Hi everyone. (I will use UKgals instead of USgals although I'm familiar with the latter)

I have a young 5" Oscar temporarly in a 26gal bow. Thanks to your advice (and from the guys at fishlore.com) I managed to handle what seemed a stress overload for Moon (the Oscar's name.

A 72"Lx18"Wx26"H tank will be the final destination, that means 120g Today I installed a HOB (AquaClear 110, formerly 500) in the 26g bow to cultivate bacteria in its media (without the charcoal, I intend to add it when transfered to the final tank).

I purchased the bare tank (it's at the LFS) housing some goldfish (got a good deal for it, it ended up being a bit taller than they needed) and arranged for them to transport it when I'm ready.

I decided to go with two AquaClear 110 since these are designed to house ceramic cylinders for the bio-filtering, and I intend to rinse the sponge and replace charcoal bags in alternated ways.

I will use sand substrate (river sand, carefully rinsed) since planted tanks work better in my experience (keeping nitrates down). Even if I end with floating plants only and frequent uprooting (some guys report their Oscars ignore plants, so I'm hopeful).

Since I live in the Caribbean, in low altitude -near sea level-, temps remain quite steady all year long and through day/night cycle, tank's water temps around 26C-29C (79-84F).

I haven't solved the canopies/lighting yet. I might have to order them online. If you have ideas or suggestions, please let me know, so I learn from you. I'm newby for Oscars (Moon is my first one).

I intend to use a custom made, reinforced, metal structure of 74"Lx20"Wx40"H (will meet the mechanical/structure engineer Monday morning), with 1" or 3/4" plywood on top, and rest the tank in styrofoam. To protect the floor tiles, I might use styrofoam there too.

This tank will be in my house's office, so aesthetics are not a big priority right now. I am guessing around 1600lbs+ in total weight load.

Earthquakes, although not rare, are usually very mild around here.

Thank you. Your ideas are very welcomed.
Pepe
Santo Domingo

Sounds like you have things really well planned out. I have got various fake plants in my tank and my Oscars pay absolutely no attention to them whatsoever so not all Oscars destroy plants.

I'm glad you're going with sand, you will love it, it's far easier to manage than gravel so you will keep your tank cleaner. Anyway, looking forward to seeing some photos. I am giving their site a facelift soon and I hope to give each member at the chance to create their own gallery where they can have photos.

I'll keep everybody posted

your setup seems fine imo. the only change i would make is only on the filtration. aquaclear hob filters are probably the best but from what ive read and experienced you should go for 10 times your total water volume in gph. so for a 120 gallon tank you should have a flow rate of 1200 gph(imp) total. the ac 110 have a max flow rate of 500 gph(us) so in your case i would use three ac 110s.

on my set up which is only a little bigger than yours i have 3 ac 100s and a 900 gph sump and i have no probs at all with ammonia and nitrites.

also i would forgo the carbon and maybe use a fine filter pad instead to help with water polishing. carbon media is not needed unless you are removing meds and such from your system

Thanks for the info on filtering. Would It be wise to add a sump filter designed for 75gal instead of a third HOB? (There's one at good price at the LFS). Would that make sense? I know it would be cheaper to go with another AquaClear 110, just wondering.

Expecting the tank home by Saturday

Pepe

Plants growing on bogwood tend to be ignored by oscars, even the ones that like to dig plants up from the substrate

On the subject of substrates me and OFL disagree on the best. I prefer gravel. It gives them something to did in and move around. Sand isnt the easiest thing to keep clean, i have to syphon the fish waste from my discus tank twice a week. A couple days after doing one of these cleans waste starts to show.

With gravel, If you set up a undergravel filter but with an outlet from a cannister filter pushing water down the uplift tube you dont have to gravel clean except a quick scoop over for large waste. Much easier than sand.

personally i would use a sump over another hob filter. they provide the best biological filtration and also give you the opportunity to hide heater in them.

Ok I got the 120UKgal running, on its third day of fishless cycle. Since I set-it up at floor level -over styrofoam, I decided to go with three AquaClear 110. Found a solution for the canopies, with a pseudo-DIY solution (I design it but pay someone with expertise to do it). I will use glass canopies. Still pending the lamp issue. Two large (seem large to me, maybe not so) driftwoods are being cured at my favourite LFS (two weeks to go tops, allready in the process for five weeks or so) for me.

So far so good.

Pepe
Santo Domingo

I bet you're really excited, I know what it's like to have a large tank just waiting for fish.

I'm just working on the new look design for the website which I hope will be ready very soon. You'll be able to create your own gallery to put all your photos in so we will look forward to seeing pictures of your tank and fish

you have been working on your setup for a while and now even I want to see the finished product. ))

problem is, I've got lots of other jobs to do for other people. this is just a hobby. however, I want to get a new one up and running as soon as possible.

OFL: your effort here is very much appreciated by me, and probably any newby into Oscar fishkeeping.

Update: Brought home another young Tiguer Oscar, this one around 4", placed in the quarantine/hospital tank.

The 120UKgal is in its 8th day of fishless cycle, and its fifth day of Nitrite spike.

Solved the canopies (clear glass) and lighting (low light) issues. Brought in two pieces of driftwood, also got an ornament that resembles a driftwood. Still waiting for the sand I neeed to add. Got very nice looking flat rocks, that I'm cleaning/testing and smoothing the edges (floor tiles samples a friend of mine gave me as gift).

My wife is very much involved in the care of Moon and Luna (the youngest Tiguer Oscar), not to mention my little daughter (she kisses Moon goodnite, through the glass of course). For whatever reason, Luna didn't stressed as much Moon did.

I'm thinking about lowering the pH by filtering through peat, once the cycle is done. I'm concerned about the young Green Severum that's coming home soon.

Thank you all

Pepe
Santo Domingo

no problem, I am glad we are able to help.

What is the pH of your tap water? Remember that drift wood will more than likely bring the pH down. You'll find that keeping large fish will do the same. I would wait and see what happens before you start trying to add materials to the filtration system to bring it down. The pH of my tap water is 7.5. I've got couple of Oscars and a few tank mates in my 125 gallon tank, I've got three pieces of small bog and mopani wood. My PH normally drops to 6.0 at the end of one week, after a 30 or 40% water change, pH rises to 7.0. pH is very complex, I'm not in favor of using chemicals to alter, I think it's too easy to cause a disaster