Mandy's 130g Community Tank

**MandyK** · 02-04-2013, 02:39 AM

Yup, you read that right! 130g!!!

My loving husband traded his 30.06 for the tank, the stand, 2 filters, 2 heaters, light set, and some assorted stuff. I'm not sure what some of this is.

Not only did he do that, he just spent the last hour scraping algae off the glass while I worked. (I work from home)

Below we have a picture of the tank sitting out on the guy's lawn.
SAM_1803.JPG
What possessed the guy to sit the stand on top of the tank is beyond me. As you can see, the tank was COMPLETELY covered with algae.

Here we have a picture after my husband worked on it for an hour.
SAM_1804.JPG

I still have lots of work to do on it. I'll try to finish up the cleaning tomorrow, and get some water in it to see if I can get a stable temp. When I get the temp where I want it I'll transfer the fish and filters.

Now for some of the stuff.
SAM_1805.JPG

I have no idea what the two black things on the left are, and I'm pretty sure one of the heaters is shot.

Okay, guys. I'm tired. I'll get back with you on this tomorrow.

Please post any ideas you have!

Discus, here I come!

**genocidex** · 02-04-2013, 02:45 AM

since discus are so sensitive i think it would be better to get heaters that you know are accurate and wont randomly die on you... might want to invest in new heaters.

**mojosodope** · 02-04-2013, 02:52 AM

^ +1, I've said this many times, the most crucial thing with Discus is stability, water temperature definitely falls into that category. Based on experience with the product I would suggest two eheim jager 250W at each end based on the size/length of the tank, congrats on your purchase!, very much interested in seeing how this tank comes out.

**fishmommie** · 02-04-2013, 03:01 AM

Wow Mandy. This is great. It's going to be so much fun to follow this thread. I'll live vicariously through you. For a while I thought I wanted discus in my 90 but decided it was too much for me to try to handle. Oh, who am I kidding. I'd still love to have them. :o) But I'll just envy your set up instead.
I wish you all the good luck in the world setting up this tank. Keep those photos coming!

**Lady10Godiva** · 02-04-2013, 03:08 AM

The heaters look like they are the preset tetra heaters, which even if the work will only vet you to 78 degrees. There are lots of good heatera out there and they are so much cheaper online.

I think the extra stuff looks like powerheads or parts of powerheads.

Good luck on all the cleaning. Good pickup too. You can have more discus now too, you have more territory since it is a 6 foot tank.

**Goes to 11!** · 02-04-2013, 03:26 AM

CONGRATS on your new

tank mandy

Falling in love is great isn't it?

Originally Posted by MandyK

I have no idea what the two black things on the left are,

They look like motors for [Tetra or Marineland] filters to me [Or brand X but they are filter motors]. The impeller goes in the hole and then the whole thing twists on to the filter body, The red O ring gasket is the seal between the filter body and the filter motor.

**KevinVA** · 02-04-2013, 04:18 AM

Congrats again, Mandy! I told you, you could get more for that rifle. ;P

I can't wait to see the progression with this tank. I love Discus and would love to tackle them someday. Mmmm, a 6ft tank. You lucky girl, you. ;]

**CrazedMichael** · 02-04-2013, 10:22 AM

Yay, a discus journal. Good luck!

Totally agree on the heaters, get some good reliable ones you can trust.

**MandyK** · 02-04-2013, 03:44 PM

Thanks for all the support everyone. :)

Heaters*
These heaters aren't the preset ones. They each have a nob on top that you turn to set the temp. They look exactly like the one that I have in my 55g, but shorter. The guy said that they were both 300w heaters, but I'm not sure if I believe that. I mean wouldn't a 300w be bigger than the one I'm currently using? Especially if they seem to be the same type?
At any rate I'm going to see what temp they are capable of holding. IF they hold at least 78 - 80 I'm going to go ahead and use them to switch over my current stock. I'll also use my other heater. That being said, I will NOT purchase Discus until I have a better heater.

Cleaning*
This is not going so well. I can only get so much water to come out by syphoning, and I REALLY need it to syphon all of it. There is some kind of soily substrate in the bottom that I'm having an AWFUL time getting out. I've resorted to this method...

PLEASE HELP!