125 Gallon what to start with?

S

sponga

AC Members
Dec 4, 2006
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Hi all, new member and glad to find you all.

Now I got this 125 Gallon from a buddy of mine for free and got some gravel for the bottom today. It has a divider that covers a quarter of the tank and only goes like a quarter way up; I will probably add more to the divider to begin breeding/growing over there or something else later on down the line.

I originally had a 40 gallon that I had going forever and have a goldfish in there that is from a carnival 11 years ago.

I will throw in a couple starter fish later on tomorrow to get it going; already transferred some water from old tank into there and had put almost all of the ammonia cleaner(name brand forgot) and now it is clearing up. Gonna grab some water to bring into Petco for them to test today.

Basically I want a little more of a tropical look on this one need to get an idea of what to get started. Saw some nice colorful Tetras and some guppies I think they were.

Question about this goldfish I have that I think is a basic one with the fan tail; is it ok to put it in this other tank in a few weeks and he will survive in that space with the tropical fish. I mean I love this goldfish and want him to grow even larger than the about 4 inches he is at now.

The lighthing also the guy gave me was an overhead unit that can hold two fluorescent(4FT I think) at about 45W each from what I can see on them; that should be ok to keep the water at basic tempature.
I guess I will need a heater for that also at what about 200Watt heater?
NOTE: I live in Southern California fairly close to the beach so the weather is warm.

Glad to have found this community and will show you pics and stuff when I get everything sorted out or if I can before. I will think of more questions later and have been reading websites like crazy the last few days about freshwater and finally seemed to have found the forum for the job now.

Oh yah I am all about DIY as I love doing thing for budget and working with my hands; good with tools also.
 
If your goldfish is a fancy, it might not get any bigger than it is. How big is it? Have you been doing regular water changes on the 40? Or just topping it off?

Goldfish are a cold water fish and shouldn't be kept with tropicals based on the difference in their temperature requirements.

You really should buy your own liquid master test kit to do your own water testing, and not rely on an LFS, whose employees are not always reliable with their information or knowledge.

Have you read up on fishless cycling? What kind of filters do you have for the 125? Please get a good handle on the nitrogen cycle and how a fishy cycle can permanently damage a fish.

Transferring water from the 40 to the 125 will not really help cycle the new tank. The bacteria is established in the substrate, decor and filters. Moving some of this over will get the new tank up faster.

Heater size is usually in the area of 2-5 watts per gallon, depending on how cool the house is maintained in the winter. It is advisable to split the required wattge between two heaters for reliability of heater failure, in one direction or the other.

Welcome to AC! Would love to see some pics when you have it all set up!
 
Yah additionally I have:

Hodran Premium-Quality Waonder Rock spread 1-2 inch across.
Medium sized African piece of driftwood looks like a Dragon.

Penguin 350 Bio - Wheel -which seems to be doing the job so far. Is it enough for now for a 125 Gallons?
Because I have a piece of glass down the middle of the top of my tank only about 8 inches wide; I have to place the pump on the left or right side. So I moved it over to the left today and placed the air bubbler stoner(replacing with diver) to the other for circulation.

My other tank I unfortunatelly have to admit I did not put any professional work into and topped off basically; just replaced water every once in awhile and cleaned gravel/rocks every once in awhile. But I am a fast learner and love to expand now.

I guess it I can buy a temperature gauge; should I get a sticker one on the back or go with one in the water?

Just busy reading all the other topics in the threads all around right now with cyclying, chem levels and info about nature.

Going to store right now to get a test kit, thanks.
 
a penguin 350 by iself is not enough for a 125 gallon tank. if you want to stick with penguin filters, get another 350 and then 2 penguin 200s... dont worry you dont have to change the filter media until it is falling apart; just clean it in old tank water every month or so
 
You could put a nice and efficient canister filter in addition to the filter you have already. I perfer the eheims but there are many others that get the job done. Those being something like the fluval or the rena philster xp3( I think that is what is called). I just pefer the eheims because they are efficient, quiet and top of the line as far as performance is concerned. Also with a canister most of the filter is hidden away under the aquarium stand so all you will see are out take tubes or a spraybar inside the aquarium. Just a few thoughts.

Marinemom
 
Another note on filtration. If you get fish that put a heavy bioload on your tank, you'll need yet more filtration. You can't over filter aquarium water, just be carefull not to underfilter it. Your needs are first based on the size of the tank, then on the fish you have in it.

Goldfish are a good example. These are really messy fish for their size. The produce large amounts of ammonia and fish waste. Some species of plecos produce even more! Guppies produce very little waste in comparison, and need less mechanical filtration. Start looking around pet stores and the internet and see if a fish, or theme appeals to you. Let us know what you like, and we'll let you know if you can do it, and how to get it done.


Oh yeah, if you get guppies, get only males unless you have a use for fry. Starting with a guppy population of three, they can outbreed a 125 gallon inside of six months. Heh, found that out the hard way, but now my arrow gets lots of guppy snacks.


Welecome to the forum, glad to have you aboard!
 
Wow, 125 gallons for free! I would just keep the tank empty and consider all of your good luck used up for about 20 years or so. Oh, and stop playing the lottery!

I think that you should look into some fishless cycling methods, especially for such a large tank. It would be faster for you and way less headaches in the long run. I like the pure ammonia technique since you can dose enough for the whole tank right from day one and not have to wait for fish to create enough wastes to start a cycle. Also, you wouldnt have to dump loads of fish foods into the tank with the old 'feed the tank' method. I really like Rbishop's sticky article on how to go about doing a fishless cycle and I honestly think you would be the best candidate for his ideas and info.

I would try my best, if this was my tank, to let things happen naturally and not fill the tank with a bunch of chemicals other than a dechlor conditioner and the ammonia, if you go that route. Otherwise you become a slave to buying a bunch of stuff just to keep fish alive that you could otherwise forgo completely. Remember, it takes some time, but the better you start, the longer you have until you will want to finish and give this tank away for free yourself!

I also agree on the goldfish sediment about not keeping warm water fish (tropicals) with coldwater fish like a goldfish. Doing so stresses out the fish that is in the opposite water it is evolved to be in and that leads to a bunch of problems like Ich which in a tank of your size, and being able to put new fish in for quite a while until it is full, you stand a good chance of bringing Ich into the tank from an LFS's tank. If your water is healthy and you do things right, Ich will not be as big of a problem for you at all.

Stocking is going to be hard in some aspects for you and people have already eluded to the different factors that you may have to think about. Just try to remember to stock according to ADULT sizes of fish (with the hopeful thinking that you can get them to full size) and compatabilities, waste production, food likes/dislikes, etc... The motto I really try to strive for is "less is more" so be cautious and dont go overboard with too many fish too fast, or just plain old too many fish. Like I said, it is a big tank, but it isnt a lake.


P.S. Listen the best you can to the people on this forum, they are by far the nicest and most well-meaning people I have had the pleasure to deal with. Also, a good way to judge info and ideas is to follow the "rule of three". If you can hear or find out a bit of information from three totally different, unrelated sources, then it is most likely good...if not, you probrably got it from an LFS who is trying to sell you something. Remember, no one here is going to get a red cent from you for any info or opinion!
 
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Wow thanks for the all the info guys and went out to get some test kits; here is the results just doing tapwater in there and running it through the filters.
Side note: I did add two Water Safe PLUS tablets and 2 Correct pH 7.0 tank buddies.(stupid me, chemicals)

Ammonia: 0 Ideal
Nitrate: 20
Nitrite: 0
Hardness : 75
Alkalin: 300 High (yikes!)
Ph-freshwater: 7.8-8.4 (more of a 7.8 color was on tab)

Quick thingie just for right now to get it off my chest.
Is it okay if I add this Amazon plant in there just for the time being?

I read the fishless water cyclying last night and I am really heavily thinking about it. Don't worry I am not gonna go kamakazee with these fish and will make sure everything is fine before adding them; but kind of short on patience of the fishless water cycle(please dont hate me).

Oh yah the goldfish transfer idea is out the window and will make it a community bowl hopefully of tropicals.

Still processing your guys post while I setup everything in my tank for scenary and other tubing.
 
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