SA/CA Cichlid stocking advice.
- Thread starter Aquamaniac96
- Start date
That's actually a real smart idea! Kinda like a refugium almost. I'm looking online and it seems a 30 gallon sump runs a little over $300 so it costs almost the same as a fluval fx6. But most say reef sump so I'm not sure if that makes a difference. If I got a sump would I need a powerhead? Or something to increase the water flow? Idk if sumps are on the same level of a canister as far as that goes. Or is the pump for the sump what does the water flow?
Nah man just buy a tank and use that as a sump. I'd go with a 55 gal you can place it in the stand before you set the tank on it. Much cheaper but it really depends on what you wanna do. With the help of other members i figured out what I wanted out of my sump... clean clear water, great bio and ease of maintenance (maintenance was 1st priority i have back issues)
At first i thought i needed baffels and different chambers in the end i opted for an easy to maintain open concept. Filter socks no baffles just bio media and the pump. Waters crystal clear, never register ammonia and best of all all i do is change socks.
There are soo many options i can post my sump but thats only gonna show you one method. Best for you to spend allot of time in that section. Learn about the herbie and bean animal methods. Next tank os gonna be done right, pre srilled with a herbie set up.
Oh yeah reason why i say get a 55 or as big as you can fit is it makes maintenance allot easier. My sumps are small 30 gal for a 150 display and 20 gal for a 75 display if both were bigger it would be easier to work in them
Yeah I'd like to do a simple type of sump if I can. I wanna try getting something that's easy maintenance, but not too intensive. My home isn't permanent so I don't necessarily want something that would be hard to take apart and move. I'll be in this house for a few years probably but definitely not permanently. I'll check out a Herbie setup. I actually do have my original 55 gallon in storage at my dad's friend's house. I'm not sure if he is using it though. My only issue would be the stand the 125 comes with doesn't have a space big enough for a 55. I would have to probably go with the predrilled 125 and build a custom stand.
I dont know about the stand. Im sure the guys in the filter section can figure out how best.to proceed. If you can order a stand that is a little higher makes it easier for you when cleaning and setting up the plumbing.
Are you gonna get it from a bog box like petco or an lfs ? My stand is made by R&J (purchased through my lfs) you can order taller stands.
Lets further muddy the waters lol can you gonlarger than 125 ? I was pricing acrylic and glass tank 300 + gals and was shocked that acrylic is actually cheaper.
Price out different size tanks from your lfs then price out some tanks from acrylic tank builders midwestcustoms, truvu, and fishtanksdirect seem to be the most used by other members. They can do whatever you want.
Unfortunately unless I got a taller tank, a 6' 125 is about the best I can fit. I live in a super tiny house, that is old I might add. Only the living room is actually planted on the ground. I live in Louisiana so the rest of the house is raised off the ground. Also I don't make a whole lot of money. Only about $300 a week if I'm lucky, most times less. It would take forever even though acrylic is less expensive. Also the worst part is I don't have a LFS in my tiny little town. And there's really one ortwo reliable ones in the state that I've been to, but that would be like an hour and half drive, which I guess isn't too bad but still can't say that's local haha. My closest LFS is probably 30-45 minutes away, which is about the same for petsmart/Petco.
I don't know if the one they had was actually for sale or was a display set but it wasn't in the box when I checked it out in person. It wasn't tall enough for sure. Only 30" I think. And the cabinet was just big enough for a fluval fx6. They even had a few boxes of the fluval placed next to the aquarium.
Oh yeah, that's probably the perfect setup for my house. My response was in regards to the fact I don't think I could go much larger than 125. I'm actually doing this project as a birthday present to myself. I'll be 20 in July so I figured I'd do something special for myself haha.
