55G room divider tank for friend

kj5kb

kj5kb

KEEPER OF CATS, FISH AND CATFISHES
Mar 1, 2007
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Spring Hill Kansas SW of Kansas City
Real Name
Don
A good friend has asked for my advice on a 55G room divider he'd like to build.

All 4 sides will be exposed, he'd prefer NOT to use a HOB (cuz there is NO back!!) he was thinking UGF, but never heard of a RUGF. Cables/hoses can come out the top as it will have about 12" headroom. Yes, a tank with a central overflow would be cool, but it ain't in the budget...

I'm thinking a RUGF with 2, maybe 3 Penguin 660R's. I use several 660R's and could trade him cycled filters to get him going. Maybe a small canister or a big intank filter to give him the ability to run carbon if needed. 3 660R's at 170 GPH each would give him ~10 turnovers/hour.

Ok...now for stocking...he doesnt want 'tiny' things like neon tetras... he was thinking about a native tank with perch, etc. I think the bioload will be a killer, even with 2 perch or sunfish. I'm going to suggest a school of 6-10 corys, + maybe a bunch of giant danios. I'm also going to TRY to convice him to have 1+ Watt/G and have live plants....even if lo-light ones.

I can get orange peacock cichlids locally that were raised in our tap water and wouldn't need much fuss. They definitely ain't tiny when they grow up! Maybe 3-4 of those + corys?

Your thoughts on stocking/hardware/etc????

Thanks! Don
 
Can you get him to go bigger? A 55 isn't that big.
 
ugf does need help from more filters....and if you are gonna use an ugf you should add a powerhead rather than airstones, because this helps keep the water circulating and therefor healthier as well as creating movement on the surface that will help keep up the oxygen levels...personnally if the tank is to be up against a wall i'd put some kind of panelling or something like that between the wall and the tank to hide the filtration system, and go with the hob filter...much more efficiant
 
i'd say a canister .. you'd still have hoses.. but they're less ugly than a HOB...
you can also get a cover for the hoses to make them look even more inconspicuous (a plastic gutter for example, or a hommade wooden box around them)

or a sump filter.. you'd have to drill one corner of the tank, and it could be expensive to build if you dont have easy access to supplies.
 
Canister, arranged per ADA's usual configuration where 2 hoses are neatly routed down one side & into the stand via a hole. To keep it really neat, add a Hydor inline heater and route electric for hood to the same end as the hoses (ballast can be under tank). If CO2 is used, run tubing along w/ canister's intake line and poke end of CO2 line into canister basket.
 
I'd drill the tank and run canisters connections thru the bottom along with RUGF.
 
Thanks for suggestions. I found out he's not in a hurry...just sometime this year or next.

Yeah, I realized peacocks and corys were a bad idea about 30 seconds after I posted!

Will try to talk him into a 75 or 90...more room for bigguns + generally sturdier (IMHO)

--Don
 
You can pick up a 125 for a couple of hundred dollars (with stand and canopy) from Craig's list.
 
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