Aquarium and Fish Nutheads, I NEED YOUR HELP.

[jspeicher]

Hey guys, need some help with setting up a new tank.

I have a long 75g. tank and I'm trying to figure out what kind of materials I should be buying.

I already have a bubble rock w/ pump. I know I need a filter of some sort, but Im not sure what my best option is there. Under gravel filter?

Also, what kind of pump do I need to run the filter? Dual head air pump?

Thanks for any help.;

 

[BriGy86]

no filter needed... the mercier the better

its more like the fishies natural habbitat

 

[rahul]

What kind of setup do you want to end up with??

e.g. Planted community/mainly cichlids

 

[huesmann]

Under gravel filter with 2-3 power heads.

 

[Amplifier]

Pretty Good Pump

A 75 gallon tank is overkill, but pretty cool. What type of solution are you going to be using?

 

[NuclearNed]

I've never had one, but supposedly the under gravel filters are the best.

 

[NTB]

Most filters come with their own pumps; the only real exception is an undergravel, which needs an airpump with a line run down each of the upright tubes.

Other stuff that you may need can depend on the fish you want to keep. A community tank would need plants (real or plastic), for instance. If you want to keep Oscars or African Cichlids, rocks would be the order of the day - both of these types of fish will make short work of any real plants you use, and prefer to do their own landscaping, regardless of how you set the tank up

Nate

 

[Doggiedog]

Get a cannister filter like a Fluval or Eheim.

 

[NTB]

Originally posted by: Amplifier
Pretty Good Pump

A 75 gallon tank is overkill, but pretty cool. What type of solution are you going to be using?

Not really. Within reason, bigger = better, especially for beginners. It's easier to keep a larger body of water stable both in terms of temperature and chemistry.

Nate

 

[rahul]

UGF's are a PITA, esp. if you have plants...go with a power filter or canister filter...capacity of the filter will depend on the bioload in your tank.

 

[cKGunslinger]

You *need* a plastic treasure chest with bubbles coming out of it! And a rock!

 

[NTB]

Originally posted by: Doggiedog
Get a cannister filter like a Fluval or Eheim.

I like these too - just be warned: they are also the most expensive type of filter.

One thing you might want to do if you have a Petsmart around, look for what you want on their website, print it out, and take it to the store. Most of the time they'll match it, and it will be a pretty good discount from the in-store price.

Nate

 

[huesmann]

Originally posted by: NTB
Most filters come with their own pumps; the only real exception is an undergravel, which needs an airpump with a line run down each of the upright tubes.

Power heads pwn air pumps.

 

[Jzero]

I hate undergravel filters. They aren't great for live plants, either. I found that a sizable power filter was more than adequate for my tank. It created enough surface agitation to allow sufficient oxygenation and it filtered particulates quickly enough. The gravel, plants and filtration media were plenty good enough for effective biological filtration.

 

[jspeicher]

I may just go with a power filter. Are power heads really necessary?

I am planning on a community tank, oscars perhaps.

Are there any advantages to having internal filters?

 

[rahul]

Its way cheaper to buy online (if you don't mind waiting)...big als online is one I use

 

[NTB]

Originally posted by: huesmann

Originally posted by: NTB
Most filters come with their own pumps; the only real exception is an undergravel, which needs an airpump with a line run down each of the upright tubes.

Power heads pwn air pumps.

That'll work too, but I agree with some of the other posters here...UG filters are a pain.

Nate

 

[NTB]

Originally posted by: jspeicher
I may just go with a power filter. Are power heads really necessary?

I am planning on a community tank, oscars perhaps.

Are there any advantages to having internal filters?

Oscars will eat the community

In a tank that size you could probably keep a couple oscars, but that's about it. They get big, and anything short of another oscar is usually considered lunch.

Nate

 

[rahul]

Originally posted by: jspeicher
I may just go with a power filter. Are power heads really necessary?

Not with a power filter.

I am planning on a community tank, oscars perhaps.

Oscars are not really community fish...unless you plan on a large cichlid community...in which case you will need a large canister filter...eheim, fluval or rena with atleast a 300 gph capacity.

Are there any advantages to having internal filters?

Not really, other than saving space outside the tank...

 

[Sheik Yerbouti]

I have a 46 gal and I have the Emperor 400 and a smaller aquaflow. 2 power heads to get good water circulation. I have a cichlid tank with sand base and lots of rocks. No plants, cichlids dig em up all the time. These aren't oscars, they are the lake malawai species (Yellow labs, etc)

 

[creedog]

Pengiun 330 is a pretty good power filter for that sized tank. Emporer 400 is better.

Remember where you place your filter is important, if you put it on the far end of your tank you may want to get a simple power head to help with circulation. If you don't want to bother, but it in the middle of the tank

 

[Sex Smurf]

Originally posted by: jspeicher
I may just go with a power filter. Are power heads really necessary?

I am planning on a community tank, oscars perhaps.

Are there any advantages to having internal filters?

Yeah, you ARE a first time fish owner.

two questions for now:

1. How much do you want to spend on your setup?
2. What other fish do you like besides Oscars? As said before, oscars will outgrow the community and start eating everything that moves. Unless you get other large chiclids, then you won't have to worry about buying much decoration for your tank - they will uproot everything you have in there.

 

[NTB]

You may want to think about splitting the filtering duties among two or three smaller filters, too. That way if one happens to crap out (been there, done that), you've still got some filtering capacity left to save the tank while you replace the dud and get it going again.

Nate

 

[NTB]

Originally posted by: Sex Smurf

Originally posted by: jspeicher
I may just go with a power filter. Are power heads really necessary?

I am planning on a community tank, oscars perhaps.

Are there any advantages to having internal filters?

Yeah, you ARE a first time fish owner.

two questions for now:

1. How much do you want to spend on your setup?
2. What other fish do you like besides Oscars? As said before, oscars will outgrow the community and start eating everything that moves. Unless you get other large chiclids, then you won't have to worry about buying much decoration for your tank - they will uproot everything you have in there.

And while we're warning you about large fish: as neat as they may look, stay away from Arrowanas and Red-Tailed catfish. You might be able to keep "silver dollars" (a.k.a. Pacu, and pirahna). Plecos get pretty big too, but they're usually docile and won't disturb anything.

Nate

 

[jspeicher]

What if I had two internal filters + one or two powerheads? Would this suffice?

Sorry about community and oscars discussion. I already realize that oscars will swallow the smaller fish. I meant, either a general community tank, or just oscars.