BigRedd
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Also did a 50% water change on my main tank
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Alright, don't exactly have another tank but I made a make-shift quarantine tank with a bowl, water from the aquarium, cut off a little bit of the filter media and put an airpump through some sponge and put it in the hottest room in the house (stays around 78 degrees) Added some salt, and he seems to be moving more than he is in the 75 gallon. He was pinned up against the corner next to the filter after I took the photo. Hope he/she will come back!
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so should I setup a temporary rehab aquarium and use some salt in there or treat the whole tank?
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Poor fella, just noticed this today. Have no idea if it's an illness or if it's a physical injury. Here is what they are supposed to look like, what should I do?
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I've found that reading the chart on a computer and putting the vial up against a white background works well as the light coming from the monitor passes through the vial and allows for easy reading.
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I'm not trying to assume you did it incorrectly, but I remember whenever I do those tests for anything other than ammonia, I have to consult the instructions. Did you shake the liquid you add 2nd vigorously for 30 seconds before adding the 2nd drops for the Nitrate test? I believe if you don't do that, the results won't be accurate. You also need to shake it for a minute after you add the 2nd dose to ensure accurate results (hence why I use test-strips, too much shaking for me) Also, just out of curiosity, what are your ammonia and Nitrite levels at? I'd imagine if your ammonia and Nitrites aren't spiked, it could be user-test error.
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Yeah I only use the freshwater API kit to test for ammonia. I use test strips to test for hardness, and nitrates. Too much work to do it for other things that a test strip can easily handle. Could be maybe you didn't quite administer the test correctly? That's what I'm hoping for. Beneficial bacteria should still colonize in the filter, what type of filter do you have?
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Dang what did you do to get the Nitrates that high? Never seen the red before, looks about 80 to me. I usually use this: and hold the color up to the screen
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Yeah now that you mention it, could be. I went ahead and removed it
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I was looking at my tank and noticed a new type of invertebrate in there. At first I thought it was a plant trapped, but it looked like it was intentionally moving its snout around looking for food. It doesn't seem to have a shell, and seems to have an assassin snail-like snout. Can anyone help me ID this invertebrate? Posting an external link because file is too big to upload here. https://i.imgur.com/5vDvo5C.mp4
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Putting Pieces of Sponge Filter Media into HOB Filter
BigRedd replied to BigRedd's topic in General Discussion
So this is what I ended up doing. I got a bulk thing of filter media that I cutout into the shape of the cartridges I was using, and I put this before the sponge filter media. I believe the white mechanical media starts out very coarse on the side closest to the incoming water and gets finer as it goes through it. Then it goes into my biological filtration, the sponge filter media. The reason I chose this order is because I don't want the sponge clogging up with dead plant matter. I've got a heavily planted tank and don't want the sponge to clog up because I've read it can kill the bacteria by basically suffocating them if it gets so clogged.
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Putting Pieces of Sponge Filter Media into HOB Filter
BigRedd replied to BigRedd's topic in General Discussion
Have you had any issues with the sponge clogging? I've got a lot of plants in my tank and the decaying bio-mass might end up clogging it over-time.. not sure... I've got 20ppi sponge and on the website it says to use a more coarse filter media prior to the sponge. I'm definitely looking to ditch the cartridges and upgrade my filtering. Good idea with keeping the frame though to make it easy to take it in and out -
Putting Pieces of Sponge Filter Media into HOB Filter
BigRedd replied to BigRedd's topic in General Discussion
So would I want to use something as my mechanical filtration? I've got this product: https://www.amazon.com/Aquatic-Experts-Aquarium-Biological-Mechanical/dp/B08FRQB9FF/ref=cm_cr_arp_d_product_top?ie=UTF8 And it says that it's not recommended for mechanical filtration, and to use something else first for the mechanical filtration or it might clog somewhat easily...Don't know if I need something in-front of the sponge or if they are just trying to sell their other products. Only reason I'm still using those cartridges is because I bought them when I first got my aquarium so might as well use them up -
Hey everyone, I recently purchased a good bit of sponge filter media and put some in my filter intake. I was wondering if it's beneficial to also put some sponge filter media into a HOB filter in addition to filter cartridges I'm using. I don't know if there's such a thing as 'over filtering' but just wanted to check if this is beneficial or if I am wasting my sponge filter media. The sponge filter media just sits on the bottom of the HOB filter and some water passes through it in addition to filter cartridge. I figured it gives more surface area for beneficial bacteria to grow and will help filter the water some more. Is this correct? The pieces of sponge filter media are around 4-5 inches across and currently has some muddy looking stuff on it. I'm guessing it's decaying bio-mass from plants?
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Rinsing Marineland Penguin Pro 375 Carbon Filters?
BigRedd replied to BigRedd's topic in General Discussion
Gotcha. So basically I have a normal filter with carbon added on the back of it, i.e. not a carbon filter. I changed them once and read that you don't have to change them out often, so I haven't changed it since. My filter does have some mud looking gunk on it, that's fine I presume? I think I'll add some sponge in the back of the filter sump as-well. Not too keen on replacing the carbon every few days. I like the hand-off approach and It's hard enough for me to get both my bio-wheels turning as one side usually ends up taking most of the flow and I have to position my filters just right to get them both spinning. (thank you bio-rings) So when I add some sponge to the filter sump as-well as the filter intake, how often should I be rinsing those?
