# New 100 gallon tank



## drewmaen (Apr 28, 2013)

I just started getting back into fish tanks, I used to have several nice african cichlid tanks and after 20 years being away recently purchased a 30 gallon tank. I put Mbunas in the tank and after 4 months I am bored with it, the fish look bored as well.

I just purchased a 100 gallon tank and stand for 140.00 but that is all it came with. What is the best over the top filter I can buy for this and also where can I find a hood and lights for a tank this size. I want my fish to have a new home soon.


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## NJmomie (Jan 17, 2013)

"Over the top" filter---are you referring to a hang on back filter? If so, it would not be enough filtration for a 100-gallon tank.


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## drewmaen (Apr 28, 2013)

I was reading where the aqua 110 would be enough for a 110 gal tank. Maybe I could use two? If not what is a good cannister filter.


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## clhinds78 (Jul 27, 2012)

Two AquaClear 110 would work! Canisters offer much great filter volume and flow than HOB filters. An fx5 would work great on a take this size.

What are the dimensions of the tank? Once we know those we can direct you to a proper lightening fixture. I would go with an all gals canopy if it were me. The Versa hoods work well.


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## drewmaen (Apr 28, 2013)

ANOTHER QUESTION: I have a 30 gallon Mbuna tank. When I set the 100 gallon up can I use the water from my 30 gallon? or can I just run the 30 gallon filter along with a 110 Aquaclear filter to cycle the tank. I read where some people use play sand for the bottom, I was thinking of doing that and then adding the substrate from my 30 gallon will that help? ISorry, I have many questions but I just want to do this right.


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## drewmaen (Apr 28, 2013)

I know the tank is 5ft long, I am not home now and I am not sure of the width of the tank


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## drewmaen (Apr 28, 2013)

I know the tank is 5ft long, I am not home now and I am not sure of the width of the tank


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## clhinds78 (Jul 27, 2012)

drewmaen said:


> ANOTHER QUESTION: I have a 30 gallon Mbuna tank. When I set the 100 gallon up can I use the water from my 30 gallon? or can I just run the 30 gallon filter along with a 110 Aquaclear filter to cycle the tank. I read where some people use play sand for the bottom, I was thinking of doing that and then adding the substrate from my 30 gallon will that help? ISorry, I have many questions but I just want to do this right.


If you transfer as much of the water from your old tank as you can to the new, put the old filter on the new one and move all the decor to the new tank you should pretty much be instantly cycled. It would be like doing about a 66% water change on the old tank. What kind of substrate do you have in the old tank? I would not mix sand and gravel, just doesn't work very well. You can use play sand, but it can be very dusty and will need a thorough rinse. I prefer pool filter sand because its much cleaner and looks nice.



drewmaen said:


> I know the tank is 5ft long, I am not home now and I am not sure of the width of the tank


Sounds like a stand 100G tank (60"x18"x20"). Five foot tanks are tough since there are no 60" florescent tubes. I would do two all glass 30" hoods and maybe two 30" LED or florescent strip lights. If you went florescent you would probably want to go with 2 t5HO double bulb 30" fixtures or even quad t5 HO fixtures if you want to grow plants.


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## Austinite (Jul 27, 2013)

My tank is 110G and I have 2 canister filters (Eheim 2217) plus an Emperor HOB 400. I bought Eheim because I felt they were the best in the market, but there are other canister options that are very good and won't cost as much as an Eheim. I personally feel you can never have too much filtration for cichlids since you will need to overstock in order to minimize aggression. It's always good to have more than 1 filter anyway, so that you have a backup in the event that one fails. I've had this happen to me before and I lost alot of fish. Hard lesson learned. For this same reason, I now have 3 filters, just in case!

The measurements of your tank will be very important when it comes to stocking decisions.


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## drewmaen (Apr 28, 2013)

Thanks for all of the replys. As for stocking, Austinite, what would you suggest? I have several Mbuna nowin my 30 gallon. They are getting big so I decided to give them a new home. Here are the ones I have. A couple of electric yellow labs, a cobalt blue zebra, rusty cichlid, albino, bumble bee cichlid and two Brichardi (not mbuna's)


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## clhinds78 (Jul 27, 2012)

drewmaen said:


> Thanks for all of the replys. As for stocking, Austinite, what would you suggest? I have several Mbuna nowin my 30 gallon. They are getting big so I decided to give them a new home. Here are the ones I have. A couple of electric yellow labs, a cobalt blue zebra, rusty cichlid, albino, bumble bee cichlid and two Brichardi (not mbuna's)


I would definitely get rid of the brichardi and keep the mbuna. You could probably have up to 5 species of mbuna in this tank. Aim for a ratio of 1m/3-4f. 20-22 fish would be about the max I would put in a 5' tank.


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## drewmaen (Apr 28, 2013)

Someone said to paint the back of the tank black. What kind of paint can I use?? I like the black look.


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## Iggy Newcastle (May 15, 2012)

Ditch the bumblebee cichlids as well. What species is the albino? Build up your numbers of yellow labs, cobalt blues and rusties to 8 each. Decide on a 4th, and possibly 5th species, depending on your tank width.

I think I used a Rustoleum flat black, which looks kinda grey. I would suggest glossy black.


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## clhinds78 (Jul 27, 2012)

A lot of ppl use Crylon Fusion because it looks nice and is water safe.


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## Austinite (Jul 27, 2013)

I've heard the bumblebees are way too aggressive so I permanently crossed them off my list. I do love the way they look, but they seem very difficult to keep. I'd look at the cookie cutter suggestions. The idea is to get species that do not look alike as they will consider each other competition for food/mating.

I used Krylon Black Fusion paint, glossy. It looks great. I also painted my Eheim intake values & spraybar with the same paint, it makes them blend away with the background, you don't notice them. None of the hardware stores in Austin sell the Krylon, I finally figured out that it's only at Walmart.


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## drewmaen (Apr 28, 2013)

Built a top for my 100 gallon tank. Got some glass from Lowes and glued the handles on. Also built a top frame and added some molding around the top and sides of the tank.

I discovered a problem when I added the lights and turned the them on. When I bought the tank it was outside with no back and I could not really see the scratches, when I got home and after a week or two decided to start refurbishing it was when I really noticed them, Do you think that once I add the water it will look a little better. I added some pool filter sand and some rocks, I still have to add another bag of sand and additional rocks and maybe some driftwood. If it is too bad after I add the water I am going to try to find another 100 gallon tank because I really like the top that I added.


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## drewmaen (Apr 28, 2013)

finally have it up and running with fish!!


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## drewmaen (Apr 28, 2013)




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## ITALIAN926 (Jul 31, 2012)

I know you transferred over your water (which has little effect of your biological filtration) , and you moved over decor and filter, but you really should test your water often for a while having a brand new substrate. A lot of beneficial bacteria builds up in the substrate. I would keep the feedings light and definitely dont add new fish yet.


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## drewmaen (Apr 28, 2013)

I actually took some of the old substrate and put it in an old filter and ran it for 10 days along with the filter from the old tank and the new filter. everything is good, what is the maximum amount of fish (mbuna) for a 100 gal? I currently have 15 and will be adding two plecos tomorrow.


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## Austinite (Jul 27, 2013)

Are you sure your tank is fully cycled?


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## Iggy Newcastle (May 15, 2012)

What are the tank dimensions? What fish(species, size and quantity) do you have in there now? That will determine what you can add.

What are your water test readings? You need to know these. Your tank must be cycled before you add anything, including plecos.


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## JP_92 (Aug 2, 2013)

what type of fish is that blue one, a Socolofi? I have one but it doesn't have bands on its body like that, looks cool.


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## drewmaen (Apr 28, 2013)

Iggy Newcastle said:


> What are the tank dimensions? What fish(species, size and quantity) do you have in there now? That will determine what you can add.
> 
> What are your water test readings? You need to know these. Your tank must be cycled before you add anything, including plecos.


If you read the entire post you would know that the tank is a 100 gallon 60 x 18 x 20 and that it is an mbuna tank. Right now I have 15 fish varying in size. 6 smaller fish 5 medium sized and 4 larger ones. of the 15 fish 13 are Mbuna I do have two brichardi. I always liked them and so far I have not had any issues with them in the same tank with the mbuna. As far as the cycling went everything is fine. I checked my water everyday and all of the readings are fine. I also took samples to my local pet store and had them check as well.


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## Iggy Newcastle (May 15, 2012)

> If you read the entire post you would know that the tank is a 100 gallon 60 x 18 x 20 and that it is an mbuna tank


Well I added to this thread in early September, so I forgot. My bad.



> Right now I have 15 fish varying in size. 6 smaller fish 5 medium sized and 4 larger ones. of the 15 fish 13 are Mbuna I do have two brichardi


Knowing exact numbers and species will help people give you suggestions on stocking. There's no rule of thumb like x amount of inches per gallon for african cichlids.



> As far as the cycling went everything is fine. I checked my water everyday and all of the readings are fine


I was just concerned that your tank is not cycled, by the way you described doing it. An uncycled tank will have water that appears fine, but unless there is 0 ammonia, 0 nitrite, and a positive nitrate reading then the tank is not cycled. I saw someone at an LFS using a card once that said 'ideal' when the sample came back with a slight ammonia reading. A couple of other posters asked similar questions.


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## drewmaen (Apr 28, 2013)

Thank you for the input and sorry I did not see that you had previously posted that. All of my readings were good and just to be sure I took samples to my local fish store, they do free readings and everything was in order. I was into cichlids some 20 to 25 yrs ago and that was what I did whenever I moved to larger tanks and never had an issue. I would run my new filter in the old tank for about a week I would then run the old filter in the new tank for several days than add the new filter along with some substrate and water from the old tank. Usually takes about ten days.


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## Pseudeotropheus BB (Jan 24, 2013)

I noticed there still is no mention if you have tested your water for Ammonia, Nitrite and Nitrate. This is priority number one at this point.


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## drewmaen (Apr 28, 2013)

Read the above post, I tested it and had my local fish store test it and I did this for several days.


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## drewmaen (Apr 28, 2013)

Here is a great article on cycling tanks. Not everyone uses the ammonia method although it seems to be the method of choice on this site. The method I used usually takes 3 to 7 days to get ammonia levels to 0 with an occasional spike, this is the method I have always used and never had any issues with. I usually let it cycle for 10 days to be on the safe side. There are a few other methods in the article including a raw shrimp method which I never knew.

http://www.americanaquariumproducts.com ... cycle.html


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