eBay for a Won Brothers Pro Heat II ... I personally feel that this is one of the best heaters on the market.

Fluval users will hate me, but i am not a fan of them. I mean for their price they do a good job, but for the same price you can get a filstar XP2 or spend more cash to get an eheim. You pay the extra cash for them but it is well worth it. I would use Eheims exclusively if i had the cash for them.

 

[malkore]

Make sure the coralife has freshwater bulbs. the only coralife's I've seen with moonlights are for saltwater, so you'd have to replace the 2 actinics with 6700K...running you another $40-$60.

I've never kept angels, but I have started keeping yellow labs (labidochromis cerulae) and pseudotrophis acei - very pretty, they don't dig as much as other cichlids, and if you can find juveniles, they may grow up to get along with the rest of your fish. In my case, they are kept with tiger barbs and lemon tetra.

Biggest thing about keeping herbivorious cichlids is limiting their protein intake so they don't get the bloat and die.

 

[SerLunchbox]

Make sure the coralife has freshwater bulbs. the only coralife's I've seen with moonlights are for saltwater, so you'd have to replace the 2 actinics with 6700K...running you another $40-$60.

yes ... they are for marine tanks, yet i have the 10,000K and actinic lights still on mine and everything is thriving in my tank.

i agree about the cichlid food. Hikari cichlid food is awesome because of the amount of spirulina in it

 

[zilla870]

thanks guyz, now what about the substrate sand and eco-complete. or eco-complete with some thing else. i want the benefit of eco-complete but its so dark. and i also would like a sand substrate for this tank. i am lost. please help me. so many thing to think about when doing a new tank.

 

[Toirtis]

If you mix the Eco-complete with sand, the sand will eventually sift downwards....try something similar in gauge to the Eco-complete, but lighter in colour. As well, since you seem to be aiming for a planted-tank, why not go for a full 3 WPG?

 

[dax29]

You mentioned something about smaller loaches? I like the Botia angelicus (kubotai). They get about 4" according to the info I've seen. Mine are about 2". They are the prettiest, smaller loach I've owned. They are almost black with round and elliptical white-cream spots. I like clown loaches the best but they get to be 12". I would get 3 of them. As with anything, there are drawbacks, the aesthetic qualities of this loach are almost offset by the fact that it hides more than my other loaches did. I used to have yoyos, zebras, and clown loaches. The clowns are tops in personality. I'd consider them since it looks like you may have a 65 gallon tank. They used to eat out of my hand.

 

[zilla870]

Fluval 404 Canister Filter for my 65g. and what media should i use carbon, bio-max, or zero-carb. what about a good phosphate media for 3rd stage or something like that. i am think maybe a carbon and nh4 combine media, bio-max, and something else. dont know never done a canister so many choices.

 

[mattrox]

Do you know you need phosphate media? Dont get anything you don't absolutely need. Don't use the carbon tha comed with the unit, save it for removing medication. Just forget about zeo-carb. Chemically removing ammonia defeats the purpose of a heavily populated biofilter.

I use ceramic noodles first, then floss weighted down by ceramic noodles. I wet floss first before putting it in the the basket. then in the top two I use biomax. I change the floss every couple months as needed. I also put a sponge from a rena internal power filter around the intake as a prefilter. Lots of places for mechanical filtration and more then enough room for good bacteria.

Fluval recommends that you throw out biomax when it gets clogged saying that the pores are full and area for bacteria is reduced...... Just a hint, when the biomax gets that way, take 1 basket out and dump it in a 10% bleach solution. That will clean out the media. You can rinse and then add dechlorinator ( I usually dry it in the sun instead, usually meaning the one and only time I have done that). This will save you money and you would only need to replace it completely if it began to crumble.

 

[zilla870]

what is floss for? is it a media for bacteria growth or something else.

 

[mattrox]

what is floss for? is it a media for bacteria growth or something else.

Yes bacteria grow on it, but its main function to th stop fine particles. I always get brown gunk building up on it. It helps to stop all this building up on the bio mas and on the pipes and being circulated into the tank.

 

[zilla870]

so A spot i put floss, b spot whatever and c spot bio-max. ok, thanks.

ok now what current this thing puts out with it be to much for angel or can you adjust it.

 

[mattrox]

You can lift the "aqua-stop" lever upto half way up to slow flow. If flow rate is a bother, 304 will do nicely too.

In a 404 I would do a) ceramic noodles, b) Floss, c) whaterver (even empty to put in peat if you want that, carbon when it is needed etc) d) Biomax

In a 304 a) ceramic noodles, b) Floss, c) Biomax

If you want to go with wild angels, or Altum Angels and a SA biotope I would recomend the 404 and use peat. For commercially available angels the 304 should be good, no peat needed.

 

[zilla870]

what is the peat for in the 404

 

[mattrox]

To get soft acid water if you need it.