New 300l Tank

[tata]

Hello,

I am planning a new 300L tank, and would like to receive some opinions.

Today I have a 120L aquarium, which will be dismounted and give space to the new one. I will reuse as much as possible, what I have on this aquarium.

Ok, this is my plan:

Aquarium: 1200 mm x 500 mm x 500 mm (300 L)
Substrate: 35Kg Florite Black Sand (5x7Kg Bags)
Filter1 : Eheim 2213 (440l/h)
Filter2 : Eheim 2224 (500l/h)
Filter3 : 2 or 3 months after the aquarium is running, I may switch the Eheim 2213 for a JBL e901 (900l/h)
Heaters : Hydor ETH 200W + Hydor ETH 300W
Others : 10w UV Filter
Hardscape: stones and driftwood (still looking for the perfect root!)
Light : 2x39W (T5 bulbs)
Plants : Echinodorus angustifolia, Echinodorus Ozelot, Echinodorus Bleheri, Anubis, cryptcorine, Sagittaria subulata and Staurogynes
Fish : juvenile Red Marlboro, juvenil Blue Diamon, 2 corydoras, 1 SAE, 1 L200, 5 amano shrimp, 3 neritine, 12 cardinal tetra, 2 gourami and 1 appistogramme agassize fire red (female) - all this are coming from my 120L tank
Co2 : No
Fertilization: Root Fertilizers

Ok, this is the plan. What do all think ? There is any part I need to adjust?

Thank you!

 

[snazy]

You need higher filtration for 300L tank than the current combo of filters that give you max 900L/H. Even upgrading one to 900L/H is still not enough. This will only filter 3-4 times of the tank water max per hour. I would aim higher, 10x the ammount of water an hour which after you add substrate and decorations to your 300L tank, would give it 260-280L water max in the tank, so filters that totally equal around 2800 L/H would be better in case you fully stock or overstock your tank.

And I would up the corys to at least 6 from the same species. You probably know that the SAEs eventually stop eating algae and get aggressive.

My tank is slightly bigger and 300W heater keeps the temperature spot on(tetra tec heater)
If you have two heaters, you have to make sure they are positioned in a way so one doesn't affect the other as they can get confused if the flow inside the tank is not good enough.

 

[tata]

Thanks for the reply.

You need higher filtration for 300L tank than the current combo of filters that give you max 900L/H. Even upgrading one to 900L/H is still not enough. This will only filter 3-4 times of the tank water max per hour. I would aim higher, 10x the ammount of water an hour which after you add substrate and decorations to your 300L tank, would give it 260-280L water max in the tank, so filters that totally equal around 2800 L/H would be better in case you fully stock or overstock your tank.

I guess you are correct. Later on, I might add 3 or 4 discus to the tank, so filtration is never enough.
I will replace the eheim 2213 with a JBL e1501 (1400L/h) or eheim 2075 (1250 l/hour). This will give me around 2000 L/H, which is 7-8 times the tank water per hour.

And I would up the corys to at least 6 from the same species. You probably know that the SAEs eventually stop eating algae and get aggressive.

For some reason corys are not surviving for a long time on my tank. Most of my fish are with me for more then 16 months, but for some reason corys never liked the conditions of the tank. One of the possible reason, is the grave I have, which are not very good for their barbels. I hope the new sand, will help my corys to improve their longevity.

Regarding the SAE, he is not aggressive at all. I guess you are talking about CAE, not SAE.
This silly fish, is with me for a long time, he was a precious help eliminating a algae plague. Now, he just eat and rest, but I can't get ride of him.

My tank is slightly bigger and 300W heater keeps the temperature spot on(tetra tec heater)
If you have two heaters, you have to make sure they are positioned in a way so one doesn't affect the other as they can get confused if the flow inside the tank is not good enough.

I see.
Well, I already have the 200W heater, which is not enough for 300L. I will have to buy the 300w anyway. If I see the 200W is not needed, I will just turn it off.
I am talking about external heaters. I guess your's is internal, which is a little more efficient.


What about the lightning? 78W should be enough?
And the substrate? Any opinions on the flourite black sand ?

Thanks everyone!

 

[dbanner]

If the hydor heaters are the external heaters then a 200watt should be plenty for a 300 litre. I have a 5 foot juwel rio 400 which is 450 litres and I use 1 x 300 watt hydor external heater and its fine for my tank. The general rule is 1watt per litre of water but with external heaters its different as the warm water is pumped around the tank. My tank is set at 27 degrees c and iv never had any cold spots I'm the tank.

As for the filtration the general rule is 4-5x your tank volume so you should aim for around 1500lph. It's right in saying though that more is better especially when you keep messy fish like big cichlids. I have 2 tetratec ex1200's on my 450 litre and they are brilliant. U find them far better over all than my fx5, 406 and 405. Either way external heaters and external filters are the way to go

 

[tata]

I am afraid, at least I need a 300W for 300 Liters. This was the conclusion I made, looking on the manufacturer specifications and reading some posts on the net. On the winter, my room is cold, around 17ºC, where the aquarium temperature is set to 28ºC.

My main doubts right now are:
Lighting: 2x39W seems to low for 300L, specially taking in consideration the bulbs are 90cm, leaving some shadow areas.
Substrate: Flourite Black Sand is expensive and usually discus show most color with a white sand (e.g. pool sand). But I am afraid most of the plants will suffer with pool sand as substrate.

Any ideas on these two topics?

Thanks!