My new 180 gallon tank! Need Help!!

[jasonwilks]

Hello guys, I am completely new with aquariums, I just got my first aquarium ever! It is 180 gallons, and it is in my office room as an in-wall, and also the other side is in my bedroom. I paid about $9,000 dollars for the whole thing including cabinets and setup etc..

Check out a bunch of pictures of it here:
http://primelogic.ws/180-gallon-fish-tank.htm

I did have a professional guy set it up, but now it's up to me to do the rest.

I had it setup for a week with water before I put fish in it. The first time I put fish in it, I put 25 fish in, it turn out that within a few hours they ALL died! well except for 3 of them, 2 of which was angel fish, and 1 other one was one of those sucker fish. They are still alive today, after 3 weeks, and like i said, the rest died.

I'm not sure why the rest died, maybe because I put too much fish in at once, or the tank had too much ammonia in it or something, I don't know. I recently just added 2 gold fish into it and they are doing okay now. So maybe the tank is now settled down and healthy now for fish.

Here are some more details of the tank:
-180 gallons, freshwater.
-100% starphire glass around it.
-all fake plants.
-2 under gravel filters. No other filters.
-A heater set at 75 F.
-There is a bubbler in it that spits bubbles up.
-Two T5 florescent bulbs, one is a glow light, the other is a regular white light, both are on a timer that is on 14 hours a day and off for 10 hours a day.
-There is a very small amount of natural sunlight coming in.
-There are 4 real rocks in the tank.

But since this is my first tank ever, I am a newbie with all this stuff, and I am going through a big learning process about this, so I have a TON of questions that maybe you guys can help me with. Here they are:

1. How often should I do a water change? And I should do a 20-30% change correct? Remember my tank is 180 gallons!

2. I am concerned about doing the water change because I use my garden hose attached to my faucet outside. I live up north, so it is cold and the tap water is very cold up here, so it makes my water a bit colder for a short period of time until the heater heats it up. Will this be okay for the fish, is there any alternative I should consider?

3. Should I chose a different filter method, Or should I add another filter? Remember I am using 2 under gravel filters.

4. I am now seeing a build up of what I think looks like little white turds in the gravel, I assume these are fish poop?? Am I right? Is this bad? Do i need to clean these out and if so how??

5. How often do I need to clean the filter, and how do i do it? Im not sure how to clean an under gravel filter's filter!

6. My fish food they provided for me is in huge flakes, should I crumble these up, or just put them in as big flakes? Or it doesn't matter?

7. One of my rocks has a large growth of green fuzz on it, should I take the rock out and clean it, or just leave it in there?

8. When I feed my fish I do not see the fish to come up and eat anything, should I give them less or not feed them at all?

9. I see a lot of small particles floating around in the water. Should I be concerned about this? If so how do I remove them? It is kind of annoying to look at!

Is there anything else I should know?

Thanks for those who help me with any of these questions, it is greatly appreciated!

[thrak76]

I'll let others give the advice, but i wanted to say it looks like a very cool setup. I like the in-wall on one side, and two sided in the other room. Lots of options in such a huge tank!

[Linda S]

I would think a python gravel vac system would help with water changes, it removes water and you clean the gravel, which is how you take care of an under gravel filter, and then you refill from your indoor sink you can set the water temp to the temp of your aquarium water and not shock the fish. Water should be as close as possible to the temp in the aquarium.

[Jaykit]

My .02 is in the red font

Hello guys, I am completely new with aquariums, I just got my first aquarium ever! It is 180 gallons, and it is in my office room as an in-wall, and also the other side is in my bedroom. I paid about $9,000 dollars for the whole thing including cabinets and setup etc..

Check out a bunch of pictures of it here:
http://primelogic.ws/180-gallon-fish-tank.htm

I did have a professional guy set it up, but now it's up to me to do the rest.

I had it setup for a week with water before I put fish in it. The first time I put fish in it, I put 25 fish in, it turn out that within a few hours they ALL died! well except for 3 of them, 2 of which was angel fish, and 1 other one was one of those sucker fish. They are still alive today, after 3 weeks, and like i said, the rest died. There was no bacteria in the tank so when you added all the fish the ammonia had a huge spike most likely and thats what killed everything. You should always wait a couple weeks to add fish and do it slowly.

I'm not sure why the rest died, maybe because I put too much fish in at once, or the tank had too much ammonia in it or something, I don't know. I recently just added 2 gold fish into it and they are doing okay now. So maybe the tank is now settled down and healthy now for fish.

Here are some more details of the tank:
-180 gallons, freshwater.
-100% starphire glass around it.
-all fake plants.
-2 under gravel filters. No other filters.
-A heater set at 75 F.
-There is a bubbler in it that spits bubbles up.
-Two T5 florescent bulbs, one is a glow light, the other is a regular white light, both are on a timer that is on 14 hours a day and off for 10 hours a day.
-There is a very small amount of natural sunlight coming in.
-There are 4 real rocks in the tank.

But since this is my first tank ever, I am a newbie with all this stuff, and I am going through a big learning process about this, so I have a TON of questions that maybe you guys can help me with. Here they are:

1. How often should I do a water change? And I should do a 20-30% change correct? Remember my tank is 180 gallons! Most people recommend 20-30% weekly waterchanges depending on the bio-load(how many fish you have).

2. I am concerned about doing the water change because I use my garden hose attached to my faucet outside. I live up north, so it is cold and the tap water is very cold up here, so it makes my water a bit colder for a short period of time until the heater heats it up. Will this be okay for the fish, is there any alternative I should consider? You can buy a python as was mentioned earlier. This hooks up to your kitchen sink or another inside faucet.

3. Should I chose a different filter method, Or should I add another filter? Remember I am using 2 under gravel filters. IMO undergravel filters are no good. I would recommend 1 fx5 canister filter or 2 smaller canisters. You could also have the tank plumbed for a sump.

4. I am now seeing a build up of what I think looks like little white turds in the gravel, I assume these are fish poop?? Am I right? Is this bad? Do i need to clean these out and if so how?? Any left over waste is a bad thing and when you do your weekly changes you should try and vacuum as much of it as you can get. It breaks down raising your ammonia, nitrates, and nitrites which are all toxic to your fish.

5. How often do I need to clean the filter, and how do i do it? Im not sure how to clean an under gravel filter's filter!

6. My fish food they provided for me is in huge flakes, should I crumble these up, or just put them in as big flakes? Or it doesn't matter? Smaller fish will eat smaller flakes much as a baby eats mush while adults chew down on steak.

7. One of my rocks has a large growth of green fuzz on it, should I take the rock out and clean it, or just leave it in there? Sounds like algae, you can take it out and clean it. Besides for the food you feed your pleco, he will also help to clean up your algae.

8. When I feed my fish I do not see the fish to come up and eat anything, should I give them less or not feed them at all? Depending on what fish you have is how much they will need and when they need to be feed. If you dont see them eat it right away drop a little in and come back in a bit, if its still there dont add anymore.

9. I see a lot of small particles floating around in the water. Should I be concerned about this? If so how do I remove them? It is kind of annoying to look at!

Is there anything else I should know? Searching around on this forum or other like it and asking lots of questions to understand what is happening in your tank. Also it is a good thing to do before you go out and buy fish that "look cool".
Thanks for those who help me with any of these questions, it is greatly appreciated!

[Kuhlifan]

A newbie with a 180 gallon aquarium...*sigh*

Most people do weekly water changes of about 20-30 percent. The good news is that larger aquariums can go a little longer if necessary...the less water you have the faster it can become contaminated. However, once a week is a great schedule. Something you might look into, if you found someplace that would set it up, you can likely find someplace to take care of it. You might have someone do that for a month or two and just observe them, ask questions and do some research. Then you can take over.

Only adding 20-30 percent during a water change will drop the temperature, but not a lot. A heater will bring it back up to the right range in enough time, at least typically. A python will fill/drain the tank from your kitchen sink, so that could be helpful. Also, don't use hot water, only cold water.

There are three types of filtration. Mechanical is when the filter removes particles, such as fish poop or old food or dirt from the water. Chemical filtration is when you use carbon in your filter to remove chemicals such as fish medicine from the water. Biological is the bacteria that builds up on every surface in your tank that eats ammonia that comes from fish and food waste. Under gravel filters are more or less only good for biological filtration. I don't like them because they basically let waste sink into the gravel, under the filter and then set there for all eternity. You need another filter. Look into 1-2 good canister filters that you can put under your tank in the cabinet and run up via tubing to remove/return water.


It's probably leftover food and poop. Suck it up with a gravel vacuum or phython water changer. That is a part of your weekly water change.

The only sure way to clean an undergravel filter is to take everything out of the tank and scrub. That's why I hate them.


Flake size only matters if you have very small fish. Some smaller fish can't nibble larger flakes. Big fish can, but they can also eat smaller ones. If it makes you feel better, shake the can vigorously and the flakes will get smaller.

This is the joy of algae, most new tanks get it. You can remove the rock and scrub it, but it probably won't go away completely. There are some algae eaters that will help, but not eliminate it completely. If you feed the fish less and clean the water more often, that will help. The leftover food and poop is basically fertilizer. Also, keep the light off for a few days and that might help starve the algae.


They fish might be adjusting to the new tank. Feed them a little every day at the same time. Some fish only eat from the top of the water, some only eat the food that is floating down, and some only eat what lands on the ground.


Small particles in the water probably means you need something other than an undergravel filter. This is where mechanical filtration comes into play. A powered filter will suck water and particles up, push it through something like a sponge or wad of cloth that will catch the particles. You need something like this to capture all of the little bits of waste that come with having a tank.


Hope it helps!

[krytan]

1. How often should I do a water change? And I should do a 20-30% change correct? Remember my tank is 180 gallons!
You should be doing weekly water changes of 25-50% depending on stocking, i used to do two 50% water changes a week on my 180g tank.

2. I am concerned about doing the water change because I use my garden hose attached to my faucet outside. I live up north, so it is cold and the tap water is very cold up here, so it makes my water a bit colder for a short period of time until the heater heats it up. Will this be okay for the fish, is there any alternative I should consider?
I would look at getting a phyton gravel vac.

3. Should I chose a different filter method, Or should I add another filter? Remember I am using 2 under gravel filters.
I would add a good canister filter like the fluval FX5.

4. I am now seeing a build up of what I think looks like little white turds in the gravel, I assume these are fish poop?? Am I right? Is this bad? Do i need to clean these out and if so how??
You need to do a gravel vac when you do water changes.

5. How often do I need to clean the filter, and how do i do it? Im not sure how to clean an under gravel filter's filter!
The under gravel should be cleaned weekly by doing a gravel vac, also clean any pumps. A canister filter can go 3 or 4 months without beeing cleaned.

6. My fish food they provided for me is in huge flakes, should I crumble these up, or just put them in as big flakes? Or it doesn't matter?
You need to research what your type of fish need in their diet.

7. One of my rocks has a large growth of green fuzz on it, should I take the rock out and clean it, or just leave it in there?
I would clean it.

8. When I feed my fish I do not see the fish to come up and eat anything, should I give them less or not feed them at all?
Give them what they will eat without having leftover food in the tank.

9. I see a lot of small particles floating around in the water. Should I be concerned about this? If so how do I remove them? It is kind of annoying to look at!
The only way to get rid of it is with water changes.

Is there anything else I should know?
It sounds as if you didn't cycle your tank properly try reading through this http://www.aquariacentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=84598

Thanks for those who help me with any of these questions, it is greatly appreciated!
.

[joel.uejio]

Looks like you've already gotten a lot of great advice. Only thing I would add is a suggestion:

While you're working on getting your tank cleaned up and cycled, do research on what kind of fish you want to have. You can then post your ideas here and get some feedback on how it looks.

A well planned stocking will save you much hassle down the road. :thumbsup:

[Jspigs]

Did you use a water conditioner/dechlorinator?

[SubRosa]

1&2 Weekly changes are the norm, and your amounts are sufficient but you might consider smaller changes more often to minimize temp drop at each change. If your water change drops the tank more than 5 F some fish may not appreciate it. Another possibility would be draining the water early in the day, leaving the canister/ug running with a submersible heater fully submerged when the water is at its lowest. Then add a bucket or two of water every once in a while until full.
3 The undergravel filter is not a bad filter at all as long as you understand that it needs regular maintanence consisting of using a gravel siphon to remove water during water changes and clean the gravel above the plates. I certainly wouldn't tear it out, but additional filtration in the form of canister/s filtration would be a very good thing. You can even plumb it so the canister filter powers the ug, which will move more water than airlifts through the bed. It would probably be best to plumb reverse flow, meaning having the output from the canister going down the tubes and rising up through the gravel. On everything else I agree with krytan!

[DieselJunki]

I dunno if anyone caught the gold fish thing or not


I'm not sure why the rest died, maybe because I put too much fish in at once, or the tank had too much ammonia in it or something, I don't know. I recently just added 2 gold fish into it and they are doing okay now. So maybe the tank is now settled down and healthy now for fish.gold fish are a cold water and the angels you have are tropical. So those fish do not mix. I recommend taking the gold fish back unless you want a cold water setup. I also agree with joel, a well planned stocking will save you much grief and aggravation in the future.

Edit: Almost forgot ^.^ Welcome to AC! and that is a very nice house/tank you have there! I love the theme!

[jasonwilks]

Okay I think I am going to get an Eheim 2250 Canister Filter, and I am going to just get one of them. I really only have one place to put a canister filter, I think that should be good enough you think? Also Is there anything else I need to buy along with this canister filter to make it work good?? And would this be good to replace my UGFs?

[bradlgt21]

Yes a test kit. I read the other suggestions and they are all great so I don't want to get redundant.

I would suggest keeping the fish you already have except maybe the gold fish like someone suggested. Then use the test kit to watch the cycling process. Don't get any more fish until the cycling process is complete, or you will risk killing fish. There are 3 stages of cycling. Ammonia, the worst and the beginning, you will see this go up pretty high. After a week or two it should start dropping and you should start seeing Nitrite, This will go up as ammonia goes down. Then Nitrate joins the party. Once Ammonia and Nitrite are at 0 you can then think about doing more fish. Nitrate is always present and is the final stage of the cycle. It can tell you how dirty the water is. Normal ranges are anywhere from 0-20 and the lower the cleaner. Once you have this under control get some more fish like maybe another 5-6 monitor the levels. If you ever see ammonia or nitrite again don't add any more fish until they are at 0 again.

[krytan]

Okay I think I am going to get an Eheim 2250 Canister Filter, and I am going to just get one of them. I really only have one place to put a canister filter, I think that should be good enough you think? Also Is there anything else I need to buy along with this canister filter to make it work good?? And would this be good to replace my UGFs?
You will need a bigger canister than that and i would keep the UGF, maybe even hook it up as a reverse UGF like SubRosa suggested.

[jasonwilks]

You will need a bigger canister than that and i would keep the UGF, maybe even hook it up as a reverse UGF like SubRosa suggested.

How about instead of the Eheim 2250, I get one Eheim 2260?? Would this be enough then?? I also plan on taking out my UGFs!

[Reframer]

No, you definitely can't use the cold water for a water change, that will kill them. Have to get a python as suggested and match the temp of the water within 2 degrees. Immediately dose the tank with a good water conditioner like Prime to neutralize the chlorine.

What are the dimensions of the tank?

[DieselJunki]

Jason why not get 2 canister filters? Although I am not sure on the size you would need for a tank that size but I always hear 2 is better then 1!

[hootie51]

Holy crap...the BMW is SWEET!!! Definitely one of my favorite cars. The tank is nice too.

[Cluunox]

just a though but 14 hrs for lights seams a long time and cutting back to 8 or 10 may slow the algee down some but if it stays on a rock that is easy enough to remove and clean the longer viewing time may be worth it to you as long as it does not spread to far.

a good test kit to know your ph, ammonia, nitrite and nitrate levels so you can keep them in check with the water changes and filtration is a must, liquid kits are best.

a good water conditioner/dechlorinater for water changes is also a must if your water comes from a treated water system.

from my reading here it seams a good rule of thumb for filtering is 10 times tank volume turnover rate per hour and the reason some have suggested 2 filters is while one is down for cleaning, maintanance or is broken and in need of repairs you already have a filter in place that can take up the slack while working on the other. you may have a small cycle spike while the single filter increases bacteria to take the load the other filter was carrying but a small spike is better than no filter at all in place.


good luck with your setup it looks fantastic, very very nice and am sure you will get eveything worked out and really enjoy having it.

[jasonwilks]

from my reading here it seams a good rule of thumb for filtering is 10 times tank volume turnover rate per hour

Wow so you mean I need filters that can total 180x10 = 1800 Gallons per hour? That seems like a lot, the eheim 2260 filter can only do 500 gph, and it costs $420! I would need 4 of them!

[kelly82]

i have a 180 with 2x fluval 4+ internal canisters and a fluval fx5 external, i was running a rena xp4 external but found it noisy and the flow poor. i wouldnt run any less than the 2 internals and the fx5 on mine which has 12 fancy goldfish in there.

please please remove the goldfish you have in there, or remove the angels and go for a cool water set-up. its not fair on the fish to have them living in water temps unsuitable for their species.

by the way, your house is awesome, your car is gorgeous, and im sooooo jealous of how nice your tank looks :)

[67chevelle]

Wow so you mean I need filters that can total 180x10 = 1800 Gallons per hour? That seems like a lot, the eheim 2260 filter can only do 500 gph, and it costs $420! I would need 4 of them!
Get 1 Eheim 2262,that will be enough for your 180.
Get it here,http://www.kensfish.com/canisterfilterlinks.html
Out of curiosity,if you paid 9 grand for a 180(which is very,very high) why are you surprised the filtration may cost another grand?