80g Noob Build

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peterbiss

AC Members
Jan 5, 2010
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Eugene, Oregon
I just bought a used 80 gal tank off craigslist. The fellow is a long time fish keeper and is just ready to move on. The tank appears to be in great shape. He has a magnum 350, 2 aquaclear 70s, and undergravel filtration as well as a Lifegard ql-8 UV sterilizer. His water was very clear, with a few healthy appearing cichlids. There were a few spots of black algae. We rinsed out the tank with a hose before leaving his house. When I got home I gave the tank a good scrub with baking soda and water and moved it into its new home.
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I recognize that there are a lot of details to cover before my tank is up and running. My overall vision is for a planted tank with areas of open substrate as well as areas of dense low vegetation punctuated by taller plants and large rocks and wood features. Fishy inhabitants are rather unclear at this point, but I guess I would like to have something attractive and schooling. Because I am new at this, I would also prefer something that tends towards the hearty side...

I will add pics of all the equipment that I have in a day or two. The previous owner had artificial plants only and had large gravel and a single bulb 48' flourescent light. I anticipate that I will need to upgrade on both of these fronts to accomplish my vision

With the available filtration as well as the UV sterilizer, I should be in good shape, although I will need to rebuild the tubing for the HOB filters because the old ones are fairly gunky. I doubt that I will use the undergravel system.

I have two nice heaters as well as a dual line air pump.

I guess that my first steps will be to settle on a substrate and upgrade my lights. The fella at the LFS suggested ARA substrate either on it's own, or layered over gravel.

It appears that I have many options for lights, is there a particular approach that would fit my goal?

Thank you for following along with me, all suggestions appreciated! Many more pictures to follow when I have time.

Peter

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I haven't much to say, other than that I'm envious and that I'll be following this with interest. :popcorn: That looks like a great find. As for schooling fish, that tank would be a great home for a school of larger tetras, such as Bleeding Hearts or Congos, or a really big school of Cardinals. :idea:
 
Tetras does sound good.

As far as your equipment, filtration looks Ok, but you may want try coating your impeller assembly in vasoline. My Mag350 was noisy, but I never did try that, I went on to a C-160. If you still find the Mag350 too noisy, put it up on the marketplace, lots of people want those, and put the money towards a C-series. Dead quiet.

Lighting is a sticky issue but you will probably want T5HO kits, seem to be cheap enough as well as the bulbs. Looking about about $100-$200 depending on where you get them.
 
Great find! That sure is a beauty, you're gonna love it. If I may offer a few links that I find very useful in the setup of the aquariums.

For food, lighting, heaters, filters, etc. ken's fish has great prices, fast shipping and always throws in extras when you order. If you do a search for kens you'll find a whole thread of people raving over the service. Myself included.

www.kensfish.com

Next is a pretty neat plant page, not all inclusive mind you but it gives pleanty of examples with pictures and care.

http://www.plantedtank.net/forums/myplants/All_Plants/0/0

For dense low vegitation with a carpeting effect you are probably looking to go a bit more high-tech. With low light levels and no CO2 all my plants seem to get a bit "leggy" looking for the light. A friend of mine just recently suggested this bit of lighting to me.
http://www.bigalsonline.com/BigAlsU...urrentusanovaextreme482x54wt510000kfreshwater
(you may have to click the link, exit and click again. Homepage has an over-ride feature I think)

I've heard of alot of people that like Flourite as a substrate for planted tanks. They have alot of options for size, color and appearance.
http://www.bigalsonline.com/edealin...=0&path=&offset=&hits=&sortby=&query=flourite

As far as schooling fish, I really like, Emporor tetras, Ember tetras, Rummy nose tetras, Harliquin Rasboras, Lemon tetras, and neon tetras. You could have a couple of great looking schools in that tank. Don't forget about your bottom dwellers too. Corydora catfish, Otocinclus Catfish, Siamese Algea Eaters (SAE's), Amano Shrimp (among others), snails and the like are all just as enjoyable, in my opinion, as the schoolers.

Wow, hope I didn't overwhelm you with links. I'm looking forward to seeing this come together. Best of luck.
 
Thank you all for the feedback and advice. I will check out kens for supplies. I hope that the magnum will not be too loud. The LFS had many of those tetras when I dropped in yesterday, they were cool. A couple of large schools of tetras may be just the thing...

PB
 
Sweet deal can't wait to see it come together! If you have do it yourself skills they have some retrofit kit's for lighting you may want to consider in some cases the DIYs are as costly as finished lights and don't look as good so weigh your options carefully.
 
Thinking specifically about lights, what would be a reasonable goal for W/g? I appreciate the need to get lots of light to my plants, but worry about algal blooms as well. Is there a good level to aim for, balancing these two concerns?
 
katana, that light:

Current USA Nova Extreme 48"
Looks like it may be just what I need. It is reasonably priced and bulbs won't cost me an arm and a leg...

Also, should I be planning to use CO2 as well?
 
Unfortunately I'm strictly a low light guy so I can't speak to the high tech options very well. If you cruse on over to the planted tank section of these forums or do a search for "high tech" you'll probably get some really great reads. Usually speaking less than 2 wpg (watts per gallon) is considered low light. Alot of plant species thrive in lights as low as 1 wpg but your choices are limited.

For CO2 you can go the DIY route wich consists of a 2L bottle filled with water, sugar, and yeast all hooked up to an airstone or other diffusion device. Search for DIY CO2 and you'll get pleanty to read.

For the super high tech you get into pressurized CO2 systems. These consist of a small tank of CO2 gas with regulator, bubble counter, timer to work with the light system (if they aren't photosynthasizing they don't need extra CO2), and I'm sure I am over simplifying it at this point. These are some stunning tanks but require more fertalization, and pruning to keep up with. But wow.

Alot of people recommend keeping the light in the 6700 k range for optimum plant growth.

The more light you have the more need there is for CO2 and the like. In a high light enviroment where you do not have the CO2 or fertalizers for the plants to eat the algae takes over. When you address the plants needs, being a higher life form, they out compete the algae for rescources.
 
I have been reading a lot of the stuff from the Planted Tank. This is really complicated, I am not sure I'm up to it for my first tank. Katana can you post any pictures from your lower tech tanks?
 
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