Hello Folks,
I'm a newcomer to MFK, not new in the hobby having kept African Cichlids for about 25 years, but I have been out of the hobby for the last 20 years.
Got back into it on a fluke, my son works for a foreclosure cleanout company and came across a 45g tall tank at one of their jobs, so of course he grabbed it and gave it to me for my home office. I decided to set it up as a planted discus display.
Last Saturday I picked up my initial stock of discus from a local breeder. During my visit he informed me he was getting out of the business. He knew I wasn't interested in his breeding setups, but he had a 210g glass tank with stand and a 55g sump filter (no pump) that he was looking to sell. The price was right ($500 for the entire thing), so I picked it up. The history of this tank was a salt setup, my breeder got it used and never got it set up.
Now for my questions:
I'm a newcomer to MFK, not new in the hobby having kept African Cichlids for about 25 years, but I have been out of the hobby for the last 20 years.
Got back into it on a fluke, my son works for a foreclosure cleanout company and came across a 45g tall tank at one of their jobs, so of course he grabbed it and gave it to me for my home office. I decided to set it up as a planted discus display.
Last Saturday I picked up my initial stock of discus from a local breeder. During my visit he informed me he was getting out of the business. He knew I wasn't interested in his breeding setups, but he had a 210g glass tank with stand and a 55g sump filter (no pump) that he was looking to sell. The price was right ($500 for the entire thing), so I picked it up. The history of this tank was a salt setup, my breeder got it used and never got it set up.
Now for my questions:
- What is the best way to clean this tank and sump in preparation to make it an Amazon biotope? I plan to replace all the plumbing rather than try to clean the salt out of it.
- Pump recommendations (external) - I'd like to get a 10x (discus love their clean water) turnover/hr at what I figure will be about 8 feet total head ( 5ft height difference and another 3 for the plumbing, plan to use 3/4" black vinyl tubing with associated barb fittings to feed 4 returns). Fairly quiet, it will be under the stairwell next to my office, with a 1" inlet and 3/4" outlet (like to keep the outlet plumbing at 3/4" due to a CO2 reactor at that size).
- A little off subject - My LFS doesn't carry a wide variety of frozen foods. I found a wholesaler in Chicago that has a good variety. I'd like to pick up beefheart, bloodworms, spirulina brine and daphnia, partially thaw them (never getting above 45F), mix them together and then re-freeze. Any thoughts?
