# My 220, just recently restarted



## bigfish (Dec 3, 2007)




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## Danh (Feb 19, 2007)

6x2x30 with community fish. What a waste!  It looks really nice!


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## Buggy (Oct 17, 2006)

Very NICE! Love the driftwood.


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## lochness (Jan 10, 2006)

great looking tank! congratz and have fun with it  i'm jealous of the size


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## Guest (Dec 13, 2007)

Danh said:


> 6x2x30 with community fish. What a waste!


Exactly what I was thinking. LOL

Looks nice regardless. :razz:


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## cocomania (Nov 16, 2007)

Great pics, that centerpiece is really cool.


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## joe kool (Jan 24, 2005)

what kind of lighting do you have for it? "looks" like standard fluorescent tubes. A tank that size really needs some lumens to make it pop. ahsupply dot com has some retro fit kits you could build into your hood and have your fish looking for shades  their reflectors are awesome and make the most out of the light provided by the compact fluorescent lights they use. I'd do 2 of their 96watt kits, 4 would be better especially if you wanted to do any live plants in the future. I rebuilt my moms hoods on her 55 gal ( 2 55 watt kits) that she keeps in her hair salon while I was home on leave this summer and it was like night and day difference in lighting. Her customers just can't get over the change in the tank ...


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## Chaos553 (Apr 2, 2007)

wow, how much did you pay for the driftwood?

really awesome setup btw, jealous much


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## bigfish (Dec 3, 2007)

Thanks for all the nice words

*Danh & Scuba Kid:* Just curious, how would u not waste this size tank. Thanks for the compliment "really nice"

*lochness:* Don't be jealous sometimes I wish I didn't have such a big one, but once purchased and set up, what can u do, I've seen your 90g, awsome and I envy you for having such a managable size, the times I haven't had the tank running is because of how big and how hard to maintain, and I just need to take some time off.

*cocomania & Chaos553:* The center drfitwood is what I'm proudest in this tank, I don't know if because it looks so good or because I got such a deal on it. $45.00, took a long time to get it at that price though, I kept offering on it for about 2 months, and then the owner just said ok, take it but only cause you've been my customer for so long.

*joe kool:* You know I tried having live plants at one time with this lighting and what a disaster, everything died, even the swords. You are correct the lighting is standard flourescent, 4-40watt bulbs in zig zag formation with aluminum foil spray glued to the hood top, ballast are in base stand, talk a about DIY. I've always been bothered that both rear corners appear dark, but the electrical bill is not out of control, thats one reason I gave up on live plants. I figured my bill would skyrocket with the lighting needs in such a deep tank with live plants. I checked out the site you included, looks like a nice kit, might look into doing that setup in the future.


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## Guest (Dec 15, 2007)

Very nice! I love it . If only I had a 220...


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## Guest (Dec 15, 2007)

bigfish said:


> *Danh & Scuba Kid:* Just curious, how would u not waste this size tank. Thanks for the compliment "really nice"


With as your username shows...Big fish. :razz:

I didn't mean to sound as if I don't like it. It is quite a nice tank.


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## joe kool (Jan 24, 2005)

Like I said 2 of the 96 Watt kits would do wonders for the tank. And wouldn't be a whole lot more "energy" than you're spending now. Those kits come with the aluminum reflector but DO NOT come with bulbs so if you go that route ... don't forget to get bulbs as well. Personally I like the 50/50's but you could go with the straight 10K if you'd rather. The 50/50 would give everything a nice pop in the blue spectrum.


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## oliesminis (May 7, 2007)

nice setup looks good, what did you have in it before it was restarted


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## Chaos553 (Apr 2, 2007)

honestly bigfish, i really dont think ive ever seen i better tank setup full of fake plants ever. i know that may sound rude, but im dead serious. i tried setting up my 20g at one point with fake plants, and it looked like total crap, so i just changed it completely to live. kudos to you =P


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## bigfish (Dec 3, 2007)

*Ichtius:* Thanks for the compliment (interesting name for the forum, did u think about fungius, lol)

*Scuba Kid:* I've always had community fish, except for one run with African Cichlids, I just really enjoy the variety and abudunce I am able to have with a community setup, I know someone that has a 180g with a pair of albino oscars and while that setup is impresive with such large fish, it dosn't give me the same enjoyment as my setup

*joe kool:* I'm seriously thinking about doing that s/u to my tank, thanks for the info.

*oliesminis:* It was still for 1 year, no filters, no air pumps, no lights, but filled with water and 2 gold fish, prior to that, on and off with community fish, and one time a long while back, African cichlids

*Chaos553:* Thanks, I've spent some money and time getting it to look as natural as possible with fake plants. My try at live plants was a disaster due to the depth of the tank and the need for very expensive lighting, I was willing to spend the money on the proper s/u but then I started thinking about the power bill to keep my plants alive and I just said "no way, not in this tank". I'm gonna be replacing all the background plants because they are slowly rotting out and floating in the tank, I think it will look even nicer once I put the new background plants I have in mind.


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## joe kool (Jan 24, 2005)

here's the 411 on that set up: http://www.ahsupply.com/96watt.htm

Remember it DOESN'T come with a bulb as priced so you'll need to allow for that in your budget. But I don't stand alone in saying they have one of the best reflectors in the business. and I've never heard anything bad about their electronic ballasts (which is a ton better than the standard type with the "starter" which causes premature bulb failure and wear)


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## joe kool (Jan 24, 2005)

another thing you might try to keep light in the tank and give the tank some depth is measure the back length and height and get a quote on a piece of mirror. I use mirrors on most of my tanks for backgrounds, It reflects pretty close to 100% of the light back into the tank and adds depth and a "different" look to the tank. I get a lot of complements on my mirrored tanks. If you keep cichlids it has the added advantage of built in "dither" fish that'll never be beat up and helps keep your dominate male in check somewhat when he can't whoop that other fish over there staring at him


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## darkfalz (May 7, 2006)

With such a variety of fish how do you make sure they all get fed properly?


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## joe kool (Jan 24, 2005)

darkfalz said:


> With such a variety of fish how do you make sure they all get fed properly?


If that was for me you'll notice I have several different tanks (at one time I had 13 up and running but have since thinned out) and try and keep mostly herbivores separate from the carnivores but most of what I keep needs a fairly balanced omnivore diet so I mix and feed several different foods every couple days depending on the needs of specific tanks. that and I try and stay away from species that have narrow, demanding diets, especially strict herbivores. Each group of tanks has their own "food bowl(s)" just like my dogs :lol:


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## Danh (Feb 19, 2007)

Username: BIGFISH 
Tank size: 220g
Stocked with: tiny fish

Most people with that size tank don't put a bunch of 2" max fish in it. Especially with a username like yours. 

Your username is fine. Your tank looks great. What's more important is that you like it. It just so happens that I really do think it's a waste of a huge tank, but I was joking with you. I am glad you like it, and there is absolutely nothing wrong with it. I wasn't trying to start anything.


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