[sohankpatel]

So, I finally convinced my parents to install a 150g aquarium in the basement. I would have preferred a 180g, but the space cannot accommodate a 24" wide tank. The tank will be non-planted, with driftwood and rocks as hardscape, and PFS as sub. The equipment will be:
Danner Mag-Drive 12
A 29 gallon sump (unsure of this size), with submerged bio-media (Matrix)
Herbie overflow (Is Beananimal better?)
2x aqueon 250W PRO heaters
2x 36" Current sat + (I wanted programmable LED's that wouldn't grow algae)
Possibly a diy Algae scrubber?
Any issues that you see here? Any advice on drilling, plumbing, or better equipment would be appreciated.
Stocking, here is where it gets complicated, I know that I want a group of 8 geophagus red heat tapajos, but I don't know what else would go well with that. aqadvisor tells me that I am at 99% stocking with 8 geos and 6 angels. Is that accurate? I wanted more than just that im my tank! Obviously since this is a tall tank, I want fish that will stay higher in the water column. Any suggestions? Maybe a school of pristella tetras and larger barbs or larger tetras?

Any tips on actually building the tank into a wall?
Any suggestions would be appreciated!

 

[Maryland Guppy]

I guess there is no more parental opposition?

Existing wall or a new wall to be installed?
My oldest son put his 100 gallon in the wall in his basement.
Only 1 side was finished other side was laundry room and didn't matter.
We purchased a molding kit for a door.

Best pic I had, it is really not crooked.

 

[sohankpatel]

I guess there is no more parental opposition?

Existing wall or a new wall to be installed?
My oldest son put his 100 gallon in the wall in his basement.
Only 1 side was finished other side was laundry room and didn't matter.
We purchased a molding kit for a door.
View attachment 619537
Best pic I had, it is really not crooked.

Existing wall, non-load bearing. The parental opposition is still there, but it is lessened.

 

[loach guy]

I wish my parents let me do something like this when I was a kid. I can tell that algae is your main concern, and rightfully so. If I were doing this project, I would want it as low maintenance as possible. I would add a high wattage UV sterilizer to my arsenal. I think it would be a good idea to add either some plecos or Borneo loaches to scrub the glass. I would recommend some Japanese trapdoor or other snails to help keep up with the glass and turn you sand, but not after reading about those goes...lol. I think your substrate (which is completely appropriate) might be hard to keep clean. I would try to think of ways to turn it on a regular basis. I'm looking forward to seeing how this turns out. Best of luck!

 

[sohankpatel]

Any suggestions on stocking or the equipment? The in-wall part will be pretty straightforward because my dad is doing that. However, the rest is my responsibility.

 

[sohankpatel]

Nobody?

 

[SNAXX]

You're going with SA Cichlids so a SA fish seem appropriate. Some Corys, a school or two of tetras. My personal favorite tetra is Emperors. They now have a few different color variations. I kept Palmeri. I always though they would look even better with a school of Rummy Nose tetras. Basically If I had the same oppurtunity I would keep Geos as well as the ones I listed. I just wouldn't go with Angels. I'd try dwarf pikes. There's some Regani species that stay small. There's a few videos on Youtube with that fish mix in a Amazon Biotope.

Dwarf Pikes require live food, and hopefully frozen if you can get then to take it, is the only drawback.

With the driftwood and no plants you could keep some plecos. My personal favorite there is Queen Arabesque (L260). They don't get too big and eat like the cichlids as far as food selection.