# GAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHH!!! NEW 80 GALLON! Planning a Community...



## FinnDublynn (Feb 27, 2015)

My coworker just handed over an 80 Gallon Tank to me.

It's just the tank, and stand, and she MIGHT hand over the canister filters.

Promised my BF I wouldn't do anything with the tank until him and I move in together to make sure I have the ROOM for it.

This allows me several MONTHS to slowly get the things I need for it. Canopies, Lights, Gravel, Decorations, Air Pump, Etc Etc Etc. I'll be buying a little here. A little there. 

I have no idea what kinda theme I should dooooo!!! I need to Plaaaaaannnn...

I'm not going to use natural plants on this tank. It's too big, that's too expensive, the upkeep is just going to be too much... I still have 4 other tanks that have natural plants to keep up with, and quite frankly, adding in this large tank and having to trim plants and liquid ferts... I just want this one to be more FUN. 

What Should I DO!? I think I want it to still be a little "natural" looking... no neon gravel or anything, and NO "under the sea".... but I want a bit of a theme. I plan on having black and white fish in there, mostly, Dalmatian Mollies. I used to have them and I love them and I want them. I would totally be ok with doing JUST Mollies.... But with 80 Gallons, I have a lot of choices. 

I don't know what kinda fish to do. 
I don't know what kinda theme to do.
I DON'T KNOW WHAT TO DO BUT I HAVE AN EMPTY TANK!! lol

I want to know everyone's "dream theme"! What would you do if you could do anything with an 80gallon?? I need ideas! Tell me the fish you'd have, the color gravel, gimme every detail!


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## FinnDublynn (Feb 27, 2015)

oOOOOoooOoOooooOOOOOOoOOooo... My favorite thing ever is Egyptian... What if I did an Egyptian theme with an oasis!? YYEEEEESSSSSSSS.....


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## FinnDublynn (Feb 27, 2015)

FinnDublynn said:


> oOOOOoooOoOooooOOOOOOoOOooo... My favorite thing ever is Egyptian... What if I did an Egyptian theme with an oasis!? YYEEEEESSSSSSSS.....



Yup. I've decided this is what i wanna do.. there will be a large oasis with a pond, lush greens, Then a Pyramid, Sphinx, and two obelisks will lead the way into the oasis... Maybe get a few camels, too...

OK! So. Here is my Egyptian Sand:










Here are my choices for plants around the oasis:


































Then, what's an oasis without water? This glass gravel:








Is going to sit on top of this "Underwater Bubble River"(Without the asian bridge, of course lol)








(Click HERE to access the video of it in motion!)

Having the bubbles under the clear glass gravel will give the water "motion"

Add a small rock cave:








(maybe 2? Or maybe just some sandstone type rocks)
And some blue lights and more bubbles:









and then the oasis entry:








And the Oasis? Is done.

And then there will be:

















And I'll keep looking for others, too. :-D


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## Romad (Jun 28, 2009)

How exciting!! I'd love to have a big empty tank to play with. 

Since you have a lot of time on your hands before you set this up, have you considered making your own AQ silk plants? I'm always underwhelmed by the choices available and even though my 75 gallon is planted, I like to have some silks in there for height.

Check this out:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3L2VtDaM2H0

As for fish, if you're going with black and white fish, you could have a nice big school of rummynose tetras in there. I think they'd look great with their black and white tails and red faces.

Happy planning!


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## FinnDublynn (Feb 27, 2015)

I have considered it... but I was actually able to find all those above, that I actually REALLY like, for surprisingly inexpensive on DrsFosterSmith.com.... Tho I'm sure when I get it set up and everything, I'll wind up wanting more and might look into it again... but since all my other tanks are shorter and naturally planted, I've never really looked into silk plants. I have a few to keep some resting and hiding places in my hospital tank, but that's about all I have... so It might come down to me looking at more. As it is, most of those plants are 8 inches high and the 80gallon is 18 inches high... That's gonna leave a lot of room.. tho that first plant, second down? that's 3 feet long... so i'll help with some of the upper stuff, and I'm ordering 2 of those.. But I def might need something more.. and that link will come in handy...


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## InStitches (May 26, 2014)

that is such a fun theme  I love the river idea and all the structures. Recent idea I saw for underwater paths/rivers was to silicone the gravel to something cut in the shape of the river/path, so you will never lose the perfect shape.

if you really did want to try live plants, there are some super cheap ways to do upkeep  Osmocote caps in the sand every few months means no liquid ferts, and if doing liquid CO2 you can buy Metricide crazy cheap - apparently it's the same thing as Excel (as long as you don't use the activating liquid), but more concentrated and not marketed toward aquarists. It's a common medical cleaning liquid. But I've been seeing a lot of people with fantastic, filled out tanks that don't supplement CO2.

ugh, if I had a tank that big... I'd do an African river biotope. Bichir and leopard bush fish, maybe some congo tetra, though they might get eaten. Lots of anubias and African water fern. Big, beautiful driftwood. Dark sandy substrate to make my fish happy. Oooh and loaches  Big loaches. Thin panel 3D background to match the river theme, maybe with roots coming out. maybe I would construct it myself using pond foam, drift wood, sand and epoxy. I'd have a good canister filter on there - maybe Eheim, I love the classic canisters but self-priming would be NICE - to keep great water flow. Throw in a few extra submersible water pumps for water flow if needed. Adjustable LED's, maybe Finnex 24/7 or Current's Freshwater Plus Pro.

Or I'd try out a marine tank for the first time. 40 gallons is the smallest I'd go for a marine tank, 80 would be fantastic. I want a blue velvet damsel but could get so much more in a tank that size.

Oooor a pond grow-out. I want a pond eventually... hopefully within the next few years. Could use it to grow out some turtles. And later some fancy goldfish and koi, until they're big enough that the turtles wouldn't munch on them at all. But that idea is probably not very helpful in any way lol.

Are you on any facebook aquarist groups? There are a couple I like to follow for listings of plants and hardscape and such, although JD Aquatics really can't be beat, I know you enjoyed your last plant order from him.


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## FinnDublynn (Feb 27, 2015)

I'm not on Facebook, at all. lol

The canister filters she's giving me are actually the Eheim brand. I'm waiting on pins and needles to see how much she wants for them or if I can just have them... Since I'd have *2* of them, for the tank, I'd fill up one with straight up sponge and matrix, have that one be straight biological filtration. Then the other would hold my Purigen and Carbon, and put inline heaters on both, and have both of them reintering thru a spray bar. Since it wouldn't be a betta tank, I would love to be able to have a little flow to the water for the fishies 

And I know there are ways to put in natural plants that's less expensive and a little less care... but right now, I already want to double the plants in all my tanks (triple in a few that are less planted) and then I would have to double all of THAT to fill this tank.... it's just a lot of plants and a lot of care and a lot of stress that I'm just not willing to take on right now, especially since Will and I eventually want kids and that's in the not TOO distant future, honestly. Plus, I really want a nice fun tank that i only have to do water changes on and the occasional algae flush if I happen to leave the lights on too long lol. At 80 gallons, if it's not overstocked, and fully cycled, it can be fairly easy to maintain with regular water changes... and I'm looking forward to that, I think lol.

I might eventually switch it over to real plants.... but, for now, it just feels daunting and expensive  

And I considered using silicone to attach the blue "water" glass beads to the "perfect shape".. but I'm a little worried that the silicone would wind up making the bubbles of the "river" under it harder to see, and I really like the rippled water idea... I'm really hoping it looks as good as I hope lol. 

I have 2 different sized Pyramids right now, the Sphinx and the 2 Obelisks... then the oasis planned out... It'sgoing to be AMAZING I hope.


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## InStitches (May 26, 2014)

do you know which model of eheim ? apparently you can upgrade the impellers to increase water flow on some models. (use the impeller from a size up)

Eheim are great lol. I had no trouble selling mine when it came time XD

I bet the inline heaters will be amazing.

LOL plants can definitely be expensive. I think I spent about the same on fake plants, though, mostly cause I would throw them away once they started getting algae on them >_<

for water changes... maybe consider a python or a venturi pump with generic tubing? It'll save a lot of pain! I hated water changes on my 40, I can't imagine doing 80 with buckets.

you def have to post photos as you build  It will be so cool, I want to see what happens with the oasis!


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## FinnDublynn (Feb 27, 2015)

I just bought a 400GPH pond pump to help with water changes on just my little tanks, along with 40 feet of hose so I can pump it directly outside, or down the drain, and I have a giant clean trash can on wheels. SO. I can fill that from the bathtub, while I'm draining off water from the tanks at a high speed directly down the bathtub drain. Then just throw the pump to the bottom of the trash can and boom, fill up all the tanks quickly too. It'll be GREATTTT on the 80 gallon if I'm already excited about the 20 gallon tanks... lol


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## FinnDublynn (Feb 27, 2015)

Ah.. and I know basically nothing about the filters, honestly. lol. I THINK she said they were Eheim, but I can't be sure. Won't know until I have them in hand lol


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## FinnDublynn (Feb 27, 2015)

The filters are API Filstar XP filters, a large and x-large


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## MikeG14 (May 31, 2014)

Just a thought, but did you know that upside down catfish were actually recorded in Egyptian hieroglyphics?









A nice group of _Synodontis nigriventris_ would kinda be like have living hieroglyphs swimming around your tank.


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## FinnDublynn (Feb 27, 2015)

I actually DID know that and was considering those!! But I needed to research if they can be held with NJ u mollies cause those are the ones I really really really want lol


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## MikeG14 (May 31, 2014)

Upside down catfish prefer soft, acidic water. It might not be a perfect match with a mollie. They are all wild caught so I'm not even sure how available they are in Alaska.


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## Betta44 (Aug 9, 2015)

I LOVE your ideas for an Egyptian theme! Please post pics when you have it done.

I rotate the themes in my 10 gallon Betta tank. I have 3 themes so far; coral reef, Asian, and "natural" (stone arches, Betta log, green plans with touches of blue silk plants in it). It's fun to change things out from time to time- keeps me and my Betta from being bored.


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## FinnDublynn (Feb 27, 2015)

MikeG14 said:


> Upside down catfish prefer soft, acidic water. It might not be a perfect match with a mollie. They are all wild caught so I'm not even sure how available they are in Alaska.



I actually can get them here... But sad to think they're not a match. I really want my mollies, used to have them long ago and they're a favorite, but who knows what will happen between now and when the tank is ready...


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## SplashyBetta (Jul 28, 2014)

How about some panda platys to go with the mollies? For the black & white


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## FinnDublynn (Feb 27, 2015)

That's totally my plan lol. And I love the idea of turquoise tetras, too!


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## FinnDublynn (Feb 27, 2015)

Turquoise? Wth phone.... 

RUMMYNOSE.


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## SplashyBetta (Jul 28, 2014)

I love my rummynose tetras! I've found mine to be very finicky when it comes to food, but other than that they're great. A large school of 20-30 or so would be gorgeous in your 80 gal!


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## micheemak (Aug 8, 2015)

For bottom feeders how about Panda, Pepper or Julii Corydoras? And what about dalmation swordtails as well? I have mollies and swordtails in my 75g, and there's zero issues.

Marble angles are nice too, but they get so big and can be pretty aggressive. I had them in my first tank when I was a kid, and they pretty much ran the tank. They were their own little syndicate, and if a fish put one fin out of place, the hit was out.


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