Old NOOB, getting back into the game. Modernize my Knowledge PLEASE.

Hello All! I found this forum via google and was hoping to tap into the collective knowledge here to point me in the right direction with some questions.

my fish tank resume-
Back in the early/mid 1990's I became a fish tank addict. It started with a ten gallon which I quickly traded up to a 20, then a 55 and finally a 160 gallon. All of these were fresh water tanks and I had cichlids mostly. My 160 was my final freshwater tank and I had purchased it used from the classified section of the local paper. Yes, the news paper LOL. There was no such thing as the internet back then. I sold the tank/stand/fish for pennies on the dollar because I moved to another state and started my own business and wouldnt be able to take it with me. It was heart breaking to let it go but I promised myself I would one day have another. (That day has now arrived.)

During my freshwater hiatus I tried my hand at a 55 gallon salt water system and failed miserably time and time again. Basically I would set it up precisely as the directions said to, run the filters for weeks and weeks and then throw half a dozen tester fish in there. They would all be dead the next day. I tried and tried and failed and failed to get that thing to work and couldn't. This went on for almost a year and was basically a running joke for my friends. My salt tank was a death chamber that my buddies called "the glass box of water I throw tons of money into". Anyway, that year very much soured me to salt water tanks and I really don't wanna do that again. Fresh water is what I want because, well, its easier and while the fish may not be as cool looking and I can't have crazy living rock and weird neon urchins and living coral etc I will be happy.

So here is where I am now-
I picked up a 130 gallon last night with a stand, light, gravel, some lace rock and a couple of air pumps. Got it all for $100 bucks.

I have no filter though.

Now, my 160 which I bought used, came with an under gravel system that had power heads on the top of the tubes of the back to create the "pull" into the gravel AND it came with a Fluval canister filter (size/model of which I have no idea but it was about the size of a two liter soda bottle.) The dude I got it from said all he ever did was vacuum the gravel with a siphon and every few months he would clean the media in the canister. That's what I did also and with great success. Tank was kinda crowded with cichlids which poop a lot but my water was always clear and my fish were always happy.

So here I am with the ability to have a fresh start on a tank that will certainly be a show piece in my home. One of my hobbies is woodworking/cabinetry, so I will be building myself a new stand and canopy to match the existing pieces in my home. Also, Ive done my own lawn sprinkler systems so I am not scared of hard lining the plumbing for this set up. The construction portion of what I am going to make is certainly within my capabilities

BUT I HAVE NO IDEA WHAT TO USE FOR A FILTER.

So here is where I need advice.

I like the simplicity of the canister set up and the brand that always worked well for me was Fluval, but that was 19 years ago. I looked on the fluval website and noticed that what they had was rated for tanks up to 100 gal and then it jumped to 400 with nothing in between.

As I mentioned, my old 160 gal set up had a canister and an under gravel set up. I'm sure my canister was too small to run that tank alone and it seems now nobody uses the under gravel system anymore or its decidedly less common anyway. I would like to NOT HAVE THE UNDERGRAVEL SET UP this time.

I fell into a DIY video click fest and have seen lots of wet/dry sum set ups and am confident I can make one but they seem like they would lend themselves to lotsa evaporation and possibly even be sorta "stinky". I am not against these setups because I have no actual experience with them but I do like the idea of a canister type set up because it is "closed" and "sealed".

I'm sure this has been discussed someplace before but this is my first fish tank forum membership and my searching didnt get me the info I want and I'm really looking to make the most informed decision I can so Please, link me to anything you think will help.

I'm not in a rush either.

Thank you for your replies. I look forward to making the fish tank I have been building in my head for ten plus years a reality and sharing the progress and results with you all.

dan200

 

Take their ratings with a grain of salt. I have 3 Fluval 406s running on 2 different tanks. I have 2 on a 60 gallon because I figured by the time I added media and it got bogged down because I forgot to clean it (which will/has happened a few times) the two working in tandem would keep my tank clear. I've had them for nearly 2 years and have not noticed any decrease in flow power.

That being said, a 130 gallon is a bit bigger than my 60 gallon. I'm almost thinking a refugium/sump setup might be in order. I don't know much about them as I've never had a large enough tank to warrant one. I think that the bacteria is basically housed in a smaller tank attached to your main tank and water flows thru the refugium into the tank with the cycled water.

Anyway, welcome to the forum and keep us updated with pictures!

 

Not experienced with canisters myself, but I wanted to say, great deal on the 130 gal! And welcome to Fishlore!

 

Take their ratings with a grain of salt. I have 3 Fluval 406s running on 2 different tanks. I have 2 on a 60 gallon because I figured by the time I added media and it got bogged down because I forgot to clean it (which will/has happened a few times) the two working in tandem would keep my tank clear. I've had them for nearly 2 years and have not noticed any decrease in flow power.

That being said, a 130 gallon is a bit bigger than my 60 gallon. I'm almost thinking a refugium/sump setup might be in order. I don't know much about them as I've never had a large enough tank to warrant one. I think that the bacteria is basically housed in a smaller tank attached to your main tank and water flows thru the refugium into the tank with the cycled water.

Anyway, welcome to the forum and keep us updated with pictures!

I will keep you all updated. Half the fun of doing this is sharing the updates. that kinda thing keeps ya motivated. UNfortunately, mine will be slow to get going. I mentioned that I am a wood worker but I left out the fact that I cut half my middle finger off and messed up my thumb and index really bad too at the end of november. Ive got a series of operations to go thru over next few months. They are installing a artifical knuckle in the index finger of my right (dominant hand). and ive got some skin grafts to do still also. Ill spare you the gory pics. But obviously this will slow my project in the beginning. I plan to use the down time to overly plan things out and acquire the products and parts I need while I'm one handed. I'm not totally disabled right now but I am one handed so things like opening pickle jars and putting a belt on are more complicated than they once were.

Not experienced with canisters myself, but I wanted to say, great deal on the 130 gal! And welcome to Fishlore!

Yea, I thought so too. It had only been listed for a few days and said make an offer so I texted the guy who was very much geographically undesirable for our metro area (he lived out in the sticks) this "hey, saw yer ad. Ive got a 100 dollar bill, a truck, and a full tank of gas and can pick it up tonight. Let me know" and it worked. He confided in me he got it cheap when he bought it so and that "100 bucks today is better than twice that in thirty days". I felt like I was stealing it actually.

 

Welcome to fishlore. I like a combination of HOB (AC110) and canister (Eheim 2217) on my 55 gallon cichlid tank. You may well do better with a sump - I have no experience with those. There are plenty of DIY videos about them, just be careful to size it so you don't overflow during power outages.

 

Welcome to Fishlore.

Great score on the tank. I'd recommend a large canister, or possibly two medium ones. They're by far the easiest to maintain, almost silent and do a great job.

I've just switched from a canister to a sump/refugium. Not so much for better filtration but because: a) It was a fun thing to do. b) It's something I've always wanted to do and c) It's the easy way to justify having another tank to the keeper of the cash. I will happily admit that it is giving better biological filtration than my canister, but that is most likely due to the extra 2.5Kg of media that I can fit in rather than any increase in efficiency.

Building it was straight forward and it took a little experimentation and tuning before I was comfortable leaving it running on it's own (I had a small flooding incident). There is no smell and evaporation is no real problem. That depends on the climate in your part of the world though.

For simplicity, ease of use, and great filtration I'd still recommend a canister.

 

I was just at my local, big box pet store looking around and saw they had 10 gallon tanks for a buck a gallon. This kinda made me re-think of doing a DIY sump set up. I'm curious if a tank that size would be adaquate for my 130 gallon tank or should I maybe have both a sump and a smaller cannister (like one for a 75 gallon) and run them both?