Moving, chance to do some upgrades?

[Holdstrong]

Hi all,

Has been awhile since I posted, but I have continued to lurk from time to time. Hope everyone is doing well!

Things are going good on my end, in fact, my wife and I just bought our dream home. And as I begin to contemplate moving, my fish tank of course comes to mind.

The reason for this post is that my current setup is about 6 years old, and I figure this move is as good an opportunity to "upgrade" components and equipment as I will ever get. So, I am looking for some advice and input. I haven't really kept up with the industry or new technologies, but I am sure some of you have, so I am hoping you can take a look at what I have and see if anything stands out to you. If something screams 'upgrade me!' I want to hear all about it.

Setup:

75 gal tank
4 clown loaches (I lost my 5th a few years back)
2 plecos
5 or 6 dither fish (tetras)
2 AC 110 HOBs
1 Filstar canister (purely used for bio, because I HATED taking it apart to clean it)
Coralife Aqualite (that looks like this: http://globalaquaria.com/images/products/RES53014-2.jpg)
Some generic heater
Sand substrate, driftwood, and some very low maintenance plants (anubias) that look like hell

As you can see, I am kind of over filtered and under stocked (at least I think)... but this was because after a nasty ich outbreak a few years ago, I've been too chicken to add more fish. So as dither and other non-loaches have died off over the years, I haven't replaced them.

Also, I used to have a river tank manifold in there, but pulled it a few years back because I could never get the flow right and the water always seemed dirtier than I prefer... it seemed like the currents were suspending larger particles in the water and the filters were not grabbing them. Anyway, I might consider adding it back in during this move. I'm not thrilled with the flow pattern that those AC 110s create... the back of tank to front of tank sort of thing.

So, I browsed a reputable aquarium store last week and it felt to me like, in particular, aquarium light technology has changed. The new LEDs look nice. Any thoughts or advice on them? Also, it seemed like there were some new canister filters on market. Anything I should be looking at?

Ohhh, I could go on and on... but I hope I have enough info here to start a conversation.

Thanks!

[Diana]

Lighting has indeed changed a LOT in the last few years.
The LEDs are very power conserving, and available in many configurations, so you should look into lighting the tank better for the plants so they will grow better. Anubias are slow growing, so if something happens and some leaves mis-form, you are stuck with those bad leaves for a long time. Better to grow nice leaves.

2 Plecos sounds like a lot in this tank, are they commons or smaller?

I like most of the Rainbow Fish in this size of tank, perhaps look into the species that thrive in the warmer water that Clowns like.

Not much you can do to alter the flow from HOB filters. If you want to aim the flow somewhere, a canister is the way to go. Sure hear you about hating to open it, though! Aquaclears are so easy to clean!

[Holdstrong]

Hi Diana, great to see you still around!

The Plecos were inherited. I have no idea what kind they are, but I'd say they are about 2-3 inches long - and have been since I've had them (6-7 years or so)... hoping that means they are not the monsters!

Rainbow fish sound like a great idea. Will definitely be looking into them, thanks.

And good to hear the LED's are well thought of. I was contemplating spending the money on a day/night setup that is power enough for plants, but feel much better hearing that they are not just a gimmick.

I just cleaned one HOB tonight. Was so easy. Hate to give that up. I've even flirted with the idea of hanging the hob on the end of the tank... so the flow is length wise. But I don't know, I think that would look silly.

Maybe I'll suck it up and get canisters. Especially if I get self priming ones, maybe that will be ok. Are there any that you like or that are commonly recommended these days?

[chefkeith]

LED's are awesome. If you're good with DIY projects, you can get LED kits for about $20 on Ebay. You can get a dimmer remote control for another $6 also. If you have any used 2.5 to 5 amp Power Adapters, like from old printers you can use them, instead of buying new ones, which will save a few bucks. I ended up building two - 8 foot LED light fixtures. Each draws about 1 watt of power on the lowest dimmer setting, and 24 watts on the highest. Great for low light loach tanks or accent lighting. Not sure if LEDs are intense enough to grow plants. Haven't tried.

For my planted tanks, last year I switched to Bayco Clamp Light fixtures, with 14 watt daylight CFL screw-in bulbs. They sell these at most big box stores for $6 to $9. Walmart usually has the best prices. Sometimes they have 14 watt daylight CFL 4 packs for just 88 cents.

For filters, I'm Fluval fan. I really like the new Fluval C Series HOB for small tanks. These are very easy to maintain. You don't have to completely take it apart or unplug it. Each media compartment can be removed and cleaned separately. They don't have anything as powerful as the Aquaclear 110's at the moment, but I hear it's in the works. The Fluval C Series will probably replace the AquaClear line someday.

The Fluval FX5 and FX6 are great canister filters. The FX6 is just an updated, more power efficient, version of the Fx5. They are probably too powerful for a 75 gallon tank since they are rated 950 GPH. I use one on my 195 gallon tank. Maintenance on these is a bit of a chore, more so than Filstars, but these FX's are like having 3 canisters in one, so it's time and money well spent.

The Fluval G Series looks like a great canister filter, which I haven't tried yet. They're probably be the easiest to maintain, as far as canister filters go, but they are quite expensive.

The Fluval E Series Heaters are quite nice also. A have a few of them in my loach tanks. Aqueon Pro Heaters are pretty good also. I use them in my small tanks.

[astex]

If you have the room and like to DIY, you could always go with a sump for a filter. The benefit of easy cleaning and massive filter capacity. It's also a plus in a loach tank as they tend to be great at adding oxygen to the water.