Pepere
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Posts posted by Pepere
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On 5/14/2024 at 4:47 PM, quikv6 said:
I find that the Tidals seem to bypass the media much too easily.
I agree.
Presumably, for a filter to “filter” water, the water should go “through” the filter media, instead of around it….
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A 3 watt air pump consumes roughly 75 watt hours a day. A grp 29 deep cycle battery battery at Walmart sells for $120.00 and should give you roughly 600-800 watt hours on a charge. It wont be fully charged t the store so you would need to take it somewhere to charge it. You can get a 400 watt inverter at Walmart for around 40.00.
a generTor is problematic as they typically need refueling every 8-9 hours and is way overkill for an air pump.
assuming it is not too cool where you live I would forgo the heater. I have had fish in transit for 4 days with measured water temp at 60 when it showed up and 100% survivial.
Back in the early 70s when I had my first tank as a kid, the instruction book on keeping fish actually talked about running a tank with or without a filter. The book essentially said you could stock the tank more with a filter……. Back then We ran box filters…
iirc the safe stocking level without a filter was about 30% pf what you could stock with a filter…
given a 36 gallon tank very lightly stocked, the idea of no filtration and no feeding till power comes back on doesnt sound to terrible to me.
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I dont have a high opinion of the Tidal Series. I lived with one for a year before wrapping the cord up and letting it collect dust on a shelf in the cellar.
not only does it go into an overflow over the basket top within days of cleaning it, there is massive bypass holes in the basket where flow completely bypasses the sponges anyway.
My solution was to replace it with an 07 series Fluval Canister filter and never looked back…. Should have done it from the git go…
as to frequency of cleaning the filter, I opt for once a month as recommended in the owners manual. I definitely found monthly servicing reduces algae issues as you are removing dissolved organics producing detritus. I still have the crystal clear water the aquarium science article talks about.
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I have 2, 29 gallon tanks and a 20 high in my bedroom.
The bedroom is 12x 13. I have atwin bed and a recliner in the corner that allows me to view the tanks and the TV mounted on the wall.
Other than cooling and bathing I spend all of my time in the house in this bedroom. Combo living room bedroom for me. Bedroom is the best insulated room in the house. i keep the thermostat at 50 degrees for the rest of the house in the winter, but the Bedroom stays a minimum of 70 degrees and sometimes up to 73 from heat off the tanks and dehumidifier. Bedroom isonly room I run AC in during the summer. Energy consumption savings from only conditioning this room offsets the electricity cost for the tanks…
I run air driven ugf plates and canister filters. At 58, I never have quiet anymore due to tinnitus. The sound of the bubbling and air pumps is actually more of a relief than having to listen to constant ringing in the ears…
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I so love the Easy Flow kit. I retrofitted one to a medium sized Lee’s Triple flow box filter and find the performance of it nothing short of amazing! Easily 4 times the flow as using the stock air stone and parts…
by all means play with the other parts to see what a difference it makes.
I was skeptical when I first heard about the Easy Flow kit, but I have been converted,
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Bioload isnt everything.
Space itself becomes an issue even if nitrates stay low.
That being said a densely planted tank helps in some ways to give areas of refuge out of sight. But space still matters.
I would be thinking a new tank. Rather than a 55 I personally am looking to add a 75. Same length, but more depth and height. The worse thing about a 29 in my opinion is the lack of depth from front to back. A bigger footprint and depth front to back is attractive for planting..
what do you find daunting about starting a new tank?
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On the bottom of this page are links to several articles on reducing algae.
I did not purchase a single item sold by this company, but simply put in to practice information described on these pages to get good results.
https://www.2hraquarist.com/pages/algae-free
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Top two tanks are CO2 injected, bottom fish bowl is not.
All three tanks running on 1 degree KH, 4 degrees GH.
I have very soft tap water which is 1 degree KH, 1 degree GH. I supplement the tap water with 2 teaspoons of Seachem Equilibrium in about 15 - 20 gallons of new water to raise calcium and Magnesium when I do a water change.
Crushed Coral only adds Calcium and Carbonates and does not add magnesium. Crushed coral will slowly raise kh and gh over time which means you get significant fluctuations when you do water changes.
Based on my experience over the past year or so, I dont think your plant health or animal health is being affected by low KH.
Since I stopped raising KH a year ago, (I had been raising KH with Seachems Alkalinity Buffer to around 4-6 degrees KH) I have not noticed any issues with fish health, behavior or mortality.
All 3 tanks are pretty much free of visible Algae. I never use Easy Carbon or liquid carbon Gluteraldehyde products. I never perceived that they did much of anything despite using them daily for months. I had Algae infested tanks when I was using it and never got tanks free if visible Algae until months after stopping using it. The product is a known health hazard and in my opinion not very helpful and totally unnecessary if your goal is to have tanks free of visible algae.
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On 5/11/2024 at 6:50 PM, flossy said:
did a 50% water change each day and redosed maracyn to cure the fungus.
Are you dosing Ich x with the Maracyn?
I wouldnt so much expect a broad spectrum antibiotic to help much with fungus.
Ichx has antifungal properties as well as treating Ich. I believe @Corymentions ich x and Maracyn having a synergistic effect.
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I am not sure there is anything that really can be done…
I would check parameters, ammonia nitrite, ph, gh, kh, temp. The others look fine in the picture..
are you using quarantine meds already?
how long since you placed this batch in quarantine?
I have had multiple batches of fish go through quarantine with 100% survival, and others go through with 60-70% mortality. They all received the same care and treatment…. Nothing I could point to as something I did wrong.
The trip from breeding facility or wild caught to your tank is a stressful one, mentally and physically, with possibilities of lots of exposure to fish from different origins..l. Lots of opportunities to pick something up, and the stress of the traveling, cold, heat exposure, fasting, ammonia and co2 buildup in trAnsport bags all take their toll.
My experience is that if fish survive the first 2-3 weeks, they will likely last their expected lifetime afterwards…
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Given how much bypass the Tidal series has with so much flow completely bypassing the sponge and polishing pad….
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On 5/9/2024 at 10:58 PM, Tony s said:
I found this fascinating, so I looked it up. a cubic foot of water weighs roughly 62 lbs. a cubic foot of rock weighs anywhere from 146 lbs to 186 lbs
It does bear mentioning though that the rock will displace water. Ie if you add a cubic foot of rocks that have a density of 162 pounds per cubic foot, since you end up putting a cubic foot less of water, you are only adding 100 more pounds to the tank than if you had no rocks….
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I have gotten AR to survive in a low tech tank, but it certainly has never thrived. Leggy straggly growth and always with algae infested old leaves to prune off…
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Time will tell. I wouldnt be quick to pull the stems…
AR has been my black beast plant. It is one of the worst algae magnets in my experience. I have gotten it to thrive in a compact bushy for free of algae and then poof! Melt away and or get algae infested…,
fwiw I have had best success with tissue culture AR., and it definitely likes strong co2 injection and high light and nutrients.
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Well, good luck on eradicating them. I tried eliminating them by consistent removal using a denerle device that takes them off the glass. They hitch hiked in on plants… 3 times a day for months I removed any I could see. Then I gave up and just left them be…
I havent been all that impressed with their supposed algae control abilities..
I guess I am at the point I would never be purposely adding them, but havegiven up on trying to eliminate them. I guess I could use pesticides that eliminate them, but I dont see the risk benefit ratio of that action being warranted…
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You might consider a filter optimized for mechanical filtration while working to clean it up. Perhaps a hob filled with polyfill, or an internal power filter filled with polyfill.
In my 17 gallon fish bowl a hob or internal filter wasnt really an option given the round sides. I put in a medium Lee’s triple flow box filter with gravel to weigh it down and then polyfill. I put on an Aquarium Co Op Easy Flow kit on it as it friction fits well on the top nipple and the flow with a dedicated tetra whisper air pump driving it is amazing.
floss goes from pure white to a thick goopy brown slime on top in the course of a week…
When I first started the tank I tried just a modified ugf plate with easy flow kit adapted. Biofiltration was fine but the substrate BDBS quickly got dirty and I was dealing with a fair amount of filamentous type algae.I pulled out plants and hardscape and used a turkey baster to puff the substrate and hoover over the cloud of debris with the gravel vac and repeated every few days for a week and fitted the Lee’s.
after the first week, the combination of the Lees and the gravel puffing and vacuuming the gravel stopped blowing out clouds…. Since then I don't use the Turkey baster anymore as it really isn't doing anything. I just do a weekly 50% water change and squeeze out the polyfill in water to clean it up for another week. No real need to throw it out, a couple squeezes and anything that will come out, has…. Save the landfill and resources…
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I have harvested plants from lakes and soaking them in seltzer water overnight to kill off any hitchiking fauna.
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I have been pleased with my non co2 17 gallon fish bowl.
I have it free from visible algae which I am thrilled with. I have mostly easy plants, crypts, anubias, java fern, bacopa, ludwigia repens, hornwort, water lettuce , s repens…
growth is noticeably slower, but in the case of Lrepens, that is not a bad thing…
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I would imagine some sort of co2 bell so bubbles dont just escape to the surface…
I can say, the Co Ops Easy Flow kits give amazing flow for air driven filtration. I have retrofitted them with adapters to Penn Plax type UGF plates, and they also friction fit over medium size Lee’s triple flow box filters.
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I tried the organic miracle grow. By the time I seived it and threw out all the parts that wouldnt go through the screen I discovered I was not saving anything over simply buying aquasoil…
I put some in mesh bags strategically placing them as rolled up sausages….
If you ever pull it up the aquasoil in mesh bags comes out clean and still as round sphericals. The miracle grow is goopy and oozes out of the bags…
never doing the miracle grow bit again…
I have used the aquasoil in bags rolled up, but when I see @Mmiller2001 and his results with pool sand and no root tabs, I scratch my head and wonder why bother…
Last tank I did I used well rinsed Safe T Sorb in mesh bags in areas I wanted to build height, and capped it with a good 2 inches af Black Diamond Blasting sand and didnt bother with aquasoil.
Honestly, I cant really see a difference in results, but it is nice to plant wherever I want and not hit a mesh bag of aquasoil…
When excavating mesh bags of soil it is clear though that roots migrate to it…
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Here is a daughter plant I am growing in a non co2 injected 17 gallon fish bowl..
It is growing pretty well for low tech. This bowl is entirely air driven filtration, a modified ugf plate with an easy flow fit adapted to it and a medium sized Lee’s Triple flow box filter also with an easy flow kit.
the Easy Flow Kits give incredibly flow for air driven…. When I feed the fish you can see the flow transporting the food.
The box filter is there for mechanical filtration and with the flow it works incredibly well. I use polyfill and it is full of brown gunk by the end of the week,, No mulm on tank bottom with this setup either. I used to use a turkey baster originally to help clean the substrate on water changes,,, since adding the Lees with easy flow, nothing gets washed up from the substrate when using the turkey baster…
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I am happy to keep algae from growing on the plants. I have no problem wiping down the glass once a week.
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Fwiw, I run fluval 207 on my 29 gallon tanks with a spray bar on the back flowing across the top, down the front and back up. I have 6-7 green emerald cories that stir stuff back up in to the water column with their movement allowing filter extra chances to get stuff.
I dont gravel vac. I dont have visible mulm on the substrate, I dont have dead spots…
my tanks are fairly densely planted.
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I would imagine a spray bar across the back of the tank under the water surface aimed at the front of the tank would tame the flow for nano fish nicely without having to throttle it down.
diffusing the flow rather than throttling it.
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Urgent: 4 Day Power Outage. Need Advice ASAP!
in General Discussion
Posted
Given that OP is heading out for a 20 vacation, fridge and freezer might already have been culled out.