EB's 180 setup.

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B

Bercume3

Exodon
MFK Member
Aug 16, 2015
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Hey MFK. I finally purchased my first big tank! 180 gallons. Im stocking it with my school of clown loaches ranging from 2'' to 6''. So I have a few questions for y'all.

Pool filter sand or bare bottom? (concerned with vacuuming up all the sand during maintenance)

Tank mates for the middle of the water column? I was thinking some widebar Silver Dollars and maybe a semi- aggressive cichlid or two. (green terror, severums, geophagus' or something along those lines)

Aquascaping ideas? I was envisioning one large piece of driftwood with a few species of anubias.

Any predatory catfish that I could keep?

I would really like to consider some rare species of fish to keep.

I would love to hear your comment, concerns, and overall experience with 180's.

Please feel free to post some pictures of your setups. I will update this thread, throughout the setup of the tank.
 
Def Leppard Hysteria said:
I'm a big pool filter sand fan. Most of the waste stays on top of the sand.
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+1
I used to keep about a 3" layer, but nowadays, I only do about 1/2" layer. I find the maintenance easier and I don't have to worry about any chances of anaerobic conditions developing under any undisturbed areas.
 
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Sand is the way to go. I would be careful with putting most mid sized cats with those small loaches. Raphael cats are one that should work...i never see mine though so keep that in mind.

Congrats on the new tank
 
I will be using 50lb bags of pool filter sand from home depot, would you recommend two or three 50lb bags to cover the tank?
 
Bercume3 said:
I will be using 50lb bags of pool filter sand from home depot, would you recommend two or three 50lb bags to cover the tank?
Click to expand...

Around 75lbs will give you a nice thin layer and have some extra if you want a bit more. I would grab 2 bags.
 
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As you can see, I have a lot of work to do. Have to clean the algae, plug the over flows and start cycling the tank. My next question is... how important are the top plastic supports. One is cracked and I was wondering if I could just super glue it back. How much structural integrity do they actually give the tank??

IMG_1458.jpg
 
Im not sure on numbers, but the cross braces on top is a lot more important than u would think. Not sure how easily its replaced or repaired, but a ghetto fix would be a clamp going acorss the top on top of the brace
 
I believe I'm going to order a new top and replace it. Now I'm really struggling on tank mates for my clown loach school.
 
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