Just bought a 150g, starting new fishroom

[lostnight]

Picked up a used 55 with stand and accessories for cheap. The gravel was still wet, so maybe there is some beneficial bacteria still in there and in the filters. I also got a new AC110 to hook up to it. I filled it up a lot of the way with water from some of my otherr aquariums. I also have an open 30 long to handle a little if needed.

I couldn't decide on the fish I wanted from TUIC to put in my new 150, so I figured I'd get another growout tank to handle the overflow until I get the 180, which is probably a few months away. The 150 will be here this Friday.

I placed another TUIC order due here Thursday:
1 Umbee 1.25" asked for a smaller one to get a female
4 Cubans 1.25"-1.50"
1 Grammodes 2"-2.25"
3 Trimacs 1.25"

 

[ARS7]

keap us updated on pics and im very sorry for your loss. stuff like that sucks horibly

 

[lostnight]

My 150 just got here, whoo-hoo! It is in the basement in the spot I want it in. I haven't completed fixing up the basement, but I have it cleaned out, swept and mopped. I was out of action for a couple of days due to an eye injury, it hurt too much to get any work done. It feels a little better today. I meant to have painted the floor with nonskid, didn't get to it in time. I can eventually paint around it. I could see I wouldn't get that done in time, so I bought 6 2'x3' heavy duty floor mats (made for wiping your feet) to put the aquarium stand on.

I did get a quick coat of white masonary paint on most of the cement walls. Most importantly, I got it on the parts close to where the aquarium is. Eventually I plan to paint the pegboard and the rest of the walls white as well.

The rest of my fish got here yesterday. I think I've decided to put the 3 frempongis and the 4 cubans in there once it's cycled. That seems like a good mix. Maybe the umbee also, I'm hoping Jeff gave me a female like I asked for, but it's hard to tell when they're so tiny. I better get to work, there is much to do!

For now I'm going to stop working on the room, I'm going to focus on getting the aquarium up and running so I can get it cycled.

 

[Rawimpact]

Make sure to post pictures! I want to see the before and after comparisons!

 

[lostnight]

I can post a quick before pic, and a "work in progress" shot to show what I've got done so far today.

Before:

Now (in progress)

I rinsed all the gravel, put that in, put up the background, put in the two artificial logs. I'm currently scrubbing some rocks I got out of the river and putting them in there. After that I'll attach the heaters (unplugged for now of course), then I'll start filling it up with water, including some water from some of my other aquariums. Then I'll hook up the AC110, using some of the matured inserts off one of the AC110s that are on my 90. Then I'll try to figure out how to set up the fluval. That should keep me busy for a while.

I normally roll with the Natural Light, but I bought a sixpack of Mike's Hard Cranberry Lemonade since this is a special occasion for me. I'm about halfway through that, then it's back to the Natty Light. I'm got some tunes jammin, I'm having fun.

 

[lostnight]

Man, this isn't too cool. I was ready to set up the FX5. I brought the whole box upstairs to watch the DVD that came with it. The box was taped up, that had me a little worried. I opened it up, and there was very many parts. I thought to myself, with so few parts, this is going to be simple. I popped the DVD into the XBox 360, and right off the bat they showed all the parts laid out that I should have, and I had a lot missing. Son of a..........., man, it was already past 10:00 pm. Now I have to wait until tommorrow morning to go back and get another FX5, which I doubt they'll have in stock. So I guess I'll end up driving to another in their chain (Jack's Aquarium).

I did get the AC110 up and running with some matured inserts. Because I'm without the services of an FX5 for now I found my 2 Fluval 4plus submersible filters. I cleaned them out, put in fresh inserts, and put them in the 150 to help take some of the load off the AC110. I hate the space they take up in the aquarium, but the fish I'm putting in there are all under 1 1/2 inches, so there will be space galore. I might take them out once I get the FX5 set up, but maybe I'll let them run for a little while.

The lights that came with it are very nice, they even came with the LED lunar lights, sweet. I put the strip up backward because the cord is on the opposite end of my power strip. I'm going to add another power strip to that end of the aquarium.

My other cichlids gave me some assistance. I did some water changes on all my aquariums and dumped the water into the 150. So I'm using the beneficial bacteria they helped to create to kickstart the cycling of the 150. That reminds me, I better fill up my aquariums before I go to bed. Here's a pic of me in front of the new 150, up and running:

 

[cornbread_5]

looking at the first shot the look like Hemichromis elongatus and in the second shot they do really look like it . but there are almost the same fish so either way its a good look

 

[lostnight]

looking at the first shot the look like Hemichromis elongatus and in the second shot they do really look like it . but there are almost the same fish so either way its a good look

I agree, looks totally like an elongatus. But due to the fact that it''s just a baby barely over an inch, I don't think it's true colors have not been shown yet. I think Rapps got it right, although having elongatus would also be cool. At the size they're at now they probably look very similar.

I was able to swap out and get a new FX5 at the LFS. I put 1 cuban, I frempongi, and one trrmac in the 150 to help get thing started,

 

[cornbread_5]

are your frempongi aggressive , my elongatus was aggressive as hell , beating up my true red terrors even though they were smaller but i love they way hunt and pounce on prey

 

[lostnight]

Right now they are barely over an inch, too young to be super aggressive, although they have started nipping already. The ones I had before were very nasty, beating the crap out of everything. But they were in a 75 before, maybe they won't be quite as mean in a 150.