If you could do it all over again...

[Kephren01]

I bought a nice 72gal tank over the weekend for my cichlids, and I am going to eventually clean out the 40gal they are in now and convert it to something else (not sure what yet).

If you could start from scratch with a clean tank and no equipment, what are some things you'd do or buy the second time around, with the knowledge you now have?

 

[Kephren01]

I'll start

to show you what I mean,

starting with a dry tank, I am going to "glue" (with silicon) some tubing down to the bottom of the tank, so that I can run the bubbler around to different parts of the tank and not have to worry about the tube getting completely ripped up every time I clean the gravel. On the same note, I am going to glue the tubing down the side of the tank so its pretty looking.

no idea what I am doing for decor, or filtration, or lighting yet.

 

[Helena21]

for SW: make it a huge reef or for FW i would make it heavily planted with a big school of rummynoses or cardinals and some nice angels

edit: oops

 

[forrestcook]

more hiding spots... a piece of driftwood that would easily sit upright (i have to half bury mine to get it to sit normal). That's about it. I'm too new to have any real regrets , both of mine can be fixed without stripping the tank down.

 

[seastaar88]

invest in quality equipment (lighting and filtration) from the start.

 

[Kephren01]

seastaar, any suggestions or tips on "quality" equipment or type. (Personally, I'll be setting up cichlids and probably tropical of some sort.)

 

[Mahamotorworks]

I would have spent the extra money and bought an XP4 filter. It would have more flow and extra room for more sponges.

MAHA

 

[Big Vine]

For a cichlid tank, I'd get a Visi-Therm Stealth heater instead of the glass one I used to have. (glass heaters can and are sometimes broken by oscars and other decent-sized cichlids) Just so happens that my glass one stopped working while my oscar was very small, so I was able to replace it with the 'oscar-proof' heater.

Along those same lines, I'd get a digital thermometer as well.
Glass thermometers will shatter much easier than glass heaters, and many robust cichlids and other larger fish have been known to break them as well. (whereas the plastic/rubber temperature probes on the submersible end of the digital thermometers do not have this issue)

Doesn't mean I've abandoned glass thermometers altogether...
I find them to be more reliable than the digital ones (which run on batteries, after all), so I find safe places for them where the fish can't do any harm (i.e. in my HOB filter baskets).

I'm sure there's other stuff I'll think of, but this is what I've managed to come up with off the top of my head.

BV

 

[seastaar88]

i would invest in a good canister filter rather than HOBs - they're more efficient, quieter, hold a ton of media, and you can control flow. rena's are awesome canister filters and completly worth the $.

sometimes you really do get what you pay for - it's less expensive in the long run to buy good stuff from the get-go than having to replace cheap equipment!

 

[hyunelan2]

I'd go straight for PowerCompact Flourescent lighting instead of gradually making my way through T8, T5, and finally arriving at PC lighting 2 years later.

I'd also go with a big filter (like my XP3) instead of messing with multiple small filters (2 HOT Magnum 250s).

 

[Lotus]

I'd get custom stands on all the tanks so I don't have to get on a step stool to reach to the bottom

 

[tropicalfish]

Switch Coralife Aqualight into AHSupply 4 x 55 kit, Seal the back of the canopy and use two cooling fans instead of four, get class covers that are clear, not frosted where the light goes in, switch xP3 with xP4 or two xP3. Get Mazzei venturi for CO2 dissolve, get lights under stand, Get better wiring, Use AquaSoil Amazonia instead of Malaya.

 

[Praetorian27]

to show you what I mean,

starting with a dry tank, I am going to "glue" (with silicon) some tubing down to the bottom of the tank, so that I can run the bubbler around to different parts of the tank and not have to worry about the tube getting completely ripped up every time I clean the gravel. On the same note, I am going to glue the tubing down the side of the tank so its pretty looking.

no idea what I am doing for decor, or filtration, or lighting yet.

BINGO!!! That is the only thing that bugs me about my current tank...how crappy the air hoses look when they sneak out of the gravel. And they ALWAYS sneak out of the gravel!