May be getting new tank, tips?

[Alkylhalide]

So I may be picking up a 100gallon tank(5feet by 18" and 24" tall) I wont be filling it to 24", probably 16-18" tops.
I currently have 5axolotls in a 50gallon tank

I am super excited togive them so much more space but also excited on what I can do with all that space!

I do want to keep it bare bottom, although i may add more slate rocks and whatnot to the tank, but not the whole bottom.

Any tips on what I should do with such a large tank? Should i put foam underneath it before filling it? It is going on a solid wood stand that is only 9" tall

 

[Jonjey]

I love your tank set up, do you keep the lights on all the time and those plants provide cover while still being able to keep the tank lit? What kind of plants are those at the top and do you need anything special to have it?
For the big tank, I've heard that foam helps, but a level tank and stand are both really important. Man I wish I had a huge tank.. If I had a big tank I'd set up a really really really strong filter with a ridiculous flow rate and I'd put a thin acrylic sheet with lots of holes drilled in it on one side of the tank to block off a small portion and have the outflow going in that small portion so I could have epic filtration and not piss my axolotls off... Sorry I'm getting off track here, foam, proper filtration, probably a uv sterilizer would be really good to have for a tank that big.. Make sure there are no leaks before you fill it up all the way. Idk, pretty basic stuff I guess lol. Do you have a chiller? If not it'll probably take quite a few fans to keep it cool haha.

 

[Alkylhalide]

Hahah the possibilities will be endless with all that space! An algae scrubber will be a must for sure. Best part is my tank divider will fit this new tank as well as it is 18" wide too!

That is a pretty awesome idea about the filtration. I will have to wait to buy a filter till i get a bit more money(i should be getting a bonus from work that should cover a nice eheim filter maybe . ) so that will be awesome!

And i keep the light on 12hours a day, the floating plants keep the light from bugging my lotls(they dont hide anymore since the plants have taken over) but it still leaves enough light to pass through for the other plants in my tank.

It is awesome! It is water sprite or "water lettuce" it reproduces like crazy(i had a ziploc bag full, and now it has covered my 50gallon tank, i have half my 10gallon full and i also have a tuperware container with a juvenile that has a lot in it as the little ones like hiding in it) but it forms like big leaves, not like duckweed, so i like it.

this picture is probably a few weeks old, it had taken over much more since.

 

[HayleyK]

Lucky! I'm hoping to move my TV somewhere else in my room and upgrade to maybe a 5 or 6ft tank. HOPEFULLY if my parents allow it some day.

I have just installed a 3D background with multiple levels and hides. You could m aybe do that and build a more natural looking divder too? I really do love that water lettuce great idea.

 

[Alkylhalide]

That seems like a good idea. I will look into 3d backgrounds for the tank! Thank you! And how would you suppose a more natural tank divider? I know its not that pretty, but neither is scraping 900eggs off all the plants(including the water sprite roots), the tank divider and all the decorations. It works now but it took all breeding season to make it un passable for them -.- live and learn

 

[Bette]

Now I definitely want water sprite! Very cool. Ludwigia cuttings work great also for floating plants.
If I was setting up a tank that big, I would get some manzanita branches(I think they are called that?), and attach java moss to it. The axies would love climbing on those!
I did almost the same thing with grape branches ... shorter pieces, but it still worked great.
On filtration, you could even do an aquaclear hob, with a homemade pvc pipe or similar baffle to break the current...only you'd have to fill the tank fully.
I highly recommend the fluval u3 under water filter. It works great and is silent.

 

[HayleyK]

That seems like a good idea. I will look into 3d backgrounds for the tank! Thank you! And how would you suppose a more natural tank divider? I know its not that pretty, but neither is scraping 900eggs off all the plants(including the water sprite roots), the tank divider and all the decorations. It works now but it took all breeding season to make it un passable for them -.- live and learn

Like encorporate the divider into the background instead of having a acrylic divider

You can also get spray foam which hardens. So it sprays all frothy and you can put driftwood and real rocks on it and they stick there once it hardens. If I ever get bored of my 3D background I'm definitely using the spray foam and using driftwood that has all those thin wriggly branches with one thicker branch. I would flip it do the thicker brand was in the sand & against the spray foam so the wriggly branches stick out so it'll look like a tree and thread moss into the "branches" so it will look like a big shady natural tree

Oh god why didn't i do that the first time... Just explaining it makes me want to do it hahah.

 

[Alkylhalide]

ThT would be pretty cool the tank divider i have is not acrylic but actually a plasti mesh from the craft store, stuck on by suction cups.

My thought was just a simple one but you elaborated it even more which i like, since mine is mesh i could put moss in between two pieces and then use fishing line to close it up and let the moss take over the divider, but it would be even more awesome to let it take over the divider and add things like driftwood to add more natural look to it and not just a wall of moss, because i am sure overtime the moss would start to move to the driftwood and ohhh you got me thinking!

 

[Alkylhalide]

Here is an updated picture of my 50gallon. I started out with only a little ziploc bag full of water sprite 2months ago and the first pic on this post wasnt to long ago, you can see that it is providing a lot of coverage from my light. But letting enough in to let my plants grow(i can see a huge growth on my oriental sword plant between pics

 

[Jonjey]

Would you be interested in selling some of the water lettuce?