3 part Aquarium renovation

[AgentOrange]

part 1 -- Explanation
Part 2 -- Fish room
part 3 -- Ingredients

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Part 1 --> Explanation

I am doing a multi hundred dollar upgrade to my fish tank.
I have kept fish continuously since 1969 and my equipment has changed many times. Sometimes I had a dozen tanks, but since I moved here, just the one. I have 4 fish that are about a hundred years old, thinking about adding some Discus this Fall.

The tank is 150 gallons, and I have had it since 1986. I built the stand out of cheap 2X4s housing studs with just a hack saw and a $10 drill as I had no time for things that needed tools back then (so I had ). I see no reason to upgrade the tank or the stand as both remain sturdy.






For my new home (since 2001) I drew in a fish room which is a narrow room with a work sink. The tank sits on the other side of the wall in the big room near the TV. I watch/enjoy it a lot.

In 2001 I built a filter out of a large plastic tub I filled with plastic media and some glass balls which were the top of the line then. I fed clean water from small canister filters into the tub which then drained into the tank through the wall. I did not touched that tub since 2001, just cleaned the canister filters that fed it.

I have accumulated equipment for a major change over the last weeks.

For the fist time in 13 years, took the tub away, tossed it and the contents. It looked OK in there, but WTF?

I drained and cleaned the tank with bleach for the first time in 13 years. It took about 7 hours to refill the tank as I ran all the water slowly through an ion filter. This is the same filter I use to filter water to make beer.





"API Tap Water Filter effectively removes impurities and dissolved solids from tap water. It removes sediments, chlorine, chloramines, heavy metals, organic chemicals, and inorganic ions from tap water - creating contaminant-free deionized water for reef, saltwater, freshwater, and planted aquariums."


I use no gravel as I think that is just a place for bad things to hide. If you must have a bottom, use sand.

My tank is always clean. I do partial water changes when the mood hits me. The clean bottom allows the filters to work more efficiently.