Looking At Buying New Tank: All-glass 65gal W/megaflow

[sharpshooter73]

In my LFS, they have a very nice All-Glass 65gal. with the Mega-Flow kit, cherry stand and canopy for $699. First off, is that a good price for that setup?

Next, I am not familiar with the Mega-flow setup. The guy was explaining all of this other stuff I needed (Sump box, bio-balls, UV sterilizer, etc. etc.). Heck, I was just going to put an Emperor 400 on it and call it a day! (Half-joking). Otherwise, it's going to be an extra $250-300 for the extras to just get it up and running.

Is the Mega-Flow setup a better way to go? If I don't want the tank installed with the Mega-flow, it's only $50 less for the non-drilled tank.

Anyone have the Mega-flow and can chime in?

THANKS!

 

[sharpshooter73]

Bumping for the night crew....

Anyone?

 

[sharpshooter73]

Hoe hum... guess nobody has one of these tanks?

 

[Tolak]

I paid $140 for a non-drilled All-Glass 65 going on 2 years ago. It's been running with an Aqua Clear 300 & Eheim 2026. 7 angels, a handful of panda corys, & a couple bristlenose plecs have been in there, doing good for quite some time.

Unless you see yourself going saltwater with this tank in the future, I would go for the undrilled tank. Then again, if you were to set it up as a show tank, a 20 gallon sump would let you stock it like an 85, provided there are no territory or other stress factors among the fish. It will also keep the water level from dropping due to evaporation, as any shortages will be seen in the sump, not the tank.

As far as the price on the whole setup, I built my own stand & hood, the whole finished aquarium including fish cost me around $650. 5 bills sounds steep for a stand & hood, and I don't like the way commercial stands are built, as I know I can build something sturdier.

Tolak

 

[sharpshooter73]

I paid $140 for a non-drilled All-Glass 65 going on 2 years ago. It's been running with an Aqua Clear 300 & Eheim 2026. 7 angels, a handful of panda corys, & a couple bristlenose plecs have been in there, doing good for quite some time.

Unless you see yourself going saltwater with this tank in the future, I would go for the undrilled tank. Then again, if you were to set it up as a show tank, a 20 gallon sump would let you stock it like an 85, provided there are no territory or other stress factors among the fish. It will also keep the water level from dropping due to evaporation, as any shortages will be seen in the sump, not the tank.

As far as the price on the whole setup, I built my own stand & hood, the whole finished aquarium including fish cost me around $650. 5 bills sounds steep for a stand & hood, and I don't like the way commercial stands are built, as I know I can build something sturdier.

Tolak

THANK YOU for replying! I thought this post was going to go unanswered...

Do you have any resources online to point me regarding setting up the sump box, pump, etc.? All of that is new to me.

 

[cujoho78]

Hi. I didn't post earlier because i wasn't sure how much help I'd be able to give you. But since there isn't much traffic on this thread, i'll post my thoughts anyway. As for pricing, I'm from Canada but here's what i've found. For a solid wood stand from a place like Big Als or PetSmart they are at least $300 for one that will fit a 55 gallon. Might be slightly more for a 65. The canopy if i remember correctly is around $150 for a 55, so again might be a little more for a 65. As for the aquarium itself i am not sure. I would guess that a 65g aquarium and hood with lights would be at least $250 here. So all that is $700 Canadian so at a 20% exchange rate that is $583 US. Adding the sump at $50 as you say would bring it to $633. I don't know if any of this is helping or not, but it sounds to me like it isn't the deal of the century, but maybe isn't all that bad either. You will have to price everything separately to get a better idea on prices. I discovered that if a bought a 55 gallon kit, it was going to cost more than if i went and bought an aquarium and filter and heater separate. So i saved money, but also got better quality equipment. (I already had all the non essentials from my smaller tank, ie. nets, food, etc.).
As for deciding on a sump, it probably comes down to personal preference. Most people on a 65 would probably run some type of canister filter or a couple of HOB power filters for a simple freshwate set-up. To me a canister filter is like a mini sump system anyway, so again it's personal preference. As far as i know you load the sump up with filter material and a heater so that all the filtering and heating of the water is done there as opposed to inside the tank itself. I saw a set-up that i think is what you are talking about at Big Als last weekend. It looked like a real nice set-up to me.
I hope this helps you a little. I wish i could be of more help, but i'm only 6 months into keeping fish myself. Keep searching on different sites or try posting a thread on sump systems themselves and someone will surely chime in. Good luck.

 

[Lateral Line]

I wouldn't consider a sump for freshwater, not with regular fish, and a 65 is a bit small for "non-regular" fish. Get a non-drilled tank with a decent canister on it sized appropriately. Save yourself a fortune.