Help....what Is All This Stuff?

[Wanda hornsey]

RD1952 suggest I come to you guys for some help....

100 gallon tank....

Ummmm I have no idea where to start.... i have all this is sitting in the garage at the moment and its absolutly pouring down with freezing cold rain (hey its England in the winter)........AND I am a total newbie to all this. we got given the tank by a guy my husband works with (it is flipping huge.) The guy had no idea about fish and he had "inherited it" when he moved in with his fiance (it was her ex husbands) they are moving house and wanted to get rid of it quickly so it was free to a good home on the notice board at work. we gave the 2 discus fish in it to a local aquatics place as we dont know anyone who could care for them properly.
I went out and took pictures of all the bits and pieces we got and desperatly need some help ID'ing it all. we want to go tropical and I have been reading loads on this site (all really helpfull and usefull) but I am a total novice and want to have a clue of what I have got and where to start...and what else I need ...other than to clean it all as its really really dirty (as you can see from the pics here) fishy tank stuff
if anyone has a couple of minutes and could have a look at the pics and let me know I would be very greatful

Thanks )

 

[akudewan]

I saw a few pics, I can't really make out anything for sure. Why don't you try sorting out the things? I'm sure I see a filter, and there's some fish food, and some gravel.

Can some kind soul who lives near London go and help her ?

Edit: Pic IMGP2466 looks like an airpump, for making bubbles in the water

Pic IMGP2468 looks like a pressurised CO2 tank, for a planted tank

Pic IMGP2469 looks like a canister filter

Wow, there sure is a lot of stuff, you're lucky you got this. I'll get back to you later.

 

[Tcian]

As the previous poster said, it is difficult to make out the items from the pictures, but you do have a CO2 clyinder, which means this was used as a planted tank. Not needed for average tropical tank. It will have some air lines, regulator, and dispersal system that connects to it. Looking at some of the pictures in the planted tank forum may help you to identify what components are for the CO2. You can eliminate all this unless you are planning on a heavly planted tank. Given that this was a planted tank, if you were also given the light for this tank, the lighting will be far too strong for the average tropical tank. Changing the bulbs may be all you need to do, unless this was a custom made light, in which case, you may want to sell the light and CO2 stuff to other members of this board.

Also looks like some kind of sump system (filter). Good system when properly set up, your local fish store should be able to help you with instructions. From the looks of what I think is the sump, the filter material has been discarded. May also be an internal (in tank) filter, or it may be the pump to run the sump. Again hard to make out in the photos. Also looks like an air pump running multiple lines...not normally used in a planted tank, may just be left over from before this tank became planted. Good to use for tropical tank. Probably a heater in there somewhere, if not you will need to get one or two, LFS will help.

Most people on this forum suggest that newbies start out with something smaller, but I think that this was a great gift for you as your chances of success will be much greater with the large tank. The water paramaters will not swing as quickly and your stocking will not likely be overstocked. Once you sort out all the bits and decide what is useful, read the FAQ on clycling the tank before you stock it.

 

[Wanda hornsey]

...thanks all so much, husband and I have just spent 2 very cold wet hours in the garden cleaning everything...now its clean it seems so much better

sorry the pics are so bad but they were taken in the dark in a dark garage full of stuff however in the (very) cold light of day its better. a friend of ours came over and helped look it over...we seem to have an external filter

airstone pump thimgy and the pipe that goes with it

this seems to be a UV filter

and some internal filters

and some pumps 2 similar and this one

and lots of interconnecting bits 2 used heaters and one new heater and the lid has 2 big lights and a least its all now clean

taking the CO2 out of it all for now filteration wise do you think its enough for the tank? and can anyone give me a rough idea of how much gravel I am likley to need for it? (4ft long by 28" front to back) it came with gravel but its rather grubby looking ...is it worth cleaning it? and how?
so many questions....
) )

 

[Tolak]

You came across some nice gear there. That external filter appears to be an Eheim 2227, a top of the line canister filter. http/www.eheim.com/ will give you more info on that baby. That with the internals should give you more than enough filtration for that tank.

Those small pumps are powerheads, Aqua Clear 402's. http/www.aquariumguys.com/aquaclear21.html will give you more info on them. Looks like they were set up to provide more circulation, maybe undergravel jets.


Cleaning the gravel would consist of rinsing it multiple times in a large bucket with tap water. If you are not pleased with that gravel, get new gravel you like, as changing gravel is a real pain on a larger tank. The last tank I set up with gravel was 18"x36", it took 60 pounds to make it look nice. You have around double the bottom area, so would need around double the gravel.

Awesome setup for a first tank, wish I was lucky enough to start like that years ago. Keep asking questions, you'll have that tank up & running right in no time.

 

[reg2k2]

This page has a couple tips on start-up for the Eheim.

I'm guessing the pump and powerhead may be related to the sump and/or CO2 set-up.

Test kit, food: if unsure of the age, prob. better to replace.

 

[Wanda hornsey]

Thank you all so much your very helpfull.....off to wander around the sites to see what I can read up...and um ) what are under gravel jets please ) and sumps??? )

 

[Inchworm]

Hi Wanda,

What a deal! You are so lucky to be starting out with what most people would consider to be a "dream" tank!

Set that little "airstone pump thimgy and the pipe that goes with it" aside. It's something that will come in handy if you ever want to set up a small tank as a quarantine, hospital or breeding tank. You might find a box filter there too, which can be run off the pump. It will look like this:

http/www.csupomona.edu/~jskoga/Aquariums/Cornerfilter.html

That can be cleaned up and saved for reuse with the addition of some new filter floss. Another thing to look for is a sponge filter which would look something like this and would also be run off that pump:

http/petsforum.com/ati/atb100.htm

If you find it, you will need to replace the sponge part, but the rest of the filter can be cleaned and reused.

 

[smithrc]

Wow - nice deal....!!

now there are a few things that dont ring too true....

the CO2 canister and regulator will indeed be from a planted system (along with the green 'airline'), however.... the 2 powerheads and the air pump will quickly undo any co2 addition with too much current. (discus also dont like strong current)

I'm guessing you have got a conplete system with parts included that were not in use at the time you got it.

The external filter along with the internal system that looks to be built into the tank, should be fine for that size of tank

To be honest the setup looks like it may have started life as marine... the built in filter, the extra power heads and the UV filter (its a vectron if i'm not mistaken) are all parts that are common in marine, and looking at the mineral deposits it looks a bit too much for a tropical system. (again probubly part of its history)

 

[Wanda hornsey]

This is a pic of a tank the same style as the one we have but ours is bigger.

All I know about the history of the tank is that it had 2 discus swimming around in it when we went to collect it and the guy said he had heard there had been 12 of them in there at one time...other than that I dont have a clue about its history (and neither did the guy who we got it from) it was in the dirty state showns in the pics when we got it.

Thanks for the help

 

[reg2k2]

Undergravel filters (UGF's) involve a plastic plate covering the tank bottom, with air-driven uplift tubes...water is circulated up the tubes and back down thru the gravel. Powerheads are *normally* added to the uplift tubes to increase the flow-rate. However, ugf's are not normally used in tanks, I think, over 30gal.

A sump would involve the extra little tank you have, where filtration takes place outside the tank, and then water is returned to the main. That's my (very limited) understanding, I'm sure someone will be along to give details.

re: being part of CO2 system, I'd run across an article on a CO2 reactor chamber, which involved the pump and powerhead. Not a clue on that, tho...just seemed it might be plausible.

 

[Wanda hornsey]

thanks its slowly starting to make sence

 

[Ste_J]

Nice setup, don't you just love it when somebody shines on you like that

By the looks of it you have some high end pieces of kit on your hands there which when put together will run a treat.

With you not knowing much about the tanks past I'd be tempted to give the filter etc a real good clean and i'd be tempted to change the filter tubing. There are a few decent online places that sell Eheim spares - may cost you a few quid but compare that to what you would have spent if buying new then you'll see it's worth it.

I'd agree with smithrc on the marine theory although it looks like somebody decided to go planted instead, hence the C02 addition - I'd keep the C02 set but not set it up from the off - Don't let anybody fool you into thinking that the C02 equipment is worthless - there's some bad people out there.

Same would go for the UV as well as it looks like a vectron unit and again these are far from cheap, since you have this i would look to running it inline with your Eheim filter, it should result in a tube running from the filter into the UV and then onto the filter outlet point - suspect that you will have a spray bar in there somewhere [hard plastic tube with an end cap and holes running down it] Once again not knowing the tanks history i'd be inclined to obtain a new UV tube and quartz inner tube, there is an online shop based up here in the North called SwellUK who sell the UV units and spares, google for them and give them a call for prices - the unit model should be on a sticker on the back UV15 etc. UV filters can be used on tropical although how much use they are is a debate. I have just got one to hopefully aid with the nasty battle when I am unable to perform regualr water changes. At the moment my water gradually obtains a green hint if i'm working away, hoping that the UV may buy some time in these instances.

Not sure on the Internal filters as I have never had a tank with built in system but i'm sure that somebody around here will be abale to assist if you could offer any detailed pictures.


So get doing a google for Eheim spares and swelluk and if you do decide that planted is not for you now or in the future then drop me a pm if you want to sell the C02


Ste

 

[Wanda hornsey]

Thanks for that info Ste and should I decide to go without I will keep you in mind we have UV in the pond (well not actually in it ) in the garden and its great for anti green water...you can see the fish all year round for a change ...so we are going to have a go at bringing it in over the next couple of evenings and setting it up (no water) and checking out where all the bits go and what stuff (tubing etc) we need to replace .... dont want to buy far to much and waste it...then we can start to fill it up slowly and run a fishless cycle etc....want to do that so that we can make sure everthing is running fine and reliably and the water is good before we pop in a few hardy fish in a months time.....I dont mind taking the time cos I would rather get it right as best we can than hurt fish through ignorance and wanting it all done yesterday.

Thanks again

 

[fishing4exotics]

Looks like you are off to a great start Wanda! Waiting to get it right. Very nice equipment to start off with. I wish I started with all the stuff that you have