210 Gallon freshwater set up, sound alright?

LowCel

LowCel

Premium Member
I know, I know, most of you couldn't care less about a freshwater tank. For the time being just humor me. Unfortunately I'm just not smart enough and don't have the time to put together a successful salt tank so I'm going to go with a freshwater tank instead. :D

Anyway, my goal is to have a nice active aggressive cichlid tank while keeping the fighting to a bare minimum. To do this I'm going to do my best to keep everyone very well fed to keep their tummy's full and their aggression down. I plan on feeding two or three times daily. In order to do this I am going to have to have plenty of filtration.

So this is what I'm thinking, let me know if you think I've covered all my bases. The tank is going to be a 210 gallon tank, 72x24x29 tall. For filtration I am going to be running an Eheim Professional II 2028
Eheim Professional II 2028, an Eheim Professional 2229 (Wet/dry canister), and an Eheim 2213 canister. I am also planning on using a Coralife turbo twist 26 watt uv sterilizer. Other than that I will have two maxijet 1200's to help out with circulation.

Think this will be enough filtration for the tank?
 
I would go with a couple of these.

http://www.drsfostersmith.com/Produ...ll&Ntx=mode+matchallpartial&Np=1&N=2004&Nty=1

It has a max GPH of 400-500 GPH, & you would only have to deal with 2 cannisters instead of 3.. When it comes to cleaning the tubing, it would be less of a PITA. I am also not a big fan of the EHEIM wet/dry cannister. It seems to me that a man could get the benefit of wet/dry by going a cheaper route, be it some sort of HOB wheel device, or a small sump... I like the idea of a sump on a tank that big, because it could serve as your wet/dry AND be a place to hide all your heaters. Another option you might want to consider, are those inline filter/heater devices by Rainbow, or Dolphin.. cant recall. They seem like they would allow a clean setup, & the versatility that you would want/need.

Also not sure of the benefit of the big UVS... I seem to recall that they are effective in killing ich & green water algae. But you are an advanced hobbyist, & I wouldnt think ich would be a concern with you (quarantining, etc). You said you didnt have the time to put into a SW tank, so I assume that with an aggressive tank you wont have any plants... So I wonder if greenwater would ever be an issue... Low lights, & nothing added to put your water params out of whack.

Been awhile since I paid any mind to F/W stuff, but thats my two cents on the subject. Eheim makes damn fine filters, Id ont think that you are going wrong in that regard, however you decide!
 
Thanks for the advice. I forgot to mention I already have all of that equipment. I was really wondering if it would be enough or if I would need to purchase anything else.

As for wet/dry I have never been a fan, even with saltwater. With this tank I really need it to be bulletproof with pretty much no risks of floods since I am out of town a lot and my wife doesn't really enjoy problem solving when it comes to tanks. With overflows there is always a risk of flooding or losing syphon during a power outage. With the canisters everything is pretty much sealed so I am safe.

I am going to check out the heaters you mentioned. I had not even thought of one of those. It would be nice to have a heater that Lucy can't break. :D

I agree completely with your eheim comment. I have been using the 2028 for three or four years now and have never had the first problem. I go months without even thinking about it.

Oh yeah, here is the star of the tank.

100_2855.jpg
 
Do you think the maxijets will be enough? I may still be thinking in the "saltwater" mode, but a 210gal tank is huge, would a tunze 6100 do a better job? As I said though, I am probably just thinking to much as a saltwater tank.
 
I have read alot of info on the ETH, it sounds like a nice item, but you would need like 4 of em to heat a tank that size, hehe. Only thing I have read in regards to them, is that they buzz or click when they come on, & some folks seemed to think it was REALLY annoying. I have no first hand experience myself...

If you have the Eheims already, I would absolutely put em to work, hehe... Thats a small fortune in swank gear alone!!! The inline product I was thinking of is listed here :

http://www.marinedepot.com/aquarium_filters_pentair_aquatics_rainbow-lifegard_inline.asp?CartId=

That could do for your heating & UVS needs as well, & would certainly be nice & neat.

With a tank that size, have you considered instead of having several BIG cichlids, trying to do a tank with alot of smaller ones???? I know that they are a territorial fish, but with a tank that massive, I would think that having several flashy fish like the african lake cichlids would be really nice. Again, a matter of preference, & anything I ever knew about the fish, I have forgotten.
 
where did you get him at? Looks like the one I use to have. I traded him in at Jomars. Raised him from a pup to near that size. Cool!

Two tips: Get a titanium heater and go with a wet/dry. Forget the canisters.
 
I bought Lucy at Plaza Pets almost five years ago when she was blue and right at an inch long.

I ordered two of the hbh heaters to try out. If I need any additional heating I will worry about it then I guess. I didn't get to read the posts here before I ordered, for some reason I wasn't able to access rc all afternoon. If they don't work out I'll move them to my 55 and try something else.

I bought the tank specifically for Lucy so going with smaller cichlids really isn't an option. The smaller fish would end up being expensive feeders in a very short period of time.

Reef4fun - honestly I probably don't even need the mj1200's in this tank. Flow is not really all that important in a fish only freshwater tank. I'm just doing it to try to eliminate a couple of dead spots. If I don't get them all it's no big deal since I'll be vaccuming the gravel on a regular basis.
 
Thanks, unfortunately plants don't do too well with large cichlids. For some reason they seem to never want to stay planted.

Anywho, check it out. I have pretty much everything except for the heaters and stand. The heaters should arrive later this week and the stand will be here next Tuesday.

100_0486.jpg

100_0487.jpg
 
I would ditch the eheims and run a sump just like a salt tank put all the heaters and such there then maybe a mag18 for flow

Then later on you can convert to salt

BTW I have an Eheim II 2028 and love it good choice but I don't think you'll get the flow to really keep the big prized poop off the bottom.

Maybe I could bring my Oscar over and they can play :D

Good Luck
 
Well looks like this is about all I can do until the stand gets here. I managed to get the Oceanvision background on and the eggcrate in. Now I just get to look at it setting in the middle of my floor for a few days.

As for bringing your Oscar over I appreciate the offer, unfortunately I don't know how well Lucy is going to play with others just yet. ;)

100_0488.jpg
 
I was looking at the picture and it seems the boxes on top make the tank look smaller than it is. This seems to show the depth (front to back) a little better.

100_0489.jpg
 
I am running the Hydor heater on my 72. Works just fine, and it's not another thing in the tank messing w/the view. Had no problem regulating my temps.
 
I figured this mansion was for Lucy ;)
Jim has a 210 freshwater. I think he runs it with canisters but it's been a while since we talked about the equipment on that tank.
If he doesn't chime in soon I'll ask him to look at this thread.
 
DING... Yea I have a 210 freshwater across from the 210 reef at the store. its pre drilled with the overflows put on the ends custom so it can be viewed from both sides like the reef. I have a 40 gallon sump with a mag18 return under it with 2 canister filters, I am currently using Penn Plax Cascade 1500's on it, their no Eheims but for the cost they really work well IMO. It is a planted tank with a mix of pc and standard flourescent (approx 800watts) They are growing like weeds now that Ron stopped by and gave me the "duh smack" and I loaded it with plants and a deeper substrate to get rid of the excess algae (ponds/planted tanks.....same principals.....duh I knew that.. thanx Ron!) Oh and I have a small UV on it too. just my 2 cents.
 
Thanks Jim. So in your opinion do you think I have enough filtration?

Eheim 2028
Eheim 2229
Eheim 2213
Coralife Turbo Twist 36 watt UV


This is going to be fish only since there is no way the fish I'm planning on keeping would allow me to keep plants.
 
I think it should run perfectly with that setup. Especially if you gravel vac regularly. I didn't figure you would do plants, I just needed to give Ron some props. What kind of decorations are you going to use?
 
When I was searching for cannisters, I read alot about the Penn Plax, but no one seemed to know anything about them... I had more luck finding info on Jebo cannisters than them.

For those big cichlids, you might wanna get a shop vac to suck up chunks that big!
 
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