New to aquariums...

Greetings all!!!

My wife and I just inherited a 250 gallon fresh water aquarium from a friend of ours. It has a Red bellied Pacu (and it is BIG... about 15 pounds... with a cool personality ;D), 5 Peacack Cichlid's, 2 Suckermouth Catfish, and a Gourami... and we have NO idea what we are doing!!! We wanted to get an aquarium... but had NO idea one this size would fall into our laps!!!

Anyway... from what I am able to tell, the filtration system that was already on it (and there were 2) was only supposed to do up to 75gal each... so 150 gal. total... seems to me these are a bit inadequate... also, the aeration system on it is of the Tetra Whisper Air Pump type with a dual output to 2 air bars at the bottom of the tank... and one of those seems to only half function (and the air bars are brand new). these also seem a bit inadequate for such a large tank.

We could use as much help as possible in setting this tank up to the standards it should be.

Thanks!!!
Murf

 

Welcome to 3reef Murf.

I am not much assistance with FW tanks, but we have several members that can steer you in the right direction.

That is a huge tank.

Good Luck

 

lol... No worries Corailline...

Yes, it IS a big tank... ESPECIALLY for beginners such as my wife and I are!!
But, out friend deployed a couple of weeks ago for Iraq, and her husband is a truck driver... so, while she is gone he is going to pretty much stay on the road. So they moved out of their apartment and put their stuff into storage... well... a little difficult to store this, and they didn't want the is to go just anywhere... soooooooo, we inherited it.

And that is ok... we just have a fairly steep learning curve is all. And that Pacu (Bruce) has such a cool personality.... and it is fun to watch the Cichlid's chase each other around.

 

The Whisper needs to have the diaphragm replaced. There are kits available and it is a simple job. You are right on the filtration being inadequate. I would suggest getting a Fluval FX5. The Pacu will grow to 30" or so. The Peacocks will get to 18" to 24" as will the Plecostomus most likely. I am guessing the Gourami will get to 12" to 18". I would keep the 2 small filters for additional filtration in the future. I am betting your friend was doing a large water change weekly, something in the 50 to 75 gallon range.

The two air bars are probably OK for the tank.

Any more info you could give on the tools that came with the tank would be a great help.

 

cool can we see some pics? ;D

 

welcome to 3reef,

pics would help a lot. as for the filtration, do you know the style, brand, sizes?

Have you gotten your water tested at this point?

 

Thanks a bunch!!! I am actually kind of surprised that the two air bars are ok though. I will check to make sure what type of air pump unit it is, and see if I can get a repair kit for it.

I am not exactly sure what other tools came with it... they gave us a BUNCH of stuff for the tank.. and half of it I have no clue what it is!!!

Yes asamaras, I will try to put up some pics this week of the set up and occupants... I probably won't have time until next Friday or Saturday though.

No... haven't done a water test yet... probably be a good idea though!!

 

Some photo's...




There are 2 of these on the tank...


The air pump... it SAYS it too is a "Whisper 30-60" on the bottom...


Meet Bruce...


His Good side...


This is Lucky... he was SUPPOSED to be a feeder fish for Bruce sometime ago... but he survived somehow...


Sorry.... didn't get any pics of the Cichlid's... They are Orange in color with a black striped dorsal fin...

Enjoy....

 

Are you sure that tank is 250 gal? could just be the size of the fish, but it looks much smaller. I would take that terrible blue rock and ceramic stuff out. Get a high rating (gph) canister filter and your filtration (and water) will be much better for it. I don't think there is anyway those cichlids will reach 18 inchs. You don't have to worry about that much. Really with that big paco there is not a lot else you can do fish wise. I would add some logs or rock for the fish to hide and get rid of the feeder gold fish..... just don't put him in a pond somewhere.... I have caught them while fishing!

 

I have a 250 gallon tank that is a freshwater tank. In mine, I have huge a canister filter that is under the tank and I'm adding a second one due to the large bio load I have. I also have 2 aquarium fans that came with the tank. One of them is positioned downward toward the middle of the tank, the other one is partially out of the water blowing more air into the tank.

My fans are old so I don't remember the names of them but I'm sure someone with a little more knowledge will chime in. I also have an external fiter (probably for a 75 gallon) that hangs on the back of the tank. Believe it or not, it is dirty every day and has to be cleaned.

My tank is way overcrowded. I bought fish that multiplied like crazy and give 50 or so away every year and take some to the auction a couple times a year. It is a tad ridiculous having that many fish in one tank but they are here now and there is no way to stop them from multiplying.

I have 2 golden Gouramis in my tank. They are about 2 years old but are only about 4 inches and I think they are probably about full grown.

For several years, I fought water changes...emptying and filling buckets every night to try and get my water change quota in...I'm too old for that. This year I broke down and bought a vaccuum at pet smart that hooks up to the sink and now I don't have to haul any water. If you don't have one, you'll want one of those.

One more thing....the Pacus....you do know they have teeth right. They are not aggessive and will usually run from you, my experience anyway, but they are pretty good size teeth, so be careful putting your hands into the tank. When I had mine years ago, I enjoyed watching them eat. They love peas, a lot of cichlids do and I toss in a few peas once or twice a month to keep their digestive systems running good. In all the years I've had Cichlids, I've never had a case of bloat, or stomache problems with my fish and it could have something to do with the foods I'm feeding them.

Also, my pacus, loved lettuce, I fed them small pieces, and they would stalk me for their treat each night. They got so big I put them in the pond and told them it was their summer home... lol....Oh...I would never let anyone fish in my pond.

Another thing I did was to get really cool looking logs, with no sharp pieces sticking out, from the river. I bought fake plants and got them to stay with the logs. Then I floated them on the top of the water. My fish fight over those logs...they all want to think they are camoflaged and you may want to put some at the top of your tank as the Pacu is a lot bigger then the other fish and it may make them feel more secure. Logs have to be heated to burn the tannins out. I boiled some on the stove and threw some in the bathtub and continued to add hot water to them.

Let me know if you want to see pictures of the filter, tank, or fans. Be glad to post them for you.

Oh....welcome to 3Reef.