65 Gallon Equipment- All of it?

[sslpn719]

Hi Everyone. Please forgive me if some of this has been gone over, but as I'm new, I'm going to compile a couple equipment questions into one thread in hopes of gaining some opinions. I'm new to this as I sit here staring at my newly purchased empty 65 gallon tank, wondering, what on earth do I buy for it?

So I think I've made up my mind on my filter. After much research and reading countless reviews, I believe I'm going to go with the Sunsun canister filter with UV. I originally had my heart set on a 406, but with the reviews and the price of the sunsun, I can't not try it. If needed to supplement I will go with the C4 HOB, and if it turns out to be nothing more than a big wet paper weight, live and learn, right?

Now, the sunsun comes with just a few filter media pads that I understand leave a bit to be desired. I'm wondering has anyone used the Drs Foster & Smith media pads to cut to size? I also plan to use biomax. Next question....I understand there's a lot of controversy on carbon and things like zeocarb (although I'm not sure why), but wondering your thoughts on Purigen? So far, I've only been able to find positive info and zero cons about using it. Was thinking of trying this in the Dr Foster & Smith fine mesh bags.

Lighting----ugh, this would be so much easier if I could walk through the store and see each light lit on a tank and choose what I think is the prettiest. I definitely don't plan on doing a planted tank right away, maybe many months after I get the fish part figured out (starting slow and planning, but have my heart set on Discus). So my questions are...LED or T5HO or is the difference even worth the price to bypass a traditional florescent fixture? But I figure if I eventually plan to plant the tank, I should get the proper fixture now. My tank is 65 gal (36 x 18 x 23). If I did a T5HO, how many bulbs will I need, planted or unplanted. I believe I have it narrowed down between 2 different options. Aquaticlife Marquis Dual Lamp T5HO with built in timer -$130, or..... the Aquaticlife Edge LED with Daylight, mixed color, and moonlight. Also with programmable timer and a really cool sunrise/sunset feature - $160.

Thermometers---- 1 or 2? Same or different? Is the Hydor inline worth it? Also looking at the Jager 150w (53-79g) or 200 (79-106) or the Viaaqua 300w (upto 80g) with thermometer and remote?

Substrate- sand or gravel, light or dark?

There are so many options that my head is spinning as I sit here flipping through my Foster & Smith Catolog.

Any opinions or helpful hints or experiences with any of the above equipment is appreciated.
Thanks

[rickztahone]

Hi Everyone. Please forgive me if some of this has been gone over, but as I'm new, I'm going to compile a couple equipment questions into one thread in hopes of gaining some opinions. I'm new to this as I sit here staring at my newly purchased empty 65 gallon tank, wondering, what on earth do I buy for it?

So I think I've made up my mind on my filter. After much research and reading countless reviews, I believe I'm going to go with the Sunsun canister filter with UV. I originally had my heart set on a 406, but with the reviews and the price of the sunsun, I can't not try it. If needed to supplement I will go with the C4 HOB, and if it turns out to be nothing more than a big wet paper weight, live and learn, right?

Now, the sunsun comes with just a few filter media pads that I understand leave a bit to be desired. I'm wondering has anyone used the Drs Foster & Smith media pads to cut to size? I also plan to use biomax. Next question....I understand there's a lot of controversy on carbon and things like zeocarb (although I'm not sure why), but wondering your thoughts on Purigen? So far, I've only been able to find positive info and zero cons about using it. Was thinking of trying this in the Dr Foster & Smith fine mesh bags.

Lighting----ugh, this would be so much easier if I could walk through the store and see each light lit on a tank and choose what I think is the prettiest. I definitely don't plan on doing a planted tank right away, maybe many months after I get the fish part figured out (starting slow and planning, but have my heart set on Discus). So my questions are...LED or T5HO or is the difference even worth the price to bypass a traditional florescent fixture? But I figure if I eventually plan to plant the tank, I should get the proper fixture now. My tank is 65 gal (36 x 18 x 23). If I did a T5HO, how many bulbs will I need, planted or unplanted. I believe I have it narrowed down between 2 different options. Aquaticlife Marquis Dual Lamp T5HO with built in timer -$130, or..... the Aquaticlife Edge LED with Daylight, mixed color, and moonlight. Also with programmable timer and a really cool sunrise/sunset feature - $160.

Thermometers---- 1 or 2? Same or different? Is the Hydor inline worth it? Also looking at the Jager 150w (53-79g) or 200 (79-106) or the Viaaqua 300w (upto 80g) with thermometer and remote?

Substrate- sand or gravel, light or dark?

There are so many options that my head is spinning as I sit here flipping through my Foster & Smith Catolog.

Any opinions or helpful hints or experiences with any of the above equipment is appreciated.
Thanks

Ok, I will give you my advice but you must remember that I am only giving you advice from items I have personally used and can vouche for. Others will do the same with items they have used which will only show that there is a whole slew of ways to set up a tank, and no one way is correct over all others.

So, with that said, here are my recommendations:

So I think I've made up my mind on my filter. After much research and reading countless reviews, I believe I'm going to go with the Sunsun canister filter with UV. I originally had my heart set on a 406, but with the reviews and the price of the sunsun, I can't not try it. If needed to supplement I will go with the C4 HOB, and if it turns out to be nothing more than a big wet paper weight, live and learn, right?

Now, the sunsun comes with just a few filter media pads that I understand leave a bit to be desired. I'm wondering has anyone used the Drs Foster & Smith media pads to cut to size? I also plan to use biomax. Next question....I understand there's a lot of controversy on carbon and things like zeocarb (although I'm not sure why), but wondering your thoughts on Purigen? So far, I've only been able to find positive info and zero cons about using it. Was thinking of trying this in the Dr Foster & Smith fine mesh bags.

I can tell you now that almost no one recommends a UV light in the discus hobby. It is somewhat moot because of all of the water we regularly change in our tanks. As far as filters go, the sunsun is simply a knock off of higher priced models and seems to do the job well. However, I have heard over the years of a few people having problems with them because of build, but I can not say anything about them from first hand experience. I do have experience with Rena filters however. I have had xp2's and xp3's and recommend them often. They are easy to maintain, easy to prime and are dead quite IME. I have only had to ever change one impeller out of quite a few over the years.

Biomax and all the other media isn't necessary either. You can simply use the poret pads/cermaic media/filter floss and you are set to go. Stay away from carbon unless you are trying to remove medication from the tank.

Lighting----ugh, this would be so much easier if I could walk through the store and see each light lit on a tank and choose what I think is the prettiest. I definitely don't plan on doing a planted tank right away, maybe many months after I get the fish part figured out (starting slow and planning, but have my heart set on Discus). So my questions are...LED or T5HO or is the difference even worth the price to bypass a traditional florescent fixture? But I figure if I eventually plan to plant the tank, I should get the proper fixture now. My tank is 65 gal (36 x 18 x 23). If I did a T5HO, how many bulbs will I need, planted or unplanted. I believe I have it narrowed down between 2 different options. Aquaticlife Marquis Dual Lamp T5HO with built in timer -$130, or..... the Aquaticlife Edge LED with Daylight, mixed color, and moonlight. Also with programmable timer and a really cool sunrise/sunset feature - $160.

As far as lighting is concerned, there are a million choices out there. Since you do not plan on going with planted from the outset, I would recommend going with a cheap LED fixture. Many here have gone with buildmyled's and say great things about them. Same goes for beamworks. It depends what your budget is really and what type of features you are looking for. Personally, I have had a Hagen GLO 48" fixture for planted tank and works great, but it runs hot and is really bright. On the flip side, I also have a LED Aquatic Life Edge which I actually did a video review on which you can find HERE. I really like the fixture and I found it to be rather cheap, but again, there are far cheaper options out there. It just so happens that my budget and feature set got me on this one. I would recommend it in a heart beat though.

Thermometers---- 1 or 2? Same or different? Is the Hydor inline worth it? Also looking at the Jager 150w (53-79g) or 200 (79-106) or the Viaaqua 300w (upto 80g) with thermometer and remote?

I believe you mean to say heaters. As far as heaters go, I have only used 2 types, a stealth heater that I will never use again, and Hydor inlines on all of my rena's. Out of site, out of mind, and not one has ever failed on me. Best money spent on my end. I currently bought 2x 250w Jager heaters because Jehmco has them on sale for $20 ea but I am yet to run them since this particular tank is still in the planning stages.

Substrate- sand or gravel, light or dark?

This is a rather loaded question because you have to have some sense of where you would like to go with the tank to get an answer. If going fully planted, I would say soil. NEVER GRAVEL. Light or dark is a personal thing, but if you will be purchasing pigeon blood discus, stay away from dark substrate. Sand is also a great substrate but requires more maintenance. Above all else, I always recommend bare bottom (BB) tanks when starting because it is so much easier. You get a proper sense on how to raise discus in this setting and preps you for more difficult setups later. Super easy to clean too.

I believe I got them all ;-)