Buying first LARGE tank for 2nd floor apartment would a 150-gallon be safe?

[Damon0306]

Thanks for all the nice comments guys...

Still not 100% dead set on KOI, but I will have to see.. Maybe some wakins? After all there red/white and look almost like koi..

Yes it was very heavy, and it killed me getting it up the stairs, had just one other friend helping me. Brought it up the stairs during that 4-day heatwave with temps 100 degrees outside. Guess thats the nice thing about Acrylic tanks, but they cost so much more $$$.

I have the heaters un-plugged, just been so hot last few days.

The light is the CoralLife light with the built in moon leds.

Even if it crashed downstairs, I don't think it would work out with the girl downstairs, she is single divorced, not bad at all and only a couple years older then me, all seemed well, untill the day she smiled and my mouth dropped.

I hate to be rude, but how a person, that keeps herself up in everway, and looks really nice, can let there teeth rot out of there head is beyond me

 

[redturq]

Sorry forgot the pics! Here are 2 quick shots of the tank.

Running 3 Eheim 2078e's, 3 AquaClear 70 Powerheads, and 3 250-watt Stealth Heaters.

Remove the heaters and replace them with 6 more Eheim 2078 and 6 AC 70 totaling 18 filters then buy a fancy guppy from Petco. You should be set.

Seriously why so many filters?

 

[mackattack702]

nice tank and your were'nt kidding on having lots of filtration. I would have been worried about that much weight. I was going to get a 75 gallon glass but I settled on a 60 because of the size and weight. Glad it all worked out for you.

 

[ITHURTZ]

a 75 you could put anywhere and have no issues. If you ever did your building should be knocked down. I had a 55 gallon on 1 joist for 2 years with no ill effects.

 

[Damon0306]

The tank is still slightly cloudy, with a bit of foam on the top of the water, but the foam is not nearly as bad as it was. It has been a long time since I started a new tank, because like I said I was doing the pond thing for the past 7 years..

Today, and tommorow my trusted Garden Center is getting new shipments of baby koi.

I really want to get some fish in the tank already.

The water that has been in the tank for the past 10 days is straight TAP water. I did not add a dechlorinator at startup and wondering if that is why its taking the tank so long to cycle.

On all my smaller tanks 45 gallons and less, I always added the dechlorinator at startup, then my usual routine was to pop fish in the tank, do daily 50% water changes with dechlorinator until the filter would build its bacteria and then I could slow down on the daily water changes.

Going to pickup a test kit this morning, going to test all water parameters.

If there not perfect, going to do a 50% water change with Prime, and re-test.

I need to get some fish in the tank already!

 

[Damon0306]

Long time since I updated the thread for anyone following it..

Tried out 3 NICE KOI and like a lot of people said, it didnt work out well at all.

I picked up 3 Kohaku Koi that were in the 7-8 inch range..

The fish were so stressed I guess from never being in a aquarium they constantly scraped themselves on the aquarium powerheads, filter intakes, just ripped the crap out of themselves..

Finrot set in on one, one stopped feeding, the 3rd also had finrot.

Treated with PimaFix, Melafix combo, but I knew after about 1 week these fish were very unhappy..

Did lots of water changes tried everthing, but finally in the end I knew I was out $560.00 for the 3 fish.

I begged the Garden Center to take them into there hospital tank room, keep them treat them, and I dont want my money back..

Yes I was sick that I was out the $, but I knew there was no way these KOI already 7-8 inch were going to adapt to aquarium life, nor was I going to save any of them in my 150G tank no matter how much water I changed.

They just acted so wild and were stressed big time.

ROUND 2!! Picked up some baby Wakin Goldfish that are colored just like larger Kohaku koi. They call them the "poor man's KOI in Japan"

Very popular and cheap in Japan, there like Japan's version of the common red/white pond comets we have here in the US.

They seem to be doing quite well so far, but it has only been 2-days.

Checking water parameters like every 5 hours but I just can't stand to have anything go wrong with these cute little guys..

Could not get pictures because they swim so fast and all the pics come out crappy, but I did shoot 2, 30-sec videos of them, both videos are on youtube here are the links if your interested.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4fBL2QEgqXQ

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ohj0T9hHZMA

 

[ITHURTZ]

Great looking fish, I wouldnt mind a few myself, but 10?!!!! 10 feet of fish in a 150gal is imo beyond stocked when they get older. I have 15 fish in my 6x2x2 and only half are over 7" and its not exactly rooming in a big lake. When my cats take off its only going to get worse. Id stick with maybe 5 at most, give them their space to enjoy without passing everyone all the time

 

[12 Volt Man]

nice tank, and nice fish, but be careful.

if you are going to cycle your tank with fish in it, you have way too many messy goldfish in there to start with.

the bioload is too much because your bacteria levels need time to build up, which generally tanks 36-40 days or so on average.

keep watching that water and do those changes.

you run the risk of having the same thing happen to the GF.

good luck and keep us updated

 

[Damon0306]

Thanks for the info, I used this bacteria stuff THIS time around at startup.

It a refrigerated product from http://www.drtimsaquatics.com/ This was my first time using it, a bit exspensive, plus overnight shipping to keep it cold, but I dosed the entire tank with it, started doing 50% water changes 48hrs after dosing (50% daily) now.

Nitrites and ammonia still reading 0ppm.. Keeping my fingers crossed... Hoping my filter setup with 3 Eheim's and 3 powerheads keeps me going.

Here is one more video, but this is at night with Moon LEDS on.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ejLxFbAm0ho

 

[12 Volt Man]

that lighting system is awesome