Items for a new tank, anything missing?

[Archy]

Ok i'm currently building a list of items i'll need for my fishing tank to get it up and running as well as keep it that way. i'm just woundering if there is anything i'm missing off my equipment list is all.

36x12x12 tank size (87liters)
Eheim Classic External Filter- 2217
Eheim PowerLine Filter- 2048
Hydor Ario 4 Air Pump
Hagen Fluval E100 heater
Black Sand (1inch on floor)
Random items for decoration.

Quick Question to ask would be given "adding" items to the tank will remove water inside, so i should take this into account when making the tank am i right? as in, 1 inch of sand will mean the water volume in the tank drops by about 7 liters.

Once again, as always, thanks in advance for any input and advice.

 

[RobHarrison]

Syphon pipe, Bucket, Water+Fish You have it pretty much sorted though. Will need Tap Safe or HMA Filter for your water, and a Water Test Kit to make sure your fiter is fully cycled before adding fish

 

[bigbird]

your decor will depend on what type of fish you wish to have . What are you planning on ? cheers jk :thumbup:

 

[zeebo]

right,agree with BB---if you will be having plecs , you'll need some wood too.

good luck with your new set-up!

Georgie

 

[D-MAC]

A good thermometer and bacteria culture is the only thing I see missing.
Bioactive Tapsafe is supposed to do both conditioning and add a bacteria culture for you but Interpet have never answered me yet to my question "what protects the culture as you add it to water containing Chloramine?" So untill they do I still like to use a good conditioner followed by a good culture.

 

[Archy]

Who ever invented overtime should be pulled out into the street and beaten with a large stick. Thats on fire.

Anyway, thanks for the response so far!

Syphon pipe, Bucket, Water+Fish You have it pretty much sorted though. Will need Tap Safe or HMA Filter for your water, and a Water Test Kit to make sure your fiter is fully cycled before adding fish

Syphon pipe and Test kit added to the list, tho what are these fish you speak of? :whistle:

your decor will depend on what type of fish you wish to have . What are you planning on ? cheers jk :thumbup:

Some very juvenile L066(about an inch long), 3-5 depending.

right,agree with BB---if you will be having plecs , you'll need some wood too.

good luck with your new set-up!

Georgie

Thanks alot! as for decor so far am looking at This for the wood side, large amount so i can work with it plus always have extra and This for the rock aspect.

A good thermometer and bacteria culture is the only thing I see missing.
Bioactive Tapsafe is supposed to do both conditioning and add a bacteria culture for you but Interpet have never answered me yet to my question "what protects the culture as you add it to water containing Chloramine?" So untill they do I still like to use a good conditioner followed by a good culture.

The Hagen Fluval E100 heater has a built in thermometer with it, even tho would you still recomend getting a stand alone one to?

So a good conditioner and culture, do you have any recommendations on which are better then others? Tapsafe has come up twice now so i'm assuming its a trusted branded atlest!

 

[bigbird]

May I say, hat off to you for asking questions before buying. It does help to have the correct set up in the beginning. ok looking good so far.
i personally would use mangrove root. Morpani is too hard and some Ls like to knibble the wood and fry as well. I would also go for slate, it seems more smoother. Maybe also add a few small caves. for a substrate I would suggest sand. I always have 2 heaters per tank, just as a back up. cheers jk :thumbup:

 

[L777]

Hi,

Dito JK's sentiments on having the balls to ask first.

Right here's what I'd add. Lights, nets and a variety of suitable food stuff. When it comes to water conditioners Seachem's Prime seems to be a very good one which finds favor with most.

To be honest I don't put a lot of faith in those bacteria colonies you can buy. IMO your better off scrounging some old dirty filter media from someone and seeding your filter with it (unwashed) or just fish-less cycling from scratch and being patient. But I know a lot of people that do use them and swear by them. A lot of money for what they are though.

Chris.

 

[Archy]

May I say, hat off to you for asking questions before buying. It does help to have the correct set up in the beginning. ok looking good so far.
i personally would use mangrove root. Morpani is too hard and some Ls like to knibble the wood and fry as well. I would also go for slate, it seems more smoother. Maybe also add a few small caves. for a substrate I would suggest sand. I always have 2 heaters per tank, just as a back up. cheers jk :thumbup:

Ok i found that the same site selling the Morpani wood also did mangrove so swaped them over. In regards to the shale rock its alot softer then slate (infact its what slate comes from) and easyer to work with which is the reason i'm after it, can cut/grind it easy to make caves into the rocks for a more "natural" look.

For the substrate i'm looking at getting getting Tahitian Moon Sand by Caribsea (Grain size 0.1 - 0.5 mm). the question i can't find an answer to is how much am i looking at needing in my tank, to many diffrent comments! Would just over 1 inch on the bed be ok?

I have also added a second heater to the list!

Hi,

Dito JK's sentiments on having the balls to ask first.

Right here's what I'd add. Lights, nets and a variety of suitable food stuff. When it comes to water conditioners Seachem's Prime seems to be a very good one which finds favor with most.

To be honest I don't put a lot of faith in those bacteria colonies you can buy. IMO your better off scrounging some old dirty filter media from someone and seeding your filter with it (unwashed) or just fish-less cycling from scratch and being patient. But I know a lot of people that do use them and swear by them. A lot of money for what they are though.

Chris.

Light i'm clueless on beyond the simple idea that they turn on... anything i should know regarding what type/colour/size i will need or do i just need to have some type?

I've added some Seachem's Prime to my list as well after much hunting for it as well as a few diffrent food types i found in the feeding section on the forum.

Getting some dirty filter media is easy to get as a friend of mine has a small tank, tho after reading up on a fish-less cycling i have no issues just doing this as i'm in no rush just want to make sure i'm ready!

Thanks once again!

 

[L777]

Hi,

Which type of lighting to employ depends a lot on your personal tastes, budget, requirements and tank size.

So I suppose the first couple of questions are do you intend to grow plants? how big is your tank? and how much you got to spend?

Chris.

 

[Archy]

Tank size will be 36"x15"x12"
Plants i'm not to worried about, my understanding is that having no plants means more water changes but more oxagen in the water?
money isn't to much of an issues as i kicked my smoking habbit to the curb and am currently £120 a month better off for it...