NEWBIE HERE: Help required for setting up a 4ft tank

[crenjia34]

Hi all!

I have recently got into this hobby for about a month or so (Been wanting to have my own aquarium since I was young), Starting out with a 10 gallon tank containing a Red-Claw Crayfish. It's been almost a month and the tank is almost cycled (Ammonia close to 0 after water is left unchanged for a week) and I've been wanting to upgrade to a 4ftx1.5ftx1.5ft tank (67 Gallons +/-) and I need some help on the following issues. But first, this is the setup I am intending to build:

1.) 4x1.5x1.5 Glass tank with stand
2.) 6 compartment overhead filter system with 3000L per hour pump
3.) Medium powered Air pump for insurance
4.) A few rocks & 3-5 plants tied with driftwood (Easy maintenance plants - Java Fern, Java Moss, Elodeas etc)
5.) Aqua Zonic T5 light (Priced @ $78 - I believe it is 2 tubes)
6.) 30-40kg of gravel
7.) Large centerpiece driftwood

Fishes:
10x Zebra Danios
10x Neon Dwarf Rainbowfish
1x Rainbow Shark
1x Bala Shark
6x Corydoras
6x SAE

..........maybe more fishes to add???

My first question is how does the overhead filter system work and is it good for a 67 Gallon tank and the pump rate needed for the tank as well? (I've heard and read the pump rate should be around 2000L/H and above, not exceeding 3000L/H) and also can I pour the beneficial bacteria solution straight at the mechanical filter and the bacteria would grow on the biological filter below it? - I'm planning to keep the last 2 compartments empty, as I might consider putting in carbon blocks for chemical filtration.

Secondly is whether is there recommendations for any good pumps rated at 3000L/H which has suction cups that stick to the aquarium walls so that the pump doesn't touch the gravel and suck it in

Thirdly is the lighting - Whether the T5 would suffice for the plant set up that I have and how many hours should I leave it on for

Fourth is all the maintenance supplies and the recommended brands for them - Anti Chlorine/Chloramine, Beneficial Bacteria, Stress coats, pumps etc.

Fifth is the combination of fishes that I have listed above, is it good to go? For now, I might consider removing the Bala Shark from the list as I've seen mixed answers on whether the tank is big enough and whether can it live without a shoal and are there any alternatives for my situation for the Bala Shark? They look so nice in a tank swimming! :P - Also, any recommendations on where to get the fishes in a HEALTHY STATE, be it getting the rainbowshark at C328 for example, because my friend, also a fellow forum user, bought the Neon Dwarf rainbowfish from Arowana Ave at Clementi and they are currently struggling in his 125 Gallon tank and some of the forum users brought up to him that the Rainbowfishes at Arowana Ave look unhealthy, so, I am trying to prevent that from happening by buying from the best source available in Singapore!

Sixth and FINALLY, I've been quoted prices for the equipment mentioned above, all I find the cheapest @ Polyart Aquarium located at Clementi -

4x1.5x1.5 tank for $120
Stand for $120
Delivery $60
T5 Light $78
20kg Gravel $30
Overhead filter + pump $80

Overall I'm expecting to spend $700++ but definitely less than my budgeted $800 for everything including fishes, gravel, driftwood, rocks, test kits, solutions (Anti chlorine, bacteria etc), hoses, piping, plants and fish feed. Is it a reasonable price or is it under/overpriced?

Thank you for reading such a long post, I really appreciate your effort and your knowledge is valuable to me!!

[Ryan Peh]

Hi renjia, you finally heeded my advise and created an account on aquaticquotient after seeing my thread explode with replies HAHAHA.

Wait for this guy called UrbanAquaria to reply. He is like the walking fish dictionary and he seem to be on every thread LOL

[crenjia34]

Will do

[Urban Aquaria]

Okay, just a few points...

The overhead filter is simply a partitioned box which sits on top of the tank and water is pumped up to flow over the various filtration compartments and then return back down to the tank by gravity. You can just go with the recommended water pump as recommended by the LFS, it all really depends on your budget. You can specify to the LFS that you want a water pump which sticks to the glass wall.

Personally i'm not a big fan of overhead filters (the last i used one was more than 15+ years ago), so can't really comment much on the latest designs. But they should still be quite straightforward in setup anyways.

Since you are only keeping a few low-demand plants, not as much light is required, so a 2 tube T5 lightset should be more than sufficient. You can just start with a shorter 6 hour photo-period and observe the plant growth, then increase the duration in stages, if algae starts appearing, then reduce the light duration. Its all about trial and error.

The main maintenance supply items to get are a good quality dechlorinator solution (ie. Seachem Prime) to treat the tap water before usage, a long extendable net and a long pair of pincettes to make arranging and picking items in the tank easier.

Bottled bacteria solutions are not really necessary, but no harm to get them to help speed up the cycle. Do note that you still need to make sure the tank's natural cycle is stable as you add new fishes, try not to rely totally on the bottled bacteria products as the "fast cycles" they create can be temporary. Just remember to introduce the new fishes in stages and spread out over a longer period of time.

The combination of fishes you plan to keep looks okay, its fine to keep just 1 bala shark and 1 rainbow shark in the tank (due to the larger size of your tank), though they do look much nicer in a group of conspecifics rather than just as solo individuals. I guess you have to decide if you want to focus on keeping just a group of larger fishes, or a mix of many different smaller fishes. Choice of livestock will ultimately be up to your personal preference.

Lastly... instead of using gravel (which will tend to trap lots of waste and excess food within the gaps, thereby require frequent gravel vacuuming to avoid polluting the tank), consider using fine sand instead. Just a thin 1-2cm layer of fine sand will do, no need thick layer. Using fine sand enables the waste and food to sit on top of the substrate surface, so that the filter flow can push and draw up the waste and any food that sinks to the bottom is still fully accessible to all the fishes, which helps reduce wastage. Any excess waste or food you spot can be easily retrieved or siphoned up directly from the sand. It'll definitely be alot easier to maintain.

[sthh]

Good planning. You have already done most of the homework. Here's some information that I hope can help.

1. Stackable OHF. I am using one, and it is very very useful in many different types of setup from planted to high bio-load fishes. Basically, a pump drives water into various stacks of filter. In designing a stackable, the top layer is the mechanical filter. Usually the white aquarium wool and the blue aquarium wool will suffice. They trap all the gunk and needs to be replaced when they accumulated enough gunk.
You can reserve 1 stack for chemical filtration, I recommend Seachem purigen, which turns your water sparkling clean. I don't recommend any carbon. Once those are saturated, they can release back all the unwanted chemical. Chemical filtration is optional. Most ppl don't really need one.
For your bio-medium, go for high capacity medium, such as biohomme.
I am a huge fan of stackables OHF because they are the easiest to maintain. Just lift up the lid, replace the white wool once in awhile. They are also easiest to expand. If you add more bioload or fishes, just add 1 more layer of stacks, with more medium. Imagine trying to replace the mechanical filter in a canister and you will appreciate it.
I used it for my planted tank previously, and is now using it for discuses and goldfishes. (with expanded stacks of course)

2. Consider a pump that can also create a current in your tank, other than just pumping water into your OHF. You need to ensure there are no dead spot.
Make sure your layout allows the substrate not to be blown about by your pump, or be suck by it. So maybe in your layout, design some bigger pebbles near your pump.

3. Lighting. Get a 4 tubes T5, so that you can choose to have sufficient wattage if you are going fully planted. If in the future you take u take up photography, you will appreciate the extra lighting. Even if you don't use all the tubes, you can just switch on 2 tubes.. Or go LED.

4. Your fishes are low demand fishes, any cheap and good anti chlorine should do it's job.

5. Some of your fishes are not compatible. 6 SAE are too many for a 4ft. They do not comm well with bala shark and/or rainbow shark because they are in the same family, and treat each other as competition and chase each other. So maybe just 2 SAE to start with. Start off with very little fishes first, so that you have an excuse to go to LFS to look at more fishes in the future.

In your budget, do not try to save money on filter mediums. They are very important.
Have fun.

[vannel]

Seems like plenty of space to play with. Looking at the choice of livestock, you'll really be able to get by using a decent canister filter instead of an OHF.. The only problem I have with OHFs are that they are fairly unsightly. Otherwise, they are probably one of the best filtration setups and highly dynamic since each box can be easily changed.

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[Urban Aquaria]

sthh brought up a good point about the compatibility of the group of SAE with your other 2 larger fishes... they all do share similar body shapes so there could be potential territorial conflicts when those fishes grow larger. Definitely something to take into consideration.

Btw, as for buying healthy fishes, you'll just have to shop around and check out the tank conditions and the health/quality of fishes at various LFS. Make sure the LFS retail tanks are well maintained and clean, with healthy and active fishes that still exhibit nice coloration in the LFS tank.

If you see dirty LFS tanks with dead fishes, pale fishes that are weak or lethargic, or fishes with fungus or lesions or white spots on them, avoid those at all costs. Better to visit other more professional LFS to buy your fishes.

[crenjia34]

Wow. The response is great! I really appreciate the effort put into posting

Couldn't have done it more comprehensively and informatively. Thank you UA, sthh and Vannel for the advice, will go a long way in my journey!
I'll keep my progress updated so that if I have any issues I can clarify to prevent any mishaps!!

[vannel]

Actually, I do think the 2 types of sharks will eventually dwarf your other fish as they grow into adulthood. Do check out their respective max sizes.

In a 4ft tank, you would be able to handle a fairly large school of smaller fish (like the zebra danios or the dwarf rainbow fish).. That might provide you with a very impressive looking tank of schooling fish, especially if you have a slightly more boisterous and aggressive species in there to "herd" them.

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[crenjia34]

Actually, I do think the 2 types of sharks will eventually dwarf your other fish as they grow into adulthood. Do check out their respective max sizes.

In a 4ft tank, you would be able to handle a fairly large school of smaller fish (like the zebra danios or the dwarf rainbow fish).. That might provide you with a very impressive looking tank of schooling fish, especially if you have a slightly more boisterous and aggressive species in there to "herd" them.

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Yes with regards to the 2 large sharks, I do know that the bala shark's potential size could be up to a foot long, the rainbowshark probably 7-8 inches max. From my research, these 2 sharks are harmless esp. the bala shark and will only chase the smaller schools of fishes around and not nip their fins, so it should be fine in a community tank and yes, that's the effect I'm going for, larger more aggressive fishes chasing the smaller schools! 😁

Once the Sharks establish their territories it should be fine since there are plenty of space available!

[Ryan Peh]

Won't the Bala sharks stress your small fishes to death?

[vannel]

The size difference would be way too big.. Also, bala sharks are quite fast and probably would not leave the danios alone. Maybe consider some angels or discus?

A traditional Amazon tank of discus, angels, corydoras and a big school of cardinals/tetras would be very very good looking.

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[Ryan Peh]

That's my tankkkkk @vannel but I haven't finish cycling.. But yeah corydoras, a shit load of cardinals and angels!!

[crenjia34]

UPDATE

I just bought a used 5 ft tank (150cm x 70cm x 50cm) and its been previously been used as a Marine tank and for keeping Arowanas and Discus for 2 years. It has grime and residue in the overflow and around the surfaces of the tank.
I'm planning to do a thorough cleaning of the tank by letting the tank run with a mix of water and vinegar for a week or 2, hoping that the vinegar will pull out all the grime. What I don't know is the ratio between the vinegar and water and is it recommended to do so?

Also, are there any other ways to clean the tank? Saw a YouTube video from "the king of DIY" and he recommended to use the "Bar Keeper's Friend" Cleanser and Polish and I was wondering, where can I get something similar in Singapore that sells aquarium safe cleansers that are strong enough to get rid of the grime and buildup?


EDIT: Oh, and the cabinet's pretty dirty too, any recommendations on wood cleaners?

Thanks in advance!

[Urban Aquaria]

Can try just using white vinegar, put in spray bottle (50/50 ratio of water and vinegar) and spray on the dirty areas and let sit for a while, the acids will dissolve the grime, then use a sponge to scrub it off.

As for the cabinet, probably a can of Pledge and cleaning rags will do the job.

[AQMS]

When you use a sponge to scrub,use the non abrasive sponge,some sponges can cause fine scratches.

[crenjia34]

UPDATE:

Thank you everyone for their contributions to this thread! It's been long since I've last posted on this forum.
Just a quick update; I began with a goal of a 4ft tank. After quite some time, I've finally decided to set up a 5ft tank that I got off AQ for a good deal quite a few months back.

-------------------

This is the current tank that I've set up!


Went through quite an ordeal with this tank, with the piping messed up by the fish tank movers, I procrastinated for months on fixing it and finally fixed it up and got it running!

Specs:
150W x 75H x 50D
EHEIM 1262 Pump
AquaZonic T5 lights (80w x 4)
12mm crystal glass with reinforced corner with full bottom EURO bracing
Central overflow system

SUMP - Filter Mesh + Bio Rod + Lava Rocks + ANS Sinopore Bio Rings

Lifestock:
3x Bala Sharks
7x Clown Loaches
1x Armoured Bichir

??????


A few questions:
1. What are good feeds for the lifestock currently in the tank?
2. What are some good filter medias? I still have a lot of room in the sump (Chemical/Mechanical/Biological)
3. Any other lifestock which will be good additions to the tank

Please provide any suggestions any areas of the tank/sump that can be improved. Also, some ideas for me to play around with the tank. Let the discussions begin!