Help Me Setup A 150 Gallon

M

Margarita

AC Members
Dec 2, 2002
6
0
0
Visit site
Okay, so the biggest tank we've got is a 55 gallon. I'm using an UGF & an Emperor 400 which I love. My husband found a GREAT deal on a 150 gallon and so I find myself trying to figure out what I need for setup. It will be a freshwater Cichlid tank.

Here's my questions:

What wattage of heater? And should I get 2? We're in Texas, average room temp is about 70F.

What filter? I'm assuming 2 Emperors are probly not enough, but I really don't want to get into the whole wet/dry filtration.

What GPF should I be looking for in two powerheads?

Thanks for any help!!! :bowing:
 
Hi,

The first bit of advice I have for you is this. Get a canister filter! I have nothing against Emperors, ther are good filters and I even ran one for quite sometime. But believe me, spend the extra money at first on a canister (it doesn't even need to be top of the line) and you will thank yourself. I switched to canister (my first) when I set up a 30g. The tank is the cleanest and clearest thing I've ever seen, the water doesn't evaporate near as fast, there is no annoying splashing noise that you get with some HOBs and most are extreamly silent. Also, you have much more options when it comes to filter media and in my experiance the media cost less then the monthly inserts for Emperors.

I would suggest a Rena Filstar XP3. I have an XP2 and it is extreamly quite, infact I never here it because our computer is louder then it is! Start with the XP3 and if you find that its not quite enough filtration for a 150g you could always throw an Emperor on the back. In fact I hear that is a good combo because the XP3 does the bulk of the filtering while the Emperor "polishes" the water crystal clear.
 
Why do you need powerheads for cichilds?

I second the cannister filter for a tank that large, maybe two.
 
i would go with 2 200W ebo jager heaters. they are the best ones out there. maybe you should go with a vegatative filter. i have a thread going where i am going to use one. i read an article a couple years back about veg filters and how great they were for cichlids...
 
I use a 250 watt heater in my 75 gallon and since 150 is twice that I would suspect that 500 watts would work.
 
what kind of cichlids are you looking to do?

I third the canister. I used to have bio-wheel filters on all my tank, and now I am doing a slow change over to canister. The fan for the lights on my 45 gallon in 10x louder than the filter. Its the best for plants too.
 
2 ebo 250s would be all you need since the house is warm. i only have 1 in my 180. 2 big canisters would work or 3 big hang ons if you want to keep it simple.
 
I have a 150g. I run 2 AC 500 HOB filters and 2 300 watt heaters. I have no problems filter wise and my tank never drops below 78 deg. My water stays clear and my test all come out good. My tank is farely over stocked as most would say. Personally I find the sound of the waterfall effect quite relaxing when laying down to sleep, therefor I keep my water level a little lower than most. But, it's pretty quiet if I fill the tank all the way up. But you really want to have 2 heaters just in case one would happen to fail.

Again what kid of cichlids are you planning on keeping in this tank??
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
AquariaCentral.com
Top Bottom