New 60 Gallon Aquarium

by **beltre30** » Wed Nov 05, 2008 11:02 pm

i got a 60 gallon aquarium and i was wondering if anyones know if you would have to put sand.... can u have nothing in the bottom of the aquarium or would you need something....
and also would you need a protein skimmer and sump for the 60G

thx

by **Snowboss4492** » Thu Nov 06, 2008 12:18 am

ive seen nano set ups with no sand in them............but i can't say that i've seen a large tank like 60 gallons with no substrate..............lol you could be the first

sand will help with controlling nitrates through bacterias living in the sand

you don't "need" a protein skimmer if your going to set up a fish only tank and you stock it on the light side - - -any thoughts of corals though and you will want one

sump filtration is great but also not needed, again especially if your doing fish only - - rule of thumb is to filter 3-5 times your tanks capacity 120 -300 gph - -you could do that with 2-3 large HOB filters easily {Hang On Back} - - i would suggest if your not going to entertain a skimmer to filter as heavily as your budget will allow 5-8 times the capacity just to be on the safe side

add a couple power heads.....run it through a cycle {6-10 weeks} and you got yerself a fish tank

Boss

by **beltre30** » Thu Nov 06, 2008 12:22 am

i was gonna add some live rocks and thats bout it, not really any corals though soo if its just sand and live rocks you would need just a power head and a filter

by **Snowboss4492** » Thu Nov 06, 2008 12:25 am

yeah - -that would work - - like i said though your gonna wanna run a big filter or even a couple

aquaclear 110 - - bout 50 bucks and 2 of them would be monsters on your tank - -nice easy to service bullet proof filter and they just run and run and run

by **Snowboss4492** » Thu Nov 06, 2008 12:31 am

Note: when your standing in a pet supply store looking at 15,000 different filters {lol been there} just remember that the "rateing" on the box is the minimum for that filter - - I.E. a filter rated for "up to 20 gallons" will bearly filter a 20gl tank - -i ran a aquaclear 110 on my 20 gallon tank for a year before switching to a rapids pro sump here a few weeks ago - - -so that was about 5 times the capacity of my tank and it did fine - -plus a power head and a skimmer running to - - - and i have a FOWLR tank {fish only with live rock}
Boss

by **a1k8t31524** » Thu Nov 06, 2008 12:33 am

you know boss i have seen a few small SW shops here in town that have there display tanks set up with no sand

by **Snowboss4492** » Thu Nov 06, 2008 12:44 am

yeah i've seen em too................but remember they are doing very frequent very large water changes and if things go well for them the fish aren't in the tank for very long because we buy them..............it just doesn't seem to be a very stable environment to me - - -but if a person where to maintain tham like they do then it should fine

by **doenuttz** » Thu Nov 06, 2008 2:24 am

IMO, even though your only doing FOWLER. I would still invest on the best equipment according to your budget( you might change ur mind in the future when you master the hobby). I have a skimmer on my 125 FOWLER for a week now and it skims about a cup a day.But I have a big bio load ( 7 fishes total and 3 of them are known eat and poop a lot).I do agree w/ BOSS regarding powerheads..

by **dick_headers** » Thu Nov 06, 2008 3:03 am

Barebottom( no substrate) tanks are actually for nitrate reduction. Detritus can not settle in the bottom. Whenever you do water change you can actually vacuum all the dirt out from the bottom. Barebottom tank were popular in the 80's and before when the live sand bad wasn't as popular.
You still can go without substrate, but with proper maintance live sand is a great addition.

New 60 Gallon Aquarium

9 posts