Just bought a 125 gallon aquarium

[GuZZiZZiT]

It was advertised on the "for sale" board at the company i work for and the deal was too good to pass up. my problem, i've never had a tank even close to this big (55 gallon is the biggest i had till i gave it to my dad) and i'm wondering what to do different? :huh: Are the basic concepts the same? i know i'm gonna need a canister filter, but what about a heater? i'm guessing i'll need 2 heaters to handle that much water? I'm in no hurry, but i would like to get started.

Would a Eheim 2128 canister filter with a 210 watt heater combined with a 250 watt visa-therm stealth heater be enough? I keep it kinda cool in the house during the winter so i always try to go a little bigger for the heater.

It will be a freshwater tropical fish aquarium, havn't finalized what specific fish yet, and i'll prolly use artificial plants.

thank you

 

[corykid]

GO with 2 heaters half size at ither side of the tank (more even heat, and if one goes out u always have the other).....canister should be fine (i don't use them tho, and do not intend to in the future) cleaning will be easyer with a larger tank, water changes harder tho lol

 

[GuZZiZZiT]

yeah, water changs will take longer, I have a python no spill, clean-and-fill (best money i ever spent) so that should make them easier.

THANK YOU!!!

 

[corykid]

srry did not see u had already listed the heaters......wats that rule.????? is it 5 watts per gallon?? if thats right u'll need more

 

[corykid]

ya and 100% ur Eheim 2128 canister filter will be fine

 

[icecubez189]

general rule of thumb is 5WPG so your a little bit on the low side, but i believe the 210watt heater is built into that Eheim model, yes? that should help with circulation of heated water so i think you should be fine along with the Stealth 250. Usually with a tank this large (even in a 55G it would be suggested to have 2 IMO), you'll want 2 heaters to evenly disperse the heat as well as back one another up in case they fail.

depending on the type of fish you want and quantity of it, the Eheim should be enough filtration, but being me, i would purchase a HOB power filter to aid in filtration and circulation of DO (dissolved oxygen).

any idea of the stock you plan?

 

[GuZZiZZiT]

stock

I'm not entirely decided yet, but i'm thinking of moveing my gourmis from my 30 gallon, maybe adding a pair of opaline gouramis as well. Maybe a couple of angels. Prolly round it out with a school or 2 of some variety of tetra. prolly a pl*co and a small herd of cory cats to handle the clean-up. This could all change yet.

 

[dorkfish]

Just so you know, adding to male gourami of the same species, especially fishes from the trichogaster genus, to the same tank is likely to turn out ugly. (the three spot, opaline and gold gouramis are just colour variants of the same species)

Have you read up on cycling yet?

 

[gemman]

I have the smaller ehiem 2126 on a 75 gal tank. Your ehiem 2128 is rated for 600 liters size tank. You should be cover for filtration and heating. I run my 2126 with no back up and it does just fine. I use the theory that the water is being heated by force, it is under preasure and at great volumes while it goes by the heater ( bottom of the canister). So the water heats up with faster and more efficient, and the heated water get shot out and moved around the tank at a rate of 950l/h. Or the HOTB just sits on the back heating water as it " passes " by.
I can raise my tank temp by a degree every 20 mins! Thats heating!
So the Ehiem will be fine and work great, but think about back up to a failure? I have been reading alot and have not heard of a Ehiem failure yet? Your choice to go with a HOTH heating unit too, I just think they look bad in the tank.

 

[Hound]

Part of your heating issue depends upon just how cold you let it get and what temperature you want to keep the aquarium. If you are like me and let the nighttime temperatures dip to about 65f at night and you want your aquarium to be around 79f you may have some issues there. For the sake of consistancy I'd think about having 2 of the 250 watt stealth heaters along with the eheim 2128 thermofilter. You can mount them low in the aquarium one on the back left and one on the back right. Another thing I would consider is to add an aquaclear 110 filter. The extra mechanical filtration and bio area could be beneficial along with an increase in circulation. Also if you ever need to dose your aquarium with something your going to want to take out later the HOB filter is a bit more convenient to throw some carbon in.