75 gal Holy crap what have I done? Errr, make that 90gal.
 

So apparently in a moment of weakness it seems I have created a new monster...

I thought I would be a great guy and buy my girlfriend a giant aquarium for christmas, so last week I surfed kijiji and came up with a 75 gal 4’x18"x20” freshwater tank for 350 bucks. I had never had a tank this big before, although I grew a couple of giant freshwater lionhead orandas that lived for over 13 years and earned several degrees and diplomas with me. Yet a tank that size seemed like a great start for what I hoped would be a nice little salt water setup eventually, and the price seemed right.

So I arrived at the guy's house, and there sitting before me was a nice looking tank with 11 various cichlids, including what was apparently a mating pair of T. brichardi, and of course a token pleco. All I wanted was the tank, so I asked if getting rid of the fish was possible, which ultimately wasn't. I asked the guy if he would take 325, and when he accepted I promised to pick it up the next day...

Obviously it turned out the guy was waaaaay too nice, and by the end of that second day he had helped me load the bastard of a heavy tank into my truck, along with a brand new filstar filter, and various accoutrements associated with the freshwater fish hobby.

So I got the thing home, along with all the water from the tank packed neatly into pre-washed rubbermaids that promptly spilled all over myself, the truck, and the house, before being dumped back into the tank itself. I traditionally have this thing where whenever I go flyfishing I will fall into whatever body of water I am attending and develop a rapport with the fish I seek... obviously this curse extends to hobby aquaculture as well. Once the water was in, I set up a bunch of caves and interesting structure (I know trout like structure, so why wouldn't cichlids?) with the plethora of tank litter I had been given, and then introduced the picean travellers to the dawning of the age of a new aquarium... location. I can only assume this is a common joke in the fish community.

After fiddling with the filter for a bit and finding a powerbar to hook everything up to, the system was set up, minus things like food and pH thingies, or fungus and bacteria treatments. I could buy that the next day. The fish seemed happy, especially what appeared to be a nice big C. moorei. Only the brichardi were really shy - they had already found a nice hole in some driftwood that I hadn't even noticed until I spied one poking its head out and then ducking back in when it somehow became alerted to my voyeurism.

The next day I made an enlightening trip to Big Al's (not the big gay boatride from southpark), where I was made to look like a foolish child with a patient fish nerd/ninja as my teacher. I found out a few things, dropped some more cash on a powerhead and some food, narrowly avoided buying yet more fish-cave thingies for around 40 bucks, and headed home again.

After gleefully tearing apart the powerhead box and setting it up, I noticed a box in the corner, along with a plastic bag. Inside the bag was yet another slightly used power filter, and in the box sat more food and chemical treatment than I would need for several months. It's funny how dragging craploads of water up and down stairs can make you forget that you have the stuff you need already, or that the guy handed you several extra boxes of fish food.

...So that is where I now sit, with enough FW crap to tide me over until I can figure out how to afford what will apparently be thousands of dollars for a sweet FOWLR setup. The cichlids appear to be easy to maintain, and immediate plans include building a 3' high stand so I can begin preparation for setting up some sort of sump thingy. In the distant past I apprenticed as a plumber, so I am confident I can pull this off magnificently, although educating myself as to what the hell I am getting into is still ongoing. For the time being, my sweetie will be getting a FW setup after talking to the Big Al's staff, and having them do up a quote for switching the system to FOWLR. The price, along with subsequent defecation in my pants and uncontrollable obscenities flying from my lips were enough to crush my hopes and dreams for the time being.

SO in closing, I would appreciate any help, especially in the form of a list of things to purchase to build up proper equipment for a 75 gal FOWLR tank that 2 animal nerds could live happily ever after maintaining. I can post some pics of the project as it unfolds, particularly whatever crazy stand I decide to build in the meantime.

till then, cheers!

Welcome to Canreef.

It really doesn't have to be as complicated as you think. Big Al's is quite pricey for everything. Look out for used stuff on here. You can pick some quite cheap live rock for $4 - 5/lb on here. Check out Marine Aquaria in Edmonton (you can look them up on here - one of the sponsors). Often times they'll have cheap live rock even $3/lb from their client tear downs.

Ask lots of questions. Start simple. Simple live rock and lots of flow will do for a FOWLR tank.

Hope this helps for now.

Yeah, I was about to say. I regret buying stuff from big al's cause when I started checking local fish stores a lot of them sell things cheaper. I use big al's as a sort of a library now, browse through their catalogue and look for those stuff somewhere else.

Congrats!!

I predict you're going to like your cichlids a lot - end up keeping them and then starting ANOTHER tank for FOWLR! lol
Cichlids are pretty personable fish, interesting to watch and brightly coloured.

Pics???

LOL great story!!

Welcome to the dark side of fishkeeping:lol:.....

I agree with Dez, except for one thing .....ask your questions here:biggrin:

Thanks for the comments guys!

I will be posting pics as soon as I can grab my camera back from work (it's waterproof too, so there may be some interesting experiments!). I would love to have someone ID the fauna for me, or at least point me in the right direction for cichlid species keys on the net, so that I could make up little lame plaques with spp. names on them! Yeah, that's right - I just finished up a degree in environmental science, so I am a latin nerd still... hope I don't embarrass myself too much!

Oh, and yes... I am starting to remember how much I friggin love fish! Four days back in and I'm already thinking of another tank! Sigh. The reason is that I am starting to doubt I could take care of an empty tank for 6 months just to start growing rock, ha ha. I suppose I'll just focus on building the stand for the time being.

Other things on day 4 that are beginning to occur to me include a short list of what I want to find:

- more power heads! I need more of these, right? The more current in the upper strata of the tank, the better? Does a 75 gal even have enough volume to have upper strata? I am pretty sure I just made this whole strata thing up.

-I must begin to find another smaller tank to use for something that sounds like it might be called a berlin reservoir filter system, right?

- Obviously I need to set up a cool pump system... oooooh I can't wait! Why the hell did I throw out that wicked 1 1/2" pool jetpump I refurbished years ago?

- Definitely some sort of digital water testing system that can show me interesting things like salinity, tds, and whether or not I am pregnant.

- Lights. Damn you, expensive lights!

- a skimmer... I see these things used everywhere... should I be throwing one on my tank before it is salt water?


Anything else I am obviously unaware of, aside from my blatant status as yet another excited newb?

Uh oh, I also just thought of something else that might be cool... what about some sort of timed electrical system, so I could run things like lights on the sump or regular tank in opposite cycles (yes, it is quite obvious I am reading Myka's newb guide). What about midnight laser shows with giant inflatable pigs or devils that activate to the music of the artist formerly known as Peter Frampton?

Hmm... my excited dreaming usually offsets my laziness, and I end up somewhere in the middle, between doing nothing at all and creating some sort of magnificent golden calf for people to worship. So excuse my deliriousness.

Well you sound like your on the right track, getting your first tank. Keep up on Myka's guide. Research the threads, you should be used to that. Think of this as another degree. Good luck, and keep us posted.

I am going to try to post some pics I took with this weird camera I have, of the tank, just to show you guys that it is a plain old boring 4' jobbie. Hopefully I can post some rough drawings of the stand plans this week for random internet approval.

http://photos-a.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos..._2148237_n.jpg
Here it is! Hidden in the storage room away from the prying eyes of my female life control system! Perhaps this christmas gift will somehow diminish her random female anger...

http://photos-e.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos..._3230282_n.jpg

http://photos-c.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos..._6254059_n.jpg

I felt like a jerk using the flash like that... I'm sure they're ****ed with me now.

Also I have no clue whether or not that worked... I suck at this.