# My 55g and 100g!



## LSBoost

Hello, I recently joined the forum and just got a new 100g tank so I thought I'll share some pictures from my old 55g tank setup and my new 100g tank setup. Any comments, good and bad will be greatly appreciated.

The pictures were taking at night so I apologize if they're a bit dark. CLICK THE PICTURE TO ENLARGE!

The 55g tank: Fish are sleeping and didn't want to turn on the light. They go crazy when someone turn on the light in the middle of the night.










Water from the tank goes into this big cheapo canister filter.










Water from the canister filter goes into this plant pot. The plant are about 8 months old since they've been in the filter. The leaves are dark green thanks to the water from tank.










Fresh water exit the plant pot into the tank.

There is also a big hang on filter on the back (dual side water flow) of the tank which does not work too well right now because I just use it to move water.

For more pictures of the fishes in the 55g go here: http://www.cichlid-forum.com/phpBB/viewtopic.php?t=207418

Recap pictures from that post:

























































*Now for the new 100g tank:*
Here it is....... wait for it....

*Boom!*









I just painted the background black, washed everything including gravel.

It came with this 4ft light: 4 bulb inside.










And this old canister filter. It's pretty quiet (fluval 403).










And this filter but I don't know the name. Does anyone know? I need to know so I can get new filter pad for it. Or should I just put a foam pad in there.










The guy gave me a nice 200watt and a 250watt heater as well. The only problem is that the suction cup does not work anymore. I guess I need to visit the LFS soon.


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## Morcs

Nice. that second filter looks like either a emperor or a penguin.


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## iplaywithemotions

Wow, beautiful setup! :thumb:


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## likeitwet57

Wow that is nice!! The HOB is a Emperor 400 filter. an older one as U can turn the flow down with that little gray nob in the back. Keep it al the way up for your 400 GPH.. so if it was running slow, that is probley why. the nobe was down to much, Gently pull it up all the way.. GREAT fry filters.

KEEP those bio-wheels wet and NOT any where near tap water!! wil help seed your tank with good bio if they are kept WET.. they do use Emperor E size filters pads. I have 15 of them and 2 Emperor 280.. Great filters for LARGE tanks..


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## redburner

I think thats a Penguin 350 or Emperor 400. They might use the same filter media. Check at the LFS filter shelf


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## Dj823cichild

The second filter is a Emperor 400 I have one just like it.


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## cjacob316

yeah it's an emperor 400

that is one old fluval


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## LSBoost

Thanks guys, the HOB filter works great. I did notice the flow was a lot better with the knob on the back pulled up (great flow it moves water in my 100g tank). Bio wheel works great too (always wet).

The canister is old but dang it's so quiet and it gets the job done.

The tank came with a 200watt ebo jager heater that still work fine but the 250 watt ebo jagger heater failed. The light still turn on but no heat! No way to fix it huh?

Good thing I have the 250 watt visi-therm in my 55 gallon to heat up this tank and get it going.


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## LSBoost

Those heater aren't that accurate, I'm going to get another marine land visi-therm heater!


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## LSBoost

I got a few pictures for you guys!

Here is how the oscar look 3 days ago when I first bought it. The LFS worker damage the fish pretty bad trying to scoop him out. Scratches are even worst on the other side of him. The oscar goes to the bottom of the tank and pretend to die when the aquarium's light is on. Hes goes up and swim around when no one is around.










So I've decided to add the pair of tinfoil barb from the other tank to cheer him up. The female tinfoil barb is 4.5-5 inches, the male is 5-6 inches. They are in perfect condition as you can see.


























Refection image on the aquarium:










So as a result of adding the tinfoil barb, the oscar gets alot happier and don't play dead anymore. My oscar is pretty aggressive, it can scare the tinfoil barb away from its cave when it's only ~2.5 inches long!

Picture of it in the cave, see the damage holes and scratches on this side of it? All thanks to the LFS's worker!


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## LSBoost

Heater came (stealth pro).









It feels very solid and give off a lot of heat. Thermal Plastic/PVC type construction.









View from the side of the tank.









You can barely see it from the front. The Oscar is chasing the tinfoils again.


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## mlancaster

Hi *LSBoost*,

Great looking fish in the 55g, do you plan on keeping those two in there? or moving them to the 100g (i think they could work out fine in the 55g if they grew up together, just watch for any serious fights)? What are the dimensions of the 100g? If you plan on only having the Oscar and the barbs in the 100g I think you could add one more tinfoil barb, I know they are not the main attraction but they would be happier with an extra friend as they like to school, they look great, very silver.

I really enjoy tinfoil barbs. I like how they seem fearless. I.e. when i hand feed my JD the tinfoil barb is the only one gutsy enough to swoop in on his hand feeding time and grab a bite, the other cichlids just wait until the JD is done. It is even funnier when my tinfoil barb makes a diving swoop at one of my cichlids and scratches his side on their dorsal fin. I am not sure if he has an itch and thinks they look better than the rocks/wood to satisfy, or if he is showing some sort of dominance. Basically he reminds of George from mice of men, just a big dumb gentle giant (although he does pick on my tiger barb a bit). Sorry i went a little overboard on the tinfoil barb stories, I am just out of town for work and your pictures got me thinking about my Barbs.

Great looking Fish, I love how you run the filter through the potted plant, very cool idea.

Thanks,
Matt


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## LSBoost

I originally wanted to move the JD or the GT over with the oscar but after doing some research I don't think it's worth risking it. They are very happy where they are. Sometimes they fight but nothing big. The GT looks like its faster so the only way it can get hurt is if it run into things.

The dimension the the 100 gallon is 60 x 18 x 20. (5feet tank)

Tinfoil barb are pretty fast, that's why its good for them to live with these aggressive fish.

Hey since I can't have plant in the aquarium why not make it outside of the aquarium. lol Thanks, I'm glad you enjoy the fish pictures!


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## MSUDawgs56

Congrads on your new addition!


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## strothman18

that 100g, looks nice!


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## LSBoost

Thank you!

Update: I got tire of the gravel. It had some cloudy particle in it that seem to stay forever. So, I swap in pool filter sand. The sand has a tan color but when the light is on then it's white. It doesn't cloud the water ever. I rinse it but didn't see anything coming off of it, pretty clean.

I use a 50lbs bag, might need a little more later.
Apology for the dirty glass on the aquarium.


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## Pali

Nice tank and really love the change from gravel to sand, looks alot better now forshure!

But why the air stone and blueish airline?

IMO it breaks up the whole "picture" and would look even better without it, besides air stones do very little to oxygenate the water. There is not much difference if you place it at bottom or just under the surface, aslong the bubbles disrupt the surface of the water and create movement.

When I used air to oxygenate my water, I would place a Air Curtain 1 inch below the surface. Now days I only use powerheads/overflow ect. to break up my surface, as it's much more effective and my fish love the water movement.

Thanx for shareing, really a nice read


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## LSBoost

Thanks for the tip Pali!

I didn't know it look that bad till you pointed it out. Now it's in my face all the time. Well the camera flash made it worst but it's still really in the way. My tank is finishing up cycling so after a few days I'm going to remove that air line completely. I also have a black powerhead above the heater right behind that blue line. The return line for the canister filter is also on your right/upper side of the tank. I'm trying to get as much oxygen in there as I can while it's cycling.

I just added a small driftwood in the middle to soften the water and it's a hiding spot for the little severums that I just bought. I'll update with pictures in a few days.

Note: The sand is cleaner than gravel. After the Oscar make a mess eating it goes and search for the food that have fallen on the surface of the sand.


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## LSBoost

As promised, here are the pictures. I still have the blue sponge to prevent the small fish from being sucked in.

I know the driftwood is a bit small/low but I don't want it to take up too much room.








It looks like some animal crawling on the ground.

















I have 2 small gold severum, they normally swim with each other but when they feel threaten then they split up into their hiding spots. Very cool fish!


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## Melanochromis

That JD is wicked! 8)


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## LSBoost




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## LSBoost

Kind of busted from a big fight. Hes the tank's boss now.


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## LSBoost

Someone asked me what happened to the tinfoil since they seem to mysteriously disappeared. So I thought I'll update this post and then try to get some pictures of the oscar a little later.

I took those tinfoil to the shop for credit and got some SD instead. They weren't happy with the oscar; for some reason my oscar picked on them a lot. Tinfoil barb like to swim around and it seems like my tank wasn't big enough for them and the oscar. Since they have a bigger bio load than SD I can't have as many so I decided to go with the SD. SD are quicker and the oscar seem to like them better. No regret so far, SD are great schooling fish.


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## ashilli48

If you want more SD PetsMart has them right now for $1 with your perkscard......not much bigger than a quarter but you can grow them out in another tank....


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## LSBoost

Thanks, I originally had 3 SD and then I got 2 more a dollar each a few weeks ago. They had ick but that was easy to treat.


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## LSBoost




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## LSBoost




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## LSBoost




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## LSBoost




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## delaacruuz

Really nice step ups


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## ashilli48

nice bunch! I'm really startting to like the SD's I bought on a lark at PetsMart yesterday


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## LSBoost

Thanks guys/gals,

Just put those SD in a separate tank for a while ashilli. Mine came with ick, fully healed now.


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## ashilli48

yep, ich has been horrible lately. My thoughts are the unusually cold weather down here and as many precautions taken by the shop owners


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## hessels92

Wow such nice clean setups, how do you keep your water so clean it must be because i have sand


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## LSBoost

hessels92 said:


> Wow such nice clean setups, how do you keep your water so clean it must be because i have sand


All the equipment I use is listed on page 1. I do 25-30 percentage water changes weekly with a complete gravel vaccum. Feed the fish twice sometimes three times a day. My ammonia and nitrite is 0 on both tanks, nitrate is around 20ppm for the 55gallon and 10ppm for the 100gallon.

I packed a bunch of scouring pad in the canister filters and 3 boxes of biomax in the fluval 403 on the 100gallon. No biomax in the 55gallon's canister filter, just scouring pads cut into small 1x1 inch pieces. I removed the HOB on the 55gallon about two weeks ago so it's only running on the canister filter, the filter is rated for a 150gallon tank though. I don't use carbon or uv filter. I rinse the filters every 6 months or so; clean the glass about once every month. Don't know what else to tell you. That's what I have in my setup and the water stay Cristal clear even when I skip a water change or two.

Thanks for the comments. :dancing:


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## LSBoost

I made a DIY python a few days ago and I thought I'll share some pictures. It works great on PFS, I still use the siphon on the 55gallon with gravel (water out the window :thumb. At least no more buckets!


















And here are some Old pictures on the pond. The gold fish have been with me since my earlier days into the hobby (9years+). These pictures are like 5+ years old, the fish are much bigger now the biggest koi is more than a foot long. I had all my fish since they were 1-2 inches long. I still have all of the fish in the pond. Once it warm up I might go take some updated pictures. I used to feed them flakes, LOL!


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## ashilli48

very nice handiwork....I've got a python purely for the clear tube so I can see what gets stuck...and believe me, SOMETHING ALWAYS GET'S STUCK!


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## LSBoost

I use it to pick up small waste in the aquarium with PFS substrate so I don't see how it can get stuck but if it does I guess I can always hook it up to the garden hose outlet and use the pressure to flush it.


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## LSBoost

Update: The last time that I took picture of the oscar was on the 13. It was 4 inch +. Now it's March 21 and it's 5 inch+.

Also, I like to update you on the current filtration on the 100gallon: 1 Lustar Hydro-Sponge Filter 5, 
1 Hagen Fluval 403, 1 Marineland Emperor 400, 1 TopFin Power Filter 60


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## LSBoost

Load warning :lol:.


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## LSBoost

So I decided to try out some hardy plant with the oscar and severums. It has been a day and no destruction yet. We'll see, let me get some pictures.


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## LSBoost

It feels like I'm talking to myself in this thread but I'm trying to get to the next page so you wont have to take a long time loading each page.

BTW It has been two months since I got the oscar at 2.5 inches. Now Mini is exactly 6 inches. Another reason why I keep on recommending people to start out with a big tank for oscars.

K enough talk, picture time, enjoy and please comment.


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## LSBoost




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## LSBoost




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## jagz

Looks good Lsboost..I like the clean simple look. Although I think you should hide the sponge filter.


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## LSBoost

jagz said:


> Looks good Lsboost..I like the clean simple look. Although I think you should hide the sponge filter.


Thanks, I don't really need it because the tank is over filtered. I just like having it. :lol:

I think I might be able to hide it behind the rocks.


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## LSBoost

Grrr I keep on having trouble with this picture. Can't get it to show :x !!!

I'll try renaming it.










Finally! =D>


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## jagz

I keep one in my tank too. Not sure why, I guess for extra bio.


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## sampster5000

Your tanks look great! I love the sand in the 100 gallon and the Oscar is pretty cool. Thinking of getting myself one.


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## LSBoost

Thanks, just be sure you have the proper tank size for it. It has the biggest poo I've ever seen in all of my fish keeping days.


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## LSBoost

Update on the JD. Just too beautiful, I can't resist from sharing. Currently at 9 inches 4/7/10.


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## sampster5000

Been looking for a deal on a tank anywhere 125 gallons or above on craigslist but havent seen anything good. When I get that running for a few months I'll look for my Oscar


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## LSBoost

Good luck with that. Be patient you will find one.


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## LSBoost

K quick update. Mini Oscar is now 7 inches measured on May 5 2010. I posted pictures on the other threads enjoy.

http://www.cichlid-forum.com/phpBB/viewtopic.php?t=213215

Also took picture of the Severums.

http://www.cichlid-forum.com/phpBB/viewtopic.php?p=1483173#1483173


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