my new 90 gallon.....

[mark razmandi]

picked up a new 90 gallon and a rena xp3 canister...LOTS OF QUESTIONS

i already tried researching on the internet but didnt come up with much. i need to know everything about that canister filter including maintenance, how often i should change the media, how it is assembled in the canister, anything will help

what kind of substrate should i put? sand or gravel? is sand hard to clean?

i want to paint the back of the tank black..what type of paint should use and how should i go about painting it?

there is white stains all over the tank and i want to know the best way to remove it...i usually use CLR and a razor blade on my other tanks

my water is naturally hard and alkaline with a higher ph....would driftwood be the most practical addition to my tank?

ANY OTHER SUGGESTIONS WILL BE APPRECIATED TOO! AND ANY LINKS TO ARTICLES THAT ARE HELPFUL TO MY PURPOSE>>>>> THANKS SO MUCH IN ADVANCE

[Zulaab]

If you choose a sand substrate I would recommend Leslie's Pool Supply pool filter sand. 9.97 a bag. Very clean when it comes out of the bag.

Some people like to paint the back (personally I dont like to paint the back because I like some of the nice backgrounds you can add. I like it better than painting it because I feel it brings out more natural colors of the fish. Black absorbs ALOT of light therefore hard to give enough light to a tank that has a black background. (just my feelings.. not necessary everyone elses.)

Houston water is 7.8-8.2pH we are used to it.
Drift wood can be added to your tank if you wish.
Only a peat solution with RO water will really make it acidic.
What kinds of fish you like ?
Houston tap water is nearly perfect for African lake fish

[mark razmandi]

i LOVE south american cichlids, rays (which i know my tank is not big enough for) eels, RTC's etc etc...i like big fish and i LOVE oscars....im not particular to sand...wouldnt it get all sucked up in the filter if the fish stirred it up? my tap water in jersey village is very hard and alkaline...my plans were to add driftwood from the start...i will steer clear from any texas holey rock etc. most likely...it all depends on my fish choice....and about the black background...i just love the way it makes the fish stand out IMO...i have a background on my 20 gallon which i think looks great...i dunno we will see but i dont know what paint to use

[Darbex]

I have seen people use spray paint to paint the back.

[Zulaab]

LEslie's PFS sand is very heavy and does not float for long which is why so many of us uses it

[Complexity]

I recently painted my 90g with a black background. I used Krylon Fusion spray paint mainly because I had it on hand.

I love Leslie's PFS! I was able to add it to the tank directly from the bags, absolutely no precleaning! I'm not finding much of a problem with this sand so far. I can vacuum detritus off the top of the sand without the grains of sand coming up with it. I don't plunge the vacuum into the sand.

As far as your canister, people pack them differently so my way of packing them may not be the same as others. While I use Rena canisters, I like Eheim media. Also, I have XP4s which has an extra basket. From bottom to top:

1st basket - Eheim Ehfimech - Traps large particles to keep filter from clogging
2nd basket - The 4 foam pieces that comes with the filter, larger pores on bottom
3rd basket - Eheim Substrat Pro - For biomedia
4th basket - Bottom half Eheim Substrat Pro, Top half 2 Rena MicroFiltration Pads

You can probably skip the Ehfimech that I have in basket #1 and pack your XP3 with what I have in baskets 2-4.

The only thing you need to replace are the MicroFiltration Pads. I will wash out the Ehfimech and foam if they're bad off (they can get pretty dirty on my planted tanks). It's best to not disturb the biomedia too much even when you are cleaning out the canister.

I clean my canisters about every 3 months or so. I should probably change the MicroFiltration pads every couple of weeks, but I don't mess with them that much.

[Mzungu]

Careful with the CLR!! I would only use a razor blade and warm water, although vinegar is safe to use and helps to loosen the deposits.

[wesleydnunder]

Careful with the CLR!! I would only use a razor blade and warm water, although vinegar is safe to use and helps to loosen the deposits.

+1

If you have some exceptionally thick deposits you can let the vinegar sit for a while to soften the scale.

Mark

[mark razmandi]

thanks everyone so far for the advice....i used vinegar and a razor to clean my tank...the glass tops have a really hard white stain all over them that i cannot get off......i am going to go buy leslies today and get sand ....also i need new lights...any suggestions as to which ones i should get? i was gonna just go get some from home depot but im not sure if thats ok.....and i guess ill use spray paint for my tank....should i use like a flat black or gloss or what

[Mzungu]

Do you mean new bulbs? Or new fixtures? If you mean bulbs, Home Depot should be fine, just be sure to get the Aquarium bulbs or bulbs with a higher K-rating. The warm whites and such are really yellow, and don't look great over an aquarium. Try looking for something that's 6500K or above. Their Aquarium lights usually are above that K-rating, and don't look bad.

[Darbex]

If you need fixtures and want it to look good while saving money. See if someone on here is selling theirs or Ebay. I have gotten a lot of the Oddyssea brand at good prices and I havent had any problems thus far with them. There is a local retailer on Ebay called Topdogsellers they are very reputable IMO

[mark razmandi]

im not cheap at all....the appearance of this tank is everything and so i will not skimp on lights...ill just go buy some from an aquarium store

[Complexity]

If you have the money and want a nice light fixture, buy TEK. It doesn't get any better.

http://www.sunlightsupply.com/aqua/products.aspx?request=AQUA_TEK_LIGHT&title=Fluorescent%20Lighting&type=product

[mark razmandi]

If you have the money and want a nice light fixture, buy TEK. It doesn't get any better.

http://www.sunlightsupply.com/aqua/p...g&type=product

im not cheap, but im not rich either lol :P

[Complexity]

I honestly don't think the TEK fixtures are that much more expensive. When I was pricing fixtures for my 90g, everything I found was in the $200 range. What I did was get the TEK 4x54w for $290 and then applied a 15% discount. That brought it to under $250.

What cost so much were the bulbs, but that's because I got Giesemann bulbs which I put on my 75g planted. I put my old bulbs from my 75g on my new 90g since I didn't need such bright lighting on it. Otherwise, you could get bulbs from Lowes or Home Depot.