Just Purchased a Tall 80

  • We are currently upgrading MFK. thanks! -neo
C

Chris Walrod

Feeder Fish
MFK Member
Jun 4, 2006
40
0
0
Yorba Linda, Ca
Hello all,

First post here and thought it would be apropos to introduce myself.

I spend a lot of time on Porsche related forums, and since my wife and I are getting into aquariums, I thought to search for a forum such as this one. This one looks to be really active and full of great people and advice.

Anyhow, as an active diver and one who loves fish as well as all things underwater, I talked my wife into an aquarium. Truth be told, she has wanted one for some time as well:)

We spent some time at LFS, talking to several people about what to get and while doing so, trying to size-up what LFS will spend the time with us to answer questions etc. We did find a great store in Anaheim. So we placed an order for a tall 80, glass, custom height 24" stand and trypical canopy. Tank dimensions are 31.5high, 48.5 long and 13.5 deep. The aquarium and stand were ready in a weeks time. We picked up all of the stuff Saturday. Reason for this sizing was that we have a wall in our family room that, I feel, is perfect for an aquarium. Away from direct sunlight, outlet right there as well as its next to our couches so we can easily see the aquarium. Cool!!

For filtration, we ended-up with an XP3 unit. Substrate is three bags of #8 mesh sand by lapis lustre. We also purchased a bucket of Hexa Root Grow as fertilizer as we are planning for a live planted fresh water tank.

Lighting is JBJ with four tube type lights, one blue, the rest white. You'll have to excuse me as I dont know much about the lighting. We relied on the good folks at the LFS for guidance.

Anyhow, tomorrow wifey if picking-up self adhesive black vinyl for backing. Once I have that applied, I can move the tank to its final position and start adding substrate, decoration then water from our RO faucet. I know this will take a few days to fill given the slow output of our RO system. LFS staff say it is worth the wait.

Cant wait to get this tank full of water and letting the cycling begin!!

One other item to do is finish installing the wall anchors near the top of the stand as I would like to add some seismic bracing or straps. Call me paranoid:screwy:

I have a million questions to ask, but one that stands out at the moment. Water testing; is there a recommended 'kit' to use for home testing water quality?

I lied, one more question, what is the collective though on how long to cycle before adding plants and then fish? Or is it really not so much a time thing, rather when the water tests ok to do so??

Many thanks! I am thrilled that I have found a forum such as this one!!!
 
Add the fish and plants when you feel comfortable. I use Mardel test strips. Good luck! Welcome to MFK!
 
if you want quick results,
mardel quick test strips: (bit more money for strips, but almost instant results) they have 5 in 1 and also ammonia....

Freshwater master test kit: little more money up front but good for hundreds of tests, and a little more accurate. but some of the tests take up to 5 minutes to develope.

I usually have both on hand...

As for your cycling question, its all about your water paremters... depending on the water, any chemicals added, and size of tank will determine how long it takes to cycle. just test every day. when you see ammonia, or the nites jump up, keep watching, and eventually if the bacteria have a place to grow both will drop to about 0, once thats done, then add a few plants or a few fish, but just a fish at a time, the numbers will spike again, but not as badly, then in a few days should be back down to about 0 and then its time to add more..

Oh and Welcome to MFK!!!
 
Hiya Chris, welcome to MFK,
that sounds like a nice set up. One thing you will find is that you are restricted to fish that are no more than 8-9" long (except for eels and eel-like fish) but that leaves a lot of great fish.
For test kits there are 2 great sets for freshwater that are very complete, one is by Tetratest called the deluxe Laborette ($13), and the other by Aquarium Products called the Freshwater Master Test Kit ($16). Both test pH, GH,KH,ammonia,and nitrates and are liquid based rather than strips so are a bit more accurate, they come with testing kit, charts, and instructions. The cheapest place I have found for them is www.bigalsonline.com who will also send a nice product catalogue and price list. I don't blame you a bit for installing the wall anchors.
Since you are using straight RO water you will probably have to add a remineralizer such as Electro-Right by AP. Otherwise the too pure water destroys gill tissue.

There are several products to kick start a cycle, but I just use the old add and wait method.
The day you fill and condition the water in your tank start the filter(s) and heater, you can also add Biocycle or a similar product then or just squirt a baster or filter sludge from a healthy tank into the filter intake at this time (it speeds the cycle).
The day after the tank is filled you double check the temperature then add plants if you are going to, I wait a day after that to recheck the heater setting and check for hitch hikers from the plants. Then check you pH+ammonia levels, the pH should be wherever you adjusted it too and the ammonoa should be zero.
Then add a few hardy fish, for an 80g add 4-5 @ 3-4" fish, or 3-4 @ 4-5" fish. Gouramis or giant danios are great starters. Now wait a couple days and recheck the ammonia daily. it should raise a touch then start to fall back to zero. The nitrites should rise a little then they too will return to zero.
When back to zero add some more fish and repeat the wait and test and add cycle until you are stocked the way you want.
This allows you to acquire at least some fish quickly and avoids a major ammonia spike. Instead you get a series of minor spikes that won't hurt the fish while the filter bacteria grow to the needed level.
The most important thing here is to not stock to suddenly and add a bioload that will kill the fish before the filter catches up. New Tank Syndrome is caused by impatience. Also be careful not to overfeed.
I hope you find this helpful.
Good luck.
 
Thanks again for the help! Really want to ensure the water is right before adding all of the fun:)

Been reading some magazines I recently purchased, this forum and the internet in general. All have helped answer my questions.

Another question just popped-into my head..

I am setting up the plumbing for the xP3 filter. I plan to use the power head option on the water out (to the tank), but the water return (to the filter) instructions state to place the strainer about 4" off of the surface of the substrate. Since my tank is quite tall, the supplied length of hard tubing is not quite long enough to reach that recommended level. How important is it to get this within 4" of the tank bottom (surface of the substrate)?

thanks!!
 
Not really critical, the intake should not be much closer to the substrate to prevent sucking up gravel if it gets disturbed and not to much higher to prevent stratified layer near tank bottom. If worried you can always add a bit of soft tubing to the end or direct the return ( back to tank) flow so it upwells through the bottom layer of the tank.
 
I also recommend getting the AP master kit as it's more accurate than a test strip. Also, from what I read RO water is not really necessary in a planted tank set up. You'll just end up putting back essential minerals present in most tap waters that were taken out by the RO process.
 
Thanks all, again! Great info!!

One thing I forgot to add. I purchased a big bottle of jump start stuff. Essentially, I paid $12 for a bottle of fish poop!:screwy: :) :)

LFS told me to add half of the bottle the first day water is in. Another 1/4 the next day, then wait three days to add the rest. This should jump start the bio-cycle, from what I understand.

With the water testing kits, it really doesnt seem too difficult to get the water liveable. I just want to quantify water readiness. Maybe this is the engineer in me showing through??:D BTW, you can tell I am am in engineering-- because I cannot spell:) :)

Anyhow, with any luck, I may be filling the 80 up tonight!!!
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
MonsterFishKeepers.com
Top Bottom