DaveSamsell

July 26, 2020

Has anyone "hot-rodded" (optimzed) their aquarium filtration system and, if so, how? ⛲

July 26, 2020

After testing my aquariums for quite some time, I thought, “there had to be an easier way” reading the liquid color test results.

When using liquid test kits, the colors are sometimes a bit hard to discern. A lot of it is attributed to the ambient lighting in the room. Some homes, mine included, don't have “ideal” lighting for reading these test tubes accurately.

Was always dragging a lamp, flashlight or going to the nearest window to compare the color chart with my test. So, I specifically built this light producing fixture/enhancer for my aquarium testing. Wow, what a difference. The colors are now vivid, in person, and very easy to compare.

The biggest benefit is that the light 'shines through' the tubes and really gives a true color representation.

Also, for some of the 'timed' tests, I.E. Ammonia, Nitrite, Nitrate, it's interesting to watch the colors change accordingly.

Basically, the parts for the unit are simple & inexpensive. Three AA batteries & holder, LED's, resistors, switch, wires, enclosure, etc.

If you are into electronics, like I am, most of these spare parts are probably nearby.

Am sure there are many ways of constructing the same unit. Most importantly, when dealing with liquids, one should always use low voltage applications for safety.

This was my first attempt in building this color enhancer, so maybe the next one might even be better.

That's another wonderful part about fish-keeping; experimenting with your own designs. 🧐

LIQUID TEST COLOR ENHANCER UNIT ** DIY ** 🥽 📊 📉 📈

July 26, 2020

1 hour ago, Bill Smith said:

Hi all:

Thought I'd share yesterday afternoon's quick project. My Easy Green doser is based on a glass Starbucks coffee bottle, a USB nano pump, and a few parts I had lying around the house.

Here's what's involved:

1. Starbucks bottle ($3): Glass is necessary for this kind of approach, because it doses the fertilizer based on air pressure. Plastic bottles flex too much!
2. Digital timer ($7): Needs only to be accurate within one minute.
3. Airline adapters ($0.25): for joining multiple lengths or air tubing.
4. Airline adjuster valve ($2): Higher quality is somewhat important here; I recommend the Ziss valve.
5. USB nano air pump ($9)
6. Airline tubing ($1): I used three lengths, about 5 feet total.

Total Cost: About $22-$23

After cleaning the bottle and removing the labels, I drilled two 3/16" holes in the metal lid.

I glued the two airline adapters into the lid from the bottom using 5-minute epoxy. (Silicone would have been better, but I'm impatient!)

Then, I attached a short length of tubing on the inside of one of the adapters, and two longer pieces on the outside.

That's pretty much all the DIY work that's involved! As air is pumped into the bottle, the build-up of air pressure forces the Easy Green out.

I installed the Ziss valve on the output end of the fertilizer, and cranked it down to almost closed.

I tested this with water first. 😉

Knowing the following:

- 20 drops = 1mL
- The digital timer can only run in as little as 1-minute increments
- It will continue to drip for a few seconds after the timer turns off

...I set my digital timer to one minute and plugged in the pump. I then turned the valve all the way down so that I was getting one drop about every two seconds.

That works out to about 35-40 drops (about 2mL), which is a perfect one-time dose for my 20 gallons of water.

Here's the whole rig ready to go:

And here it is installed in my sump:

There you go! It was less than $25 in parts, and less than an hour's worth of work.

Thanks for reading!

Bill

Bill,

Very interesting. Thanks for sharing that....

July 26, 2020

2 hours ago, Bill Smith said:

So the panel with the pass-through charger was a non-starter. When sunlight hits the panel, the charger slowed down the pump power to get what it could from the sun.

These things are just not meant to play together!

I think a solar-powered air pump designed for this purpose is probably the best way to go, but I think I'll be running wire for my outdoor projects. 🙂

But, for me, it was still a useful test!

Bill

Bill, you have done beautifully. A lot of time and great effort. Thanks for both....... 🙂

July 26, 2020

On 7/26/2020 at 2:23 AM, Streetwise said:

I am used to bladder snails, and I have read about other snails, but I now have hitchhiker ramshorn snails in my tubs and I want to know more. I found this video from Cory, but let's have a chat about snails.

That's a great video. Snails will usually only populate in proportion to their food supply. Personally, I really like snails in my aquariums. Many benefits. I have Nerite, Pond, Bladder, Malaysian Trumpet & Mystery snails. It's always fun to turn on the lights in the morning & see what is really in the tanks. 😊 🐌🐌 🍀🍁 🐌🐌 🐌

July 25, 2020

4 minutes ago, Daniel said:

Cricket is on the job already! She is in the tank scraping silicone, Watson her twin brother is supervising!

Is that the original silicone? The old silicone "should" be removed anyway. I believe that approximately every 10 years a glass aquarium "should" be resealed. Some have gone longer of course. It's a messy & smelly job, but is doable. Just scrape the silicone you can see. Don't dig the razor blade in between the panels, unless you want a complete rebuild. It's up to you. From all the videos I have seen, it's quite a project, but can be fun. P.S. Remove the cat, first. 😅 Nice cat. 🐱

July 24, 2020

20 minutes ago, Daniel said:

Oh yeah, my first proper fish tank, a 10 gallon aquarium with a box filter and a heater was also a disaster! I stocked it with half a dozen neon tetras. Later when fishing with my dad, I netted a baby sunfish. I asked dad if I could take it home and put it in my new aquarium. He said he didn't think it was a good idea and predicted the little sunfish would eat my neon tetras. I wasn't deterred and blurted "Don't worry dad! Neon tetras are the fastest fish in the world!" He shrugged and we took the sunfish home and put it in my aquarium and all seemed well. The next morning when I turned on the lights the only fish I could find in the tank was that baby sunfish. The neons had all disappeared. At that point I realized where the neons might be and burst into tears. Dad helped me take the sunfish back to the lake, and after I had saved up my allowance again, I re-stocked the aquarium.

My dad has been gone now for 14 years, but I choked up remembering this. I just wanted to talk to him and say, "hey dad, remember that time when I said 'Neon tetras are the fastest fish in the world'". We would have both laughed. I miss him.

Daniel,

Very nice story. Thanks for sharing that. I am close with my Father as well. He's now up in age,with a lot of health issues and lives with me. Time & memories shared are very precious.

July 24, 2020

19 minutes ago, ForestJenn said:

I'm tempted to say Zebra Danios. They were my first fish and I was completely smitten with them.

But I'm actually going to go with Cleithracara maronii (Keyhole Cichlids). I had a pair in my very first tank, a 29 gallon, with danios and a handful of corydoras. They kept trying to breed but I think I think we kept spooking them. We were in a small apartment at the time so we were constantly walking by the tank. I'd love to have a big enough tank to keep a group of them.

I think that's why I keep mulling over adding some Laetacara curviceps (Dwarf flag cichlid) to the 40 gallon once the tank has matured. They're in the same tribe but stay a little smaller. I'm not sure if they would be happy just as a pair in a 40 gallon or if I could keep a group or if I would have to stick to just a single specimen.

Then again, I'm happy watching my the tank with just the black neon tetras and the panda corydoras so maybe I should just leave well enough alone.

Wait! How could I have an aquarium without corydoras? But then you HAVE to have something in the upper levels, right? How do you just pick one?

I think Zebra Danios are very underrated. A lot of the time, they are labeled a " beginner fish ". Truthfully, they are extremely active and for sure great fun to watch. Mine are always zipping around the aquarium, chasing each other. 🐟

July 24, 2020

40 minutes ago, Sunny Doan said:

GH is around 60 and Kh is around 40

To me, those parameters seem low. As a comparison, my GH & KH are about 200 ppm, each (but I keep live-bearers, which like harder water). On medium light, with Easy Green fertilizer, my pogo plants seem to grow very quickly in the aquariums. Wondershell & baking soda helped me a lot to boost my GH & KH. What fish do you keep with these plants? Also, what is the PH? It's always a fine balance to satisfy the plants & the fish with water parameters. It's also good to test parameters fully & fertilize accordingly. Hope this helps a bit. 😊

July 24, 2020

If you had to pick only one type of fish to keep, what would it be and why?

July 24, 2020

2 hours ago, Cory said:

Fish room couch arrived.

I am just taking it EASY today, enjoying my fish and dosing some EASY GREEN into the aquariums. 🐳

July 24, 2020

4 hours ago, Sunny Doan said:

@Lizzie Block It seems that it's only the pogostemon, it's dirted and i do dose ferts every once in a while, i figured it might just be ne growth as the curls have grown out and it curls at the tips of the plant. Although new leaves are still growing a bit curled

Might be a calcium deficiency. What is your water GH & KH? Hard to say, since you didn't state your water parameters. Also, if it's a new plant, it still might be adjusting to your water, etc. I keep live-bearing fish and a ton of Pogostemon Stellatus. I add calcium & magnesium to my water for the fish and those particular stem plants really seem to enjoy that. At least for me anyway. 😊

July 24, 2020

3 minutes ago, StephenP2003 said:

My PH out of the tap is 8.0 but settles at 7.5-ish, a tad lower in tanks with wood. Also out of the tap my GH is zero and KH 7 degrees. I use additives to raise my GH to 6-ish. In my livebearer tanks, I use Aquavitro Mineralize and wonder shell to really raise the GH.

Yep, Wonder-shell is a great product for sure. I use it in all my aquariums to bump up the GH. Also, I use baking soda for my low KH issues. Sounds like your PH is close. I would imagine you fertilize the aquariums as needed. Wish I could be more help. 😐

July 23, 2020

On 7/19/2020 at 1:24 AM, Streetwise said:

I keep many small aquariums in my apartment, mostly Walstad-style, with organic soil from a local composting spot. I enjoy running really stable ecosystems. These photos don't show much of the fish and shrimp. I also keep some outdoor tubs here in Vermont. Cheers, Jason

Jason,

Very nice aquariums\tubs. Many interesting styles. 👍

July 23, 2020

2 hours ago, StephenP2003 said:

Doesn't matter the tank, or how it's attached. It dies and/or disappears. I thought a Christmas moss ball would be easy mode, but nope. Too much light? Not enough? Something is eating it?

Could be too much light. Was wondering do you have a higher ph & gh\kh? I believe that moss likes softer water with a lower ph, but I am no plant expert. 🤔

July 23, 2020

My Dad had an aquarium, when I was very young. He mostly had a collection of live-bearers. I remember being fascinated at an early age with the fish. Admittedly, that same fascination is still with me, today. It's such a wonderful hobby to have a small piece of nature indoors. Additionally, it's wonderful to be able to share and exchange ideas with a caring online community, such as this.

July 23, 2020

32 minutes ago, Daniel said:

Keeping fish is like eating at a cafeteria.

As I go down the cafeteria line for the first time maybe I want one of each item. As I try that meal I find I like some items more than others. Now on my second trip back to the cafeteria, I start passing over many choices, but I start loading up on the things I really liked.

Then I find one thing I really like. And that's the thing for a while. Maybe the only thing.

It's a very personal choice, what's good to me, maybe not so much for you. Personally I like cichlids (not to eat, I think @Cory says discus are 'bony') because they have such passionate and complex breeding behavior.

Currently, I have 3 pair of Apistogramma nijsseni spawning. It's not that I want 3x A. nijsseni babies, it is that I can get a much better idea of the breath and scope of what this particular kind of fish does if I can see multiple versions of same thing.

Back to food again, it like eating your favorite dish, but at several different restaurants. You begin to learn what the essence is.

I agree, fish can indeed be compared to food. The great correlation is that you don't have to spend a lot of money to enjoy either one. 😊

July 22, 2020

21 minutes ago, LC Roszell said:

I would enjoy having 2 layer sponge filters. Finer sponge on the inside of a coarse sponge. I've thought about how to make it before but tried a box filter first to clean up my water better than single density sponges could do. I didn't want to add anything to the tank not run by air. So far the box filter worked well enough with the coop square sponge media, I bought 2 more. But I do wish it was as easy to just drop in the tank and forget as weighted sponges are.

Might be easier just running two separate sponge filters in the aquarium. One coarse, one fine. You can always get inventive on your own, with a personalized design too; by fusing various sponge material together onto one sponge filter housing. Lots of possibilities. 😊

July 22, 2020

22 minutes ago, TheDojoMojo said:

Hello. I have been using Easy Green for almost a year now and have loved it! I have recently been trying to figure out how much ppm of each of the nutrients (Specifically Nitrates, Phosphates, Potassium, or any other necessary nutrients that I cannot test for) is in one 1-mL-per-10-gallons dosage, as this would allow me to more accurately calculate my weekly dose according to test results/different bioload of different tanks. I have tried re-watching old Aquarium Co-Op videos but could not seem to find a suitable answer in the ones I saw. I also tried holding my own experiment in a quarantine tank but I was unsuccessful to come to a conclusion. I figured that the percentages listed on the Aquarium Co-Op website may hold an answer but I was unable to decipher the percentages into ppms. I was wondering if perhaps @Cory was able to give some info on the details inside his wonderful bottle of Easy Green, or if anyone else has personal experience in regards to this topic. Thanks!

One part per million (ppm), is equal to .0001 percent. You can extrapolate your desired ppm knowing that base number. I.E. 1000 ppm is equal to .1 percent, etc.

July 22, 2020

1 minute ago, Daniel said:

My first thought was that it would involve calculus, but I don't think I remember any☺️.

I had two years of integrated, differential & statistics. Way too many numbers. 😅

July 22, 2020

3 minutes ago, Daniel said:

You could measure something like nitrate and see how much water changed it takes for the nitrate to drop 50% and that would give you the amount of water to change. Or some other proxy variable.

Daniel,

I think we were on the same wavelength there. You were typing when I was. Same idea. 😂

July 22, 2020

37 minutes ago, Bill Smith said:

Hi:

I am considering setting up some water changes with overflow drainage. But I don't think the math is as simple anymore when I'm trying to figure out the percentages of water changed.

For example:

If I know that I can fill the tank in 20 minutes with a certain flow rate, I normally would assume a 50% water change would take 10 minutes.

But since I am not draining the water first (but instead letting the excess overflow) the new water I'm adding will mix with what's there before it overflows.

So how do I get to 50% in this model? How long will I run the water to make a 50% water change?

Is there a calculation for this?

Thanks!

Bill

Bill,

Am not sure. One would have to know how well the new water is actually being diluted & redistributed in the water column. Many variables there. Perhaps one way might be is to keep measuring your Nitrate levels until you see a 50% change. That way, you can then estimate the volume of water that was physically exchanged.

July 22, 2020

It really depends on your microscope magnification. 😊 🔍 🔬

July 22, 2020

On 7/20/2020 at 9:30 PM, TheDukeAnumber1 said:

I tested a few and I was getting .02 amps at 5.19 volts, this is well under a watt. So the solar panel you linked above should be plenty but also the original unit should be working. My guess is this is a case of the "smart" circuits being not so smart. Will it charge a phone while sun is on the panels?

I would consider a plan B of pairing that new panel with the nitecore F1 or nitecore F2 charger. They aren't water resistant but are inexpensive, made for this situation, and the battery can be swapped out. I have a couple I keep around for power outages and I like them.

Hey Duke,

Interesting. Was the test conducted with a check valve & under water? Also, how much air tubing was used, etc? The 20 ma of current draw really seems low to me. That is only about 100 mw consumption.

July 22, 2020

I have an idea for an aquarium related item. Have to get a few more parts for it. Should be ready in a week or two. It's a secret till then. Will post when completed. 👍

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