Your opinion welcomed! First tank recomendations

[jbrady33]

Hello Everyone,

Need opinions. After much lurking and htinking before jumping I've decided to jump back in and set up a nice planted tank in our living room. Way back when I was single and would have just tried a few things, would like to start of right and look nice as my wife is ok with putting it in the middle of the living room (small house, no 'fish room' possible. Beside - why have one if I can't see it all the time

Have plenty of time to plan, as first I have to sell off the old hobby (cigars) to pay for the new one.

Want some help/opinions on a tank. Decided against bowfronts - they seen to be pretty and readily available but I just don’t like looking through the distortion of the curved shape (curved corners are ok)
Trying to decide on a cube – the most common seemed to be the marine land kits with stands, the 27 is available at the big box stores (http://www.petsmart.com/product/inde...ductId=4449731) but the 45 gallon sounds more interesting. (24x24x18 inches) The 60 Gallon is nice too – (24x24x24) very imposing in person but that is pretty deep to get your arm in to work on

Any opinions on the quality of these? Suggestions for similar but better manufacturer (would need a stand too) welcomed – as are opinions on the whole cube concept too. The space I have to work in is about 36” on a wall. Are the cubes nice to live with or does it feel like everything is crammed into one spot? Does the added depth make it feel roomy and nice to look at, or is the standard rectangle more to your liking?

Also seriously considering an internal filter in one corner (the least obtrusive I can find) – less stuff hanging out of the tank (just power cords that I can corral) and a cleaner look. I would imagine that a heavily planted tank wouldn’t need a monster canister or sump, don’t plan on running carbon either, just floss/sponge and bio. What so you think of that?

All of this leads to the type of tank – leaning towards lower tech with 2 watts/gallon, low light plants (lots) dirt or commercial substrate, Flourish excel if needed/recommended( and ferts if the consenses here is that I need should), community type fish and RCS (will set up an RCS only nano at the office at the same time)

Not that I wouldn’t also enjoy a high-tech setup, but I want something that can make it through a yearly 2 week vacation in winter and not go to hell while I’m gone. (autofeeders any good?)

Thoughts?

EDIT: I'm on well water, haven't tested yet. Another reason for leaning towards an internal filter is less chance of a leak and gallons of water on my wife's new cream colored carpet!

[Trickerie]

Hey,

A few suggestions for you, and a few random thoughts. First, its usually recommended to get the longest tank you can. Height less desirable, because you can't plant as many plants, and fish don't swim up/down, but rather side to side. So, if it comes down to a choice between a 24" x24" or 36"x14", you would definitely want to go for the 36". Another real issue with height, is that lighting needs to become more intense to reach proper PAR at its deepest area. Watts/gallon is a debunked method of measuring lighting, and should not be considered. Instead, check out the stickies on PAR vs Distance at the top of the lighting forum.

As for cubes, they are very popular choices for aquariums. However, id probably stay away from "package" deals from big box stores. My reasoning is that you would most likely replace most, if not all of what comes with it, besides the tank/stand. If you want a beautiful aquarium, check out the Cube Garden on http://ADGSHOP.com. Or, similarly, check out the rimless aquariums on http://greenleafaquariums.com/

These of course do not come with stands, but do have cabinets specially made for them. If you are looking for a presentable aquarium to go in your living room for all to see, you will be happy you spent the premium and got a well constructed piece.

As for filtration, noise becomes a big factor, as well as gassing from too much agitation. Canister filters, especially entry level/foreign made ones, such as the Aquatop CF series, are affordable, reliable and have many advantages. They are dead quiet. The spray bar can be positioned to give ample agitation while avoiding white water. Furthermore, they can be hidden in your cabinet, out of sight, especially if you use lily pipes on the rim of the tank (glass input/outputs).

Hope some of that helps you

[pandacory]

For what it is worth, I wish I would have just ponied up the cash and gotten a nice Ada 60p set up from the beginning. Over filtered with in line everything, and medium light. Ive probably spent 2 or 3x as much by going cheap and upgrading a piece at a time.

It is small enough to give you some challenge in fish/plant keeping to cut your teeth on, but large enough to give you some options, has great proportions and a ton of followers to POW wow with when problems come up. 2ft and 4ft lighting is cheaper than 3ft lighting, and lighting is often your most expensive piece.

If it is out of the question, grab a 20g tall at a petco $per gallon sale, then internet shop the rest of your equipment. Don't forget to check out hydroponics suppliers for lights. They are often much cheaper and comparable quality in flourescent lighting, if that's the direction you want to go.

Worth what you paid for it!

[CatB]

fish can survive two weeks, easy without food. don't worry about autofeeders, too much hassle...

[Masterbetta]

How about 6 galllon with 1 betta and 6 neon tetras? That's what I have, it's perfect. Both have low bio-loads and get along great.

[jbrady33]

Originally Posted by Masterbetta

How about 6 galllon with 1 betta and 6 neon tetras? That's what I have, it's perfect. Both have low bio-loads and get along great.

Kind of what I have planned for my desk at work - 5 gal with RCS and maybe cardinals or endlers (never had endlers, they look very cool) Maybe just the shrimp.

For the house want something a little larger - 'see movement/activity from across the room" sort of thing

[Trickerie]

Originally Posted by pandacory

For what it is worth, I wish I would have just ponied up the cash and gotten a nice Ada 60p set up from the beginning. Over filtered with in line everything, and medium light. Ive probably spent 2 or 3x as much by going cheap and upgrading a piece at a time.

It is small enough to give you some challenge in fish/plant keeping to cut your teeth on, but large enough to give you some options, has great proportions and a ton of followers to POW wow with when problems come up. 2ft and 4ft lighting is cheaper than 3ft lighting, and lighting is often your most expensive piece.

If it is out of the question, grab a 20g tall at a petco $per gallon sale, then internet shop the rest of your equipment. Don't forget to check out hydroponics suppliers for lights. They are often much cheaper and comparable quality in flourescent lighting, if that's the direction you want to go.

Worth what you paid for it!

I'd say 20 long instead of tall. But thats just me :]

[jbrady33]

Went by a petsmart today, have to say the 40 gallon breeder looks like a very cool setup, but a few minutes on google says that stands are hard to come buy

Starting with a small tank makes sense, trying to balance that with the fact that I am only going to be able to have one tank in this house, no moving up in 6 months.

[Trickerie]

You could always do a DIY stand. Lots chose that direction! Check the DIY forum for some inspiration

[jreich]

I bought my 40b at petsmart, and had no problem at all finding a stand. There is another tank that fits the same footprint of a 40b making it a more common dimension. But i love the depth front to back the 40b gives u, with something like that tho ur gona want to go with a large canister to get some water movement and likely co2, its to big to consider excell or diy.

Sent from my HTC Inspire 4G using Tapatalk 2

[Pooky125]

I'm going to put my vote in for the 24x24x18. I used to have a 24x24x12, and LOVED it. Plants grew fabulous, it was an incredible display piece, and LOTS of square footage, with reasonably priced lighting options. I'd always wished it was a few inches deeper though. I think 24x24x18 would be my dream tank.

My current tank, in the process of getting resealed, is a 21x22x13. Really excited to get this one going. It should also be pretty excellent when its finished.

I've had a 40 breeder inbetween there. I really liked it. It was ALMOST the perfect dimensions for viewing. Lots of great floor space, but I kept wishing it were a little bit wider.

Cubes can be hard to work with, in part because they're hard to light, and in part because finding plants and scapes that work well in them is a challenge. I have an 8 gallon Evolve nano right now, and it's a challenge getting even tall growing plants tall enough to make the whole thing look pulled together. If you were doing stem plants, this wouldn't be such an issue, but, I don't. I run everything low tech. I had an 18x18x18 cube at one point, it was very cool, but really challenging. I think I'd like to try it again someday, but maybe not as the main display tank.