A little advise for a noob

[TheNewGuy]

Hello all I'm brand new to the world of aquarims. a friend of mine had a tank he got sick of moving around so he gave it to me. The tank is a 135g and it's not perfect, there's a small chip in the glass and the molding that's on top isn't in perfect condition. I tested it the other night by filling it with water and and letting it sit over night. No leaks No broken glass so I guess I'm in good shape. anyway I guess I should ask a question sometime soon. I just bought a tetratec ap150 a magnum 350 pro and a rena excel 300 watt heater. now on to the question can anyone recomend and thing else that I might need to pick up? I plan on getting a testing kit as soon I finish building the stand but other than that I'm pretty new to this so I figured I'd find a good forum and start asking questions...

Thanks for the help,

Dan

btw... first post

 

[reberly]

Make sure you know what you're doing with that DIY stand. Freshwater weighs 8-9 pounds per gallon so that stand has to be able to hold at least 1200 pounds plus the weight of gravel or sand. I'll let others answer the question about what else you need, I've never owned a tank that large.

Ryan

 

[loganj]

Sounds like you're off to a good start equipment wise. Please go to this link and read the two articles on freshwater...I think that might help to start with. You'll need those test kits before you start the tank. What kind of fish do you want to keep? You said you got the Magnum Pro...that came with two bio wheels...right?

 

[TheNewGuy]

Make sure you know what you're doing with that DIY stand. Freshwater weighs 8-9 pounds per gallon so that stand has to be able to hold at least 1200 pounds plus the weight of gravel or sand. I'll let others answer the question about what else you need, I've never owned a tank that large.

Ryan

The tank stand is a manufactured steel one, my dad and I are just making a few mods to improve stability. My dad has been a structural welder for about 25 years so I hope he knows what he's doing

Sounds like you're off to a good start equipment wise. Please go to this link and read the two articles on freshwater...I think that might help to start with. You'll need those test kits before you start the tank. What kind of fish do you want to keep? You said you got the Magnum Pro...that came with two bio wheels...right?

yeah it has 2 bio wheels

magnum 350 pro

 

[TheNewGuy]

I forgot to add that I don't know what kind of fish I want to do. I know at this point I'm going to stay away from marine. is there a place I can see a list of different types and compatible fish. I have quite a bit of room and I really want to have a few schools of fish.

 

[reberly]

Yep, check out http://www.liveaquaria.com
They have a very nice site.

Ryan

 

[loganj]

Different fish have different water requirements so you'll want to research each type of fish you want to keep and make sure they are compatible. Also, in most cases, big fish will eat little fish...so that kinda precludes keeping oscars with neons or anything like that. You might want to find out what the hardness and pH of your tap water is. If it's soft and acidic, you would want to look into fish that come from that type environment. If it's hard and alkaline, then the african cichlids might be the way to go. Changing the pH and hardness can be done, but it's best to avoid it if you can. Most fish can adapt to a range slightly outside their natural habitat. Fish from soft acidic water will adapt to neutral water in most cases. I think the live aquaria site gives this info on the fish they sell. One other piece of equipment you might want to look into is a Python water changer. Lee makes a good one also. This has a faucet pump that allows you to use your faucet to pull water out of the tank and add fresh water back in while doing water changes. It's far superior to the hose and bucket routine...especially with a large tank.

 

[hisc1ay]

I don't really have any words of wisdom, but I do have some of encouragement. I'm glad to see that you want to take on such a cool thing, and with such a large tank, you can get some really cool stuff going. It's awesome that even in your first post you already have an idea of what you're getting yourself into and not just blindly jumping in (like I did). Good luck! Be sure to post pictures of your setup once you get going.

-j

 

[TheNewGuy]

Thanks for the link to liveaquaria.com they have lots of great information on all kinds of fish. If all goes well I'll probably do a switch over to brackish or marine in the next couple of years. thanks for all the help I'll post some pics once I get everything setup. I have a nice sony digicam so the pics should turn out really well.