Question: I just picked up a free 6' x 2.5' x 2' tank - is that too big for axies?

[FX1C]

I just scored an amazing deal - FREE!

10mm thick 6' long 2.5' deep 2' wide

Plus it came with
cabinet
hood
Eheim canister filter
Reverse Osmosis filter system
LED lighting system
Loads of air pumps
Saltwater testing kits
Buckets of red sea salt
3 garbage bins of stuff!

It's a huge tank & I'm only new to the whole larger aquariums thing - my history up until August last year was
a single Betta kept in a long cylinder tank with a plant! Since buying a plant that came with an axolotl egg on it I've raised 2 axolotls & have now got
2 aqua one tanks AR620 & AR850 the smaller has the axies & the 850 has a small community of 4 bristle nose plecos / 4 Cory's / 8 Tetras / 1 Betta - I really want to put discus in but the tank doesn't seem large enough - now with the 6' tank I'm tossing up creating a crazy axie tank or.... a discus tank :-/

How difficult will it be cleaning poop daily out of a tank that deep? Do they make Dyson vacuum cleaners for tanks? Would axies appreciate that much space? How many could you safely put into a tank like that - planted & with lots of hides? Is maintenance on a huge tank really a lot of work or is it not so bad once established? I'm happy lugging buckets of water at the moment & I can always buy more buckets

Sorry for all the questions - just trying to plan the new tanks future I'm already listing furniture on eBay so I can fit the tank in easily there's no way I'm putting that tank on the carpet! 0.0 lol

I'm now feeding a growing addiction




<3 >o_o< <3

 

[FX1C]

Pictures of the tank - couldn't carry the thing too far - so it's in the backyard till the morning!

I also rehomed / rescued a poor little nemo fish that was about to get flushed!! 0.0 I kid you not!
So he's currently in a temp setup until I can get him to someone with a tank!
It's a heat wave here & tomw 45degC is forecast! Sheesh fingers crossed for nemo :-/



For someone only new to aquariums
- I'm officially overwhelmed!



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[wandering]

You lucky *&%£&*-%--

With that volume of water it should be a doddle keeping it stable.

I also would change my furniture if I got one that size!

Hope Nemo finds a new home soon.

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[xxianxx]

Its easy to syphon out of large tanks, you may wish to invest in a drill operated pump and garden hose for water changes though.

 

[kiathepooch]

You could see if your las would take the clown fish?well as long as they have a marine setup!
How are you managing to look after him?i heard marine was quite hard to setup and run x

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[FX1C]

You could see if your las would take the clown fish?well as long as they have a marine setup!
How are you managing to look after him?i heard marine was quite hard to setup and run x

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I always thought saltwater was super technical & I'm sure it is all that. The little guy came with a bag of really mucky water & a 20kg bucket of salt (red sea salt) I weighed out exactly the correct grams per Litre & mixed it in with my aged dechlorinated water & stuck in the sponge filter & bubbles.

So far so good - he's still alive this morning so he's now been in that temp tank for 15hrs.

The temp today is going to be
45degC so there's no way I'm transporting a little fish in my black van. My local fish shop is freshwater / discus specialists so I've called a good place I know that does salt & they said don't stress it should be fine till Monday & they'll take it in & quarantine it then sell it of course ... lol

I've also contacted a saltwater fish club/group hoping someone could come get him





<3 >o_o< <3

 

[FX1C]

Its easy to syphon out of large tanks, you may wish to invest in a drill operated pump and garden hose for water changes though.

Ian,
How do you use a hose to do water changes?
I thought that aged dechlorinated is preferred - how do you dechlorinate it from a hose?
I'll have to look into a siphon - currently I'm using the worlds tiniest gravel vac for my tanks & I get a mouthful everytime I start the siphon (guaranteed the dog will distract me at that exact moment = gross lol).

Also can an eheim canister filter (external) that was used for marine be cleaned out & be ok to use for freshwater?

Sooooo many questions.... Sorry





<3 >o_o< <3

 

[kiathepooch]

I always thought saltwater was super technical & I'm sure it is all that. The little guy came with a bag of really mucky water & a 20kg bucket of salt (red sea salt) I weighed out exactly the correct grams per Litre & mixed it in with my aged dechlorinated water & stuck in the sponge filter & bubbles.

So far so good - he's still alive this morning so he's now been in that temp tank for 15hrs.

The temp today is going to be
45degC so there's no way I'm transporting a little fish in my black van. My local fish shop is freshwater / discus specialists so I've called a good place I know that does salt & they said don't stress it should be fine till Monday & they'll take it in & quarantine it then sell it of course ... lol

I've also contacted a saltwater fish club/group hoping someone could come get him





<3 >o_o< <3

Nice!i was toying with marine but with limited space and the fact i was too scared,i opted for tropical!

I hope you can find someone to rehome him,though the marine people are a good second option!

The new tank is huge!!
You can get a pond pump,attach a hose to it,then put it out the window if there's a drain,or in the sink.
Filling it up,you can connect it to the tap and add the dechlorinator to the tank,or get a water butt and do the same with the pump and hose x

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[EmbryH]

"too big"

Ha! Is your tank too big? I feel like that's as if Picasso asked "Is my artwork too awesome?" or if a pack of wolves asked "Is Yellowstone National Park too good of an environment for my pack?"

Worrying about if your tank is too big should be awesome. Enjoy it! Cannot WAIT to see what you do with it!

Too big. Bahahaha.

 

[Fullmoonnight]

Too big? No such thing lol. I believe that the only aquatic thing where you can say " this tank is too big" are Dwarf Sea horses XD

 

[FX1C]

lol @ it can never be too big!
I thought that too...... Until

This thing is monsterous! I could fit my dog in it & use it as a dog run 0.0

I'd need to dust off my scuba gear to clean it

Sadly I think I've inspired my husband with the aquariums so much that he wants it for a discus tank & a plecostimus fear not, the axies can upgrade eventually too - I'm going to sell both the Aqua One tanks & get the axies a 4' tank with flat glass - I'm going to need glasses if I keep looking through bow fronted tanks!

PS - Shark Bait (nemo) is still happy in the temp saltwater setup - trying to find him a home in 40deg day isn't easy! It's hot!



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[Martin21114]

it's only too big if you can't get it inside

 

[FX1C]

it's only too big if you can't get it inside

lmfao - thank goodness for the double width gates & sliding door
We've already had to lug (& I mean hernia material) around to the back door! lol

Plus I'll have used up all the available wall space with the 6 footer.
(I'm not allowed to get rid of the
58" kitchen TV lol)



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[Fullmoonnight]

lmfao - thank goodness for the double width gates & sliding door
We've already had to lug (& I mean hernia material) around to the back door! lol

Plus I'll have used up all the available wall space with the 6 footer.
(I'm not allowed to get rid of the
58" kitchen TV lol)



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lol who needs a tv anyways? XD

 

[EmbryH]

...it is my secret fantasy to have a super giant axie tank in which we can all live and frolic together...

I shall become one of them....​

>.>;;

 

[FX1C]

...it is my secret fantasy to have a super giant axie tank in which we can all live and frolic together...

I shall become one of them....​

>.>;;

lol - I'm glad I'm not the only nutty one here I have the best axolotl dreams at night - I think I'm spending way too much time mesmerised in front of my tanks.

It's large enough for me to lie down in & yep I already thought it could make an amazing axie paradise - I'm just not sure it'll be practical for axies - my arms aren't long enough to scoop poop daily in it.



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[FireStar]

I'm curious (and a little bit jealous)
How did you get it free?

 

[FX1C]

I'm curious (and a little bit jealous)
How did you get it free?

I'm known for my work helping small breed specific dog rescue groups & a lot of the people I deal with have followed the growth of my hitchhiker egg that's now a healthy growing 6" axolotl - I had to get a tank for him & that's when people literally gave me tanks they now longer wanted - I got given an AquaOne AR620 first & the same weekend I got a bargain AR850 on eBay with loads of extras for $50 & an aquarium addiction began

The guy with the 6' tank got my number from one of my friends & he asked me on the Wednesday if I'd like to buy the whole setup but he needed it picked up by the Friday 0.0 - I told him I wasn't looking to buy any tanks but if he was stuck & needed it gone I'd gladly pick it up if he wanted to donate it. He called back at midday Friday & said if I could pick it up by 3pm I could have the lot! He just wanted to get rid of everything!

If you want cheap tanks the big tanks are always super cheap on eBay - I guess it's because they're not easy to pick up & a bit risky if they could be in bad condition - best bet is to look for ones still full of water - then you know it won't leak! Moving the tank is a real pain in the everywhere though

I managed to fit the 6' in my Berlingo van! It only just fitted & was 2 loads including the massive cabinet plus the 3 bins full of marine stuff, 3 boxes full of LEDS & a reverse osmosis set up too.
Asked the marine guys today & they offered me $2000 for all the gear sight unseen. So I'm a very very lucky girl



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[FX1C]

OMG OMG OMG

After much discussion about what is to become of this monsterous tank - I had thought my husband reeeeeally wanted to have a discus tank finally......

But ......

After catching him with his nose in my axie tank (as always) he just said he'd rather make the huge tank an axolotl oasis

Squeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeal

So excited now! Have to work out the best way to keep it easy to maintain.

I would love to do a slate floor on this tank but fear that would add even more weight to the thing.

I'm not sure sand is very easy to maintain especially when it's 2'ft down! lol

River rocks are great but how hard are they to maintain & clean beneath

Or a fully planted tank?? Eeeek!

Decisions decisions -

All feedback / ideas / experiences welcomed as always.




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[EbonySparkles]

I think you could fit a few more babies in there , what an awesome habitat!!!