Back Into The Hobby with a 180 Gallon Tank -- Many Questions - HELP :)

[MIke D]

Well folks, guess I'm back into the hobby. Last Discus tank was in the late 70's. Raised discus to offset college expenses for 2 yrs. Last night I bought a really beautiful 3 yr old 180 gallon tank on a custom made maple stand. I have several questions.. please feel free to email offer comments and suggestions via this post or email me direct.

1. It comes with a "Megaflow Model 4 Filter." It seems to be doing a nice job as the tank water is fresh and clean. Any comments about this filter, good or bad? Shall I break it down and clean the bio-spheres of reuse it as-is? This seems like an odd question (I would think to clean it thoroughly) but I've been told to just reuse it as is??

2. This tank will sit empty in a temperature and humidity controlled environment for at least a couple of months as I'm going in for knee replacement surgery in 10 days. Any comments here? I know the theory that it shouldn't be left dry but that was a long time ago.

3. Don't know as yet who the MFR of the tank was. It's silicone sealed at the edges. Not sure if there's more than one supporting beam at the top. Comments?

4. I'm on well water here in Charlottesville, VA. Water is filtered and processed and passes through a commercial UV system. What water chemistry shall I check for other than pH and DH? Nitrates (levels?), etc. Is anyone else using well water and are there any problems? Current tap H20 Dh=92ppm, pH ~5.0- and no nitrates. These tests taken with older paper. RO tap shows DH=8ppm with similar other characteristics. Is this water too acidic for the Discus hybrids of today? Kenny, where are you?

5. I have an old Culligan RO unit that I can resurrect by replacing the RO and filter cartridges which could be dedicated to the new tank.

All comments and suggestions appreciated.

Mike
DrD at 2020 dot com
Charlottesville, VA

PS Wanted to include photos -- can't figure it out as yet.. photos to come. Suggestions on posting?

[two_one_seven]

Start a photobucket account. Upload image to photobucket. There you can copy the IMG link and paste it in a post here. When you do that it will insert the image in the post. It's really easy.

Brian

[MIke D]

Brian,

It measures 72" x 24" x 24". Thanks for the info.. here we go:


Front 1:

http://i287.photobucket.com/albums/ll147/Apostle10/Front1_zpsc4204c8b.jpg (http://s287.photobucket.com/user/Apostle10/media/Front1_zpsc4204c8b.jpg.html)

Front 2:

http://i287.photobucket.com/albums/ll147/Apostle10/Front2_zps669b5e5f.jpg (http://s287.photobucket.com/user/Apostle10/media/Front2_zps669b5e5f.jpg.html)

Side:

http://i287.photobucket.com/albums/ll147/Apostle10/Side1Small_zps2e1e8a36.jpg (http://s287.photobucket.com/user/Apostle10/media/Side1Small_zps2e1e8a36.jpg.html)

[Disgirl]

Hi Mike, welcome to SD. I have been to your lovely city several times. I live in eastern NC. Why not set up your tank, fishless, before your surgery and do the fishless ammonia cycle. Info on that here if you search. That way it won't dry out, and when you are recovered you will be ready to add fish. Well water is fine if it is good water. ph of 5 is quite low, are you sure that is correct? If so, you may need to raise it. Ask questions and do lots of reading, SD has a wealth of knowledge.
Barb

[MIke D]

Hi Mike, welcome to SD. I have been to your lovely city several times. I live in eastern NC. Why not set up your tank, fishless, before your surgery and do the fishless ammonia cycle. Info on that here if you search. That way it won't dry out, and when you are recovered you will be ready to add fish. Well water is fine if it is good water. ph of 5 is quite low, are you sure that is correct? If so, you may need to raise it. Ask questions and do lots of reading, SD has a wealth of knowledge.
Barb

Hi Barb,

Thanks for your post. Indeed I WILL look into the "Fishless Ammonia Cycle." This is a new principle to this "old timer." The litmus type paper I used is quite old and will recheck it using a titration method. Need to get some basic supplies. It seems that water that acidic would not be good to drink so I DO question it.

Task now is to find some movers to relocate the tank to from where it is (about a 90 minute drive from here) to my basement without damage or incident.

Will keep updates coming as they merit.

Regards,

Mike

[DonMD]

Good luck on the knee replacement, had mine done almost 2 years ago. Works great!

[Madaboutdiscus]

Do you know what the filter was used for before?

~Victoria

[MIke D]

Do you know what the filter was used for before?

~Victoria

Hi Victoria,

It was purchased new with the tank at a pet store for fresh and marine aquariums. This brand seems to be a "thing of the past." I believe it's called a sump type pump, has corner input/output lines that are through-the-glass.

There is a fine mesh type pre-filter followed by a compartment of spheres that have extrusions all around it's surface. They're called "bio-spheres."

That's about all I can tell you. Any thoughts?

Mike

[Second Hand Pat]

Hi Mike and congrats on the new tank. Since you have to break the tank down for moving now is a great time to sterilize the tank, filters and all parts prior to setup for doing a fishless cycle. A 180 with dimensions of 6x2x2 feet is my favorite sized tank.
Pat

[Crunchy]

Very nice tank!