# 120 Gallon Setup



## hydrashocker (Apr 1, 2007)

Newbie here, but not to forums. I origanaly posted up on a different forum with no bites as of yet, but I figure I would try here as well.

It's been about 5 years sense I had my semi pot planted setup community freshwater tank, so I've gone to the stores to see what has changed. Well quite a bit has, as usual things come and go in aquatics. Anyway, I moved which it sat in storage for a while. I brought my tank with me, which I found cracks in the top encasement so the tank was replaced, and now it's time to set it back up. I'm having issues because I don't know what exactly to do and I'm very frustrated. 

One thing that always used to bother me is that I would have fish die with no reason or sign of disease, yet sometimes there would be signs of unknown disease. And maybe it was due to set up and having an UGF, I don't know. Many experts were perplexed, maybe toxicity. Anyway this is what I used to have;

1 - Penn-Plax Cascade Heater 300 watt
2 - UGF because of size
2 - Maxi-Jet 900 a top of the UGF
2 - Coralife model 53005 at 65 watts each
2 - Emperor 400 HOB filters
2" gravel

I've heard yes and no still in the use of UGF's, so I really don't know what to do. I want to have some crabs and/or possibly shrimp, and a semi aggressive tank so I can have a bit larger fish community tank. I really want another bushy nose plako and I loved my striped Raphael cats as well.

My first take was to look for a canister which I would like over and above the HOB 400 filter I currently have. Now I have a Marineland magnum 350 canister filter but it's kind of undersized which I'm not sure I can use? So I started looking into larger canisters and found a few I liked. The Aquatop CF-500 with UV that was only $160 but it kind of looked cheap. I did like the UV however, but then I started thinking about good bacteria getting annihilated. Then started looking at some others and started holding my pocket book tighter and tighter as I went up in price. However functionality went up. One thing is if I'm not home someone could still manage the filter without mess, so that’s defiantly a plus.

I just find myself looking at one thing and going back a different avenue every time I look at something. Can someone help me with my rollercoaster ride and hopefully get this tank set up right the first time?

Thnks for reading my long wind,
Rustin


----------



## coralbandit (Jul 29, 2012)

Not to many still use UGFs(mostly due to having live plants,and liking to remove crap easily).I'm big on aquaclear HOBs if a sump is not an option(I run sumps on all my display tanks,and aquaclears and sponges on my breeder tanks).
There are alot of members who love their canisters also.
I guess it is just what you like and your needs.
I'm not sure crabs or shrimp will work with semi aggressive fish as they will probly eat them?
One of the biggest secrets(we keep no secrets here) to a sucessful tank is water changes no matter how good your filter is.
Hope someone here can help you set up and enjoy your tank,a 120 could be a thing of beauty.I have ;180 fw,[email protected] salt(1 reef ,1 fowlr),[email protected] (1 salt{reef) ,1 fw) and a "couple "more breeder tanks.
Welcome to the form!


----------



## henningc (Apr 17, 2013)

UGFs are a dying art, but I still love them. The biology of them is such that many problems never occur or get rectified without our help. After we are the smart ones that put chemicals in water and run it through heavy metal pipes. Great to be so intelligent. 

If you really want the crab and shrimp, well crabs need to come out of the water and that don't sound feasable. Shrimp, you can make a sub-level with flat rock and the fish will not be able to get to them. 

Get a canister if you like and you should have enough filtration for anything.


----------



## hydrashocker (Apr 1, 2007)

Well I really don't want to use my HOB filters as I want to be able to slide the tank close to the wall to keep my Retriever from playing with it. Good call on the crabs and shrimp though, they occasionally grabbed a small fish but most of the time the left them alone. Shrimp on the other hand; yea I made up protecting sub terrain for them. 

I was going to put my gravel in, but for some reason it went MIA during the move so now I'm staring at an empty aquarium again. Going to have to figure out if I want sand or gravel now. See rain keeps coming down on my head. Thing is that’s a bunch of cash just to add on, so I'm going to make a trip over to home depot to see what they have and go from there.

I was thinking yesterday, I could remove the HOB's and add my Marineland 350 Magnum canister as a polisher and buy a secondary canister. I'm thinking about a Hydor Professional 600 as I found one at the local pet store for like $240 or so. Decent design and usability I think. I also found a Marineland C-530 for about $200, and the Aquatop CF-500 with UV that was only $160 but it kind of looked cheap. Opinions anyone?

So now I'm eyeing the sub-terrain again. I'm thinking gravel as I don't want plants all over my tank and want to control them. I prefer the look of sand, but just don't think it will work. If I run without a UGF, with gravel and pot plant my plants with some tied to drift wood or other being the tank is 27" deep would my lighting be sufficient?

Thanks


----------



## mambee (Jul 19, 2013)

My $.02. 

I run Eheim canisters on my 90 and 150 gallon tanks. Eheims are expensive but very quiet and efficient, and most of the media can be rinsed and reused over and over. I would forget the UGF. I use sand in all of my tanks. Pool filter sand is cheap and recommended. Canisters work well with sand substrates because sand destroys the impellers in HOB filters. Sand is also great because debris stays on the surface, unlike gravel. You can also save on your electric bill by switching to LED lighting. I've heard good things about the Finnex fixtures.


----------



## hydrashocker (Apr 1, 2007)

Ok I've decided on running a Eheim canister. I don't want the brand new style that have electronic controls on them, just seems like more things to go wrong. I'm having a hard time finding the manufacture part number and I think what I need is a Eheim 600 part number 2075. Can anyone please confirm this? 

This should be able to filter the whole aquarium without a second filter right?


Also the gravel I have decided to go to a light color like just slightly off white. Kind of like quarts but without the shine. I want to find a small gravel just a bit larger then sand. I saw some at the local store but it was green or blue acrylic painted which I don't want. They told me they think gravel is rated in gauge measurements but they were not sure?

The reason I want the very small chip gravel is fish can still dig in it without kicking it into my filters but still have more of a sand style look. It's the best of both worlds in my eyes, besides I'm not going to use an UGF.


"Edit"---------------------

I think I will upgrade to a Eheim 1200 series instead. I see they have a model 2080 that uses half the power and more media then the FX5 available here. It's going to cost a bit more unfortunately. Anyone know of a good place to buy cheap media by mail?


----------



## jrman83 (Jul 9, 2010)

I have 2-2080s and 1-2075. You definitely will want the 2080 or XL1200 for that sized tank. I use the 2075 on my 75g and personally think it is marginal for my tastes. Fosters and Smith (online) usually sell the Eheims at a pretty good price, as well as the media. The thing that sort of sucks about that filter is it doesn't come with the media and it is an addit'l $150 for it. Whatever you do, don't use their recommended media replacement plan. You don't need it. I know people who have had it over 10yrs and never replaced it and no problems with it. It is some of the best media on the market, bar none.

Damn, you joined this site back in the beginning days.


----------



## hydrashocker (Apr 1, 2007)

Yep, my old posts and what not were wiped I guess, not to mention I spend time elsewhere on other forums. I thought the 2080 was the XL1200, am I missing something?

I've seen media on ebay for cheap is the a reason not to buy it? Are there special kinds I need for this filter?


----------



## Raymond S. (Jan 11, 2013)

I don't know if this fits into what you had in mind but it's cheap(er than aquarium gravel).
Look in the yellow pages for Sand Blasting. This is not a specialized anything but just common #4 blasting sand. Last I heard
it came in 40lb sacks for about $12. You would want to ask to look at it first just to make sure. This likely will only be
available at the actual yard where they do the sand blasting and is why I said to look it up that way.


----------



## jrman83 (Jul 9, 2010)

Yes, the 2080 and XL1200 are the same filter. You'll want the Eheim media. Anything less and its just not worth it after spending so much on the filter.


----------



## hydrashocker (Apr 1, 2007)

Well I picked up gravel already as I wanted about that size Raymond posed, but I didn't know that I could pick it up at a sand blasting shop for cheaper. I'll give them a call today and see what they have. That was exactly they size I was looking for which the one I picked up is just slightly larger and rawer edged.

JRman83 <-- Are you saying to go ahead and pick up the Eheim 2520800 filter package and be done with it? Is it the perfect amount?


----------



## jrman83 (Jul 9, 2010)

Yes, the media pkg specifically put togther for the 2080 will fill every basket to the top and have nothing leftover. I would get that over anything else.


----------



## hydrashocker (Apr 1, 2007)

I was just noticing the Hydor 600 Canister with a wopping 12.9 quarts of filtering volume. I had a chance to just look at one of these and they wern't too bad, lots of media that comes with it. Flow rate is under Ehiem but the media is there for under half the cost? Professional External Canister Filter, Filters, Technical Products ? HYDOR components for aquariums

Eheim: Products

They are similar to the same design, would Hydor maybe be a better way to go?


----------



## jrman83 (Jul 9, 2010)

Looks like a nice filter. Honestly, didn't even know they made them. I would have to look at reviews. I only know I have had my 2-2080s for over 3yrs now and there has not been a lick of problems. Even when I have let the filter pad go 3 months before changing it still rocked on. My Fluval would shut down if I let it go longer than 3wks. I have only cleaned them twice in that same time and they only need it about once per year or longer if you choose.

The Hydor is definitely less expensive.


----------



## hydrashocker (Apr 1, 2007)

Well I can't find information as far as reviews, but I have talked to my local smaller pet store that just started selling them about 3 months ago, plus they have the parts on hand. Anyway, they said they have been flying off the shelves with absolutely no issues as of date, coarse that is only 3 months of data. They have received very high praise from the locals here and they are continuing to roll through them. So after that I did the next best thing, I called Hydor.

The company representative stated that they originally started selling them in Japan for quite a few years with no known issues as of date (they all say that of course). They said they decided to start importing them to America and they have been doing well so far. This was the reason there is no info on them out there yet. He stated that the 600 Professional should be plenty enough by it's self to run my 120 gallon fresh water semi planted.

However being a solid company they stand by their products, I don't see why I should doubt them? Being that the Hydor canister is just under the Ehiem size, however the Hydor has .125 gallon higher media. Flow rate is lessoned though 105 gallon from rated but who actually knows what Hydor is getting.

Seeing that I was planning on running my 2 Maxi-Jet 900 power heads with sponges I think I'll have plenty of GPH with a little added filtration. I'm thinking I might just roll over and grab one of these Hydor 600's and try it out? Besides I still have a spare Marineland Magnum 350's I can run if I don't like it with the 2 Emperor 400 HOB while I order an Ehiem 2080 if it doesn't work out. Being it a local company it would sure be nice to deal that way


----------



## coralbandit (Jul 29, 2012)

Hydor makes very good powerheads(more like waterfans).That does look like a nice filter!I would skip the carbon or other chemical treatments that come with it and stock it with extra bio or sponges(I consider and treat my sponges like bio).Make sure to let us all know how it works if you get it.


----------



## hydrashocker (Apr 1, 2007)

Well I picked it up last night and I have to say I'm impressed so far but the real test will be when it's hooked up and running. They did have the exact model up and running so I took a look in which I couldn’t hear it because a sump pump was right next to it, however the pump was quite. I have to modify my stand a bit which I'll do tonight before I fill it. I knew I had to modify it to my liking either way but I had to wait until my grubby mitts were on the actual filter. 

Anyway flow rolls down to the bottom then up through the coarse pad which is actually very nice and well made and I want to say about 2" think. It then rolls over 3 trays of Hydor ceramic rings (don't know who's making them) which are not quite full so I'll have to buy at least 1 box to properly fill them $10. Then it rolls into a polisher which there are 2 pads about 1" thick each and well made again. At this point you are to add their carbon bag which fits nicely, however I bought a refillable bag that’s welded at the seams. I filled about 1/2" with carbon and placed it on top in which there still is about a 2" gap all the way around for water to flow around and little through. There is a small curve on the back side to ensure there is only one way the trays can go in and head be installed.

Next I got to the head which seems well made at this point I must say. Both input and output nipples turn to your liking so your hoses won't kink on you. Then the couplers install on the threaded nipples, which should create a nice tight seal however this is where the Eheim would shine as they just pop out of the head. Each Hydor coupler has to unscrew to remove the hoses from the head for servicing. The only way around this I can see is to place a holder there so you just pop the entire head off and place it on the made holder while you clean the canister.

Most likely I'll pour the ceramic rings into the 2nd and 3rd basket then place bio-balls in the 4th to start. So it will be like this 1 course pad, 2 rings, 3 rings, 4 balls, 5 polisher with carbon bag on top then diffuser and head. I plan on using powerheads with sponges which I have to order a set for my Maxi-Jet 900's. So if anyone knows of a good I can order via the web it would be much appreciated?

One thing I forgot to mention, the Hydor representative stated that when they run testing on their equipment in stalked lab tanks they only do water changes once per month and clean their canisters once per month. That seems impressive to me.


----------



## coralbandit (Jul 29, 2012)

I assume the 900 is just a power head and not one of the convertables?If it is a convertable turn it into a circulation pump and no sponges needed.
If it is just a power head,then here you go
Maxi Jet 400 600 900 1200 Pre Filter Sponge 2 | eBay
I'll bet you could get fluval or eheim quick connects also so you could do easy maintenance.


----------



## hydrashocker (Apr 1, 2007)

Good call on the disconnects! I'll take a look into them and see if I can find a set for my hoses. I forgot to say that the hoses that come with the Hydor filter looks like very high end stuff.

Non-convertible, they're the good regular older powerheads. I went to that link but noticed those ones didn't have the strainer inside but I found a set just like them with it for a buck more. Thanks everyone, really appreciate all you guys have helped me on this build. I'll be posting up pic's when I get everything up and rolling.


----------

