It's here! Yay! 150g tall

[pogyken]

My tank came in today and I learned two things very quickly. #1 a 150 gallon tank is very heavy. #2 a 30" deep tank makes me feel like I have tyrannosaur arms. Even with a stool that takes some stretching to get to the bottom.

I am very excited to start planning out the tank. It will be a show tank in the living room with likely sand, rock, and Manzanita branches. The occupants will be adult discus 8-10, rummy noses school, and Cory cats. Any plants will be silk since I am clueless about live plants.

First up for tomorrow will be planning the background and the basic layout. So exciting!

Ken in Lewiston Idaho.

[rickztahone]

Good choice going with artificial plants in this tank. These are one of the hardest tanks to get good plant growth and most people I have seen using this tank have high light and co2 running for planted tanks. Good luck with your new tank and please keep us posted with your progress.

[strawberryblonde]

Hi Ken from Lewiston!

Congrats on the new tank, I have a 115 tall (it's not as deep as yours, but other than that has the same dimensions) and can commiserate on both the weight and the nearly impossible task of reaching the bottom. =)

I was barebottom for a long time, which made it easy to keep the bottom clean without having to climb in there, then went to light sand and driftwood - still easy - THEN switched to a bit more sand, a bit more driftwood and 2 dozen plants two weeks ago.

Maintaining the cleanliness of the bottom is still easy, but getting those plants into the tank was an adventure. LOL

My daughter was visiting and ended up laughing her butt of at the sight of me, both arms in the tank up to my armpits and water sloshing everywhere. Ended up soaking my clothes, the floor and the dog before I was done.

Can't wait to see pics of your tank!

[pogyken]

Well yesterday was a fun and busy day. Sand and silk/plastic plants and a few small rocks and a lonely piece of driftwood were added. The tank was washed, rinsed, then filled. Moved over my cycled sponge filters and got the canister hooked up (properly on the second try input and output really seem to matter!).

There are 11 small spotted Cory cats and 11 smallish cardinal tetras doing their best to keep my beneficial bacteria fed while exploring what must be a huge world for them after living in a 29 gallon quarantine tank ��

Also added white foam board as a background with an led light under it so that I have a back lit background which was fun watching last night in the dark. I desperately need to get some branchy Manzanita in there for some verticality but thus far I am very thrilled with everything. Getting used to having wet sleeves any time I try and place or relocate a plant. 30" tall looks beautiful, but what a pain in the *** to aquascape! ��

Thank you all for your replies and PM's,

Ken in Lewiston

[pogyken]

WP_20150523_13_18_36_Pro.jpg

Hopefully this image thingie works ��

[pogyken]

WP_20150524_09_10_38_Pro.jpg
And here it is this morning filled with the loneliest piece of driftwood.

[DiscusRob]

Looks awesome, excellent Job

[Twistofer]

Kawabunga Dude!

[SPK329]

Love the tank......Congrats

[pogyken]

WP_20150525_12_55_07_Pro.jpg

Thank you! So exciting to see the fish settling in. The cardinals and black neons don't really seem to school together, but the hang out close enough that it's a cool effect.

Will keep the tank fun and interesting while I learn how it is to maintain the tank before I even think about the adult discus.

[MendoMan]

I have a 140 tall and a few things i've found to be helpful are; a Hammerhead mag float for glass cleaning and a long handled scrubber for areas I can't reach with the Mag. I also went to a welding shop and got a couple 3/32" stainless rods and bent hooks on the ends for retrieving things that fall in.

[pogyken]

Thank you MendoMan for the tips!

[DiscusScott]

Ken or anyone else out there, I was wondering if you can help me. What light do you have on the tank? Is yours sufficient? Does it grow plants? I also have a 30" tall tank and need to find a light. I appreciate the help; the one fluorescent bulb isn't going to cut it and just about everything I read tells me LEDs are only good to 24". I did find one brand that claims to have a "deep water" setting good to 30": The Ecoxotic E-Series Full Spectrum LED Light Fixture. I really don't want to spend $500 on the halide type lights. I'm sorry to revive and older thread or hijack it, but I haven't figured out how to post a new thread yet and an exhaustive search hasn't turned up any results. Thanks, Scott

[MattArmstrong]

Scott, I would ask your question on plantedtank.net.

Buildmyled.com is also a good resource for information.