Ok so I got into the fish hobby because of my dad - he always had some pretty cool fish and even had a silver arrowana that we had to donate because it got so big. He currently has a 150 gallon tank housing a mix of CA and African (Mbuna) - sad, I know. His water parameters are terrible because of difficulty having to do WC's on a tank that big. I'm not sure he ever did them, we used to just always fill up more water when we could hear the filters splashing (this was when I was very young).
Well, I'm going to be in town this summer and my brother and I decided that cleaning up and fixing his tank would be a good gift for my dad, along with something to make maintenance easier. I have PFS in one of my tanks and a finer sand substrate in another and my dad's expressed a lot of interest in this - I've read the thread about switching from gravel to sand and have a decent plan I think - let me know what you guys think.
1. Purchase PFS while I'm in town - how much should I get to cover the floor of the 150? My biggest tank is a 55 so I'm not too sure on this one.
2. Wash PFS to ensure little to no settling.
3. Begin filling buckets for WC? - this is a major snag in the steps for me because I just use 4 5 gallon buckets that I prefill when I do WC's - that wouldn't even make a dent % wise in the 150. Because he's complained about the difficulty in doing WC's (he's old, had shoulder surgery recently), I'd like to get something that can make it very simple to do these WC's. Python, etc. Only thing is I'm not sure about hose fittings and such right now so any and all help with this ahead of time is appreciated.
4. Remove decorations - he has a TON of rock in there that he's accumulated over the years as well as some driftwood, fake plants, etc.
5. Vacuum substrate and simultaneously drain water. Filter (only one Magnum 350) will be o ff at this point
6. Catch fish and put them in big plastic bin w/ water and probably a heater
7. Remove substrate and start filling back up with water. (Options I've heard of include filling straight from the tap with one of those python things, pumping water out of the prefilled bins (w/ heaters in them to match temperature, anything else?)
8. Tank 1/2 full with water, redecorate, continue filling with water.
9. Introduce fish
Problems I could see from this include a mini cycle from removing so much subtrate, but not likely because A - still a ton of decorations in there and B - Magnum 350's are pretty weak biofilters (they just have a small bio basket and I'm pretty sure my dad only uses the pad for water polishing, not sure he even has the basket anymore). Fish fighting in the buckets (I'm not even sure how many fish he has, but know he has like 3 or 4 pairs of GROWN convicts, each really mean and have actually killed off their parents to become dominant in the tank. I thought it was cool how they survived and began having their own fry and now they're pretty big and nasty. He also has some Saulusi [I think, could be bumble bee]maybe some Auratus or some other nasty Mbuna, and what I think is two Johanni [male and female]) It's true what they say about convicts breeding wherever because his water parameters were SOOOO bad but they continued to pop fry out and I'm not sure how but I think it has to do with all of the other fish and so many places to hide but I've seen multiple Mbuna fry in there.
I'm not sure what else I should cover but am looking for help, recommendations, etc. because my brother and I will be getting this done while I'm in town. I'd like to keep it under $200 total but that could change as necessary - anything I can get online and have shipped there ahead of time will help. Right now I see myself getting him probably 2 150 watt heaters because I'm not sure his is working and to heat the water ahead of time, but do I also need a pump to pump the water out of those buckets? Or is there a way to have the temp from the tap (if I go the python route) already there so WC's are easier on him. And as far as fish go, I'm not sure how attached he is to his convicts but I don't think he wants a whole new setup. He's tried it in the past but because these are grown, adult fish (6+ years for most) they're very aggressive and kill off most everything.
Thanks for reading and for the help.
Mike
Well, I'm going to be in town this summer and my brother and I decided that cleaning up and fixing his tank would be a good gift for my dad, along with something to make maintenance easier. I have PFS in one of my tanks and a finer sand substrate in another and my dad's expressed a lot of interest in this - I've read the thread about switching from gravel to sand and have a decent plan I think - let me know what you guys think.
1. Purchase PFS while I'm in town - how much should I get to cover the floor of the 150? My biggest tank is a 55 so I'm not too sure on this one.
2. Wash PFS to ensure little to no settling.
3. Begin filling buckets for WC? - this is a major snag in the steps for me because I just use 4 5 gallon buckets that I prefill when I do WC's - that wouldn't even make a dent % wise in the 150. Because he's complained about the difficulty in doing WC's (he's old, had shoulder surgery recently), I'd like to get something that can make it very simple to do these WC's. Python, etc. Only thing is I'm not sure about hose fittings and such right now so any and all help with this ahead of time is appreciated.
4. Remove decorations - he has a TON of rock in there that he's accumulated over the years as well as some driftwood, fake plants, etc.
5. Vacuum substrate and simultaneously drain water. Filter (only one Magnum 350) will be o ff at this point
6. Catch fish and put them in big plastic bin w/ water and probably a heater
7. Remove substrate and start filling back up with water. (Options I've heard of include filling straight from the tap with one of those python things, pumping water out of the prefilled bins (w/ heaters in them to match temperature, anything else?)
8. Tank 1/2 full with water, redecorate, continue filling with water.
9. Introduce fish
Problems I could see from this include a mini cycle from removing so much subtrate, but not likely because A - still a ton of decorations in there and B - Magnum 350's are pretty weak biofilters (they just have a small bio basket and I'm pretty sure my dad only uses the pad for water polishing, not sure he even has the basket anymore). Fish fighting in the buckets (I'm not even sure how many fish he has, but know he has like 3 or 4 pairs of GROWN convicts, each really mean and have actually killed off their parents to become dominant in the tank. I thought it was cool how they survived and began having their own fry and now they're pretty big and nasty. He also has some Saulusi [I think, could be bumble bee]maybe some Auratus or some other nasty Mbuna, and what I think is two Johanni [male and female]) It's true what they say about convicts breeding wherever because his water parameters were SOOOO bad but they continued to pop fry out and I'm not sure how but I think it has to do with all of the other fish and so many places to hide but I've seen multiple Mbuna fry in there.
I'm not sure what else I should cover but am looking for help, recommendations, etc. because my brother and I will be getting this done while I'm in town. I'd like to keep it under $200 total but that could change as necessary - anything I can get online and have shipped there ahead of time will help. Right now I see myself getting him probably 2 150 watt heaters because I'm not sure his is working and to heat the water ahead of time, but do I also need a pump to pump the water out of those buckets? Or is there a way to have the temp from the tap (if I go the python route) already there so WC's are easier on him. And as far as fish go, I'm not sure how attached he is to his convicts but I don't think he wants a whole new setup. He's tried it in the past but because these are grown, adult fish (6+ years for most) they're very aggressive and kill off most everything.
Thanks for reading and for the help.
Mike