Setting up a 90 river tank soon

LoachOrgy · Post by **LoachOrgy** » Mon Apr 14, 2008 12:22 pm

Going to setup a 90 gallon 5' width tank soon for my clowns and striatas. Upgrading from the 55. 369$ at big al's.

I have two:

one loach tank 55 gallon
2-70 aquaclear jet heads
1 60 gallon aqua clear
2 rena x3 fillstar filters
3 6" cylindrical pond filters

on smaller tank
1- 50 ac jet head
10 gallon ac waterfall
30 gallon ac waterfall

I know that I need to cycle this tank for two months. Can I simply take some of the ornament and use the filters from the 55 to jump start the tank? Maybe using 25% of the water from this tank to start the newer tank.

Any pointers would help. Or any advice on anything.

I plan on building a simple pvc pipe plan for the 2 aquaclear jets and the 3 filters I have. I may even add the smaller 3rd ac to this setup as well.

Should I get a uv sterilizer?

I have never had a tank this big but I intend on adding my two tanks together.

The clowns and all loaches are in the bigger 55 gallon.

I have small tetras in the other tank. Here is a break down.

small tank
4 small corys
5 rasbora
5 glow lite tetras
2 flame tetras
3 serpae tetras
3 glass fish
1 small rubber pleco
1 zebra danio

loach tank
2 upside down cats
4 clown loaches. 3" each
7 striatas 2" each
4 -2" emerald corys
1- clown tiger pleco
4 cherry barbs

i don't plan on adding any fish.

chefkeith · Post by **chefkeith** » Mon Apr 14, 2008 4:14 pm

If you just move the mature filters over to the 90 then you won't need to cycle the tank. Those 2- filstar xp3's should be good enough bio-filtration for a 90g tank.

LoachOrgy · Post by **LoachOrgy** » Tue Apr 15, 2008 9:05 am

thanks chef.

have you ever tried a uv sterilizer?

i may get one for this big tank is it worth the investment?

chefkeith · Post by **chefkeith** » Tue Apr 15, 2008 4:54 pm

Yes, I do use UV. I think it's a good investment. It can be a good insurance policy.

Pixelated_Pirate · Post by **Pixelated_Pirate** » Tue Apr 15, 2008 9:42 pm

A little off topic but I was thinkin' of getting a UV for my tank as well... how exactly do they work? Are they safe?

LoachOrgy · Post by **LoachOrgy** » Mon May 19, 2008 12:11 pm

well all fish are getting along nicely. and the clowns love all the newbies!

jones57742 · Post by **jones57742** » Mon May 19, 2008 1:31 pm

LO:

At one point in time I did not understand the river tank concept and Martin posted the following link which describes a river tank but also how to construct the piping and implement the ancillary items for one (I believe that he invented this).
http://www.loaches.com/articles/a-river-runs-through-it

TR

LoachOrgy · Post by **LoachOrgy** » Wed May 21, 2008 1:40 pm

cool thanks. yeah i already have everything planned out. i just need to pickup the tank and go to home depot for some pvc piping. i already have 3 intake sponges and two ac 70s. i also have the loaches online book!

LoachOrgy · Post by **LoachOrgy** » Sun Aug 23, 2009 7:56 pm

ok so i finally got the 90 gallon tank. going to setup a river tank soon.

consisting of 2 aquaclear jetheads 60.
2 rena x3 fillstars
2 aquaclear 60's
and two bubblers

going to measure everything out tomorrow.

im keeping the same stock i have now for a while. if anything i will up my number of rasbora and glass fish. most i plan on upgrading is maybe 4 yo yo loaches in the future. not anytime soon though. these guys are gonna be so happy.

i have

5 clown loaches. between 2.5" to 6"
7 striatas of random size. biggest about 2.5"
6 rasbora
3 glass fish
3 upside down cats
1 tiger pleco

probably going to have to get another pleco. maybe another tiger. they don't clean the tank very well. lol..

big al's had modestas for the first time ive seen.

and they had some nice plump striatas. only place i find the yoyos is petsmart for 21 each. sad.

but the last 2 years have had some weak looking yo yos. last i saw a month ago they had 4 that were over 4" long and super healthy looking but that woulda been 85 bucks for 4 of em. hopefully in the future talk to big al's and see if they can get any yo yos.

i got the ones i saw at the store to do flips!

so here is the only thing im contemplating.

bigger heater. and a uv sterilizer. not sure if i should go that route or not. any pointers on ups and downsides to uv sterilizers? i know you can't mix certain medications with one on.

bought some extra bio media to get goin in the 55 until i get this tank setup. probably going to let the bacteria establish istelf in the media. then put the 2nd fillstar on the 90 gallon to start. ill move my current location 55 gallon tank first. because im placing the new tank where the 55 is currently.

place the fish in some gallon buckets with filtration while i take out all the sand. ill then place the sand and plants in the new tank and let the fish swim around with no sand for a bit 55. but i will leave about half the ornaments in the 55 so they can have something to swim around in. til they move tanks. probably going to let some of the tank ornaments and material establish a week or so. before placing new fish in new tank. but planning on doing a start with the entire tank water from the 55 and that amount from fresh water. any ideas or recommendations would be great.

im going to do a few weekly water changes and add that water to the new tank.

the bio startup would be everything from the 55 and also including the bio added to the newer rena x3 from currenct bio media in the 55.

got all the time in the world. so starting the tank is no issue about having two tanks for a while. i know the cycle time is about 2 months for the loaches. but ive got enough bio media i think to get a good start going.

LoachOrgy · Post by **LoachOrgy** » Sun Aug 23, 2009 11:24 pm

also this time around i won't make the mistake of putting plants in this new tank. the anubius fern last the longest. but even then, the loaches kill them. they eat the big fat root part like a potato. so as far as anything. there is one type of anubius fern that lasts the longest and it has more upright pointed leaves. and grows upright. it doesn't really branch outward. i found these really nice anubias ferns but they chomped em by 6 months time.

the rest are going to remain plastic plants. with maybe 4 live plants max.

ill get pics up soon. 48x18 inches. 90 gallon.

Rychek · Post by **Rychek** » Sun Aug 23, 2009 11:36 pm

There are few things like a brand new tank for that "shiney" look. I'm looking forward to seeing how this tank works out. I've been thinking about using my 90 gal to get back into loaches.

LoachOrgy · Post by **LoachOrgy** » Mon Aug 24, 2009 12:43 pm

ok here are some updates. i built the whole system with pvc piping in about 30 minutes. have not test run it yet. need to move the other tank prior to that. but so far i have it all setup.

ive seen suggestions to boil the pvc pipe pieces. would soaking them in a diluted bleach solution work as well? then add dechlorinator to the water? and rinse thoroughly after?

here was the hand sketch i had for the setup.

loose measurements then kinda improvised once everything was setup.

the upside down cats are going to lovethis. i think im going to run the two jetheads about mid tank level for the upside down cats. they love sitting under the jetheads. so now there are two. and they don't have to fight for the good spot anymore. all the extra pvc piping i think they will enjoy as well. they like hiding behind things.

also with the rena x3 fillstars. im going to run the outtake horizontal facing the floor on either side.

so its similar to how i have this tank setup but imagine the other rena outtake mirrored on the other side. and im placing the intakes in both corners. also going to run a horizontal bubble line like i have in this 55 tank direcly in the middle of the back of the tank. that way the loaches still have their bubble waterfall.

you can see the horizontal bubble stone on the front of the tank in this picture. but its actually now directly underneath the outtake on the back of the tank.

chefkeith · Post by **chefkeith** » Mon Aug 24, 2009 1:38 pm

Nice tank.

LoachOrgy · Post by **LoachOrgy** » Mon Aug 24, 2009 6:14 pm

thanks. yeah i wanted a 5 footer but this is the longest widest tank they had for the price range.

so now ive moved the 55 gallon and the loaches are still in buckets. i will soon place them back in the 55 gallon. the 90 is now in place where it needs to be. will be testing out the river system soon in the next day or two.

LoachOrgy · Post by **LoachOrgy** » Mon Aug 24, 2009 10:55 pm

well the river setup was tested tonight and all went well. one jethead was having issues and needs a new magnet. but other than that. it worked great. i could feel the suction from the tube i disconnected from the 2nd jethead. and its a gentle spray as well. i think the fish are going to be very happy.

i rinsed off all the pvc pipe with hot water.

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Setting up a 90 river tank soon

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