I got my new 130 gallon... and a whole lot more!

[LMOUTHBASS]

haha don't hate me! This type of stuff NEVER happens for me! I'm shocked! I also landed a sweet apt tonight that has been freshly remodeled and has plenty of room for both tanks and possibly a third!

Anyhow...So here are the dimensions to the supposed "200" - I went back and measured it tonight - 72.5L x 24W x 29.25H

So... I've looked for similar measurements online and closest I can find would be a 200 gallon... anyone know for sure what those measurements equal out to be in gallons? I'm guessing its right around 200?

 

[LMOUTHBASS]

Maybe not the right word (just different), you have some small, some large, and Earth-eaters all together. They all peaceful, well at lease mild.

Yeah that sounds about right. I was kind of trying to collect fish that have some different qualities to them but weren't maniacal! So far so good. Can't wait to get them in a huge tank.

 

[swingr1121]

With those dimensions it looks to be a 220g tank. Awesome score! As far as reefing goes, lighting is expensive but, the bigger the tank, the easier things are.

Sent from my SCH-I535 using MonsterAquariaNetwork App

 

[tanker]

I was kind of trying to collect fish that have some different qualities to them but weren't maniacal! So far so good. Can't wait to get them in a huge tank.

After move--, send pics, send pics.

:hearts:

 

[LMOUTHBASS]

After move--, send pics, send pics.

:hearts:

I def will! Prob won't be up and running til early May. Move in date is May 1 for the new place. If that's a 220... I'm even more ecstatic!!!

I'm gonna go with a sand substrate... I'm thinking pool filter sand... What is the down side if I choose not to wash the sand in buckets first before placing it in the tank? Its just going to be super cloudy for a few days right? I've never used sand before. I'm just thinking that's going to be a ton of sand to wash. I could just put it in the tank and let it run for a few days, and once it settles I could move the fish into it... unless washing the sand is crucial for fish health?

Also, since we now know I potentially have a 220 for my mostly SA Cichlids... based on my stocking list I previously posted (will post again here) how full am I and can I add more? I'm wondering about getting a few more Clown Loaches for my guy who has been alone for so long the past decade... he's about 6 inches.

Here's what needs to go into the 220
1 Chocolate Cichlid
2 Rainbow Cichlid
1 Firemouth Cichlid
3 Threadfin Acara
1 Blue Acara
3 Red Head Tapajos (2 of them are very small growing out in 36 gallon for now)
1 Clown Loach
1 Electric Blue Acara (Small right now as well)
1 Redhump Eartheater (also very small growing out)
1 S. Daeman

Is that pretty much gonna do it or will I have more room, not enough room, just right, can I add to this...? I'm not the best at determining stocking levels. Like I mentioned before these guys are currently housed across a variety of tanks at the moment

 

[SnakeIce]

Well I have always looked at adult size of fish to talk about stocking levels. It is better to look at potential and give space for that from the start.

So with your list above

1 Chocolate Cichlid 12"
1 S. Daeman 10"
1 Clown Loach 8-10" rarely 12"
3 Red Head Tapajos 8-10"
3 Threadfin Acara 8"
1 Blue Acara 8"
2 Rainbow Cichlid 6"
1 Firemouth Cichlid 6"
1 Redhump Eartheater 6"
1 Electric Blue Acara 5-6"

I'm being hurried here so I'll just say that looks like it would require staying on top of waterchanges, and I wouldn't add anything to it unless you put some of the stock in another tank.

 

[Pinkey]

I have a planted sand-bottomed 130 with Oscars and a JD in it now. I have kept Texas & Green Terrors as well. So much of their personality has to do with the individual fish and how they are introduced to the tank.

These are not scientifically demonstrable but I have tested all these concepts many times. While there are no guarantees there are a couple things you can do to improve your odds of keeping all you want to keep in one tank.

1. The tank is large enough to house them all.
2. Good water quality keeps fish more peaceful, or maybe bad water quality makes them more irritable. Either way, good water = more peace.
3. Fish have a funny way of learning. The order in which you introduce your fish makes a huge difference. The most docile must be the largest before you put in the next most aggressive. Those more aggressive fish must be larger than the most aggressive fish. It is possible for everyone to be happy this way. Fish see anything they can fit in their mouths as food. If you have a large (6"+) kissing gourami and a 2" Oscar, the Oscar will outgrow the gourami but probably never figure out that the goruami is not the boss. The Oscars will always remember that the Gourami is too big to eat even if the Oscar reaches 14".
4. A backup Plan: You are lucky enough to have enough tanks where you can shuffle the worst offenders to live with larger fish or to take them back to the LFS as you need to. I don't think I have ever had to take a cichlid back.

There are no guarantees but it is certainly possible for all those on your list to get along. The one exception is that if anyone ever decides he/she is going to build a nest. Mating cichlids will fight anyone no matter the size. I had a pair of convicts that owned 3/4 of a 55g and kept everyone else bunched in the far corner (for a week until I moved them to a small indoor pond).

Anyway, Good Luck finding a home. It sounds like you are moving in with the gf for the first time since you mention your place and her place and now her opinion on the tanks seems to matter in a way that suggests moving in together. Have fun with that. I hope you have a wonderful time together.

This is my 135g planted Oscar tank with sand substrate. The tank is 6' across.

 

[LMOUTHBASS]

Great looking tank Pinkey. I like it. Yeah, me and the lady are moving in for the first time together. Should be great, she loves fish too.

For the most part I'm certain these fish will coexist ok, some of them are already together. Just hoping there physically is enough space.

In my excitement to land this huge tank, I didn't stop to consider another problem... the weight of the tank. I'm taking the first floor of a house and we have several rooms, and its been remodeled, but I need to figure out if the floors can support this thing. It seems to me once full there will be about 2,000 pounds if not a little more between the tank and stand...

I'm no engineer... but now I'm reading up on joists, weight PSF (per square foot) and keeping tanks perpendicular to the joists. Eeeeesh. Does anyone keep tanks this big without reinforcing the floor somehow? Assuming its a wooden floor and not a concrete floor. I know there is a basement below us. I'll have to go down and look at the joists I suppose, but I don't know much about this stuff. I read that US law requires houses to at least be a min of 40 PSF across the house... I just don't know... I've got to figure out the PSR of a tank that big I suppose... ughhh

 

[Pinkey]

Change after change and they all seem good. You must be living right. Buy a lottery ticket this week.

I have looked into the same engineering questions not too long ago for very similar reasons. The PSF foot requirement is true but works a little differently with things as heavy as fish tanks. You are not going to crush the floor, the sub-floor (beneath the hardwood) or the joists. What can happen is you can actually cause the floor joists to bend which would turn the whole room into a trampoline with very little spring. The whole room can feel mushy and that is just bad news.

Many basements have concrete walls. The joists are supported by the concrete. If your tank is perpendicular to the joists and against the wall everything will be OK. The weight is spread out evenly over 4-5 joists (72" / joists 16" apart). 1 2x4 under ideal circumstances can support 10,000 lbs.

If you put the tank against an outer wall you should never have any trouble at all.

Re: washing sand: I used playground sand. I didn't wash it and I regretted it. I don't ever like to make more work for myself BUT when I added more sand to the tank I rinsed it. I put the sand in a 5 gallon bucket and put the hose at the bottom with medium to low pressure. When the water started overflowing more clear than sandy I stopped. I did lose some sand that way but sand is so cheap I didn't care. It took about 15 minutes per bucket. One bag filled one bucket. I think I have 2-3 bags of sand in this tank. You could put the sand in without rinsing it first but it becomes frustrating to wait the 3-5 days for it to clear up. I spent the whole time thinking if I had only rinsed the sand I could be doing something with this right now. . .

Other Lessons Learned:

If I had it to do over again I would put the background on very well before putting any water in. Paint it if you are going to paint it, tape it if you are going to tape it but don't fill it without the background. Once the tank weighs a ton it is not going anywhere. My wife and I spent a couple hours with a stepladder, a taped up hook invention I made out of junk in the garage, and a background that we threaded between the tank and the wall. My tank is near the corner of the room with the filter intakes in the very corner. The tank is about 2" from the side wall. That way the back of the tank is against the wall. It is so huge already that putting it out another 4-6" from the wall looked very odd (I did test that before putting water in).

Here is a link to info about the tank:

http://www.aquariacentral.com/forum...amp-a-living-wall-and-potential-for-disaster!

There is more detail there about how it came to be what it is. Maybe there is something in there you can use.

 

[kumar420]

Idea for the 220- you could make the empty 55 into a sump and not have to change the water quite as often and the water will be pristine since the there will be an extra 40g or so (when all is said and done) of water circulating throughout. But it will require drilling the tank, so you're out a tank.

For a 130 my dream would be a mega sized community with large schools of rainbows and tetras with a few nice centrepiece fish. But thats my preference, I like a very active tank.