New to the OVAS and getting back into the hobby questions.

[Jeff1192]

Hi,

I am new to the OVAS and have been out of the hobby for about 12yrs now. I always had an aquarium from the time I was about 13yrs old. Now that I'm 35 and I have a son who is crazy about fish I figured what better time to get back into things. I am looking for your advice on a new setup. I have looked at the stores and read a bit on the internet and realize that things have changed a bit since I last had a tank. My old tank was a 33 gallon FW tank with undergravel filter, 2 power heads, an Aquaclear filter and live plants. I never had any major problems and it was runing for a number of years. Now I see that there is a fair amount of controversy about undergravel filters. What do you recommend? I would eventually like to convert to salt water, but that will be well down the road. For now I want to do a FW tank. I am also curious about people's experience with canister filters, is that the way to go?
I am planning on setting up a tank around 75 gallons in my living room and I am open to your collected advice. In terms of stocking the tank I would be planning on live plants and most likely a community tank (tetras, anglefish, plecos, some live bearers, ect).

Thanks in advance,

Jeff

[charlie]

Hi Jeff welcome to OVAS, hope you enjoy it here like most folks do.I would recommend doing a lot of research in the style of planted tank you want, there are several options, take some time & check out the plant forum on this site ( http://ovas.ca/index.php?board=31.0)there you will find some useful info. & links , also check the benefits of becoming a member of the club which is different from being a member of the site (http://ovas.ca/index.php?page=83).
Enjoy the ride 

[BigDaddy]

Welcome to the site Jeff

Yes, you are right about the undergravel filters.  They have definately fallen out of favour.  Mostly because of all the detritus that collects under the plates that makes for a nitrate factory as well as potential anaerobic pockets.  Additionally, since you want a planted tank, healthy plants will wrap their roots around the grates, making it lots of fun when it is time to aquascape.

Aquaclear power filters are still tried and true units that most people use exclusively on small and large tanks alike.  Canisters are more costly than power filters but generally require less maintenance and tend to be a little better at distributing flow than a power filter.  Canister filters are great biological filters and average mechanical filters, while power filters are typically great at mechanical filtration but don't stand up to the large amounts of media for biofiltration that canisters do.

As far as stocking... with a 75 gallon tank the sky is pretty much the limit if you are going with a community tank.  Lots of room there to add several different species and have lots of room for everyone to cohabitate well.

What sort of fish specifically interest you?

[darkdep]

Welcome back Jeff! 

To add my 2 cents to what's already been suggested:

On a tank of that size, many people use both a canister of some kind and an aquaclear.  This gives you the best of both worlds; both the superior biological filtration of a canister, and the great mechanical filtration of an Aquaclear.

[Jeff1192]

Thanks for the responses so far. In terms of what type of fish interest me, that's one of the reasons I want to go with a big tank, sky's the limit. I have always liked live-bearers...although I know many people find them boring. I also always liked having angel fish, different tetras, plecos, ghost shrimp, hatchet fish....and I guess the list would go on and on.
Now this may seem like a really basic question, but if you don't have an undergravel filter, how do you get rid of the accumulation you must get on your substrate? Are you just vacuuming it out with your water changes?

[babblefish1960]

Sounds like a prime candidate for multiple tank syndrome, good luck with the beginnings.

As for live bearers, I can't imagine anyone who has ever delved into them ever find them boring.

Good luck with your "sky's the limit" licence.

[dan2x38]

How old is your son? My son is 9 and very involved with our tanks... welcome the both of ya... 

[kennyman]

Thanks for the responses so far. In terms of what type of fish interest me, that's one of the reasons I want to go with a big tank, sky's the limit. I have always liked live-bearers...although I know many people find them boring. I also always liked having angel fish, different tetras, plecos, ghost shrimp, hatchet fish....and I guess the list would go on and on.
Now this may seem like a really basic question, but if you don't have an undergravel filter, how do you get rid of the accumulation you must get on your substrate? Are you just vacuuming it out with your water changes?

Hi Jeff 

I think there are quite a few of us thirty somethings around here who have rediscovered the hobby. I also think I am enjoying it even more in my adulthood than I did in the 70's-80's. One of the things that contributed to me getting out of the hobby was undergravel filters and having to do that big tank cleanout every spring. Yuck! 

I have a 55 gallon planted community, similar to what you have described, with some shrimp, plecos, tetras, hatchet fish and such. It is quite fun to watch and very easy to keep. I do not have to Get rid of the crap that would have accumulated under the UGF because I use a fine textured substrate that prevents the detritus from moving down very deep. The detritus stays up top where fish and snails break it down to a size that bacteria can handle. The bacteria process whats left turning it back into elements and compounds that my plants use for growth.

The other option is like you mention where you use a gravel siphon to suck the detritus out each week when you do a water change. You would use a larger size gravel that way and I think it is the more popular method.

On live bearers; It is not so much that they are boring for me, but rather that once you get them going I find it inconvenient to have to control the population. I used to keep African cichlids and found it a pain having to rip my tank apart every other month, catch young fish, and bag them up for auction of trade-in. I am of the opinion that the key to a successful, easy to care for, tank is not overpopulating it. Livebearers tend to over populate pretty quickly.

[fischkopp]

Now this may seem like a really basic question, but if you don't have an undergravel filter, how do you get rid of the accumulation you must get on your substrate? Are you just vacuuming it out with your water changes?

Welcome back to the hobby!

The good thing of a planted tank is that detritus is natural fertilizer for your plants. They duff that is accumulating on the aquarium ground also contains the same helpful bacteria that are present in your biological filter and will aid in keeping the water clean. Therefore provided you don't overstock or overfeed there will be no problem with the detritus and you should avoid intensive gravel vacuuming during water change. Just do it once a while a little bit if you don't like the look of it.

[Fishnut]

Welcome to OVAS!

I am also one of those 30 somethings who are rediscovering the hobby.  I had 35 tanks at one point with inhabitants from fancy goldfish to angels to an arowana.

In my fish room, I had a massive air pump and hoses running to each tank.  I had under gravel filters, box filters and sponge filters.  They work in the right circumstance.  I would recommend getting a good quality canister filter for any tank over 20 gallons.  They're very efficient and require a slight amount of upkeep.  They're also not a cumbersome looking thing hanging on the back of the tank.  The only draw-back is the price. 

I have also been buying carbon in bulk, cutting up nylon stockings to use as bags to put it in my filter.  It's a lot cheaper than buying the pre-packaged filter carbon.

The gravel cleaning devices are nicer too.  There are some that attach to the sink to siphon and fill a tank without needing a bucket!  I don't have one, but I often with I did.

Cheers!

[Jeff1192]

Well it would appear that I will be going without an undergravel filter. I've read enough to convince me the tank will survive, and probably be better off, without one. And now that I don't have the limited financial means of a university student I'll finally be getting a canister filter (I always wanted one of those when I was younger!). Thanks for the all the advice so far guys. I can't believe how great a resource this site is. Any other advice you might have is appreciated.

Thanks again,

Jeff

[sniggir]

I recomend getting a ehiem... they are more pricy... but I haven't had any problems and they are easy to clean... and do maitenance on... or you can go with the astro's as they are ehiem nock off's