Hello,
I am purchasing a 180 gallon tank and have a few questions, mainly filtration questions.
The tank dimensions are 48" long 36" high and 24" wide, I prefer longer tanks but this is what I found. It comes with a stand and a light but no bulbs. They will drive 1 hr to drop it off and it will cost $500 is this a good deal? Are these tank dimensions good? I prefer longer tanks but I'm not really sure what fish prefer. I found this 150 gallon at petsmart for $800 and I'm not sure if I should just get that instead. I would really prefer a long tank but can't find any for my price range (no more than $800).
Filtration:
After some research I came to 2 conclusions:
A. The Fluval Fx5 is the best filter for this size
B. It's best to have 2 filters in case one goes out
With that in mind, the Fluval Fx5 is no longer available. I couldn't find it on their website or amazon. The Fluval Fx6 is an option but it's very expensive and capable of up to 400 gallons. Not really something I need. I was thinking a filter for around 200-250 gallons. So should I get the Fx6 or 2 other filters instead? If 2 filters what kind? I currently have a 20 gallon tank housing the fish for the 180 gallon tank (to get the cycling process started) and I have a Rena Filistar XP1 on that, which I love. But its the first canister filter I have owned so I don't really have anything to compare it to. So I was thinking an XP4 but I would rather 2 smaller filters in case one goes out. Optimally each filter capable of around 100 gallons or more. I would like to spend the least possible of course but I want a good filter not a cheap one, so I am willing to spend upwards of $300 for quality filtration. I do like to keep live plants in my tank but not nearly enough to subsidize filtration.
Heating:
What do you use for heating? What wattage and how many of them? Where the tank will be there is an ambient temperature of around 75-77 degrees rarely colder than 75. I also have an issue where the coldest my tap gets is around 80-82 degrees which is annoying because I can't really match the temperature I currently keep my tank at (77).
Fish:
The fish I currently have that I will transport to the 180 gallon are: (none of them are more than 3")
3 Bala Sharks
1 Pictus Catfish
1 Bristlenose Pleco
1 Red Tailed Shark
I want to get,
Eartheater Cichlid (aka pearl cichlid)
Brown Hoplo Catfish
More Pictus Catfish?
Maybe 2 more Bala sharks for a proper school but that would be a lot of bioload
Clown Loaches (2-5?) Again don't want a huge amount of bioload from one type of fish
Knifefish of some kind?
Would this be reasonable?
Decor:
I like a natural look, I will be using sand (normal white sand color). Driftwood, maybe some rocks. And I currently have some Anubias plants and what I believe to be a Java Moss, but I'm not sure (picture below).
The tank will be on carpet, this won't be a problem right?
If you have any suggestions feel free to let me know, thanks for the help!
I am purchasing a 180 gallon tank and have a few questions, mainly filtration questions.
The tank dimensions are 48" long 36" high and 24" wide, I prefer longer tanks but this is what I found. It comes with a stand and a light but no bulbs. They will drive 1 hr to drop it off and it will cost $500 is this a good deal? Are these tank dimensions good? I prefer longer tanks but I'm not really sure what fish prefer. I found this 150 gallon at petsmart for $800 and I'm not sure if I should just get that instead. I would really prefer a long tank but can't find any for my price range (no more than $800).
Filtration:
After some research I came to 2 conclusions:
A. The Fluval Fx5 is the best filter for this size
B. It's best to have 2 filters in case one goes out
With that in mind, the Fluval Fx5 is no longer available. I couldn't find it on their website or amazon. The Fluval Fx6 is an option but it's very expensive and capable of up to 400 gallons. Not really something I need. I was thinking a filter for around 200-250 gallons. So should I get the Fx6 or 2 other filters instead? If 2 filters what kind? I currently have a 20 gallon tank housing the fish for the 180 gallon tank (to get the cycling process started) and I have a Rena Filistar XP1 on that, which I love. But its the first canister filter I have owned so I don't really have anything to compare it to. So I was thinking an XP4 but I would rather 2 smaller filters in case one goes out. Optimally each filter capable of around 100 gallons or more. I would like to spend the least possible of course but I want a good filter not a cheap one, so I am willing to spend upwards of $300 for quality filtration. I do like to keep live plants in my tank but not nearly enough to subsidize filtration.
Heating:
What do you use for heating? What wattage and how many of them? Where the tank will be there is an ambient temperature of around 75-77 degrees rarely colder than 75. I also have an issue where the coldest my tap gets is around 80-82 degrees which is annoying because I can't really match the temperature I currently keep my tank at (77).
Fish:
The fish I currently have that I will transport to the 180 gallon are: (none of them are more than 3")
3 Bala Sharks
1 Pictus Catfish
1 Bristlenose Pleco
1 Red Tailed Shark
I want to get,
Eartheater Cichlid (aka pearl cichlid)
Brown Hoplo Catfish
More Pictus Catfish?
Maybe 2 more Bala sharks for a proper school but that would be a lot of bioload
Clown Loaches (2-5?) Again don't want a huge amount of bioload from one type of fish
Knifefish of some kind?
Would this be reasonable?
Decor:
I like a natural look, I will be using sand (normal white sand color). Driftwood, maybe some rocks. And I currently have some Anubias plants and what I believe to be a Java Moss, but I'm not sure (picture below).
The tank will be on carpet, this won't be a problem right?
If you have any suggestions feel free to let me know, thanks for the help!
