150 Gallon Build Thread ... From the Start

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WaywardSon

Carry on ...
Jul 16, 2008
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Ready for liftoff!

The project is a 150 gallon planted / heavily planted (pressurized Co2, ferts, the works) with Discus, a couple of large schools (likely Cardinals and Rummies), and a clean-up crew.

I want this thread to take it from the start all the way through ... heavy with pics; but, most of all, heavy with input from you - the experts.

Let's start at the beginning - the tank.

I went to the LFS today and looked at 150's.

First question: Should I go with the 150 tall? (dimensions 72" long x 18" deep x 30" tall)

Will I be able to get light penetration to the bottom (without a MH - not diggin' that) for glosso and other ground cover?

As long as we are talking about tank size, second question:

WPG recommendation and type of lighting? I want to be able to pretty much grow anything and fill the tank with plants. Hard to say from the start. Have noticed that this is certainly an evolving hobby (lol)!

BTW - Looking at a sweet cherry wood stand and hood / canopy.

Let the suggestions / input begin ...

Your feedback will make this thread and is certainly appreciated!!
 
Not an expert, but I have a 150 tall - its not planted - I would rather have a longer shallower tank much easier to reach down into to prune and scape as needed etc. Not only that it will give you more surface area.

2-3 wpg ... or 8x54w lamps ... 10000k and 6500k or 9325 if you like the red spectrum... would love those but cant find them in T5.

Good luck!
 
^^ I agree with Derringer about the length vs height.
Plus this is a planted tank which means you will be swimming in it just about every week doing maintenance/trimming plants/gravel vacing and the whole 9 yards. The last thing you want is to do that in a 30" tall tank, heck its already hard doing that in a tank thats 24" tall. Plus the length in the tank will allow you to add more plants, have more space for fish and just have more options on the scape.

Not 2 sure where you can get a stand/canopy for a tank that size, most places i know only go up to 48x18. Perhaps someone else can help you on that.

With lighting you can go with either ahsupply 4x96 or 6x96, or better yet if you going all out, look into t-5 fixtures. Everyone seems to love them on bigger tanks.
 
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Thanks Derringer and BK!

I certainly agree with the easy access into a shallower tank. The same shallower 150 would be 72 x 24 x 24 (I think that's 157 gallons technically), giving you approximately 432 more square inches of surface area if I am figuring correctly. Easy access with all the "work" involved is sure a big consideration!

The LFS had a sweet cherry wood stand and hood / canopy for the 150 tall (didn't check if they had one for the 150 regular). I think Vader had a real nice stand / canopy setup if I remember correctly. Perhaps we can get some input from him ...

Any more tank size input / feedback would certainly be welcome.

Also, any stand / canopy ideas along with lighting pros and cons would be great!
 
My two cents: if you're getting discus for a planted, I would get adults.
 
Don't know yet. Thought we could settle on the tank size and lighting; but, sure we can jump right into filters. The more sub-topics we get into this thread, the more feedback we are likely to receive.

From everything I have read, heard, etc, it's just hard not to go with Eheims. I am certainly, however, 100% open to discussion / suggestions.

2 filters placed on opposite ends. No real clue here - would 2 2217's do it?

Remember, I tend to plant heavy and stock very full.

Overfiltration is big for me.
 
Yes!!! The thread we've been waiting for... :D :headbang2:This is going to be a truly great thread to follow. I have to agree with what has been said thus far re: long vs. tall. Specifically, the tall version being much more difficult to manipulate when it comes to trimming and regular tank maintenance. Coy, you might recall that my tanks and stands are both by Aqueon. Is this the manufacturer you've been looking at? The cherry finish stands and canopy are from the Classic Mission series:

http://www.aqueonproducts.com/products/classic-mission-series.htm

Sizes available for the cherry finish as follows:

Stand Size Fits Tank Size
48” 55
18x48 75, 90, 110X
18x72 125, 150
24x48 120
24x72 180, 210

They have a ton of other great options available on the website, and I'm sure the LFS can do a special order. I have been extremely happy with both the quality of the tanks and the furniture thus far. There is one downside to these great looking hoods however: many of the better pre-packaged lighting canopies use leg flanges that hook to the outside corner of the tank edges. These edges will not be available for you to use due to the canopy. As a result, I had to use lighting that fit more practically inside the hood (Hagen T5 GLO flourescent) and frankly, it is the least favorite aspect of my existing tank. I would suggest you do some research on exactly what lighting you're planning on as it may alter the nature of the hood(s) available to you.

You can't go wrong with two Eheims (one at either end) and this might make more sense for a heavily planted /stocked tank vs. one beast filter (like a Fluval FX5). Nevertheless, I must say owning the FX5 has been a pleasure thus far.
 
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