Zorro A. Knievel Esq.
- #1
Hey everybody my name is Zak I'm new to the forum and I just bought a 75 gallon tank off Craigslist for $100. I've had fish tanks growing up a bunch of heavily planted 10 gallons and one heavily planted 29 gallon. Its been a couple years though since I've kept a tank and never had one this big. I'm trying to keep it as low budget and DIY as possible so far I've bought all the lumber to build my own stand (the stand is also going to have a shelf above it for a tv due to space constraints), one 48" T8 shoplight for use in damp/wet areas, and for filtration I've bought a 2 gallon Igloo Water Cooler that I'm going to turn into a canister filter with the help of an external pump. I'm in the process of resealing the tank right now and bracing the floor joists in the basement/first floor (the tank is on the "second" floor of a split level house that's pushing 130 years old and will be running parallel of the joists).
All that being said I think I'm off to an ok start, just have a couple questions. First, is one DIY 2 gallon canister filter enough filtration for the tank? And if not, would two Igloo Coolers running off the same pump be adequate? I'm planning on running the heater in-line but am unsure of where in the plumbing I would place it yet.
My last question is about eventual stocking. I know about the nitrogen cycle and am in no rush to add fish, I want everything to be near perfect and cycled before I start to stock it. I bought some cheap-o API 5-in-1 test strips to test the water from my tap because I know its easier to work with what you already have than to try and drastically change the water. The results were (from the faucet which is well water run through a softener): 7.0 ph, 20 ppm nitrate, 0 ppm nitrite, 60 ppm gH, and 40 ppm kH. I am really partial to biotope type tanks especially South American blackwater setups with Angels, dwarf Cichlids, tetras, and catfish (my favorite fish are plecos, cories, and ottos, and would keep a tank stocked with just catfish if they didn't hide all the time haha). Would my water parameters be a good starting point for a South American biotope like this, I know with the kH being kind of low the pH can tend to fluctuate. I'm even open to other SA Cichlids but don't know much about them. Before doing research I really wanted a Lake Malawi/Tanganyika setup and still might go that route since I have a spigot hooked up before the water softener and I know the well water is extremely hard. I'm really open to any suggestions towards biotopes (accept for the high-tech planted route or discus right now).
Thanks for any input and I hope this post is in the right section I don't want to type all this again haha.
Zak
All that being said I think I'm off to an ok start, just have a couple questions. First, is one DIY 2 gallon canister filter enough filtration for the tank? And if not, would two Igloo Coolers running off the same pump be adequate? I'm planning on running the heater in-line but am unsure of where in the plumbing I would place it yet.
My last question is about eventual stocking. I know about the nitrogen cycle and am in no rush to add fish, I want everything to be near perfect and cycled before I start to stock it. I bought some cheap-o API 5-in-1 test strips to test the water from my tap because I know its easier to work with what you already have than to try and drastically change the water. The results were (from the faucet which is well water run through a softener): 7.0 ph, 20 ppm nitrate, 0 ppm nitrite, 60 ppm gH, and 40 ppm kH. I am really partial to biotope type tanks especially South American blackwater setups with Angels, dwarf Cichlids, tetras, and catfish (my favorite fish are plecos, cories, and ottos, and would keep a tank stocked with just catfish if they didn't hide all the time haha). Would my water parameters be a good starting point for a South American biotope like this, I know with the kH being kind of low the pH can tend to fluctuate. I'm even open to other SA Cichlids but don't know much about them. Before doing research I really wanted a Lake Malawi/Tanganyika setup and still might go that route since I have a spigot hooked up before the water softener and I know the well water is extremely hard. I'm really open to any suggestions towards biotopes (accept for the high-tech planted route or discus right now).
Thanks for any input and I hope this post is in the right section I don't want to type all this again haha.
Zak