Earth Eater questions

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Amaroq

Amaroq

Candiru
MFK Member
Jul 1, 2007
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In The Little Town Of Bedrock!
Hey there so I'm hopefully going to be picking up fairly large tank soon (tomorrow! :grinyes: ) The dimensions are 96"x18"x15" (LxWxH) which works out to be roughly 112 gallons. I'll also be picking up an 6' tank to use as a sump :headbang2

So now for the questions, I've been thinking of doing a Eather eater tank for a while now and I think this might be the perfect time. Would this be a good tank for Earth eaters? If so is there a any specific ones that would not be small enough for this tank for life? I would also love it if I could have a bunch of tetras in there with the EEs just so I could add a little movement to the tank. I really like the look of red heads but I'm not sure is there more then one kind? (of red heads) Basically I love the look of Jape's 75 gallon biotope and I'd like to base it off something along those lines.

Now questions towards the tank. What kind of turnover rate are we looking at here? 5x because they're not really messy? I still have to pick up the pump so any suggestions on a quiet pump? (Its gonna be in my bedroom) What about sand? Is any pool filter sand alright? I was thinking of doing a white silica sand subsrate. How deep? Also heating, how many watts would I need? 300W?

This is gonna be my biggest tank so I wanna make this baby look thunder *****in! :D
 
Good length but not exactly an ideal width. Definitely sufficient but will impact total numbers. For filtration I personally run 2.5 Turnovers/hour through a high capacity sump. Pool Filter Sand is sufficient but I find the fish enjoy Play Sand (super fine) much more. 1.5" depth is plenty. 4W/G for heating (1W/Litre) for most heating. 300W Jager will do your tank.

Basically any Eartheater will fit comfortably in that setup, but if you want them to have plenty of room you could minus the 12" species like altifrons because of the width. Geophagus brasiliensis is a definite avoid if you're wanting a peaceful community setup. Could fit a fantastic shoal of Orange Heads though.

What's your tap water parameters like? pH/gH/kH or TDS/Conductivity?
 
I believe my pH is 7.5 or something around there. I was gonna add peat moss or Indian almond leaves to the sump to try and lower my pH would that lower anything else? I'm not sure what my gH, kH, or conductivity is. Are they vital to know? Also are there any methods to test these without going out and buying a test kit?

Well its official I'll be picking up the 8' tank, 6' sump and light fixture tomorrow!
 
Alright, I'll try to pick up a gH and kH liquid test soon. I'm not in a rush as of just yet because sadly the tank won't be able to be set up for at least a month.

I asked simply because to be honest I don't know what either of them stand for ???
 
a 6ft sump will provide plenty of filtration if not way overkill. what do you plan on putting inside of it as far as filtration. you'll prolly wanter to consider 2 returns or a few powerheads to keep water moving on the opposite end of the tank being that its so long. japes pretty much nailed everything as far as sand and what not. you dont want to go crazy low on pH, just try and focus on keeping the pH consistent


what kind of geos do you have available or were you planning on shipping from a vendor? i'd personally go with a group of G. dicrozosters or S. daemon then a small group of festivus
 
Amaroq;4304209; said:
Alright, I'll try to pick up a gH and kH liquid test soon. I'm not in a rush as of just yet because sadly the tank won't be able to be set up for at least a month.

I asked simply because to be honest I don't know what either of them stand for ???
Click to expand...

Simply put:
GH = general hardness (dissolved calcium & magnesium etc..)
KH = karbonate hardness (the buffer for pH)

PH is really only an indicator of overall hardness. If your overall hardness readings are high, you can add all the peat you want and your PH will not drop at all.

Think of it like this:
knowing your PH is like saying you have a "green muscle car".
Knowing your gh/kh is like saying you have a 1970 'sublime green' Plymouth HEMI 'Cuda with a pistol grip shift. << more accurate a detailed measurement.

SA cichlids do not do well in hard water. They will survive in most cases are far more likely to develop HITH/HLLE among other issues (poor color, infrequent or non-existent breeding). This is purely my opinion, but I believe that SA's kept in hard water especially wild caught fish (F0) expel a lot of energy to adapt/maintain that could have used for growth, color etc.. Like Sean said, a consitent PH is very important, just try and plan your stock around your water chemistry. The above can be expanded on quite a bit because it a large topic but that covers the basic understanding, hope that answers your question. ;)

EDIT Japes beat me lol, with a link too. :(
 
Alright thanks everyone :)

HiImSean;4304228; said:
what kind of geos do you have available or were you planning on shipping from a vendor? i'd personally go with a group of G. dicrozosters or S. daemon then a small group of festivus
Click to expand...

To be honest my area in Canada has a pretty poor selection of fish so I would have to make a special order from either Jeff Rapps (gotta love group orders! haha) or Spencer Jack.

japes;4304481; said:
I think G. dicrozoster would be the better choice as he is an Eartheater beginner.
Click to expand...

Is there really such a large difference in how hardy the fish are?

HiImSean;4304228; said:
a 6ft sump will provide plenty of filtration if not way overkill. what do you plan on putting inside of it as far as filtration. you'll prolly wanter to consider 2 returns or a few powerheads to keep water moving on the opposite end of the tank being that its so long.
Click to expand...

Yes, I realized a 6' sump is way over kill but the guy who was using it before had it set up as a salt water tank, so that would explain the huge sump. I was thinking a micron sock or two, then bio (Ehiasubstrat pro... think its spelled similar to that, then polisher and my pump. I would be putting my heater in there though. The tank is actually a coast to coast to I guess that means water is sucked in on both sides then returned in the middle? I was planning on adding some powerheads though to add some movement.
 
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