Tropicalfishkeeping201
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Posts posted by Tropicalfishkeeping201
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On 6/5/2024 at 7:13 AM, Whitecloud09 said:
I’ve never tried this before, but the AC nano filter looks pretty good! It has very good reviews!
Also says it’s great for bettas @Tropicalfishkeeping201.
https://www.aquariumcoop.com/collections/filtration/products/nano-tank-hang-on-back-filter-1
On 6/5/2024 at 7:13 AM, Whitecloud09 said:I’ve never tried this before, but the AC nano filter looks pretty good! It has very good reviews!
It does look pretty good, Thank you! 🙂
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On 6/4/2024 at 10:13 PM, AllFishNoBrakes said:
Are you sure it’s broken? Sometimes when I unplug my HOBs during maintenance the impeller just doesn’t wanna kick on. I stick my planting tweezers down in there, and the impeller kicks right back on.
I should probably just clean the housing and impeller and everything, but when do that when you can just jump start the impeller? lol
Lol Yes, I I took it apart, and even cleaned everything including the impeller incase it was clogged up and nothing 😪 It didn't turn back on, I tried multiple times
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Hello everyone,
My hang on the back filter from my 7 gallon cube rimless tank stopped working after unplugging it to do a water change tonight and now I have to get a new one.
Have any recommendations?
Please share your recommendations for a HOB filter for a Male Longfin Halfmoon betta that is Self-priming and has low flow for a small tank and a betta.
Thank you in advance
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On 6/2/2024 at 10:56 PM, Pepere said:
Without question Safe T Sorb will absorb all KH out of your tap water for a bit..
I used Seachem Alkalinity buffer to raise KH to 6 degrees initially and check to kh numbers daily and add more Alkalinity buffer daily for a few days until the absorption stops. As I remember it only takes a few days…Safe T Sorb also absorbs fertilizer as well early on. I dose with easy green and then test for nitrates daily and redose as needed until levels stabilize which happens within a week..
Thank you so much! Really appreciate your help! @Pepere
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I was looking into the Safe T Sorb because I decided I want to use this as my bottom layer for my substrate and cap it off with sand as you did @Pepere since its affordable and your tanks look great too! But I was reading that some people said that it drops your KH drastically and you have PH and KH swings in the beginning and I wanted to know if you dealt with this too and what interventions did you take to avoid this from happening?
Also, how long did it take for the water parameters to than stabilize? I'm asking so I kind of have an idea of how long I should wait before adding my fish into the tank once I add this substrate. I want to avoid them from getting any stress from the KH/PH swings.
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On 5/29/2024 at 8:37 PM, Mmiller2001 said:
I'm now dosing BurrAqua Micro's but you can find CSM+B online here https://greenleafaquariums.com/products/gla-edta-dtpa-micromix-1lb-bag.html
Thank you!
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On 4/11/2021 at 6:49 PM, Mmiller2001 said:
CSM+B
On 4/11/2021 at 6:30 PM, Mmiller2001 said:Micros- 1/8 Teaspoon CSM+B
Your tank looks amazing! I was reading through your trend and I saw that you are dosing this in your tank, what is the full name is this that your dosing?
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On 5/28/2024 at 1:22 PM, johnnyxxl said:
I use playground sand and pea gravel mixed for my substrate. Using root tablets and easy green fertilizer
Thank you for sharing @johnnyxxl! I saw your trend on your Journey to New Tank, and your tank is looking good!
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On 5/28/2024 at 9:08 AM, Mmiller2001 said:
Here’s the one I use. I’m in the USA so if you are somewhere else, anything like this. https://a.co/d/8pIX66f
1g will raise 10 gallons by 1.07 degrees. I just round up, so 1g will raise 10 gallons 1.1dKH. It also adds 15ppm of potassium to that 10 gallons.
Thank you very much!! 🙂 Where do you add the potassium carbonate? In a mesh bag in the HOB filter or with each water change?
Also just to confirm, once its added in the aquarium, will this last two years keeping the KH up before it has to be added in the fish tank again or do you add it into the water before each water change?@Mmiller2001 My tap water has a low KH
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On 5/27/2024 at 8:46 PM, Mmiller2001 said:
Yes, the potassium carbonate will raise KH and is what I use. It’s so easy to dose and I’m willing to assist you how to use it. The reason it’s better to use is because it also adds potassium if you are going with plants in your tank. Extra potassium is always nice and many people use baking soda which adds sodium which plants and fish do not use in any fashion. In fact, it’s detrimental at higher concentrations. Using things like wonder shell, crushed coral and the like will raise KH, but also raises Calcium. Potassium is extremely mobile, where calcium is semi mobile, so it’s better to have extra K versus extra Ca.
Thank you so much! Yes, if you can please assist me on how to use it, I would really appreciate it.
First time I hear about Potassium Carbonate. I'm going to purchase it, the one in the picture I have posted here.
I have a Java Fern that all the leaves are turning completely brown, It could probably be this that I have low potassium.
Where do you add this potassium carbonate? In a mesh bag inside your HOB filter?
I was looking at your journal of your build trend, Do you also use Safe T Sorb on the bottom and sand on top as your substrate? Do you use CO2?Your tank looks amazing, the plants are really thriving! Both your tanks and plants look amazing @Pepere and @Mmiller2001, I hope I can achieve this
On 5/27/2024 at 3:24 PM, Pepere said:Yes.
No. Like so many things in fishkeeping it is not necessary.. there are lots of ways to keep fish and grow plants well…
I like it in part as a redundancy. In the event of a power failure the beneficial bacteria in my substrate would fare fairly well for an extended period of time even without any flow. A simple air pump consumes 3 watts of power and will keep the bacteria colony happy and healthy, assuming bacteria has emotions…. I don’t need much battery backup…. The bacteria in my canister filter on the other hand would not be doing well If I was away from home when the power went out and could not get to it within a few hours. In that case, I could give the media a thorough cleaning once I got home and the colony in the ugf and gravel substrate would be able to handle the ammonia from remaining bacteria decomposing in canister filter.
The other reason I like it is that it continually pulls water column fertilizer from tank water down through the substrate around the roots and through the Safe T Sorb to take advantage of the Cation exchange of the baked clay. Does it have real world benefit? I have no idea. I wouldnt know how to test it, but it sounds scientific….
In any event ugf plates are pretty cheap and have no moving parts.. the last a very very long time…
I use Penn Plax ugf plates on my 29 gallon that cost $15.00. I fitted two Easy Flow kits from the co op that greatly increases flow for $6.00 each that are a worthwhile upgrade in my book for the dramatic increase in flow… it took about 15 minutes to make adapters from 3/4 male pipe thread adapters from local hardware store…
https://www.aquariumcoop.com/products/easy-flow-sponge-filter-upgrade-kit
Thank you so much! I'm going to give it a try as well, I really appreciate the help! You guys have saved me from spending so much money on substrate @Mmiller2001 and @Pepere
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On 5/27/2024 at 12:55 PM, Mmiller2001 said:
I would definitely go inert and I would not use the cichlid substrate. Just buy potassium carbonate lab grade off Amazon. It’s 11 bucks or so and will last about 2 years. It’s easy to measure with some teaspoons.
Oh, is this the potassium Carbonate lab grade? Will this help raise my KH a bit?
This is the Cichlid Substrate gravel I was planning to use. I was going to put a little bit in a filter media bag and place it inside my HOB as this product states that it buffers the water because it contains calcium, magnesium, carbonate, & more and its Arragonite based to maintain a higher pH without chemicals.
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On 5/27/2024 at 12:24 PM, Pepere said:
also use UGF (under gravel filter plates) below the Safe T Sorb but used as an Under Gravel Filter, not as a plenum as Novak advocates for.
Thank you, I'm going to check out @Mmiller2001 build trend.
Is this the Safe T Sorb that you use from Tractor supply? Does this provide minerals and nutrients to the plants?
This is the sand I'm going to add on top of the Safe T Sorb: The Carbisea Sunset Gold Sand
Also where did you get your Under Gravel Filter? Is this necessary? What is the purpose of this? Can you show me the one you have in your tank so i can purchase it. You guys are helping me out so much! @Pepere, @Mmiller2001, and @JoeQ. I was about to spend a lot on substrate.
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On 5/27/2024 at 6:12 AM, Mmiller2001 said:
Which fish do you want to keep?
I've used 2 types of Pool Filter sand, Eco Complete, Landen Aquasoil and Black Diamond Blasting sand. I prefer inert sand substrates personally. They are easy to plant in, inert and look great.
I would not try to fight the KH if you go with an aqua soil. Just choose fish that do well with little to near 0 KH.
The tank that I currently want to start a planted aquarium, has mollies, a few platys, and 1 betta which is why I want to increase my Kh and PH a bit. What I was planning on doing to raise my KH/PH is, without them being inside the tank, I was going to purchase this Carbisea Cichlid substrate which a Fishkeeper that I saw on Youtube suggested to add some of this in a media bag to buffer the water so it will raise both these parameters. What do you guys think of this?
I think based on what you all suggested, I feel like using a inert substrate instead of Aquasoil. @Pepere, @Mmiller2001, and @JoeQ
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On 5/27/2024 at 4:20 AM, Pepere said:
My kh out of the tap is 1. I used to supplement it with Seachem Alkalinity booster to between 3-6, but six months ago I tapered off over the course of a month and no longer supplement at all…
If anything plant growth is more robust now and livestock are as healthy as always…
Bear in mind aragonite and crushed coral only adds calcium and carbonates and does not add magnesium. Calcium magnesium balance is important to plant growth. Also aragonite and crushed coral will cause significant fluctuations in levels if you have really soft water and do significant water changes. These substrate amendments dissolve slowly over time slowly raising gh, and kh and hence ph. In a planted tank plants will continually work to reprogram new leaves to optimize growth for conditions. I choose to raise GH with Seachem Equilibrium which contains the right ca mg ratio and the water going in to the tank is already the sane GH and KH AS THE WATER i am taking out.
my preferred substrate of late is mesh bags of well rinsed Safe T Sorb as a base with more bags where I want to add height. This is a baked clay product with a high cation exchange rate and is incredible cheap. By putting it in mesh bags, it does not migrate up through my capping substrate fir aesthetics and is easy to keep the two substrates separate when I tear down a tank. I like coarse Black Diamond Blasting Sand(BDBS) forcapping and aesthetic. It is roughly a 1 mm grit black inert substrate.
I used to add rolled up bags of aquasoil looking like little logs or burritos in areas, and without question, plant roots do migrate to the bags, but it would reduce freedom of where to site plants and I largely gave up on them, and removed the ones I did have as I have admired @Mmiller2001 tank that is simply inert substrate BDBS. His plants look better than mine…. I have not noticed any loss since removing the aquasoil…
This is my first tank, and it still has the original cheap inert brown aquarium gravel and plants grow fine with just Easy Green water column feeding. No root tabs… I much prefer the black coarse sand substrate look, but I do not have the motivation to tear this tank down to replace it currently.Some day I plan on a 75 gallon tank, and I will transfer all of the plants and livestock from this tank into it and replace all of the substrate in this one and try my hand at a true Dutch aquascape layout in here.
Wow, your tank is STUNNING! Thank you for sharing, really appreciate it. So for your substrate you just use Safe T Sorb in mesh bags as the bottom layer and the Black Diamond sand as the top later?
With using the Safe T Sorb in mesh bags, will the plants still be able to root and get the nutrients they need? Is it necessary to place it in mesh bags? I might be wrong but I believe a video I watched a while ago of Kevin Novack from Youtube stating that he uses this as his substrate.
What brand is the Safe T sorb that you use? I want to try this now, your plants look really happy and the aquasoils that are out there are really expensive and have to be replaced every 2 years so I would prefer something inert as well. I just thought that using aquasoils will be the only way to get healthy plant growth
On 5/27/2024 at 4:48 AM, JoeQ said:You are kind of defeating the purpose of using aqua soil if you are planning to use it as a top layer. Ideally you would use it as a bottom layer so plants can absorb nutrients from their roots.
Capping it with eco complete should also reduce how much it buffers your water parameters and leaches nutrients into the water column, by how much i am not sure. You can also look to other brands of aqua soil that do not have a big impact on water parameters.
Thank you, yeah I was planning on using it on the top because I've heard aqua-oils have to be replaced about every 2 years so it would be easier for me to replace it if its on the top layer but your right.
Do you use any aquasoils in your tanks? If you do, which brand do you use?
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Hello everyone,
Hope you all are doing well, 🙂
I would like to know what substrates/aquasoils you experience fish-keepers use for your planted aquariums.
I'm trying to decide what substrate to get to start a planted aquarium with no CO2 but not sure what to use. I've been watching some Youtube videos and a lot of them have had good results with using Fluval Stratum so my plan was to use as my bottom layer eco- complete and top layer some Fluval Stratum but what I'm worried is that this aquasoil will drop my Ph and KH even lower than what it is.
Last time I checked my KH, it was at a 3 and my Ph is always between 6.4-7.2 so to avoid the Fluval Stratum from lowering my PH/KH even more, I was thinking of adding a bit of Aragonite and hopefully rise and maintain my kH and PH between 7.2-7.4 but don't know if this would work.
Please share your thoughts and your experiences with the substrates you use and any recommendations of what I should do, I would really appreciate it.
Thank you in advance
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On 4/25/2024 at 8:44 PM, mynameisnobody said:
I use it basically all fish. On the site, you have options for whatever size and type of food to pair with the meds. I’ve always been pleased.
Thank you @mynameisnobody 🙂 I’m going to check the options they have to purchase it
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On 4/25/2024 at 3:49 PM, mynameisnobody said:
I’ve gone through the same issues with various fish at times. I feed Rons medicated food and it worked every time. It’s a little tedious because you must gravel vac every other day while meds are fed, but usually half way through, you see a big difference. I used to use all sorts of meds, but now I just feed this stuff at the sight of anything that may be an issue. Has worked every time.
I'm glad you have had success, first time I hear about this medication, Thank you for sharing 🙂. I looked it up and saw that it treats various diseases which is great, I'm going to purchase it to try it out.
Do you use it for all types of fish or just Cichlids?
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On 4/25/2024 at 3:05 PM, Colu said:
Given the fact they have had 4 treatment twice with levamisole that would have effectively dealt with camallanus worms what I would do is quarantine the platy in question and do two more courses of prazipro and add aquarium salt 1 table spoon for 2 gallons for two weeks good from there the salt will also help with nitrite poisoning as well it's
Thank you very much @Colu, I haven't noticed any more camallanus worms which hopefully means that I eradicated this parasite. I will do this, Thank you again!
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On 4/25/2024 at 9:05 AM, Colu said:
Fish TB unlikely your more likely dealing with wasting disease how many round levamisole and prazipro did you do
Last time I treated them with Levamisole was last year in October for Camallanus Red Worms. I did a total of 8 treatments of Levamisole and 2 treatments of prazipro.
The first 4 treatments of Levamisole, I did it last year in March along with two treatments of prazipro, at this time the platys were much smaller, but had to discontinue these two meds because my fish got really stressed out and started developing Ich. Then, after a few months of no meds, I did again another 4 treatments of Levamisole late September but not prazipro. During the course of treating Levamisole, I had a bare bottom tank and I would blackout out the tank for 24 hrs.
I did lose two fish about two weeks ago but I think it was because of the low Nitrite levels and currently all my other fish are active and eating well except for this juvenile platy. I noticed on Tuesday that I was feeding blood worms, that this platy would take in food but then spit it out.
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@Colu, I have a juvenile platy that is very skinny, has hollow belly, and swimming somewhat hunched over. Last week that I tested my water parameters, everything was fine except for Nitrite, there was low levels of Nitrite, which I did a water change afterwards but then within a few days, I noticed this platy started getting skinny.
Do you think this can be Fish TB?
My fish have been treated with levamisole and prazipro in the past
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On 4/13/2024 at 7:52 AM, anewbie said:
Peat will not help you with your high kh. The kh has to be around 0 for peat to useful. Also if you were to use ro water and peat the peat should be put in filter bags so it doesn't clog things up.
Also a lot of water companies put in additiives to raise ph to protect copper pipes; those additives will dissipate over night so when testing tap water you should put some in a cup and let it sit for a day or so before testing for ph.
Good to know, Thank you for sharing 🙂 I’m going to do that of testing my tap water in a cup and I’ll keep you all posted 🙂
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On 4/12/2024 at 2:20 PM, tolstoy21 said:
Ignore the high-range Ph test. It's only applicable if your Ph is above the level that's readable by the regular Ph test. The high-range test is more applicable to African cichlid or reef/saltwater aquariums. On your water it's just giving bogus readings cause your Ph is not super alkaline.
Looking at your readings, I'd take an educated guess that your Ph drops over time as a result of buffers being eaten up by botanicals, or whatever you have in there that acidifies the water (fish waste itself can have this effect too).
Try the fluval pellets and see if they can help lessen the impact of your water changes. Let us know how it goes.
If you stage your water in a bucket, you can mix in some Seachem acid buffer to eat up some of the available Kh and reduce the overall Ph before adding it to the tank. (A few drops of muriatic also works, but you'd have to do a little bit of testing and tweaking to get the dosage right).
Thank you very much, I will keep you guys posted on how things go and again, I really appreciate your help 🙂
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On 4/11/2024 at 6:04 PM, face said:
Does the ph out of your tap go closer to your tank water if it’s just left in a bucket in other words does it off gas if so you can’t buffer against it co2 will change ph regardless of kh of any amount of acid you add the ph change is also normally harmless
I did this off-gassing test almost two years ago but in another tank, not in my betta tank. There was a big difference in Ph from my tank water and from coming straight out of the tap. From tap water, even after doing the aeration test, Ph was still pretty high while in my tank, the pH is very low. These were the results using the API Freshwater Test Kit:
Sun 8/14/22 Tank water parameters:
- Ammonia: 0 ppm
- Nitrite: 0 ppm
- Nitrate: 0 ppm
- pH: 6.6 or 6.8 ( It was hard to differentiate the colors if it was 6.6 or 6.8 but looked more like it was 6.6)
- KH: 35.8 ppm
- GH: 196.9 ppm
Results after testing my tap water ( Tested on 8/14/22)
- Ph: 7.6
- High range ph: 8.4 or 8.8 ( It was hard to differentiate the colors but it looked more like it was 8.8)
- Kh: 125.3 ppm
- GH: 161.1 ppm
Off-gassing test 24 Hr result (Tested on 8/15/22 (Mon after letting my tap water sit for 24 hrs with an air stone):
- pH: It was either 7.6 or 7.2 but looked more like it was 7.6
- High range: 8.0
- KH: 143.2 ppm
- GH: 179 ppm
Water parameters of my tank after doing 50% water change yesterday on Tue (8/15/22):
- pH: 7.2
- KH: 53.7 ppm
- GH: 143.2 ppm
I'm going to do this test in my betta tank and share the results here, I will keep you posted
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On 4/11/2024 at 3:34 PM, tolstoy21 said:
I've used both regular peat from a garden store and Fluval's peat pellets. I prefer the Fluval pellets over regular peat because they take zero preparation and don't stain the water. I'm not against the 'blackwater' look at all, but when I used regular peat, the water turned so dark I could not see the fish in it. I guess I needed to soak and rinse the peat more or something, which is why I went back to Fluval's product, because they have done all the hard work for you. In the instances where I have used it, I was using it in straight RO water with no Kh present.
In your case, I'm curious if peat will react fast enough against the addition of buffers to counteract the sudden presence of Kh. In my experience, water will react to the presence of Kh much faster (driving Ph up) than it does to presence of botanicals (which gradually drives Ph down).
Do you know how much does a water change swing your Ph? It might not be enough to be of any concern at all.
Thank you so much for sharing. Last time I did a water change, pH went from a 6.6 to a 7.4 and from there I decided I wanted to try this to see if the Ph can stay more stable in the 6 range.
Is this the peat that you use from Fluval?
HOB filters recommendations for Bettas
in General Discussion
Posted
Thank you very much guys! @EricksonAquatics, @Rube_Goldfish, @Whitecloud09, @Julie Monday
I will look into all of these you all recommended, really appreciate it 🙂