Kirahn's 54 Gallon Corner Tank Build

Yesterday I picked up a corner ensemble from Pet-smart. I am going to replace my current 20 gallon that we at first got for my daughter but I fell in love with the hobby. And now after being a member here for a while I want to try and do this right from the start. I'll be transferring my entire stock over and then adding a few new to round out the stock but hopefully stay slightly under stocked. This thread will be my log for getting it setup and so I can get tips along the way.

My Current Stock:
1 x Bristlenose Pleco
2 x Fancy guppy Male
3 x Endler's hybrid male
6 x Ruby Tetra
10 x Cardinal Tetra
4 x Peppered Cory catfish
5 x Nerite snails

I'll likely be adding 3-4 more Cories, and 6-8 more Cardinals. Then considering a couple Powder Blue Dwarf Gourami's or maybe and couple Koi Angelfish. That's a why off though, I want to get the new tank up and running with the current stock for a bit and work on getting some healthy plants going before increasing my stock. I'm up for suggestions on stocking for when the time comes though.

I currently have a 24" DA FSPEC LED on my 20 gallon which I plan to move to the new tank. I'm really hoping to have a flourishing heavily planted tank. I've been struggling to get it right on the 20 gallon. Currently I think this light is far too intense for the 20 but I'm hoping it will be perfect for the new 54. I have 100 lbs of Tahitian Moon sand on the way, which turns out to be the most cost effective option for black sand I was able to get delivered to Alaska. And I am going to use and DIY Root tabs for fertilizer.

I have one sponge filter already in the 20 and I am planning to get another in there today to start getting it colonized while I have the new tank filled in the garage to check for leaks. I'm hoping to be able to use the sponge filter to jump start the cycle on the new tank.

I have yet to decide on a primary filter to use. My 20 has a Marineland Penguin HOB but the new tank will be up against the wall in the corner so I will only be using the Sponge filter and a canister filter. I'm looking for something affordable but reliable. Does anybody have suggestions for this tank? Or opinions on these options? I've read I should be looking for at least 5x my tank size for GPH is that correct?



1200

 

Nice tank!
It always gets me slightly nervous when I hear about replacing tanks. I think if you treat the replacement as a process, then you will do just fine. My experience and that of my fish keeping friends is to set up the new tank and cycle it fishless without removing anything from the existing tank.
My process would be as follows i.e. once you have finished the leak tests and have the new tank in place with gravel and water.

1. Set the new canister up in the existing tank. Once it has been running for a few days, open it and squeeze the sponge of the existing HOB onto the wet sponges of the canister filter. Switch the canister on again in the existing tank and let it run for a week. You may have to reduce the flow to stop your fish getting blown away . After a week, move the new canister filter to the new tank.
2. When you do a water change in the existing tank, move the water you take out to the new tank unless it is full of you syphon off the bottom. This helps create a similar environment that the fish are used toin the new tank.
3. If you have new heaters for the new tank, then you are ok. However, if you plan to use the existing heaters, you will have to find a way of raising the water temp in the new tank to the desired temperature before you move the fish and heater across. One way to do this is to do a 30% water change and add fairly warm water. Otherwise you just need to move the heater to the new tank and bring the temperature to the nominal level before you move the fish (hopefully this will not take more than 3-4 hrs).

As far as canister filters go, my preference would NOT be the fluval even though it is popular. It has a lot of vertical sponge that you cannot replace with anything else. If you have not had the chance, check "pond guru" on youtube - very smart guy when it comes to canister filters! The Sun Sun is definitely the best in terms of through-put figures - that may be important for you as your tank is tall, so there will be additional loss due to the head height for the filter to pump water up to the top of the tank.
Whatever your choice of make, I would recommend you can get a spares kit for it when you order the canister. It is easy to damage the impeller, o-rings etc when cleaning the filter and it is so much less stressful to have a replacement kit on hand.

 

I am planning on getting a new heater for the big tank and once the fish are moved I'll add the heater from the 20 as a backup. I'm already planning on making this a several week process of moving my 20 to a temp location then seting up the 54 and making sure it is completely cycled and up to temp before moving my fish. My idea to help get the cycle going was to use the sponge filter from the 20 but it never occurred to me to attach the canister to the 20 first.

Would it also help to promote a similar water environment to add water from the 20 to the 54 while I'm cycling it?

 

Would it also help to promote a similar water environment to add water from the 20 to the 54 while I'm cycling it?

Yes I believe so. And just to be clear, there are little or no free floating bacteria. The water helps in providing a similar environment in which the bacteria have proved to grow to provide a colony of the required size.
Not everyone agrees, but keeping the difference in water conditions between one tank and the other gives the fish a soft landing when you finally move them!

 

I'll keep that in mind. Thanks for the info.

 

I run a Sunsun 304B on my baby. (It's my favorite tank!)

 

I run a Sunsun 304B on my baby. (It's my favorite tank!)

Nice looking tank. What fish do you have in there?

 

Nice looking tank. What fish do you have in there?

It's your tank. Aqueon 54 bowfront. Exact stand. I have angelfish (Philippine blue varieties), electric blue acara, super red bristle nose pleco and a school of orange lazer cories.

 

It's your tank. Aqueon 54 bowfront. Exact stand. I have angelfish (Philippine blue varieties), electric blue acara, super red bristle nose pleco and a school of orange lazer cories.

I'm looking at getting that sunsun 304b filter as well. I'm new to these canister filters, could I see what yours looks like in the cabinet to get an idea of how big it is?

 

I'm looking at getting that sunsun 304b filter as well. I'm new to these canister filters, could I see what yours looks like in the cabinet to get an idea of how big it is?

BIG! Hahaha.

 

Thank you!

I ordered a SunSun 404b and a bunch of Seachem Matrix to fill the trays with. I'm going to hook that to my 20 gallon and run it for a week or two to seed the media, then move it to the new tank and monitor for a few days. Since I'll keep my fish in the 20 till I am confidant the 54 is cycled I am planning on feeding the 54 as if it has fish in it. Will that be enough to keep the cycle going?

 

That tank sure seems popular, I just picked one up on Sunday. I ordered a Penn Plax Cascade 1000 filter for mine. I heard a lot of good things about it, especially the price.

 

yes, that will be enough(I belive at least)

 

I really like how it looks and how it fits snugly in the only good spot I have in my house for a tank. And since it is deeper than a standard 55 I am leaning towards putting an Angelfish or two in there once it is established with my current stock.

 

I really like how it looks and how it fits snugly in the only good spot I have in my house for a tank........

I just renovated my lower level of my house, and I had a corner that needed something. This tank seemed perfect.

 

Finally moved the fish last night and got the new tank setup. We added one Platinum Guppy and a few more plants. We've landed on one Angelfish and one Moonlight Gourami as the centerpiece fish. Gonna wait a bit to make sure the cycle is still stable before adding fish though.

 

A couple days after setting this up, we had an earthquake. The tank shifted 5 inches and sloshed out about 10 gallons, the glass top broke and fell into the tank and one of the glass panels cracked from the bottom to the top. But even with all that, I only lost one guppy and one Cardinal Tetra. I was able to save the rest, including the new Moonlight Gourami I had put in the night before the quake. They are in my old 20 gallon as a temporary home while I figure out what to do. I'm likely going to need to buy the whole ensemble again even though I only just need the tank and the top, I can't seem to find anywhere to purchase just the tank.

Either way I feel I was pretty lucky.

 

A couple days after setting this up, we had an earthquake

Whow!

 

So sorry to hear about the earthquake. That severe, I'm surprised that that's the worst damage. At least you're lucky to have the old tank available to salvage everything. I priced the tank before I bought mine and Petsmart was cheaper for the combo than buying the tank by itself elsewhere.

 

So sorry to hear about the earthquake. That severe, I'm surprised that that's the worst damage. At least you're lucky to have the old tank available to salvage everything. I priced the tank before I bought mine and Petsmart was cheaper for the combo than buying the tank by itself elsewhere.

Yeah I suspected that it might be cheaper to re-buy the combo, especially since PetSmart still has it listed as $100 off.

A question for you all, I have all my plants just floating in the 20 gallon with no substrate. I am still dosing thrive+ three times a week but some of those plants are meant to be planted in the substrate and I normally have root tabs in there for them. Will they be OK like this for another week or so while I get things sorted out for the replacement or is there something else I should be doing to keep the plants healthy?

Went to PetSmart tonight intending to buy a replacement ensemble and while talking to the sales rep about my tank a manager came over and informed me that they would exchange the tank as long as I was still within the 60 day guarantee. Made my day, I now have a replacement tank at home ready to water test.

 

Went to PetSmart tonight intending to buy a replacement ensemble and while talking to the sales rep about my tank a manager came over and informed me that they would exchange the tank as long as I was still within the 60 day guarantee. Made my day, I now have a replacement tank at home ready to water test.

Wow, at last, fantastic news.

 

Oh No! I'm so sorry. Glad the fish were fine. To replace just the tank, they want double what the emsemble costs. It's ridiculous. You could always sand down that pine and use it for kindling.

Went to PetSmart tonight intending to buy a replacement ensemble and while talking to the sales rep about my tank a manager came over and informed me that they would exchange the tank as long as I was still within the 60 day guarantee. Made my day, I now have a replacement tank at home ready to water test.

I should have read through everything first. This is fantastic!

 

Really like this set up

 

I don't know much about angelfish, but I can tell you that I LOVE gouramis. I got one as a centerpiece fish when I upgraded from a 20 gallon to a 75 gallon and he ended up being my favorite fish within a few days.

They're beautiful and have great personalities, making them great additions to aquariums.

 

So far the Moonlight Gourami I have has been starting to come greet me when I lay on the floor to check on them in the temporary 20 gallon. Which has been pretty cool to see. The guppies/tetras/corys mostly ignore me. I can't wait to get him back in the 54. But I'll need to get that water test done and I have ordered another absorbent mat to go under the cabinet to help, just in case I have water on the floor again. No damage this time but it would have been better with more absorbent mat down there for the water that did end up on the floor. That will be here early next week and once I have that then my fish can be back in their permanent home.

Hopefully I don't have too much melt on my plants that don't have substrate right now.

 

I finally have the 54 Gallon set back up and I am trying to jump start the Cycle with Tetra Safe Start Plus and Seachem Stability but I think a bunch of ammonia built up in my substrate and canister filter while it was sitting idle cause I've had it setup for 3 days and I haven't added anything but substrate, plants, driftwood and decor and I am getting about .5 ppm Ammonia every day I've tested. So the the only thing I can think of is the ammonia must be coming from the substrate (I got as much water as I could out of the sand but it was still wet.) or the Canister filter. It had some water in it while it was sitting idle, I cleaned it before restarting, but I didn't rinse the Seachem Matrix bio media I had in there, just in case there was some BB still living in it.

Anybody have experience with Tetra safe start and Stability? How long should I expect before the ammonia drops? I don't want to move my fish before it does but I also feel like keeping them in the 20 is stressing them out, especially the Cory's since I don't have any substrate in there. In fact I lost one Cory late last week.

Any thoughts on moving them and using Prime to neutralize the Ammonia while the Cycle gets established? If I move them over I can also move my sponge filter from the 20 that may also help kick start the cycle.

 

I used API Quick Start with success.

 

I finally have the 54 Gallon set back up and I am trying to jump start the Cycle with Tetra Safe Start Plus and Seachem Stability but I think a bunch of ammonia built up in my substrate and canister filter while it was sitting idle cause I've had it setup for 3 days and I haven't added anything but substrate, plants, driftwood and decor and I am getting about .5 ppm Ammonia every day I've tested. So the the only thing I can think of is the ammonia must be coming from the substrate (I got as much water as I could out of the sand but it was still wet.) or the Canister filter. It had some water in it while it was sitting idle, I cleaned it before restarting, but I didn't rinse the Seachem Matrix bio media I had in there, just in case there was some BB still living in it.

Anybody have experience with Tetra safe start and Stability? How long should I expect before the ammonia drops? I don't want to move my fish before it does but I also feel like keeping them in the 20 is stressing them out, especially the Cory's since I don't have any substrate in there. In fact I lost one Cory late last week.

Any thoughts on moving them and using Prime to neutralize the Ammonia while the Cycle gets established? If I move them over I can also move my sponge filter from the 20 that may also help kick start the cycle.

I don't use safe start or stability I can't help with that.. you can move them now with the sponge filter from your 20 gal and use prime dose the tank every 24 hours with prime to neutralize anything in the tank and test until ammonia reads o ppm. This is how I move all my fish when swapping tanks with very good results.. I try not use any thing in my tank but prime the less you but in the better IMO less chance for crashes...

 

When I got home last night I tested and I was under .25 ppm Ammonia and a trace of Nitrite, So I dosed Prime, Stability and then moved the fish and the sponge filter. So far so good, I'll keep testing everyday and dosing prime and stability.