coralife205

150 gallon
3 sunpod DE metal halides 150 watt each, 6700K...for the discus i may put some T5 lighting to bring out theire color better, a differnt K temp.
5lb presurised co2 ( i may or may not upgrade to a 10 lb )
factory bottom drilled overflow
Berlin sump
Fluvl E-heater
Ph Controller
Flourite Black
2 fluval U1 filters

I will probably be adding some powerheads depending on how the flow in the tank is. I decided not to go with substrate heating cables. ( you all convinced me).

I have not decided if i want to make this a discus only tank or not. i probably wont cause that will get boreing fast. i will probably add some cardinals and corrys and some sort of algea eater(suggestions please?)

im puting a number down on how many discus i will get. i will have no more then 6 discus. i dont want to overcrowed the tank, or overstock the tank. so i will be asking for stocking suggestions from all of you experts ...if you dont mind.

my plan for this tank is this: get all of the equitment necisary to run the tank. star the tank up, plant it, scape it do all of that.. let it sit for 2 months. yes, two months. it will be hard to wait, but i promise to my self i will wait because i want everything to start to fill in and i want the tank to cycle completely. (should i do this with seachem stability, or will the plants on theire own just make the tank cycle?) i Want to use RO-Water. I still got to convince my parents to let me get an RO system. i doubt they will stop me because theyve let me come this far... I want to do everything the right way this time around. where i made my biggest mistakes in my old 29 gallon was cycleing the tank, and i dident know what i want or how to do it.

with my personal experience, shared knowledge between us, hopefuly this tank will turn out very well and be enjoyable by everyone who sees it, wether by miapg, anywhere else on the web, or who ever wants to come over.

in a month, more or less, i will be ready to start the tank the sooner Preuss gets my order in, the sooner we can start!

i need help narrowing down the plants cause the following are the ones im picking from. if anyone has any better suggestions for plants, or know any plants that i picked that would not go good with the tank or eachother please let me know. one thing i do need help understanding is comeing up with a fertiliseing routine.

Anubias
Anubias Nana
Anubias Gracilis

Aponogeton
Aponogetons Ulvaceus
Aponogetons Boivinianus

Lillys
Red Tiger Lotus
Barclaya Longifolia

Ferns/Moss
Java Moss
Bolbitis Heudelotil

Cabomba
Cabomba Caroliniana

Crypts
Cryptocoryne Beckettii
Cryptocoryne Walkeri
Cryptocoryne Wendentit ‘Brown’

Swords
Echinodorus Major (Ruffled Amazon Swordplant)
Melon Swordplant
Echinodorus "Rubin" Red Rubin Sword

Miscellaneous
Hygrophillia Corymbosa
Crinum Thaianum
Ludwigia Glandulosa
Monosolenium Tenerum
Drawf hairgrass
Limnophilia Aromatica
Rotala Macrandra
Cardinal Plant Lobelia cardinalis
Polygonum 'Sao Paulo'













im going to have the tank by the tv, not the computer. it seems to look better by the tv instead of the comp. it looks like it will fit in the room better. its going to be touching the ceiling. i added vents to the side of the canopy cause of the metal halides. though, these lights do not get as hot as traditional metal halides. im useing 6700K bulbs. im wondering if i should put a 10,000K bulb in the middle to help balance out the light better in so that the discus will "pop". im haveing trouble finding some good melysian driftwood. im alsoe going to be useing some sort of ignous rock. not sure what its called but i can tell you just from takeing geology that the rock is filled with augite and hornblende. if anyone here is a geologst can you tell me what it is? i would call them cobble and pebble breccia. anyways, thats what my tank is going to be like. i bought 16 bags of flourirte black, just inscase if i dident have enough. and if i have way too much ill just sell the rest of the bags. im haveing trouble picking a great algea eater...any suggestions?

this next picture is just for fun. i was fishing in holland, michigan. that is Lake Michigan behind me. too bad i cant put that sheaphed in my tank hehe

davemonkey

Beautiful stand and canopy, can't wait to see the tank.

For algae eaters, consider about 15 Otocinclus and 5 Siamese Algae Eaters (SAE's). If you have driftwood in the tank, you can also get 3 or so Bristlenose Pleco's (Ancistrus sp. ).

-Dave

dewalltheway

WOW! Can't wait to see how this tank unfolds. Looks like your off to a great start.

peteski312

I would recommend keeping the tank at least 5-6 inches from the wall, just because you have 3 halides and no power fan hooked up to the vents, might help cool things. As far as your plant list, Everything looks good and i have grown most of those in my 90 gallon discus tank. My temp has been around 85 degs. and have had no problem growing those species. you might wanna go with ambulia rather then cabomba and the red rubin has done great in my tank. Try plugging about 30 seachem root tabs in the substrate before you plant just to give the plants a boost. If your looking for wood and have access to a lake then hunt for your own and just clean it well. For ferts you can start out with seachem flourish and switch later. If you have any questions feel free to ask

Veloth

I like the start, please keep us updated as the tank progresses.

coralife205

sweeet guys thank you! i copied the name of the plant that peteski312 posted. im going to go look at it when im done writeing this. (you know, yahhoo search. i want to keep everyone updated. i wont get the tank until later this week (hopefully). the store is takeing for ever to get the shimpment in. im getting irritated. lol. heres a qustion that does not relate to the content of the tank, but it is the most vitla part of it..well two qustions actualy.

how do i level the tank and stand????????????????? kinda important. my basement floor sloaps...so slightly you wouldent notice it with out useing a level. it sloaps, so the front of the tank will be leaning.... any ideas?????

also, this is an oak stand as you can see. very well built. however, the part the tank just sits on is just a thin piece of wood...im wondering how much weight it can hold. i know the stand is designd for 125, 135 and 150 size tank, but you never know. i mean, the weight of the water, substrate(16 bags of flourite, doubt ill use it all, but ill use whats left for a small tank ill set up later), the driftwood, and the rocks. i probably have about 75-100 lbs of rocks....obvously the fish and plants will weight like so little. you cant count the fish. but the plant weight will probably be what...5 pounds, if even that. i dont know...just some things to consider. i might have to use less rocks????? and the metal halides atached to the canopy, that alone weighs about 25-50 lbs...any thoughts to ease my mind or suggestions i do? it was orignely 3,000$ stand, then the last few years it was a 1,000 stand. but i got it for 600$ (good deal) because it was a floor model.....

coralife205

do you guys think i will have a problem growing some of thoughs low-light plants with the lights that i have? like, my qusiton is, do i have TOO much light? or do i need to plant them in a very shady area of the the tank?

Veloth

To level the tank I would use wood shim from Lowes or Home Depot. As for the stand, was it built as an aquarium stand? If not open the doors and take a few pictures so we can see the inside. I've got a 75g and a 55g sitting on a top thats only 1/2" thick but it's whats underneath that counts.

Vadimshevchuk

really nice tank i would go with discus or angels as the yare big fish and they look nice. Also you can sell their babys

coralife205

yea, the stand was made for aquariums. its what it was designd for.