New Tank Procurement

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WendyFish

Members
As some of you know from posts/conversations, when EthanFish and I started our tank, while we knew we wanted cichlids, we hadn't realized that space-wise we could find room for a bigger tank and that we'd want/need a bigger tank.

We are looking in the near term to upgrade our 36bow to a 55 (or tall 60) gallon tank.

Our default position would be to buy a standard glass tank and stand wherever we can find it cheapest. (For those who find this obvious, yes, I have my "I'm with stupid ↑" shirt on. Had to take off the Spain jersey for it.)

So, two things I'm wondering --

Is there a best place to buy? I wouldn't buy used from a stranger (e.g. craigslist) -- would rather pay a bit more to know it doesn't leak or have other issues. (If anyone has one they want rid of, do let me know, as you aren't strangers.) Is there any reason other than cost/hauling, to buy one or the other brand from a pet store, vs sourcing from online (e.g. glasscages etc.)?

Should we be considering something other than standard glass aquarium? Acrylic, or any other considerations?

We are gutting our carpet in a few weeks for hardwood installation, so as long as we have to move the tank, looking to get them out of the 36 and into their new bigger home, avoid multiple moves.

As always, appreciate any advice!
 
Jumbie

Jumbie

Members
Yeah you can't go wrong with a $1 a gallon that's for sure! Good luck I will keep my eye open for you.
 
bschuhart

bschuhart

Members
WendyFish said:
And abruptly, I find myself building a fake cardboard 55, to see if it will go in the backseat of a Mazda3!
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If you have 4 feet between the doors you're good to go. I fit a 75 on the back seat of my Camry.

$1 gallon great deal, you don't see deals like that very often. I picked up 2 -10's, 2- 20H's and a 40B last week.

Shop around for the other stuff, Petco has really high prices on Lights, glass tops...I went internet on that stuff, Drs. Foster and Smith.

Enjoy your new tank!
 
W

WendyFish

Members
So as of today I've scoped it out... think it's risky trying to get the tank in the car. The back seat does fold down, but the clearance through it is about 14 in. With a 48in length, I won't be able to wedge it down to clear the 14in and back up into the back, so that won't work. There's def 48in across the backseat if I leave the seat up, but it will be very tight whether I can get it levered in through the door space. There's about 17in clearance through the door and with the passenger seat all the way up, I think I can probably barely turn it in through the door. My neighbors just think I'm weird at this point, all the time I spent climbing over my backseat with a tape measure.

The clear solution is, friends with SUVs! I've just engaged one for Weds (and beer in the fridge), but when I previewed Petco tonight, they said they had been instantly sold out of 55s through the whole sale. Fortunately they get a shipment in on Weds, so hopefully I can pounce on that. Wish me luck in the human feeding frenzy!

If a newbie can indulge more of your kindness, I'll probably sit down and make a list here shortly on the whole setup, filters lights etc., and make sure I don't hear any giant chorus of "NOOOOOOOOOO" before I buy the rest of the kit. Hardwood installation is now definitively scheduled for the 23rd, so that not only makes it fish moving day, it gets me out of an engagement with my mother-in-law! Love my fishes!
 
Tony

Tony

Alligator Snapping Turtle/Past Pres
bschuhart said:
Shop around for the other stuff, Petco has really high prices on Lights, glass tops...I went internet on that stuff, Drs. Foster and Smith.
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Yeah, watch out for this. I'm sure Petco is probably still making out on this deal because they will sell you the rest of the setup at about 2x the internet going rates. I think Foster and Smith now also has a flat shipping price of $7 or so. Great deal imo.

Good luck and have fun. 55 is a great size for starting our Africans. You can keep a lot of fish in that size tank, just make sure to stay away from the monster guys or the super mean ones. Feel free to post up when you're looking for fish to stock it. There's a lot of Malawi breeding going on in the club and even if we don't have something, we can point you in the right direction.

Have fun!

Also, it was great meeting you the other day. :)
 
W

WendyFish

Members
And the 55 is home!

Until it's stocking time after vacation (don't want pretty new fish only to leave for 2 weeks), I think our only big remaining question is on lighting. Pardon me if my terminology is a bit off because EthanFish is the Equipment Guy.

Right now in our tank we have a Coralife 50/50. We aren't growing plants so that's not a consideration. We like it fine for looks.

The options we are looking at would be to just upsize that same basic setup for the 55, so we know how that option would work.

Some other shiny things have caught the eye, though, so wondered if anyone had experience with or opinions of any of:

Aqualife PowerCompact with LEDs (http://www.marinedepot.com/AquaticL...xtures-AquaticLife-AK01049-FILTFIPCTF-vi.html)

Hagen T5 (http://www.marinedepot.com/Hagen_Gl..._for_Aquariums-Hagen-HG13910-FWLTFIT5-vi.html)

or Current USA products (2x 55s)
(http://www.marinedepot.com/Current_...xtures-Current_USA-CU01136-FILTFIT5T5-vi.html)


I know I looked at the matrix at Foster and Smith which I thought was helpful for cross referencing initial cost with replacement costs. http://www.fosterandsmithaquatics.com/pic/article.cfm?c=3578&articleid=350&d=158&category=586

Still at some level I wonder, are the porsche versions worth it? Don't know how sensitive the durability is. I really am excited to see LED technology evolve some more (and attendant cost reductions), they are sexy.

I think we have most of the other considerations nailed down, probably just keep with our existing rock and wood, plus same type of light sand. Ethan was looking at some black and white salt and pepper colored stuff that might be an option.

Probably stick with our Rena XP2 canister, and also hook up the XP1 from which we had already upsized, because we have it and why not have more filtration.

Would welcome any thoughts! Exciiiiiiiited! :)
 
Tony

Tony

Alligator Snapping Turtle/Past Pres
For a reef tank or a planted tank, you need the fancy lighting.

For Africans, I like to save a bunch of money and just go with an old-school (T8/T12) double strip light. Or maybe go with two separate strip light, one with a white bulb and one with actinic. With that, you can do a cool dawn/dusk thing with only the actinic lighting on.... sort of like a black light for you fish. :)

Something to remember is that the majority of these fish come from very deep water (peacocks live in depths from 10-40 meters, frontosa at 50 meters) and bright light will spook some of them. There are some that benefit from bright lighting (and the algae that comes with it...tropheus, mbuna), but unless you're interested in keeping only these fish, I'd go on the lower end of the lighting intensity.
 
W

WendyFish

Members
F8LBITE said:
Yay! Was it our "suggesting" at the picnic that made you get a bigger tank?
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Well... just about as soon as we got the 36 set up I think we realized the 55 would have been better. So we had been thinking about the upsize for a little bit. What we weren't sure about was what if anything to do with the 36 after getting one, or two, larger tanks. Our conversation at the picnic just made me decide to go big or go home (resell the 36!).

We are all procured now. I'll post some before and after pics when we get it set up next weekend. :D
 
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