Fa4960's New 150 L / 40 Gal Or 180l / 48 Gal Build?

Saw an irresistible offer on the local pendant to Craigslist etc.

So I am now the owner of a new (used) tank with stand, build in sump / filter, powerhead, filter floss and some bad imitations of bio balls plus various other bits and pieces. Basically relieved a young family of their tank and anything bought for it. Best of all they let everything go for the equivalent of USD 30 so can't fault the price.

The build in filter takes up about 30 L / 8 Gal of space in the tank so the 90 x 45 x 45 cm tank is basically less than 90 long (from 3 foot o 2.3 foot long) and more like 75 x 45 x 45 cm tank. This is a very common way of building the cheaper tank where I live and it seems to work well but takes up a lot of otherwise usable tank volume. The light is no good, basically a short T5 or something even more basic and also a thin black acrylic housing broken in some places so either a DYI LED project coming up or I am going to try one of those AI Prime LED for freshwater I have been longing for an excuse to buy...

I happen to have a brand new never used Sunsun 704B filter good for 525 GPH so I could remove the internal sump and utilise the full tank measurement, or I could keep it as is and even add the canister anyway for massive overfiltration....

Secondly, I kind of promised my kids that the next tank would be for them primarily but I am really tempted so set up a high tech tank with CO2 and the lots.....

Lots of decision to make - what would you do?

PS: If going by the free food supply I guess it is cichlids but maybe I can convince my discus to eat it instead....

 

Can't wait to see pictures when its done. I would plant lost of moss and leafy plants am make it a jungle aquascape

 

You scored having a tank already with a built in sump setup!

 

You scored having a tank already with a built in sump setup!

I did, but with the downsides of losing some gallons as well as I have to look at the sump. Guess the latter can be remedied with some black background paper but still looks a little "messy" to me though.

Well I guess the benefits outweighs the negatives so I think the sump stays.

 

What if you got a roll of automotive window tint, and layed down the film over the areas of the sump, to black it out?

 

Yeah, something along those lines. Maybe something that allows a little visibility into the sump but won't divert attention.

 

I think Joey from the YouTube channel King of DIY has a video of him tinting a portion of the glass to hide a built in sump. May be worth watching

 

Yes, I remember seeing back one when I ran through almost all his back catalogue of DIY videos. Will get back to it.

This coming weekend it is first of all a test for leaks, equipment test and then a good old cleaning. Then off to the fish market to buy some ADA Amazonia soil, this time I am not going with organic potting soil....too much hassle on the discus tank.

Ohh, and quite possibly I got to get one of those AI Prime Freshwater LED's that I have been longing for an excuse to buy.....

Must remember to bring the kids so they can start looking at what kind of fish they want in it.....it's going to be a mesh with to many species, and many of them not compatible that I will need to sort out later before buying a stocking disaster.....but I promised!!!!!

Then set it up, add the soil and probably leave it for a week before heading back to the fish market for some plants.