Pepere
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Posts posted by Pepere
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On 2/15/2024 at 6:29 PM, NickD said:
Need best active carbon for my 29 gallon to absorb cloudiness and tannins. Provide links plz
Based on the photo you provided, the fastest and cheapest way to reduce the brown coloration would be through water changes. Activated carbon after can help mop up residual.
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Placing it in a box filter works well, and those are cheap enough. I think just putting it above the outlet of a sponge filter tha majority of the water will flow around it rather than through it.
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On 2/15/2024 at 4:07 PM, MidnightBel said:
I did purchase Aqua Clear Ammonia Remover that got here several days ago. Would putting this in a media bag in the center inside of the spone filter help any? Or should I be using the new filter set up I got? pH is 6.6 with ammoia at 0.25-0.3ppm.
If you wish to use it, I would place it in the box filter.
the chart below shows the total ammonia level that you can have before it reaches toxic levels for a given temperature and ph.
At a water temp of about 75 Fahrenheit and a ph of 6.8, you are safe up to 6.1 ppm total ammonia.
it is free ammonia that is toxic. Total ammonia is the total of toxic free ammonia and non toxic ammonium. The ratio between free ammonia and ammoniumchanged depending on temp and ph.
With a small Beta tank, simply water changig out the total ammonia would be fine and fairly easy.
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I bought a few bottles of Dr Tims, a few of stability, a few of fritzyme 7 , an aqueon product a few bottles of another highly reccomended product. None of them did anything I could perceive. Took the same time to cycle as a tank I just left to run with no bacteria in a bottle products.
I did another tank that I put a mesh bag of Black Kow composted cow manure next to the filter. In 2 weeks that tank could metabolize a loading dose of 4 ppm ammonia to 0 ammonia, 0 nitrites and a lot of nitrates with 24 hours of dosing the ammonia..
I can not forsee a scenario where I would ever purchase or recommend purchasing any bacteria in a bottle product…
But, Lots of people swear by them and recommend them heavily….
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Yep, where cycle is not well established I have used ammonia absorbers as well.
If your air rise tube opens to the middle, your water comes in from both ends of the filter box and flows to the middle.
general rule of thumb on filtration is coarser prefilter at start of flow, then finer for mechanical followed by bio then chemical.
I personally dont think ceramic media functions anywhere near what the theoretical surface area calculations would lead one to believe. I suspect the functional surface area is far less as water is not flowing through the media itself once biofilm forms on the outer surface. This is why I use nylon pot scrubbers instead of ceramic medias.
Where you are working to establish several sponge filters in a tub, presumably without fish in it, if I were doing it this way, I would fill the box filter with zeolite media to absorb ammonia and polyill or sponges on the ends for mechanical filtration and use this in the tank with the betta to keep ammonia at bay and replace zeolite as needed…
On the tub I was establishing sponge filters in, assuming no fish or livestock in the tank, I would make sure there is plenty of surface agitation for oxygen exchange which with multi sponge filters is likely a given. I would add baking soda to a ph of 8 to allow beneficial bacteria to multiply faster and raise the tub temp to 80. BeneficiL bacteria establish quickest with elevated ph, temps and oxygenation.
My personal experience with the various bacteria in a bottle treatments is that they profited the retailers and makers much more than they ever gave me a benefit. I can not see any circumstance where I personally would be exchanging any money for another bottle. If you have house plants where the soil is not allowed to dry out, and can spare a half cup of that, stirring it in to your tub would be in my opinion far more efficacious. I understand other people hold other opinions and I hold no desire to argue with them, but neither does that change mine…. Take it for what you will…
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Your filter has holes in the top and bottom?
hard to tell the water flow with all the media in the way. Do you have an airstone in the riser tube? Or does it just bubble up?
basically the water flows up out of the riser tube. At the base of the riser tube the water flows in to it. Where is the base of the riser tube? Is it at the bottom of the filter, the middle or the top?
On my Lee’s triple flow filters the air tube riser is attached to a perforated base plate that sits at the bottom of my filter. I place about 3/4 of an inch of gravel on top of that plate to weigh down the filter and provide surface area for bacteria. I then use nylon pot scrubbies on top and use a bit of polyfill on top. With the Lee’s, the water enters on 3 corners flowing up and then down through the polyfill, down through the pot scrubbers pass the gravel and then up the riser tube.
When I want to pull meds out of the tank, I place a bit of activated carbon in a mesh bag that I put where the scrubbies normally reside, and simply float the scrubbies in the tank to preserve the bacteria colony.
My tap water chronically has 1 ppm ammonia in it. When I do a 50% water change my tank gets up to 0.5 ppm ammonia. If I do a water change in the morning, the ammonia level in the tank is not perceivable with API liquid test kit by evening. The beneficial bacteria gobble it all up by then…I do not use any ammonia absorbing pads or materials. My PH varies between 7.2 and 6.0 depending on co2 injection, so an ammonia level of 1 ppm causes me no concern at all so long as it is not rising.
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It is simply a part of my weekly tank maintenance.
Saturday morning I remove the lid, siphon 3 gallons out of the tank, use a melamine scrubby to clean all of the glass inside the tank, trim lrune plants for the week, and then do a 50% water change. Clean and replace lid and clean the outside of the tank.. it takes me about 30 minutes.. First Saturday of the month takes about 15 minutes longer as I service the canister filter and scrub the glass intake skimmer. Every three months I take down all of the filter hoses and spray bar to scrub out and replace.
I prefer to keep to this schedule as it goes quicker and always looks better and is not at all onerous compared to letting it get bad. Doing monthly canister maintenance, it never looks anything like those unpleasant filter cleanings I see on youtube where people go 6 months between cleanings…
Cleaning the lid weekly I never have green slime covering the lid. At most, I have a little string of green slime I get out with a q tip where the glass and the hinge meets.
I would rather do less work every week than an onerous chore every 3-4 weeks.
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I usually will do a 50% water change after first week and place activated charcoal in a box filter to adsorb remaining meds. I then wait 2 weeks before 2nd dose of paracleanse . I let that set for a week and then water change and use charcoal again. I then watch the fush for two more weeks before I transfer them to display tanks.
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On 2/14/2024 at 2:10 AM, Galabar said:
I wonder if it will fit the classic:
https://www.amazon.com/Lees-Triple-Flow-Corner-Filter-Large/dp/B0002APX0U
The Easy Flow kit does fit to the medium sized Lees triple flow, but not to the large or small.
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On 2/13/2024 at 10:46 PM, AllFishNoBrakes said:
@Pepere can probably help you out.
Not so much…I use the non wifi version. It controls the temperature which is all I really want it to do…. I cant really speak to the benefits of a wifi enabled one.
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On 2/12/2024 at 11:37 AM, NOLANANO said:
Does anyone know the reasoning behind not feeding the tank during the Med Trio treatment?
All of what @AllFishNoBrakes said.. Also, the meds can wobble the cycle or even wipe it out if it is a young bacteria colony…
By not feeding for 4-5 days you significantly reduce the ammonia load going in to the tank. Ie the fish are fasted, so they are not pooping out the same as if they were eating and their metabolism is also slower because the are not having to digest food. If you feed very lightly day 4, skip day 5 and again feed lightly day 6, you minimize ammonia production. After day 7 you can waterchange out Ammonia as needed…
Given that we prefer to not change water until the fish have soaked in meds for a week, not feeding helps this.
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A month of growth.
I shortened the Cardinal Lobelia as it was up to 3/4 of tank height…
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On 2/9/2024 at 8:33 AM, Scaperoot said:
I decided to test the PH in our tap water, and it was 8.4. I used the API liquid test (regular and high range). In our tanks, the PH sits between 7.0-7.4. I'm wondering, is there a threshold where the PH in tap water is too high before doing a water change?
In this particular situation you are looking at a ph shift of 1 to 1.4…. But then again, presumably, you are not doing a 100% water change. Even at a 50% waterchange I suspect you might not be changing tank ph by more than a half or so…
my tank ph drops by 1 daily as co2 rises and falls.
any idea what the KH kevels look like in your tank and tap water?
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On 2/9/2024 at 9:17 PM, Tony s said:
happy now?
Actually I was not certain if my understanding was correct and whether there were other gasses present that artificially raised ph. I am always interested in learning something better.
It was an honest inquiry.
It would indeed be interesting to see if the aging the water does drop the ph as opposed to the water dropping in ph due to the presence of something in the aquarium.
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On 2/9/2024 at 3:09 PM, NOLANANO said:
does med trio cause cloudy water?
Not every time, but I have woken up to a tank so cloudy it looked like the glass was frosty…
I keep glass mounted double sponge filters in my display tanks and transfer them to quarantine tanks when this happens… it clears them up within36 hours.
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If it is the Co Op heater, E8 indicates internal temp probe is damaged.
I don’t believe there is any fix for this.
If it is still under warranty, it would be worth contacting Customer Service. If the warranty period is over, time to buy a new heater.
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I believe ph rises as water off gasses co2. Are there any gasses that the presence of them in tap actually raises ph, and off gassing lowers it?
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I have bought s repens from a few different sources.
TBH my best results have been with tissue culture from local Petco. I simply make sure the gell in the bottom is clear and firm and the plants look healthy, then wash out the gel, split them up and plant them.
These seem to do fine from the get go. I have been disappointed with the other sources having them either die off in short order or just sit there and fail to thrive and act more like plastic plants than anything else for months on end…
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You may well live in an area with fairly high Generah Hardness, gh and Carbonate Hardness kh, water that is hard like that typically has higher ph as well.
What size tank are you starting up, and what are your goals with it? What fish, is it going to be a heavily planted tank, a few live plants mostly easy plants such as anubias, java fern etc, or artificial plants?
There are fish that prefer and do better in hardwater with higher ph. Some people with tap water that is hard and alkaline opt for those fish.
Most Plants tend to do better in soft slightly acidic water…
Softer slightly acidic water is most easily obtained by reverse osmosis which while fairly easy to keep stable is not an inconsequential cost to get the equipment and to run it….
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On 2/5/2024 at 9:05 AM, JoeQ said:
Ill agree, but I think you miss my point. From a non co2 injection user perspective, it's a nutrient provided by the atmosphere, gas exchange, bubbler(s) , surface agitation & desolved organic material. Flow becomes more important (to distribute water colum ferts & co2 which is almost a forgotten factor). You need to have your eco system on point and all of your plants working well. Instead of encourageing a few plants to absorb more nutrients by twisting a nob to balance your tank.
Well, the tank makes it all a lot easier….
doing it without the tank is much more of a challenge…
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On 2/6/2024 at 5:41 PM, NOLANANO said:
have all the med trio stuff and I got enough Para cleanse to do a second round if it seems necessary.
The thing is with Para Cleanse is that you really should dose a second times after the initial dose. The first dose kills worms, but not eggs that might be expelled. A second dosing kills any worms that hatch from the eggs…. While encapsulated in eggs they are immune from the meds…. You should dose them irrespective of any signs….
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I don’t until day 4, and then very lightly. I don’t want to wait and let a bacterial or fungal exposure brew for a few days before treating them.
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On 2/6/2024 at 8:29 AM, Tlindsey said:
There filtration systems are connected to most of the aquariums.
I cant speak to all stores in the franchise, but at my local Petco, the aquariums are vertically integrated with a sump. Each bay is isolated from each other. Ie, each stack of 3 tanks are on the same sump.
The local Petco also receives fish on Thursday and sells them as soon as they are released. By Saturday there are slim pickings…. As such if you buy them on Thursday evening, they had just been shipped and subject to that stress and comingling, and now they are netted and transported to another tank…
That having been said, I have had batches of fish from local Petco make it through quarantine and meds with 100% survival, but Serpae Tetra was always rough….
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I would think it is easier just to get another small tank for one of them.
Filtration help needed
in General Discussion
Posted
It is very handy to be aware of. You still always want your total ammonia to be zero except in the hours after a water change if you have ammonia in your tap water.. you always ideally want a robust beneficial bacteria colony that can metabolize ammonia quickly.
The chart however reduces anxiety as you wait for your beneficial bacteria colony to grow.