tolstoy21

That could definitely work, if the garage is on the other side of the wall behind the tank. But you'd have to make sure there isn't too much heat loss via the sump if the garage is unheated, or significantly cooler than the room the 125 is sitting in. Honestly, the above is just my guess, but if this were my project I'd worry about heat loss, but I'd also be excited by the possibilities that the sump tank is in another room and more easily accessible from above, and what kind of plants or critters one could experiment with having in there. On the other hand, that cabinet space seems to be crying out for a canister filter. That's the easiest solution given the space under the cabinet you have to work with. My imagination says 'SUMP!', my gut says 'shut up imagination, you're making too much work for yourself again with no guarantee of success -- canister filter'.

@Epona01 So the cabinet only has 20" square storage spaces on either side? It's not just a complete open space underneath the tank? Hmmm . . . . sounds like a challenge. A tub could work, but I have no personal experience setting one up as a sump (but I've seen a lot of examples online). Minimally you could just have a tub of water and have the water coming into it go into a basket full of media or sponge or floss, or through a filter sock. Then just have your sump sitting in the tub. The key is to have enough water volume in the sump to submerge the media and any equipment, and not have the return pump sitting in too shallow of water that it risks sucking air or running dry. Also, the sump will need enough extra capacity to not over flow when you power down the pump and the tank empties a bit into the sump. As for return pumps, there are so many options and companies it's hard to suggest any specific one. But a good place to start is to decide if you want the return pump to sit inside the sump or be external it it (inside is easier in my book). Second is to determine what you want the turnover rate of the total tank volume to be, meaning how many gallons you'll want the sump to process an hour, and then look at the options available from there.

Spotted a new Corydora that somehow eluded the hungry mouths of the other fish and grew just big enough to no longer be considered a snack.

The timer turns on and off both the booster and a solenoid valve controlling water flow into the unit at the same time. I had a regular light switch controlling power to the gfi, but swapped that out for the 2 hour mechanical timer.

I’m a big fan of crystal reds. The more candy cane they look the better. Not super in love with the CRS grades that are mostly white, even though those are considered a ‘higher’ grade. I’m watching a few hundred CRS swim about 2 feet away from me in my recliner as I type this. My favorite tank to relax and look as I unwind at night. Seeing them swarm the food when I drop some in is probably one of my favorite aquarium activities. After than I’m partial to cherries and blue dreams. I’d like to start breeding blue dreams next.

Ok, so I found my timer! So what did I accomplish today? Replaced the on/of switch on this RO system with a 2-hr 'fan' timer! (I also cleaned up the wiring and tubing a little bit). Takes me about 1:45 to fill a 5-gallon bucket with RO (that's all I need for change water for my tanks that use RO). This mechanical timer prevents me from forgetting I'm running the RO unit and flooding my basement, which I've done more times that I can count (like going to bed with it running!). Now, I'll just dial in 1:45 and walk away. That is, unless the timer malfunctions, in which case. I'm back to shop-vac'ing up water. But I think I trust the timer to function better than my memory!

@pedrofisk Just one correction to the above now that I’m rereading my response . . . I mentioned everything as GPH, but I meant GPM (gallons per minute, not gallons per hour). Restrictors are normally rated at flow per minute (which is considerably more flow than per hour!) Sorry if that caused any confusion. I’ll edit my above post for accuracy in case anyone else is looking for this info at a later time.

I vote for a much bigger tank on that desk, and then a second desk for you. If not that, then #2. If you're right-handed, having that tank on the right of you might drive you nuts if you have to also work at the desk. Plus, the view of #2 will be better (unless it has the potential of being blocked by a monitor or something).

@pedrofisk Water pressure and water flow rate are two different concepts. What you need is a flow restrictor. You have two options -- You can go with individual restrictors that install into each of 1/4 water line. or just plumb a single restrictor into your 3/4" plumbing. The 1/4" restrictors can be found anywhere that sells RO equipment and supplies. You simply slip them into the RO line, where it meets a push to connect fitting. The restrictors that are sized more for standard plumbing can be found at any good plumbing supply place online. These come in a wide range of flow rates. As a reference, a typical modern sink faucet runs at about about 2.2 GPM. Just do a google search for flow restrictors and you'll come up with a bunch of stuff. I restrict my water down to 0.5 GPM, as I need this specific rate to optimize contact time of the water within the media in some of my resin filters. I do also have a pressure reducer that reduces the pressure down to 30PSI, but this is so I don't exceed the recommended pressure for my drip emitters and accidentally blow one off. You could also probably restrict flow in a number of other 'hacked' ways, like via a gate valve or ball valve. But I'd go with a restrictor. Not 100% sure about the linking-to-products policy in this forum, but this is the one I use as it's reasonably priced --> Flo-Et Flow Restrictor V7A071C1, 3/4" MPT x 3/4" MPT, PVC | Serv-A-Pure WWW.SERVAPURE.COM

@Rycraft You’d be totally fine putting it in a media bag in a filter. I’ve put it in sumps, hang on the back filters and box filters, in media bags. Works perfectly fine. Not sure how it would perform under another substrate.

Wired up a GFI, power switch and solenoid valve for my RO kit. I started this earlier in the week, but just finished it this morning because the solenoid arrived. Doing things this way I can just turn the water and pump on with simple on/off switch instead of plugging stuff into a dangling extension cord and manually turning a ball valve. Next step is to replace the switch with a timer wired into that box. Still looking for something simple and adjustable and that's not some networked 'smart' device I have to operate with my phone. Yes, I am addicted to convenience!

@eyeonforever I ran plumbing through my wall that goes down into my basement where it connects to a waste line that drains into a utility sink. For a beeeding setup I have in my basement, I overflow extra water into a tote that has a utility pump with a float switch in it that moves water from the tote into the same waste line.

Here's my DIY sump. I'll also TLDR this -- yes, love sumps! Especially for a larger display tank that's in the main living area of the house. Glad I installed one. I've shared this before under a thread about automated water changes, but I'll share again in the context of the sump discussion. It's basically a simple three-chambered DIY setup based on a 29G dollar-a-gallon tank. (Sorry, had to split the sump photo up into two shots because the sump is behind part of the stand support). This sump itself could probably be made for under $50 (it's just tank + glass + caulk). This first chamber has floss and course sponge filter. I propped this up on some plastic egg create to get better flow underneath the sponge into the second chamber (hard to see in the pic, but that stack of course sponge is about 2" off the bottom of the tank). This is all plumbed 'animal bean' style from a slim-profile overflow on the back of the tank. The animal bean style allows two overflows for water and one for emergency, in case one of the first two is clogged, or the flow-rate is restricted in one of the drains for some reason. The emergency can be seen positioned over chamber #2. This keeps the slim overflow from spilling. The first drain pipe uses a gate valve to fine tune the flow adjustment and reduce the noise and tweak the sump levels. All in all, it the effect is like listening to a gentle, shallow creek bubble over rocks. Part of me thinks maybe I over engineered this, but it's also in the living area of my house so I wanted this to be quiet and SAFE so I didn't ruin my flooring and have to hire a divorce lawyer because my sump/tank overflowed. I also drip water into that first chamber as the main WC mechanism (hence, the 1/4" blue RO tube line). The second chamber has heaters, crushed coral (in a media bag) and a stack of bio media. Slim overflow box seen below. This pic also shows the two tank returns from the back with check valves. The returns are connected to Y-shaped LocLine (on either side of tank) which allows me to fine tune my flow patterns to aid in getting junk into the sump. \ Above is the return pump side of the sump. You can also see the second half of the second chamber with a stack of bio media. The 1 1/2" horizontal pipe with the large ball valve is for water changes. As I do drip changes (or perform a larger, triggered water change from a reservoir in the basement), excess water goes out that drain and into a slop sink in the basement. Shot of the whole tank below. This is in my WFH office. Admittedly there are few fish in here right now (family complains about that all the time -- Get more fish already, they say!). It's just a few zebra danios, a bunch of corys and ottos and some assorted stragglers, like a single CPD. I'm in the process of getting ready to breed a bunch of Odessa's from Select Aquatic, so at some point in 2021, I hope this tank to be full of those. Anyway, posing this all again as I find sumps allow much flexibility in terms of engineering WC systems into a tank, adding water volume, keeping the display free of equipment for aesthetic reasons, and long terms ease of maintenance (I drain and clean this 2x a year; regularly replacing dirty floss is a simple as it is with a hang-on-the-back). Sure it's more work and planning up front than installing a canister filer, but I'd do this again in a heartbeat. Hopefully this inspires some others who are wondering 'why a sump'?

Uploading a pic of mine for comparison.

In my experience with purigen, it never returns to its initial color after regeneration.

Ok, just because I’m a curious lad, from what I’m reading about how much sodium a water softener adds to water, it appears that the hardest water measured in drinking water in the US comes in at about 20 grains of hardness. A water softener will add 149mg of sodium per quart of softened water at 20 grains hardness. If your water is 8dGH then I think it’s in the area of 8 or 9 grains hardness, if my math is right. So you’re looking at 60mg of sodium per quart, approximately. Now in comparison, seawater is 35,000mg sodium per liter of water (and a liter is pretty comparable to a quart, right?). I apologize if my numbers are off, but if they are anywhere in the ballpark comparison wise, I’m still sticking with the sodium being negligible as added by a water softener. Anyone dumping baby brine shrimp and their water into an aquarium to feed fish is probably far exceeding anything a softener is contributing.

Could be Echinodorus Parviflorus, aka Rosette Sword. I have one and it looks exactly like that. Stays small and compact.

I was reading about this a week or so back in response to this question by another forum member. It seemed to me, from what I could discern, is that the sodium introduced into your water by the softener itself is negligible. But the minerals that get stripped from the water as its ‘softened’ is what is more likely the cause of issues for plants and fish. I believe the resins in the softener target calcium and magnesium removal, among other things. I recharge a nitrate selective resin manually with a heavy brine solution every other week and all my tanks have crazy healthy plant growth. No issues with sodium that I’ve seen and I change out a decent amount of water daily via a change system. My belief is the amount of sodium introduced into the water via ion exchange is probably negligible. I could be 100% wrong, but like I said my experience with recharging resin via sodium ion exchange has yet to have any impact I’ve seen.

I use black sand and have maybe two dozen corries that constantly keep it clean by sifting through it and kicking up detritus into the water column. I’ve also positioned my tank returns to keep a good flow pattern aimed at keeping suspended particles up in the water so they make into my filter. Haven’t vacuumed the substrate in maybe a year and it’s more or less spotless. When I do use a gravel vac, it’s only to get stuff out of places it tends to get trapped, like between large stones or along driftwood, but this is infrequent. Super easy. Super clean looking On the other hand, I have a multi tank with only multis and white sand and course sponge filters. In the areas the multis don’t dig, the sand looks dirty and unattractive and I have to vac it. So my inclination is that flow pattern plus fish that sift the sand is a place to start.

As far as I’m aware, topping off the water with rodi only has the effect mitigating the upward climb of some of your measurable water parameters if you have nothing else in the tank to actively reduce them, as water evaporation will tend to concentrate things. To dilute the water you need to replace an portion of water with rodi.

I ran UV for a while and can say that they absolutely help with water clarity. However, I haven’t noticed anything that leads me to any conclusion about how they influence fish health. I took the time to get the flow rate through mine right so that the contact time of the water could help mitigate against illness, etc. But I’d still say my observations didn’t convince me it had a tremendous impact, or any. When it came time to replace the bulb, I discontinued using it. Immediately following that I had a bacterial bloom that lasted maybe a week or so. Even my wife looked at the tank and remarked “what’s going on? The tank looks milky.” So the only thing I can commit to claiming for sure after using one for about two years is that they can give you foolproof crystal clear water. After discontinuing using mine, and the bacterial bloom subsided, my water clarity is variable, but that’s only noticeable by me who can detect these slight changes as I spend so much time with my tanks. Everyone else would probably say I’m nuts and a perfectionist and the water is always clear as can be.

I think the most surefire thing you could do would be to remove everyone except the female after the fry hatch. I don't have enough experience with keeping other fish with my apistos during breeding, so this is just an assumption based on my experience. but there does exist a likelihood that the mother apisto will get aggressive with the other tanks mates. Shortly after hatch, as the fry are better at frees swimming, she'll start escorting them around the tank a bit, and anyone or anything in her way could has the possibility of getting attacked. I had only a male and female in my tank, a 29G, and the female relentlessly attacked the male. And this is in a tank with lots of cover and line-of-sight breaks. I know people have varied experiences with the levels of this 'mama-bear' type protective aggression, but it's a possibility. Hopefully others who have raised apisto fry in a community setting can lend a different view and advice to with this.

@JettsPapa When I used to change water via sink water with a Python, I didn't age it either, and I'd just approximate temp via the faucets. Never had a problem (I also have no chlorine or chloramine to have to content with). I only stage it now because the way I have my aquarium water system plumbed into my house, the water comes out freezing cold and acidic. So larger volume water changes can be problematic. But to be honest, I just assumed they'd be problematic and never ran a test to see if they actually were. I'm not sure about the excess oxygen thing either. Aren't gills are less efficient than lungs at oxygen absorption? or are they more efficient? And don't a lot of fish shippers put pure O2 in their bags? I'm honestly out of my league with making sense of any of that info in terms of the O2 levels in aquarium water. But if someone else can drop some science on us, that would be awesome.

Hopefully you'll be seeing some fry soon! Just know that once the fry emerge, she could get combative with the male. I'm growing out a batch of those now. Love these fish. Good luck!

@Fish FolkI do and don't age my water. If I am doing a big water change, I have aged water staged in a 40 gallon brute can with a powerhead that circulates the water. Main reason I age it is because it's comes out of the tap with a Ph in the 5's. I guess it has to gas off C02? That's what I read, but I never went too 'nerm-deep' down the 'nerm-hole' into the science of all that. I also heat the water and have a bag if crushed coral sitting in the bottom of the container. If I'm making water for a soft-water tank, I'll age it in a smaller bucket, but skip the CC. I also do drip changes on an auto-water change system. For that, I just run the water directly into the tank (it passes through a sediment filter first). This comes on a few times a day for a short periods. I don't age this, but the small volume I add to the tank and the rate at which it gets added has yet to have an impact on my fish that I am aware of.