I found a 75 gallon hexagon aquarium with stand, lighting, and cover for $100 today on craigslist. First, good deal? Second, would I be able to keep goldfish in this tank? I am supposed to go look at it in 2 hours, but wanted to get some opinions first. Thanks in advance for any input or advice.

I think you can still keep goldfish in it but cause of the lack of surface water I would not keep but 3.

I would stock lightly...I had 3 in a 45 gallon and it was a tight squezze they couldn't swim back and forth...

That is a good deal, but goldfish really do need a lot of horizontal room for swimming, especially as they grow. The tank is better suited for tetras and other such tropicals.

ooh a 75 tropical tank would be COOL!!! sooo pretty!

Well, here it is! Excuse the mess, dinner and bedtime for a 2 year old and haven't cleaned up yet.

prettty... what a great deal for only $100!

It's a great big beautiful tank, but I would not suggest keeping goldfish in it. They just need a lot of swimming room, and they're horizontal swimmers by nature, not vertical.

It would be an AWESOME trop tank.... a school of danios, some tetras, a gourami or two, a catfish.......

Can that be a saltwater? I was thinking how pretty corals would be in there.

I am still trying to figure out what I'm going to do with it. For now, I have to buy a filter and get a cycle going on it. The only fancies I can get around here are about an inch long and I was planning on getting another tank when we have a little more room this winter. Do you think 3 or 4 small goldfish would be ok in there for a few months? I agree, it would make a pretty saltwater tank. I know nothing about saltwater except that it takes a lot of work and probably alot more money than I have to spare.

http://www.petfrd.com/forum/articles.php?a...le&artid=87 Does this seem like a solid design for a canister filter? Also, how many gph should the pump process? I have a very handy friend who is helping.

Looks good. You may also want to read my post in the DIY section about a DIY canister filter that Penguin and I made. It may be a little easier to accomplish?

I like the design for that canister: it is about as simple as the design Joy and I made. However, I think you'd want a larger canister and pump (for the size tank you're doing). Also, I would be concerned about the pressure from a large tank overcoming the seals at the inlet/outlet connections.

For the pump, you should have at least 10x the tank capacity in flow rate/hour for goldfish. The Rio 2100 that Joy and I ordered is pretty close (692 GPH), and inexpensive. Something similar would work fine. If you do saltwater... I don't know how much you need.

For the canister: I would want at least a gallon of filter media, or maybe two for a tank that large (more is better, and allows more time between filter cleanings ) Look around for food storage canisters with lids that attach with clips or a screw-top. For more filter media capacity, you could run multiple canisters in parallel (using a 'Y' connector) off of one large pump.

I sent my husband to the restaurant supply place in town to find a large container. The one he brought back was gallon size so I think it should work. Now I just have to buy a case of beer for my friend in payment for his handiwork. I still have to go get a pump, but I figured I'd let him come along on that one. He bought some clamps to secure the tubing and says that should work. I'm crossing my fingers. It's agonizing having such a large tank just sitting there empty, not even beginning a cycle.

Patience... lol.... cycling takes a lot of it.

Good luck on your canister filter! Our pump and biomedia just came today... SO EXCITED!

I have some pics, I'll post them in the DIY Canister Filter thread that Joy started. We can discuss sealing later (have to go run errands).

Something you could consider is adding a small powerhead with a sponge pre-filter. The sponge is great bio-media, and you can use that to start the tank cycling. The only concern I have with powerheads is their intense current... a home-made spray bar is a simple solution to that. You can count the sponge filter/power head as part of your total filtration, too.

I love your thread, it's so informative. I only ventured into this because I was reading your thread and my friend looking over my shoulder said "I can do that for you." I would never have attempted on my own. How did you make your spraybar? I'm also pretty concerned about the power of the intake. How do you solve that so your fish don't get sucked in?

My current powerhead has a sponge-filter intake, so the current is diffused enough that my betta doesn't seem to mind. He doesn't, however, like my spray bar's current: it needs more and/or larger holes to spread out the current more.
I'm posting pics/how-to of the spray bar soon.. watch for it in the DIY section.