[jyl]

I used to have freshwater tropical fish, 70 gal tank.

Suggest look at an under-gravel filter. Liked mine a lot, kept water clear and held the junk in the gravel, where it could be conveniently sucked out every couple of weeks.

All my pumps, lines, etc were mounted above the tank. So if leak, power failure, etc, no risk of emptying the tank on to the floor. If I had just put in $25K of new floors, I would think about that idea.

The plants are as interesting and cool as the fish, actually.

I know this is obvious, but fill the tank and let it sit outside for a day to make sure it doesn't leak.