Tweet
Edited March 2012: I'm converting this tank into a planted tank. Click here to go to the first post in this thread about the conversion.
I finally have my new 90g tank set up! Tomorrow, I hope to have some fish for it. Here's a few pics of what I'm starting with. I'm sure I'll change a few things around, but I think this will work for now.
Equipment details:
Power Strips. The first thing I needed to do was wire the cabinet for electricity. I already had the two electrical strips so I installed them in the cabinet. They weren't very expensive and also offer surge protection. I prefer to have two power strips in my tanks. Everything that I want turned off when I do water changes is plugged into the bottom strip while everything else is plugged into the top strip. That way, I just have to turn off the big switch on the bottom strip for maintenance, and I know everything will be turned off that needs to be turned off.
Cabinet Lighting. I bought a simple T5 light from Lowes to light up the cabinet. I have done this to all my tanks and find it extremely helpful. I mounted it using heavy duty velcro which makes it easy to pull back down to change the light bulb when needed.
Filtration. I decided to go with two Rena XP4 canister filters. I may switch to wet/dry later, but I wanted to stick with what I know for now. I chose the XP4s because I already have Rena canisters which means I can easily stock polishing pads for them all; plus, I like that they can contain a large amount of media for bacteria. I will kick start the canisters with old media from the XP4 on my 75g tank. I'll take the media from that filter, split it in half, and put in the two new XP4s. I have Eheim Ehfimech and Substrat Pro on the way. Should arrive tomorrow.
UV Sterilizer. I also already had the large UV sterilizer. I bought it a year ago, and when I first plugged it in, the bulb blew. I was supposed to return it, but never got around to it. So I decided to just get another bulb and try it again. It's working great now!
Lighting. For now, I just have a small light strip over the tank so I can see what I'm doing. I have ordered a TEK 4x54w T5HO fixture for this tank with plans of only running 2 bulbs at any given time. What I want to do is put new bulbs in my TEK fixture for my 75g tank and put the old bulbs over this 90g tank. So not only will I only use two bulbs, but the bulbs will be older.
Decor. The back of the tank is painted black. The rocks were called Magma Rocks which I think are probably Basalt. They are extremely heavy and dense! The sand is pool filter sand which I really like. I didn't even rinse it! I wasn't going to put any plants in the tank, but I think I will add a few basics for accents and color. I stuck an anubias in there just to get an idea of how it would look.
Fish. None right now, of course. I want to put smaller cichlids in here which leads me to Tangs. I don't intend to be anal about it so if I see a fish that I really like that will mix well with the other fish in the tank, then I'll go ahead and do it. The main thing is to cram as many colorful and interesting fish as I can so the smaller the fish, the more I can have.
On with the pics! There are actually more rocks than what can be seen. The sand is hiding a lot of them. What I'm hoping is that the fish will dig out the sand to create caves. I might add more rocks, as well.
I finally have my new 90g tank set up! Tomorrow, I hope to have some fish for it. Here's a few pics of what I'm starting with. I'm sure I'll change a few things around, but I think this will work for now.
Equipment details:
Power Strips. The first thing I needed to do was wire the cabinet for electricity. I already had the two electrical strips so I installed them in the cabinet. They weren't very expensive and also offer surge protection. I prefer to have two power strips in my tanks. Everything that I want turned off when I do water changes is plugged into the bottom strip while everything else is plugged into the top strip. That way, I just have to turn off the big switch on the bottom strip for maintenance, and I know everything will be turned off that needs to be turned off.
Cabinet Lighting. I bought a simple T5 light from Lowes to light up the cabinet. I have done this to all my tanks and find it extremely helpful. I mounted it using heavy duty velcro which makes it easy to pull back down to change the light bulb when needed.
Filtration. I decided to go with two Rena XP4 canister filters. I may switch to wet/dry later, but I wanted to stick with what I know for now. I chose the XP4s because I already have Rena canisters which means I can easily stock polishing pads for them all; plus, I like that they can contain a large amount of media for bacteria. I will kick start the canisters with old media from the XP4 on my 75g tank. I'll take the media from that filter, split it in half, and put in the two new XP4s. I have Eheim Ehfimech and Substrat Pro on the way. Should arrive tomorrow.
UV Sterilizer. I also already had the large UV sterilizer. I bought it a year ago, and when I first plugged it in, the bulb blew. I was supposed to return it, but never got around to it. So I decided to just get another bulb and try it again. It's working great now!
Lighting. For now, I just have a small light strip over the tank so I can see what I'm doing. I have ordered a TEK 4x54w T5HO fixture for this tank with plans of only running 2 bulbs at any given time. What I want to do is put new bulbs in my TEK fixture for my 75g tank and put the old bulbs over this 90g tank. So not only will I only use two bulbs, but the bulbs will be older.
Decor. The back of the tank is painted black. The rocks were called Magma Rocks which I think are probably Basalt. They are extremely heavy and dense! The sand is pool filter sand which I really like. I didn't even rinse it! I wasn't going to put any plants in the tank, but I think I will add a few basics for accents and color. I stuck an anubias in there just to get an idea of how it would look.
Fish. None right now, of course. I want to put smaller cichlids in here which leads me to Tangs. I don't intend to be anal about it so if I see a fish that I really like that will mix well with the other fish in the tank, then I'll go ahead and do it. The main thing is to cram as many colorful and interesting fish as I can so the smaller the fish, the more I can have.
On with the pics! There are actually more rocks than what can be seen. The sand is hiding a lot of them. What I'm hoping is that the fish will dig out the sand to create caves. I might add more rocks, as well.
I didn't get any help other than suggestions here on the Box. All of the different ideas helped, and I just kept at it until I got something I could live with.
It's quite a departure from my planted tanks.
Comment