What heater/s and filter system/s would you guys recommend for this tank? I bought the starter BS from the LFS, which I'm sure comes with the bare minimum for a single goldfish to survive. What is the hot setup for filtration and heating? I see a lot of Fluval this and Eheim that, but no idea what would be good for this tank. I only have an external cartridge type filter system hanging off the back, which is noisy and gets clogged quickly. Thanks for the help.
Setup my 55 gal cichlid tank...
- Thread starter ChiPerf
- Start date
Depends on how much you want to put into it work/money wise. I have two 55s one with an xp3 and the other with an xp4. They seem to work great. I have Hydor theo heaters that are ok, but the thermostat is slightly off.
The 55 with the xp4 I'm going to change pretty soon though. I bought a glass-holes overflow I'm going to drill the tank and install to use with a 10 gallon sump. I'm also replacing the xp4 with a smaller Eheim 2213. In the sump I'm going to use 25 micron filter socks, seachem matrix biomedia, and a mag drive 7 return pump. I'm also switching to a marineland visi-therm 200 heater
Either way should do the job though.
The 55 with the xp4 I'm going to change pretty soon though. I bought a glass-holes overflow I'm going to drill the tank and install to use with a 10 gallon sump. I'm also replacing the xp4 with a smaller Eheim 2213. In the sump I'm going to use 25 micron filter socks, seachem matrix biomedia, and a mag drive 7 return pump. I'm also switching to a marineland visi-therm 200 heater
Either way should do the job though.
Thanks for the response and help. Had to do some research on your parts list as I'm new to all this now, but they all sound very similar to each other, just different brands (other than the sump idea). Would a Fluval FX5 be the bomb diggity on this tank, or total overkill? I know it's more expensive, but other than that would this be ideal for filtration and length of maintenance?
I only have an external cartridge type filter system hanging off the back, which is noisy and gets clogged quickly
Have you already got fish in the tank?
I`m kind of a cheap guy.
I would run what came with the tank while it goes through it`s cycle.
During that time, I would be looking around for what kind of filtration would work best for me.
Just because sumps and FX5 are hot filters on this forum does not mean that would work out for everybody.
Have you already got fish in the tank?
I`m kind of a cheap guy.
I would run what came with the tank while it goes through it`s cycle.
During that time, I would be looking around for what kind of filtration would work best for me.
Just because sumps and FX5 are hot filters on this forum does not mean that would work out for everybody.
Yes, I've had it for 6 months or so and cycled properly I guess. I now have 2 5" oscars, and small Midas, Flowerhorn, Convict, Red Tailed Honduran, 4 Gymnogeophagus, Jaguar, Turquoise Severum. I used to have a larger 5" tinfoil barb, which just died after my last water change, and 2 other Geophagus Juraparis that somehow disappeared last week. They are all getting along great and eating like crazy, but this morning I did a water change and they are acting weird and one died. Not sure what I did, but I would imagine the external filter is not the ideal setup for a stocked tank.
Your tank is way overstocked. There is no way to make it work with that many fish that will get too big for the tank anyways. You need more like a 300 gallon with a good sump a few large filters for that stocking. Pretty well all your fish are aggressive and will kill eachother till theirs only one fish left in a 55.
Have you checked your ammonia, nitrite, and nitrates? I'm not sure if your fish that died got killed by another or if it died from ammonia poisoning. How big is each of your fish right now?
All the fish right now are pretty small and getting along fine. The oscars are bigger, but not too big right now. I realize I am going to need a larger tank soon, which is why I've been looking for one and I will get one in the next month or two at latest. They didn't fight or even challenge each other at all for food or territory. I'm sure the tinfoil barb died from the water change, as I witnessed it happening. I've never checked any of those at all. Is there a kit or something at the LFS to pick up, or will they do it for me?
I guess if they're pretty small it should be ok for a while. Yeah I saw your other threads after I replied, so you're on the right track looking for a bigger tank. You are using a declorinator to remove the clorine from the water, right? Yeah the lfs should have what's called API freshwater master test kit for around 30 dollars to test all that. I'd check them. Your ammonia and nitrites should be zero on the test and nitrates ideally not over 40. If the nitrates are higher you need to do some extra water changes to get them down and then try and get a water changing schedule to keep them low. If the other two register you definitely need to upgrade your biofiltration right away and change water every day until they're zero.
Thanks for the help. The water is pretty foggy right now. Not sure if that's from the dead barb I just pulled out now or something else. I am gonna get an FX5 this weekend too. Can't hurt. Plus I'm gonna test that water to see what's up. If any more fish die I'm gonna be pissed.