BigBoom217
Hey everyone,
Bought a used 125g tank and stand combo from a guy on craigslist for 150$. What came next was unexpected. I could NOT decide what I wanted to do with it. Planted, Brackish, Brackish planted, Goldfish, Low Tech Planted, High Tech Planted, Big Fish, Little fish, Bare bottom show fish, discus (Found out you need RO water so dropped that), Native Pennsylvania Game fish. It was bad. So many headaches. Anyone I have mentioned in some posts but for those who don't know I drive tractor trailer for a living so Monday-Friday it's work-sleep-work-sleep-work-sleep-work. So I needed to do something that was easy enough that I could do all the required maintenance on Saturdays.
After talking to my several LFS's (Three local guys, Petco [Actually has a very knowledgeable fish person]) The local guys all wanted me to stuff it with africans which I got the feeling was because they knew I would be dumping 400$ into initial stock and then coming back to replace aggression deaths. Then while standing in petsmart I saw this poor little Red Oscar getting picked on and an Albino Oscar coming to his defense and the two of them cornered fighting off much larger oscars stuffed in that little tank.. safe to saw they now have a 125g tank all to themselves (And a striped raphael cat but who cares).
I went cheap on what I could and didn't spare any expensive on the filter:
Fluval Fx6
Lighting is two 8.5inch aluminum with CFL bulbs.
Substrate: Black Diamond 20/40 Blasting Abrasive
Two Aqueon 300watt heaters
Throw in some leftover driftwood and I had a tank.
I did a ton of on the black diamond and I don't know where people were getting the idea that it's sharp.. I've ran it through my hands very roughly and it's pretty soft. I'll admit, not as soft as argonite,.. but it's not razor blades. My only complaint is that I washed and washed and washed it however I still have a decent amount of it floating on the top of the tank.. and some pieces are too fine and slip through my net. Other than that.. 16$ for 100lbs saved a lot of money.
Going to get some black poster board for the background and I have PVC heater chambers in the works just figured I won't need it until these little guys turn into monsters.
Bought a used 125g tank and stand combo from a guy on craigslist for 150$. What came next was unexpected. I could NOT decide what I wanted to do with it. Planted, Brackish, Brackish planted, Goldfish, Low Tech Planted, High Tech Planted, Big Fish, Little fish, Bare bottom show fish, discus (Found out you need RO water so dropped that), Native Pennsylvania Game fish. It was bad. So many headaches. Anyone I have mentioned in some posts but for those who don't know I drive tractor trailer for a living so Monday-Friday it's work-sleep-work-sleep-work-sleep-work. So I needed to do something that was easy enough that I could do all the required maintenance on Saturdays.
After talking to my several LFS's (Three local guys, Petco [Actually has a very knowledgeable fish person]) The local guys all wanted me to stuff it with africans which I got the feeling was because they knew I would be dumping 400$ into initial stock and then coming back to replace aggression deaths. Then while standing in petsmart I saw this poor little Red Oscar getting picked on and an Albino Oscar coming to his defense and the two of them cornered fighting off much larger oscars stuffed in that little tank.. safe to saw they now have a 125g tank all to themselves (And a striped raphael cat but who cares).
I went cheap on what I could and didn't spare any expensive on the filter:
Fluval Fx6
Lighting is two 8.5inch aluminum with CFL bulbs.
Substrate: Black Diamond 20/40 Blasting Abrasive
Two Aqueon 300watt heaters
Throw in some leftover driftwood and I had a tank.
I did a ton of on the black diamond and I don't know where people were getting the idea that it's sharp.. I've ran it through my hands very roughly and it's pretty soft. I'll admit, not as soft as argonite,.. but it's not razor blades. My only complaint is that I washed and washed and washed it however I still have a decent amount of it floating on the top of the tank.. and some pieces are too fine and slip through my net. Other than that.. 16$ for 100lbs saved a lot of money.
Going to get some black poster board for the background and I have PVC heater chambers in the works just figured I won't need it until these little guys turn into monsters.
