NEWY !!

[lmicevski]

Hi guys im a newby at this at least discuss anyway ill briefly explain where im at and will appreciate your feed back here i have posted a pic of where my new tank is going and with a bit of luck it will arrive today dimensions are
3mtr x 80 cm high X 50 cm depth i have already purchased and setup 2 x fx5 units for my filtration im unsure what to use as substrate i have also setup a RO unit and will purchase 2 x heaters wich i dont have as yet i have also decided on LED lighting 2 x 4ft but have not yet installed so much for keeping it brief your feed back will be appreciated
sorry image too large will have to take new smaller file size

[Mr Wild]

So 9 ft tank? Ouch I would hate the cleanup.
Any hoo, I would suggest a colourful community tank and if you choose to get some discus as a newby I would suggest adults first. Growing out in a big tank like that would be a nightmare to keep clean. Babies need 6-8 feeds per day and they need pristine conditions so water changes everyday without fail are a must to contain disease and promote growth. HTH

[lmicevski]

Not sure why you say it would be a nightmare to keep clean
i owned a 4ft for a about 10m years and i have kept africans and had marines for a few years apart from the standard maintenance general clean up wasn't an issue i understand the size is bigger not understanding the nightmare part ???

[Mr Wild]

the nightmare comes from raising young discus and the amount of food required, that requires daily cleaning.

[lmicevski]

fair enuf do you suggest i start with older fish bc of it ????
what about steriliser is it wise to invest in one of them ????

[Merrilyn]

WElcome to the the forum lmicevski.

My ten foot tank was no more difficult to maintain than a standard four foot one. The scope a huge tank gives you for aquascaping is endless. I used pool filter sand for my substrate, and kept the planting fairly simple, using mainly a variety of Amazon sword plants and driftwood.

As Kath has already advised, I would stock the tank with with well grown discus. It's not the right sort of tank to grow out young discus (for that you would need a bare bottom tank no bigger than four foot long so you could do daily water changes).

I always ran a UV steriliser on my tank, mainly due to the large number of fish in there. It's no fun trying to medicate such a large tank.

Sounds like an exciting venture. Love to see some photos.

Send me a PM if you'd like some cheap driftwood. I have some good pieces that I''m not using at the moment. Pick up would be Richmond.

[ILLUSN]

A tank of that size would make for an awesome amazonian biotype, pool filter sand substrate, 2 or 3 massive swords and some drift wood tangles.

I'd be thinking 8-12 ADULT discus (not juviniles as discussed above) , some docile L numbers like L168's a few corrys for clean up maybe 200 tetras. You could go really crazy and shove a freshwater stingray pair in there, with that size a tank your options are anything but limited.

[lmicevski]

what would be a good uv steriliser that you would recommend for this size tank.
id like to have as minimal equipment inside tank as it will be double sided inbuilt tank so perhaps an inline ..maybe not sure ????

[lmicevski]

have you guys heard of the Aquazonic UVC - 9W X 2 can i fit one of these to each FX5 will that be suffice ???

[swifto]

I would use 25w uvc

[lmicevski]

what is the difference between 9 watt and 25 watt remember i have 2 x FX5 units so im thinking i need to get 2

[swampy1972]

Lower wattage won't handle the flow of the larger pump as the water needs to be exposed to the UV light for a enough time to be acted upon effectively. The higher wattage output can treat the water at the higher flow rate.

[lmicevski]

how important are brands here bc i can 36 watt chineese ones for $60
or aquazonic for $176 maybe also chineese

[ILLUSN]

buy a REAL uv not a cheap toy, in all seriousness with the flowrate of an FX5 look at eith an aquaultraviolet 25w or an emporer aquatics of the same power (40w would be ideal but it will cost you$$$).

if you want a cheaper brand the laguna 55w is also an option buts its massive and the globe is only good for 9 moths MAX! You wont need 2 with the turn over of both FX5's a good uv on 1 will keep microbs down to levels that the fish can cope with.

basicly brand doent matter but try and get the UV-C dosage up to a minimum of 60000uW/cm2 90000uw/cm2 would be better (40w unit)

no UV is a substitute for good husbandry, so make sure you clean up all uneaten food and fish waste as often as you can.

[swifto]

I think marlons discus stocks the emperor aquatics uv.

[ILLUSN]

At $550 just buy the 40w emporer from marlon. Perfect for an FX5