# New 150 Gallon Tank Set-up



## Gracecat (Jan 3, 2008)

I'm lousy at mechanics. I'm marginally better at physical science and biology. After a month of intense study, light finally dawned and I'm pretty sure I understand the principle without going by the blanket equation I've found (watt per gallon). 

I thought I was getting a steal for Christmas. Mom would gift me with the tank and stand, I'd buy the equipment and livestock. HA! 

My tank diminsions are: 48x24x30. It's a rather deep aquarium. At the time of purchase I wanted the size of a 150 gallon and the four foot length appealed to the idea of spaciousness. Little did I know... Lighting has been a PITA for a deep tank.

I believe I have lighting solved. When I ordered last week, I wanted a discus tank (and still may) and was after low to moderate light planting requirements. So I opted for the T-5 4x54 fixture. Now I'm second guessing myself because as much as I want discus, I don't know if I have a discus friendly home at the moment (no quiet places and an 18 month old, I can't 100% commit to weekly water changes). So I want to possibly upgrade my lighting to moderate-high. My local PetsMart has a T-5 2x54 fixture. Rather than send the 4x54 back and replace it with an 8x54, can I use both fixtures side by side? I ask that because it just seems easier to run into the petstore, pick it up and not deal with the hassle of online returns. I purchased the 4x54 at Drs. Foster and Smith. Or do I bite the bullet and go with a halide fixture? 

I have a Rena xp4 filter. After everything I've read on APC, I've decided to invest in another xp3 because I like the idea of exceptionally clean filtration and the benefits of water changes but I'm shooting at twice monthly water changes as a realistic goal. 

In addition to my CO2 system, I have two Rena 300 watt heaters rated for 90g. I'm planning on attaching one 300watt filter to my canister, and the second heater to the side of my tank. So that leaves me with two questions... or three.. or four...

If I wanted to invest in an UV sterilizer, if I only have one canister filter and a heater attached to it, is there anyway I can utilize the UV light? The directions I read on the turbo twist brand indicated it would be attached to the canister. Obviously if I had two canisters this wouldn't be a problem but I've invested quite a bit this month on equipment and the second canister is going to have to wait another month or two. Is there a method to using both the heater attached to the filter and the UV sterilizer? Or would hooking both heaters to opposite sides function for now? I apologize if this is a silly question. I've spent three days here reading and using the search function. I really feel overwhelmed by all of the information. Until tonight I never considered I would want a second canister filter and the "dead space" regarding circulation never occurred to me. 

I've read about prefilters for the UV sterilizer... Do I need a prefilter for the heater? I found a thread asking about a filtermax prefilter and someone suggested an aquaclear sponge. Will there be directions on installing this aquaclear sponge, or do I just stuff it in the tube? 


I have the substrate nailed down though, I went with seachem flourite with a box of Red Sea Flora dose mineral tablets to have on hand later when I need to fertilize. That part was easy! :-D 

My next question... My tapwater is around 7.1 pH. I know the CO2 will push this down but if I invest in an RO filter, do I need that second xp3 canister filter after all? Admittedly I haven't looking into how an RO filter works so I'm completely clueless on if it's operational fulltime or just during water changes. I guess I'll come back to that question when I research it more. 

Hopefully I haven't sounded like too big of a goof. I feel really good about installing my CO2 and my first Xp3 filter with heater. And if I get a second canister, I feel good about installing my UV sterilizer... the directions look really great, but I haven't seen anything that shows where I can use a heater on the canister with a uv sterilizer at the same time and now I'm boggled. 

One last question... I'm debating on drilling my tank so I don't have too much going on backside. Is it recommended? I did a search on APC for "drilling tanks" and didn't find too much (yet). With dial-up it's a slow process reading and searching.

Thanks for any help guys! December has been a long educational month. The more I read, the more I realize I don't know. I'm putting in alot of time and I want to do it right the first time. I feel  some times though.


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## BryceM (Nov 6, 2005)

What you do for lighting is really up to you. If the 2x54 fixture will fit and not look stupid alongside your 4x54 fixture then go for it. That would give about 2.2 wpg, which is what I'd consider moderate for a tank that deep. I think you might have issues at a 30" depth with less light, unless you stuck with low-light plants. Personally I like the look of MH lighting, but that depends on what you are willing to spend.

As for UV, it's sort of a luxury item that isn't strictly needed. How you get water in and out of it is entirely up to you. It can be plumbed in-line with anything that moves water. It's usually recommended that you place the unit on the downstream side of a filter so that it doesn't gunk up and so that a stray bit of gravel can't break the quartz sleeve. My UV unit is in a closed-loop with no filtration other than an inlet strainer. So far, it is working fine. (I suppose - how would you really know?)

If your goal is to do a waterchange two times per month, you'll eventually be doing one every six weeks or so. Simplify your life and choose something other than discus.

RO filters aren't used to filter aquarium water. They're used to filter tapwater to prepare "pure" water for waterchanges. The filtered water is usually collected in a reservoir for later use. Several gallons of water are wasted for each gallon of RO water that is produced . They're popular with saltwater reefers since they really push hard to keep most nutrients to a minimum. For that application, the usual sea salt mixes replace the appropriate nutrients that the unit removes.

For a FW planted tank, RO is overkill and perhaps even detrimental for most situations. They're really only useful if you live in a hard-water location and decide that you absolutely must have soft water. If your goal is to breed wild discuss in a nicely planted tank, RO would be a reasonable thing to consider. You need to be very careful about how you replace appropriate nutrients to avoid potential deficiencies. I use a "home-brew" recipe to reconstitute my RO water. I use 7 different dry chemicals and two liquid micro mixes to do this. I've done this for about 18 months on my 180g tank, but honestly it's more for the dwarf cichlids and tetras than for the plants. I also enjoy playing around with different water chemistries, but most people just want something that works.

If you want to drill a tank, make sure you don't try it on any glass that is tempered. If you aren't sure, don't try it unless you're prepared to watch an entire panel disintegrate into tiny little pieces. Also remember that any hole in an aquarium is a potential source of a leak. Bulkheads are pretty good, but not perfect.

BTW, you'll probably get more input if you break down your questions into smaller bits and post each one to the appropriate forum (lighting, substrates, equipment, etc.).

Plan. Go slow. Make sure. Hardware for a 150g tank gets expensive real quick - especially if you don't get the right parts the first time.


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