90 Gallon Journey(Updated)

[missmandy]

Ok,
So my 90 gallon is on the cusp of becoming a true setup!
Ive gotten 90 lbs of gravel, A hagen duel compact florescent light fixture, Malasian Drift wood, Slated Drift wood, two kinds of rocks, A Eheim Canister Filter, and a Golden nuggat pleco who is in my dad's tankw aiting for the the tank to end its cycling. Today the stand with be adjusted a bit to make sure it is 100% steady. Then the tank will wiped out and cleaned and so will the gravel. The light on top is freakishly powerful and BRIGHT!!! I don't need any lights on in my room when I have that on. I got a backround from BA that looks like a bunch of slate built up. I will post some progress pictures as soon as things get started today.

[RedFish]

Sounds great!  Do post pics and keep the story coming, I will enjoy hearing the various stages of preparation!

Will this be a community or cichlid or.....................?

[missmandy]

well ive absolutely fallen in love with angels so i will likely put two mated angels in there with my pleco to begin with then ill have to see about some fish that wont aggravate the angels.

[missmandy]

alright so i just got the backround on lol i used that sticky liquid stuff they sell at BA ...it's everywhere lol
Here are some pics of my progress so far, the stand hasent been dealt with yet but after dinner the fellas should be starting. here is some of my slated wood aswell and my filter (still in box) lol

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[scorpion-stinger]

WOW!!!  thats gonna look awsome 

[beowulf]

Interesting back ground never seen that one.

[Nerine]

Is this tank in a bedroom??

and I love the background!! can't wait to see it finished!

[scorpion-stinger]

Where did ya get that background?

[missmandy]

I got the background from a friend, and yes it is in my bedroom.
Here are some more pics.
My B/F and dad finally finished re inforcing the stand and i got the gravel in there ith the slated wood. Now all I have to do is fill'er up, boil some rock and wood and im more on my way lol.

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[missmandy]

Alright! Everything is in! The filter is being filled and im crossing my fingers there will be no leaks. Any one got any coments or ideas?

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[scorpion-stinger]

where did you get your light? and what make is it?

[missmandy]

i got it from superpet its awsome, its by hagen GLo t5ho dual bulb.

[scorpion-stinger]

Yeah I can see that, very bright

[Jesse]

I have one of the hagen 24" dual HO's on my 15g and it is fantabulous! You will have great luck if you mix it with co2 for plants!

[scorpion-stinger]

how much are the ones for a 65G, 36x18 tank?

[missmandy]

not sure but superpet just had them on sale

[super3]

Missmandy everything is looking great so far.

The Eheim 2026 is probably the best canister filter you can buy but it's only rated for a 92 gallon tank.  I have a Eheim 2026 and an Eheim 2217 on a 90 and they work well for bio filtration but I just added an Aquaclear 70 full of filter floss for mechanical filtration and what a difference!  Before the water just never ever seemed to get crystal clear and now after two days I can see from end to end like the tank is empty.  All I have in there is two large angels, four 4" clown loaches, two cory cats and a 6" pleco.

The Eheims work, they are quiet and easy to maintain but they just don't do that last little bit of filtration to make the water perfectly clear.  The Aquaclears are a little noisier but they are cheap and Walmart sells bags of quilt batting that makes hundreds of filter pads so you never have to buy an Aquaclear filter pad or for that matter the fine pads for the Eheim either.  I've only been running the Aquaclear 70 for two days and I can see brown gunk in the filter pad that I couldn't actually see in the water, the water just didn't look perfectly clear before. I'll probably run the filter floss for a week or so in the Aquaclear and replace it with some more Walmart batting.

Just some thoughts.

[missmandy]

Alright,
Day two of tank here are the tests.
Low range Ph - 7.2
General Hardness - between 61-100ppm slightly hard
Phosphates - 0
Ammonia - 0.25
Nitrite - 0.1 mg/L
Nitrates - less than 5mg/L

Do you all think this ok and on the right track? Is there anything else I can test for?
When can I add plants?

[Adam]

how much are the ones for a 65G, 36x18 tank?

The 36" dual-bulb T5HO was $118.98 (or something very close to that) without bulbs.  Each bulb is around $35 dollars.  For a 65 gallon, this isn't that much light.

missmandy:
You could supplement your Eheim canister with an Aquaclear 110.  I have 3, and they are all silent, and it will give you the flow output that I find the eheim canisters lack.  You can have the best of both worlds.

Adam

[missmandy]

angels don't like flow though?