# 87 gal tropical setup



## bolram

Sooooooooo i haven't been on here in agessssss yet again work has had me tied down (if anyone remembers me that is hahah)

Anyway im moving away from my 42gal setup and upgrading to a 330litre (87us gal or 72imp gal for all the brits like moi )










Gets delivered Friday morning and I cannnnottttt wait 

Its got built in filtration although i'll probably use my fluval external instead.
Comes with built in 3x39w T5 lighting as well

I'm going for a fully planted setup which i've just had 200plants delivered today which will reside in my current tank until the new one arrives. Alongside this I'm going to attempt a DIY Co2 setup which is already half prepared.


Not sure on what stocking to go for yet so any suggestions are fully welcome 

Anyways great toooooo be back


----------



## TroyVSC

Wow nice setup, can't wait to the tank when complete.


----------



## CAM

That looks almost as tall as it is long. What are the measurements ? And yes... centimeters are okay, if you must. ;-)


----------



## nate2005

That's a lot of plants! :-D Have fun setting up the new tank. Please share pics once it's going


----------



## majerah1

Welcome back, its so good to see you! 

Lovely tank too. We expect pics, old and new, since you left


----------



## rtmaston

very nice. post some pictures when you can.


----------



## bolram

CAM said:


> That looks almost as tall as it is long. What are the measurements ? And yes... centimeters are okay, if you must. ;-)


Taken straight from the specs on the site:

Dimensions: 1200 x 477 x 745 mm / 47.2" (4ft) x 18.8" x 29.3"
Cabinet Dimensions: 1200 x 477 x 650 mm / 47.2" (4ft) x 18.8" x 25.6"


----------



## bolram

majerah1 said:


> Welcome back, its so good to see you!
> 
> Lovely tank too. We expect pics, old and new, since you left


Ahh you know me I loves my pics lol...I shall get pics step by step to share with you all  once its delivered friday haha


----------



## FishFlow

Welcome back! 

Nice looking tank, can't wait for the pictures to flow!!


----------



## bolram

As promised the first of the many pics to come

These are just the things ive got ready for the arrival of the tank tomorrow.










The pic doesnt give just to how many plants are floating around in there ready to be planted (and the tank is my current 40gal one not the new lol)


----------



## bolram

Ok so it's been an absolutely manic day hence why i've posted pics later than expected. The tank didnt arrive until mid afternoon so 4 hours behind expected. Then had an ordeal getting it into the room I wanted it in and then had to set everything including the cabinet (the instructions were useless and non relevant haha)


*Yes people that is my bed its a mess as I have things for the tank scattered everywhere haha*


*The cabinet after much frustration lining up with all the holes
*


*The quickest part of it all putting the tank on the stand haha*



*Just to give an idea of the lighting and size of the tank*



*The base layer of substrate used was JBL Aquabasic plus -proflora*



*The top layer is JBL sansibar in black*


*Half filled just put the filter on (after i took the pic lol) from the old tank to help speed clear the water up and obviously the cycle. As its just over half full I've decided to let it clear then plant all the plants before topping up to full otherwise I think i'd need a wetsuit haha*



Anyway theres the process so far, I'll be posting more pics tomorrow as the stages progress. Hope you like so far


----------



## majerah1

Looking good!


----------



## Jaybird5

Wow very nice! I wish I had a big tank  broke 14 year old here


----------



## bolram

Ok so the plan was to take a 5 minute break after last night but I kinda fell asleep haha. The water is finally clear though and I can get around to the long job of planting at long last


----------



## bolram

Ok so im finally pretty much there  Just need to get new hose for the filter as its not long enough lol and set up my diy Co2 system 

But here we go 


















:animated_fish_swimm


----------



## KMoss

Looks so beautiful!! Great pics & I love the location by your bed. I love to sleep by my aquarium.


----------



## majerah1

Looks fantastic! 

One thing. Two of the plants look to be ribbon plants and they are non aquatic. It would be wise to pull them now and plant beside the tank.


----------



## bolram

I thought that as well. They were just amongst all the plants when they got delivered


----------



## CAM

Looking good! And a particularly interesting piece of wood.... appears to be Mopani. Nice.


----------



## bolram

I believe it is mopani but then my expertise isn't exactly great on wood lol


----------



## TroyVSC

Looks great. I have serious tank jealousy issues. Can't wait to see the fish too.


----------



## bolram

majerah1 said:


> Looks fantastic!
> 
> One thing. Two of the plants look to be ribbon plants and they are non aquatic. It would be wise to pull them now and plant beside the tank.


As said in this I think there were 4 shoots of ribbon in total, all have been replaced by some new plants today


----------



## bolram

As a couple people asked to see what DiY Co2 I was using here goes



I'm using 2 x 1.4litre juice cartons for the time being, connected using teflon airline to help prevent deterioration from the Co2 production. I'm using one of the ceramic so called "bell" diffusers for inside the tank. Shall be making the mix shortly and adding to the tank. I've taken alot of advice from several sites and also a guy from my local LFS who uses the same DiY on his own tanks at home. So seeing as this is my first experience with Co2 i'm hoping to see the benefits from that what I'm used to seeing by not using. And as it is a mid heavy planted tank (seeing as they are mostly young small shoots of plants at the moment) I'm hoping that it will pay off


----------



## bolram

Just an update i've had to change to 2 x 2litre coca cola bottles as the previous ones didnt seal properly and leaked at the lid :-/


----------



## FishFlow

Ah.. diy co2 bottles.. Just remember. *pop* *pop* is normal. BOOM!! means time to clean up the brewery! 

Looking good.


----------



## bolram

Haha yes, it's been working well and I can already see the plants thriving with the use of it


----------



## bolram

So after alternate days of testing my levels are all balanced thanks to using my external filter from the last tank helping speed the process up (of course keeping an eye on any mini cycles that may crop up seeing as its a new tank) but my tank does finally have some inhabitants and they seem to absolutely love the layout with all the plants. (ps yes i know i need to clear certain spots of the sand from leaves) but seeing the size it is being done day by day with water changes/general cleaning.


----------



## coralbandit

Looks great! And you have peeked my curiosity with tiger barbs and german blue rams!
Make sure you let us all know how this works out!Your tank looks great!


----------



## bolram

So far its worked great if anything the rams have been swimming alongside the tiger barbs. I think they showed they can fight back lol. But for juvenile rams they have extraordinary colours already


----------



## lonedove55

Great looking tank, and wow, it cleared really fast! Keep us updated with pics!



> Looks great! And you have peeked my curiosity with tiger barbs and german blue rams!
> Make sure you let us all know how this works out!Your tank looks great!


That's exactly what I was thinking Coralbandit! Yeah, let us know how those 2 fish work out together.


----------



## TroyVSC

Love GBR's, and think they can hold ground against the pesky Tigers (no actual knowledge of this but just guessing). Also FYI Denison Barb/ Roseline Sharks are on sale for $4.45 at at Petsmart through the 28th. I think they would look beautiful in a tank like that and I have never seen them so cheap.


----------



## bolram

GBR's are amazing the colours are just amazing even at a juvenile age. However Troy i'm from the UK so petsmart isn't in my vocabulary lol

Just an update the barbs don't even bother the GBR's they keep to themselves flying in between the plants all happy like.

Just a load more pics as usual as well


----------



## bolram

So its been a few weeks since updating. The fish have all settled in and doing great. I lost 2 of the 4 rams but that was my fault as the water parameters changed as I was a few days late on water change and they did not suit well for it  however everythings now good and running smoothly with the last of its inhabitants added 94% stocked with room for fish to grow when needed. Anyway I chose to go with kribensis and angel fish as the last additions and they all seem to love the tank and they are all so much more active.

Some pics below


----------



## jrman83

Looks good, dude. Glad to see you're still into tanks, despite being absent.


----------



## jamnigh

Tank looks amazing!!


----------

