I'm setting up a 120 gallon that will eventually hold an Oscar, a pleco, and possible some giant danios. The only fish of these I currently have is the pleco. He was a rescue who lived in a 10 gallon with essentially no water changes for 2 years and is about 5-6 inches long. I realize he may one day get too big to share the 120 with an Oscar (though I also wonder if he is stunted and may not get huge). If that happens I will gladly get a bigger tank for him. Anyway, I plan to set up an overflow that goes into a trickle filter (like this http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YZJB...maaz5-CO-M0O7MzldTzRRhn&feature=share&index=6) that sits in a smaller aquarium with a pump to take the clean water back up and into the tank. I prefer the DIY approach as much as I can to save on cost where possible. But if something is important to spend more on, I don't mind. I also like the idea of the trickle filter vs a canister filter (which I have on another tank) b/c of the ease of cleaning the mechanical media.
1) The guy at my LFS store told me with those fish I'd need about 10 times the tank in GPH, so about 1000 GPH in the pump. Does this sound right?
2) If that is correct, IS it best to have 1 pump that can do 1000 GPH, or 2 pumps that can do 500 GPH? I'm not super concerned about the cost difference as I have a long time to get this going.
3) Guy at LFS (who is pretty knowledgeable) mentioned I would need a powerhead. I didn't think to ask why. IS this to increase current in the tank? Would the current produced by the water going back into the tank not be enough?
Thank you so much, and please tell me what I can do to improve because I want these fish to be healthy! Thanks!
1) The guy at my LFS store told me with those fish I'd need about 10 times the tank in GPH, so about 1000 GPH in the pump. Does this sound right?
2) If that is correct, IS it best to have 1 pump that can do 1000 GPH, or 2 pumps that can do 500 GPH? I'm not super concerned about the cost difference as I have a long time to get this going.
3) Guy at LFS (who is pretty knowledgeable) mentioned I would need a powerhead. I didn't think to ask why. IS this to increase current in the tank? Would the current produced by the water going back into the tank not be enough?
Thank you so much, and please tell me what I can do to improve because I want these fish to be healthy! Thanks!