Tank Set up Advise

[mastatee]

Hi,

I just bought a used 120g fish tank on craiglist home of my two 4" FH. I would like to know what is the proper way to set up this tank? I'm thinking of no gravels or pebbles, just nice background.
Please give me some ideas of how to set up this tank. I have not put H20 in it yet, still in the process of cleaning.
Thanks a lot for the help

 

[Sniperofgods]

As far as what to use as a substrate that is purely up to you i personally think tanks look better with it but that solely dependent on how you want it to look i personally like sand in mine tanks and if you go that route i'd recommend using pool filter sand. Although gravel is a lot easier to clean imo i like the look of sand a lot better and i think my fish enjoy moving it around more lol

 

[mastatee]

As far as what to use as a substrate that is purely up to you i personally think tanks look better with it but that solely dependent on how you want it to look i personally like sand in mine tanks and if you go that route i'd recommend using pool filter sand. Although gravel is a lot easier to clean imo i like the look of sand a lot better and i think my fish enjoy moving it around more lol

Thanks. but where can I find the pool filter sand.

 

[Sniperofgods]

check to see if any of the local stores like home depot,lowes,etc carry them mine did not but lucky-fully there was a pool/spa shop close by and i went with a larger grain size, cost me about 20 bucks for 150lbs. Just maybe do a search for a pool shop if you can't find it at your local home improvement stores, and you can always check online to see if they have it or not kinda saves some gas as well

 

[mastatee]

Thanks, and how many lbs do i need for the 120gal tank? sorry, I'm kinda of a newbie on this stuff

 

[Sniperofgods]

Also check out some stickies on how to properly cycle your tank as well if you don't already know how to cycle a tank. and browse around a little bit etc

 

[mastatee]

I've get the cycle the tank and seeding it. also, with the pool filter tank will it get dirty or brown fast. and how long do I have to let it sit b4 setting the fish in?

 

[Sniperofgods]

I'd stick with the general rule of 1lb of gravel/sand with 1gallon of water, but you can always go with whatever you want as a substrate some people love sand some hate it maybe try it on a smaller scale before you jump into it and see which you like the best and what is the easiest to maintain depending on how much time through out your week you have to cleaning and all of that.

 

[Sniperofgods]

Just make sure you clean the pool filter sand good before you put it in as it will cloud the water if you don't you can use a 5 gallon bucket and run a hose into it and just wait till the water clears up and you should be good. And it just depends on how long your tank takes to cycle as their are a lot of variables but to ensure the best for your fish its normally recommend about 2 weeks, but again if your seeding it, it shouldn't take more than a week or so, just check your water parameters and you will be good to go

 

[mastatee]

I'd stick with the general rule of 1lb of gravel/sand with 1gallon of water, but you can always go with whatever you want as a substrate some people love sand some hate it maybe try it on a smaller scale before you jump into it and see which you like the best and what is the easiest to maintain depending on how much time through out your week you have to cleaning and all of that.

Alright cool. Thanks