I recently bought this aquarium headboard for a bargain price on Craigslist. However, it looks crazy hard to set up. There are two pumps, a chiller, and tons of plumbing materials. Can anyone advise me on the easiest way I could set this up?

The previous owner used this for salt water. However, I would like to use it for fresh water starting out. I have access to some free goldfish that are 6" long and up that would be great to put in here. I'm looking for the cheapest and easiest way to start using this tank. As I learn more, I will make it more fancy. Any help is greatly appreciated!

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welcome aboard. is the tank drilled for saltwater? how many gallons does it hold?

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Thanks for the response Summer. It has two holes in the back to circulate the water into a bucket underneath the tank. Is that what you mean by drilled? (I'm pretty clueless about aquariums.) And it's either a 95 or a 98 Gal tank. I'm not sure which.

welcome aboard and nice tank,sorry don't know a thing about plumbing. x.x im sure some others can.

If the tank was originally set up for SW and you are going to use it for a FW tank then there is really no need to use the overflow portion of the tank unless you are going to use a sump with the tank. As far as the chiller goes there is no need for it unless your tank is running hot. My best advice is go to the hardware store and get some PVC fittings that you can use to plug the overflow holes in the tank. I would silicone them so if you decide to transition to salt water all you have to do is clean off the silicone.

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75 Gallon Planted

Great advice! So if I plug the holes and convert it to freshwater, will I still need to circulate the water in some way to keep the algae from growing as much? Or could I just get a hefty filter and some plecos?

The tank looks like either a 75g Bowfront or a 90g Bowfront. Plug the holes using bulkheads, easy fix.

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Yes, you will definitely need a filter for your tank. I will assume you no nothing about keeping fish.

You should Google the following:
Nitrite Cycle
Cycling without fish
Cycling with fish
Aquarium filters

That should get you started and on your way to healthy fish keeping.

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75 Gallon Planted

LOL, sorry but I had to laugh because I know the feeling of getting a box of used bits and you don't have a clue what any of them are. I'm can't tell you how to put the stuff together but I'll try to fill in some basic info.

Salt water reef tanks are usually run with a sump or refugium, basically a second tank under the first tank where you can have filter media equipment and extra water capacity. Water is pumped from the main tank into the tank bellow and back up again. That is probably what the pumps, tubes and holes in the tank are for. This can also work very well for fresh water tank, allowing for good filteration and higher stocking level of the tank, on a large FW tank it's probably better than a filter. However it's not the simple option. As has been mentioned, the simplest thing would be to plug the holes and buy a new filter for FW. If you buy a filter, make sure you get a good one. Buying one that says it's for a bigger tank than you have is usually a good idea. It's better to have a filter that is twice as strong as you need than one that only just does.

You shouldn't be needing the chiller unless you plan on a reef tank later. Chillers are usually expensive so try selling it on if you don't want it.

A word on goldfish. Goldfish are hardy colorful and have personality. They are also one of the messiest fish you can keep. If you go for goldfish make sure your filter is extra good and don't overstock. Large goldfish should have 20-30 gallons each. Because goldfish are so hardy people make the mistake of thinking they are happy in small overcrowded tanks, they do survive for a while but it will end up killing them sooner or later. A well kept goldfish can be expected to live for 15-25 years.

Tropical fish are not harder to keep than goldfish, the difference is you need a heater.

Pretty much the first and most important thing to know about when starting up a new aquarium is the nitrogen cycle. This is a good thread:
The Fishless Cycle

And welcome by the way!

well said Snail. I was to lazy to type out more specifics.

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75 Gallon Planted

Just come here to learn something about a tank.
Thanks

I have done extensive salt and freshwater. The principals are the same. The only thing you probably do not need for freshwater is the chiller and that might not be true depending on the species of fish you choose. For a beginner African Cyclids are very pretty and easy to care for. I had about 20 in my 110 gallon when I had to go on the road for almost a year. The tank was in my man cave, the basement, and my wife did not care for them at all, rarely ever fed them, never checked the filters and occasionally added water. The fish ate from the eco system in the tank. The filters failed, the water evaporated about eight inches, more than once, but most of the fish survived, bread, and I had more fish when I came back than I had when I left.
Saltwater is not necessarily so hard to keep. Discus can be much harder than salt water even though they are fresh water. Saltwater fish aren’t overly difficult, but corral and invertebrates are more than I would recommend for a beginner.
Your tank is drilled and has an overflow. That is the thing in the back that goes from the bottom up to the fill line. What you do is take the water from the bottom of the overflow where it is drilled and dump in in your sump. If it were not drilled, I would recomend you buy a hang on overflow because the overflow controls tank fill level and lets you use an amazing thing called a sump! All of your heaters and filters go in the sump. Your pump returns the water to the tank. The tank should be very neat and clean with a sump and you will see that the water will always rise to the level of the overflow but no higher so you add and change out water from the sump. Many people say there is no need for a sump unless you are using saltwater. That may be true but I couldn’t imagine having a tank without one. My display tank is a freshwater discus tank, 240 gallons, and it is drilled with overflown. I pipe the water to my garage where I have an old 110 gallon tank set up as a sump (the one the cyclids were in about 5 years ago). There are no filters, little chance of spillage, and only the gurgling of the sumps for noise in my display room. I made my trickle down filter and have a submerged Ehime substrate section for more biological, and have used carbon in the sump. The heaters are there a final fine mesh filter leaving the sump, and I even have UV on the return lines. As a beginner, learn how to use a sump and you will be a jump ahead for any kind of fish you want to keep and as you learn about all of those mysterious filters I described, if you want to try them, you will have a place without disturbing your main tank.
Snail said to learn about the nitrogen cycle. That is very sound advice. Once you have everything set up, the chlorine removed, the temperature stabilized, add live bacteria. There are a lot of products. I use Special Blend, but I don’t think it matters. After you put the bacteria in it takes about three weeks for a tank to properly cycle. You may get away with a few fish if you want to risk it, or you can just put a little food or a spoon full of ammonia in the tank every day to feed the bacteria and help it establish. If you choose something tricky like saltwater or Discus, ask your supplier what kind of fish is a “canaries” so you can buy something inexpensive to see if your tank will let it live. For Discus I use cardinal tetras. The discus like it hotter and I will raise the tank temperature before I put them in, but if the tetras live, chances are the discus will too.

Welcome!Lovely tank.Sorry I am no help with setup.

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Welcome to the forum.

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