My New-Used 130 gal.

[Coffee1stLife2nd]

i have some idea and NO idea what im doing. ive done freshwater before but have always wanted to have Discus so here i go. My cousin gave me his 130 because he is moving and cant take it with him. Empty tank with just the glass lids. yes there are scratches in the glass but it doesn't leak because he had it set up. so i get to start from scratch. PLZ PLZ PLZ give ideas or recommendations on equipment or anything i might need or DONT need or if im doing anything wrong, trust me i will not be offended. i would love all opinions. So far i know i already did a NO NO and painted the back of tank black -- i had to give hubby some kind of say to make him happy so he wouldn't mind me on this road of spending so much money...LOL.. Ive been doing allot of reading not sure how much is sinking in. ive already purchased my sump and overflow. and i have a list of things im pretty sure im going to get but wanted some opinions on a few things 1st...

1st pic is tank and sump 108029 108030 108031 the next pics are on my list of things to get,,, i have a much bigger list but its of media and other things im not sure if anyone is interested in. pic of return pump 108032 2 of these for in tank 108033 lights 108034 pump for water return from ageing barrel to tank 108035.... sorry the pics are so big im not sure how to make them smaller,,,,

[Jack L]

mag 7 seems on small side.

[alron2]

Jack,
I think you missed the purpose of the mag 7 pump. It is only used to transport aged water from the aging tank to the aquarium, it is not used to transfer water from the sump to the tank. What do you think?
Ron

[Coffee1stLife2nd]

Jack,
I think you missed the purpose of the mag 7 pump. It is only used to transport aged water from the aging tank to the aquarium, it is not used to transfer water from the sump to the tank. What do you think?
Ron

yep just from holding tank to main tank the holding tank will be behind the chair next to main tank. should i get stronger pump??? I wasnt sure which one to get so i was thinking middle of the road, i didnt want to blast fish as I return clean water to tank...

[Coffee1stLife2nd]

i am also thinking a light dusting of sand on bottom of tank im going to go with atleast 5 in Discus, i dont want to do the whole growing out thing.

[Clawhammer]

i am also thinking a light dusting of sand on bottom of tank im going to go with atleast 5 in Discus, i dont want to do the whole growing out thing.

Either do that or paint the bottom white. The black background will look nice, and if paired with a very light bottom/substrate you will have very little if any peppering. Discus darken and pepper more based on the substrate than the background. I'd paint the stand black too, but that is purely personal taste.

Can't wait to see it with discus :)

[gunnerschh2]

Iwould hard pipe to the sump, i've had those blue hoses leak from movement.

[Coffee1stLife2nd]

i was thinking blue hoses from overflow to sump and pvc from return to tank.

[Jack L]

i did miss the purpose of mag pump. well, depending on how far you are going from holding tank and head pressure, might want to look into sump pump. that is what i use.

i use flex PVC for plumping from tank to sump. i've seen the corrugated ones break. the one that came with my tank (used) was in fact broke.

never heard of vectra, i'll look it up, but 2000 GPH is more like it.

as far as other pumps, you might want to wait and see how it is with your return. my discus avoid the high flow zones and say in the peaceful flow areas.

[JBurgo]

The Vectra M1 is awesome.. super quiet, very adjustable, love mine, I won't even consider a different pump next time. It works really well at the lower speeds you'll be using on a 500L tank. I did a push fit with 20mm PVC pipe into the return attachment, works sweet, I wouldn't bother gluing unless you intend to do an external mount. Look up my sump to see.

I would consider making a PVC fitting for the front input of the Vectra (with an L pointing up), and then attach a tube to your water storage. Why not use your Vectra as your return pump? It would smash it. Put a container under your return so it doesn't blast the tank, and hit the Vectra to max. The blue component is a very easy fitting to just screw the PVC on and off the front of the pump in seconds. Save yourself a few bucks to spend on something else.

I don't think you need the powerheads for Discus. But if you have your heart set on them, and you're getting the Vectra, why not consider the Vortech version, where the master control matches the Vectra, you can link them together. But personally, I think it's a waste of money and you'll probably discard them later. I'd start off without them and see what you think, you can always get them down the road.

+1 for getting rid of those blue flexible hoses, detritus factory in those corrugations.

Consider a Herbie or Bean Animal overflow to match your Vectra.

I also really like my Marine Pure Block/ Balls. Purigen is a product well worth considering, I use twice the recommended amount. And I've also recently added 1/2 the recommended amount of Rox 0.8.

Pity about those scratches, they're almost bad enough to consider replacing the tank, algae will grow in them and you'll have to scratch it out continually. How much would it cost for someone to come around and do a scratch removal on them? More than a tank? (Now's the time if it's happening). Maybe a fake backdrop, lots of people use those?

I prefer the sand bottom, but it is a price you pay for with cleaning duties (it's much faster to syphon a bare bottom).

I would also drill the tank and ditch the overflow box on such a large tank, you won't regret that.