AndEEss
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Posts posted by AndEEss
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If you can, find a bunch of plants from established aquariums, and put those in immediately. And, similarly, see if anyone near you could give you some well established filter media.
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On 2/19/2024 at 11:47 AM, JettsPapa said:
You get told that anyone who does fish-in cycling, even when done with regular water changes to keep the ammonia and nitrites very low, is cruelty to animals.
1) The "hardy" fish don't get burned if the water is changed when needed.
2) This also doesn't happen if the water is changed when needed.
It's my understanding, from multiple sources, that with low pH the ammonia toxicity is so low that it's not an issue.
Serious question:How many people do you think are doing 50%+ water changes every day AND are capable of keeping a pH below 7, constantly?
Based on the comments on this board, that isn’t a lot of people. I’d say less than a quarter.(Also, nitrite toxicity is the opposite of ammonia; worse below 7)
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That’s a really strange mix of fish.
Not saying every tank has to be a biotope but the parameters for those species are quite different.
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The problem with fish-in is two fold:
1) A “hardy” fish is still being burned by ammonia and nitrite. It just doesn’t die as quickly as a less hardy fish.
2) You’re then throwing a live animal away or sending it back to the LFS so it can be tortured again. Or, if the fish keeper is bad enough at caring for the animals in question, the fish are tortured to death.
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A single SDC 6.0 for a ~220g system?
At the head you'll be using it at, that's like 800gph, running the pump at full gas. I'd probably get another one and run them at 80%, but that's just me.
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On 12/21/2023 at 6:34 AM, JettsPapa said:
There is no substitute for clean water. I'd skip the Prime and just do water changes to keep the combined ammonia and nitrites low; ideally below .50 ppm, but definitely below 1.0 ppm. The safe level depends on your pH, since ammonia is more toxic at higher pH, but those values are a good general guideline.
To be clear, you should still dose prime when performing a water change to deal with any chlorine or chloramines in the water.
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Prime consumes oxygen in water, so I think if you sealed it in a container right away, you'd have a bunch of water that has no dissolved oxygen in it. I wouldn't do that, personally.
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On 9/24/2023 at 12:03 AM, Galabar said:
I think the two boxes of 24 filter bags was $15.
The Whisper is designed for those. I'm looking for something cheap and convenient. I should be able to go a year for about $15.
I meant why are you replacing filter material at all.
The point of a filter is to process biological waste; throwing it out eliminates the ability to do that.
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Why did you buy disposable filter cartridges for a HOB?
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My floor under my 143g tank is 5" wide hickory boards, with the planks themselves alternating and offset from each other so that they extend 3' on each side of the tank. Underneath, 2x8s at 16" spacing.
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On 9/5/2023 at 1:37 PM, Denise T said:
Hello! How old is this tank and how often do you clean the sponges?
This tank is a few months old. I did a fishless cycle before adding fish. I tested the tank everyday to make sure we were good. My filter is a secheam tidal 110 (hang on the back filter), it has a blue pop button for when the filter needs to be changes. It usually requires changes once a week
What are you doing to "clean" the sponges? What are these "changes" you are doing"?
The only maintenance you should need to do with those filters is taking the sponge out, slapping it against a tree two or three times, and put back in the filter.
If you're actively CLEANING your filter sponges, yeah, you're going to crash your cycle.
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If you’re worried about otos starving, you shouldn’t be considering significantly larger fish that eat the same things. That makes no sense.
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Just under 50 psi is about 15 psi too many, FYI…
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On 7/27/2023 at 9:43 AM, Chick-In-Of-TheSea said:
I do this too, and my filter is turned off during the water changes.
Only do this if there are NO tank inhabitants (but plants in the tank are OK - they consume ammonia).
Correct on both counts. I kill the power to both filters and get my hose going into the water, and dump Safe directly into the outflow. The OP didn't mention any fauna and as he said he just started it, I assumed he was in the process of cycling it.
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Dechlorinator doesn't kill BB. I add it directly to the tank and fill the tank from a hose from my faucet.
Also, you should be constantly feeding your BB with ammonia; you should be dosing 1-2ppm/day and seeing 0ppm ammonia and 0ppm nitrite the next day.
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In one of your shots it looks like you have a lot of surface scum, which will inhibit oxygenation.
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On 7/10/2023 at 12:13 PM, Lillypad said:
Ok! Thanks everyone for your input, I’ll aim for a 20 tall or 29 gallon before getting angels.
A 55 would be the absolute minimum, IMO. A 75 would be better, and larger tanks better yet.
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I have to ask: why do you think you need to sanitize your tank?
If you did do this, what would you do with your remaining fish?
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I’d run two 850s.
In addition to processing ammonia/nitrite, a filter also oxygenates your water, which helps break down organics. It also helps supply oxygen, obviously.
Most filters put out about 50-60% of what the *pump* can do, with a 5’ head, filter material, etc. Check out the Fluval FX6 page for an example of them listing both.
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On 6/27/2023 at 3:13 PM, Lennie said:
That's a good point. I personally didn't check its circulation rate.
I would personally utilise what I have on hand, and as an extra, I would add something like AC110 on one side, preferably water being levelled up to the HOB outflow, rather than a waterfall effect.
Oh, I'm not saying don't use it. I'm saying that, alone, it's likely not enough filter.
I'd add another one. A 600, at least.
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An Oase Biomaster 350 is rated at 300gph. At zero head, with no filter material.
So, in reality, with media in it, it's doing 50-60% of that. 150-180gph.
Personally, that's way too low for a 75 gallon tank. 2x turnover is way less than I'd ever run.
Even a Biomaster 850 would be underpowered if run by itself, IMO.
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On 6/27/2023 at 12:01 PM, FishRKool28 said:
Good day to all,
New here, long story short… bought a beta for my son in a nano-tank. Got hooked and started watching YouTube videos and got sucked down the rabbit hole. Upgrades sons betta tank to a 5 gal, which led me to buying my own 10 gal tank that I’d like to start shrimp and neon tetra in. My question is, after over a week of letting the tank run (white aquarium gravel mixed with small pebbles, sponge filter, 2 pieces of driftwood, lava rock, and Java moss pad) my test strips still read high nitrates and nitrites, PH is about 8, water is somewhat hard. I started using Seachem Stability for beneficial bacteria growth but I still have pink nitrate and nitrite readings on test strips?? Did a 30% water change last night and will check when I get home today. Any advice or tips are welcome. I tried asking petco for a used sponge filter but they declined.
I'm confused. If you have high nitrate, as you indicate here, it indicates that you are nearly done cycling. Unless your tap water is high in nitrates, that is.
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There are TDS meters for things like a Neptune Apex system that you could employ.
But a $500+ system on a tank with a sponge filter might not be the best option.
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Ammonia spike HELP!
in General Discussion
Posted
Next time you replace a cartridge, do it with 10 or 20ppi foam, and don't replace that foam ever again.
In a small tank like that, replacing a filter cartridge is likely a significant source of disruption to the bacterial colony. Just use foam instead, and while you can clean it (squeeze it a couple times in old water, that's it) never, ever replace it.