HotTunaCartel
-
Posts
193 -
Joined
-
Last visited
-
Feedback
0%
Content Type
Forums
Downloads
Store
Events
Blogs
Gallery
Profiles
Posts posted by HotTunaCartel
-
-
On 11/3/2021 at 11:02 AM, Helan said:
Quick background, my neighbour has a eheim
canister Filter that he is willing to see to me for a great price and I have only ever used fluval and sicce filters so are eheim filters good or comparable?. He is selling a eheim aqua compact
I have no idea about eheims but just googled the aqua compact. That is a very interesting filter for sure, kinda cool that the pump sits in the tank.
-
1
-
-
On 11/3/2021 at 9:21 AM, gardenman said:
As a general rule with wells, deeper wells are more stable than shallow wells. You can often find water as shallow as ten feet or so, but that shallow water tends to be highly variable in quality.
Older wells would often use iron/steel casings (nowadays everything is PVC) and groundwater could/would eat away the casing and then pour into a deeper water well and you'd end up with the same water you'd have gotten with a shallow well. That was a common issue here in South Jersey until the switch was made to PVC casings. A homeowner would pay a lot of money for a deep well (300' or deeper) and tap into great water. After a few years though they'd notice the water would change. An inspection of the then steel casing would show that it had developed leaks and the groundwater was now flooding their deep well.
If you've got a shallow well, you'll see wild fluctuations in water quality. A neighbor liming or fertilizing their lawn can affect your water pretty dramatically. Heavy rains or snow can affect your water. Shallow wells are prone to wild fluctuations. If you have a deep well and are seeing fluctuations, then it's possible you've got a casing failure that's letting shallow groundwater pour into your deep well.
Excellent explanation and thank you so much for taking the time to respond.
I think our well is 60 feet, meanwhile my brother who lives 30 miles a way has a well over 600ft deep. I can see how things that neighbors do in the surrounding area could affect the parameters of the ground water. I do know my one neighbor made a comment a few months ago about supposed cholera in his water and was going to "shock" the well. I didn't think about it now because it seemed like such a strange thing to say.
The water science center did get back to me and provided me with his phone number so I'll be calling today.
-
Update: Took ph readings every two hours. I probably got fairly close to 6 at lights out (around 7:30pm)
I did hear back from USGS, and send them some info on my well. Waiting to hear back
-
On 11/2/2021 at 12:38 PM, Mmiller2001 said:
I wouldn't worry about how or if, but would monitor your source water KH. The reason a pH is a certain value is mostly related to a certain value of KH.
I would grab a sample of your tank water and set it out for 48 hours and use that measurement as your degassed pH.
Thanks for the reply. Will do the sample test.
I did measure the kh out of the tap, appears to be around 3.5
-
On 11/2/2021 at 12:16 PM, KaitieG said:
That's a really good question--I had something similar happen to our well water with nitrates, not PH. We'd had about 5ppm nitrates and then in the spring it jumped up to 30. I guess off hand I'd say that yes, well water can change from time to time and ground water issues like rain and snow melt seem to have something to do with that, but that's just been my sample size of one observation 🙂
That is one thing that hasn't changed in our water but yea really weird. When we moved out here 16 years ago it was like OMG this water is fantastic, no chlorine etc. I guess this may be the tradeoff lol. Kinda worried if I should shut off my co2 for the time being as I really don't want to drop the ph below 6 and its currently 6.4 -6.6
Going to take a few more ph measurements in the tank today and will shut the co2 off it starts to get too low.
-
EDIT: little update, contacted usgs and they transferred me to usgs New York Water Science Center. Waiting for a call back to see if they have an answer to why the ph has changed out of the tap
I usually don't test our well water as I know offhand the PH is 7.8 and nitrites/nitrates are 0 out of the tap (well water).
So I started using the waterboxes video on monitoring PH drop while using co2 to get the optimal range. I'm using a co2 generator with citric acid and baking soda.
As per the instructions I took a ph reading this morning before the lights came on and saw 6.6 - 6.8, which I figure is ok considering its a blackwater tank. Just for the hell of it I decided to check the ph out of the tap and saw it was the same reading.
Over the summer, the last time I checked out of the tap it was 7.8.
So this is weird now as the ph in the well water is changing drastically. We did have massive rains this year, just had another 5.5in late last week.
Could minerals have washed out due to all of the rain. I believe our aquifer feeds in from the Delaware river and we haven't had flood stages reached for probably the last 10+ years.
-
Just finished a tank about two months ago.
Lots of info online regarding glass thickness and height/length of the tank. You could probably go to your local glass shop and ask, I ended up disassembling and cutting down another tank I had that was leaking
Not sure what you mean by spacers, you would just run a bead of sealant on the bottom and put the sides over it and then tape the sides so it stays while it bonds and dries.
-
1
-
-
On 11/1/2021 at 12:08 PM, HotTunaCartel said:
Little update, I had another guppy attempt to make a world record jump attempt....
So..... I ended up finishing off a mesh top for the tank and instead of having to do a bunch of cut outs to fit around the filters. Just easier and less frustrating to make a rectangular screen.
I put the media bag next to another large sponge filter and put the aco powerhead with a finer sponge on the bottom of that.
Will update later today
I think this is really going to help jumpers and when I put more fish/snails in
-
Little update, I had another guppy attempt to make a world record jump attempt....
So..... I ended up finishing off a mesh top for the tank and instead of having to do a bunch of cut outs to fit around the filters. Just easier and less frustrating to make a rectangular screen.
I put the media bag next to another large sponge filter and put the aco powerhead with a finer sponge on the bottom of that.
Will update later today
-
On 10/30/2021 at 3:14 PM, Mmiller2001 said:
I have canisters and lost power for 4 hours. No ammonia spikes, just a 24 hour bacterial bloom. There's plenty of BB in the substrate to handle things once everything is flowing again.
If you expect longer outages, grab some battery operated air pumps. Then just rinse out the canister when power returns.
Awesome thanks so much
-
On 10/30/2021 at 2:31 PM, s1_ said:
The tidals are great filters. I would keep them running like you plan. They self prime so they will always restart when power is restored.
I run air from my central pump to all of my tanks. even the "show" tanks that have cannisters and hobs will have a sponge filter. My central air pump is on a diy battery backup
That is quite the backup but damn that makes sense. I have several ride on mower batteries that I might have to fully read that post in depth.
I love the tidals and yes its wonderful that they auto start and very large media bin. I really think they could make the ultimate filter if they made is smoked and a little lower profile like the aquaclears.
-
On 10/30/2021 at 2:00 PM, Guppysnail said:
Unles the media goes dry your bacteria will not die. The worry is mainly in suffocating bacteria in a canister. I run hobs on tanks with canisters just for extra flow and so I can instant start tanks with a seasoned filter if need. I am EXTREMELY guilty of forgetting for a whole day to plug them back in after water changes. They are still wet so I have seen no issues. I have also forgotten (I’m old no judging) to plug them in on tanks that only have an accompanying sponge filter. Again I have never seen an issue
Excellent, thanks so much!
I was thinking about going with just sponge filters and using a hob to shove floss in to clear water up after cleaning or water changes but now that you've settled my mind I will probably keep the hobs full time.
-
I've seen quite a few videos etc about bacteria dying in filters during a power outage and then dumping that back in the tank when the power comes back on.
Has anyone experienced this before?
I'm asking because we are getting into the winter here and we have power outages several times during the winter. Sometimes they can be 30 mins other times they can be a few hours. Currently I'm using a tidal 35 on my 20 long and a tidal 55 on my 44 gallon. I always have a sponge filter in each tank. But I'm really thinking if the dying bacteria is really an issue, how much could crash a tank with the little bit of water and media hob filters hold.
-
On 9/2/2021 at 8:20 AM, laritheloud said:
I have a Tidal 55 as well! I use it on my 29 gallon, but I'm still too much of a coward to remove my Aquaclear 50 from the tank (it's been like this for two months.... side-by-side filters set on low flow). I absolutely adore it. The basket is really deep, the self-priming mechanism sells it for me. Pre-filter sponges are a very snug fit but they work. Sometimes the 'clog' knob will rise up and signal a clog even if there isn't one (like, the day after a cleaning). Just push and fiddle with the media a bit and that usually works for me.
As far as the surface skimmer goes, I cut a piece of filter media bag/fine mesh and just tuck it into the slots. I don't glue it down so I can clean it and replace it occasionally. Works great!
I know this post is a month old but after reading yours I was wondering how you cover the skimmer on the 55? I have one as well but I checked and seemed like there wasn't room to shove anything in there like there is with the tidal 35.
-
This is a great question and I'm in the search of looking for a cheap 10 gallon quarantine tank.
I just saw that the Walmart by me has 10 gallon tanks for $12. Might stop by this weekend and pick one up and throw a sponge in there from one of my other tanks. The local petco is about 50 mins from me so I'd rather drive 10 mins just to save the time. Will be going bare bottom which from what I've read is really the way to go with some simple and cheap decorations to make the fish feel at home.
I used to use a 6.6g fluval cube but its a PIA to clean with the little hole in the top
-
1
-
-
On 10/28/2021 at 10:49 PM, PineSong said:
That is neat! How did you do it? Do you put your phone inside the tank?
Just an old gopro in the tank and let it run for like 5 mins then sped it up.
-
1
-
-
On 10/28/2021 at 3:54 PM, Guppy Guy said:
Wow! that’s impressive!
How can you set it for a screensaver? I’m interested in doing something. similar.
Thanks :)
I think there is a way to upload it as a .mov then use a link to set apple tv to play it during the screensaver mode.
-
I've been doing more and more videos from inside my aquariums. It looks so peaceful and would love to do a longer video and use it as a screensaver for my tv at some point
-
2
-
1
-
-
On 10/27/2021 at 7:25 PM, Atitagain said:
It’s good to see it tinting up for you. You gave me another reason not to like eco complete, it makes sense tho that it would absorb the tannins being volcano rock.
glad I could help. For me I used it to lighten up on the cost of the stratum
-
On 10/27/2021 at 3:27 PM, Atitagain said:
I use the same poly in my canister and it seems to be darkening up fine. I have been adding slowly it taking awhile with this big of a tank. and if I add the peat pellets I will be using a HOB with poly on top as well.
yea def add the extra poly with peat pellets. I washed mine like crazy but still kinda dirtied the water.
-
1
-
-
On 10/27/2021 at 2:53 PM, Atitagain said:
I’m getting ready to start experimenting with these. Before I add them to my main tank. Will look out for the hazy water. Want a dark tint but want it to be clear. (Dark but clear uhhh…yea I said it)🥴
So what I do is use filter floss in my blackwater tanks. I'm the same as you, i like them dark but clear.
A lot of people say floss removes the staining but i've never noticed it. I wonder if its because I use cheap poly fill, rip some off and just shove it above the hob sponges.
-
So finally after weeks of trying to tint the water, its starting to change.
I really have a feeling it was the eco complete as it is volcanic based and thinking it was probably working similar to carbon pads taking out tannins. Not sure if it has "saturated" fully but this is only after one day of adding new indian almond leaves.
The tank is growing in nicely and definitely seeing some runners spreading with the dwarf hair grass.
Also, we had a huge infestation with mosquito larvae (probably from wood that i had outside trying to get it to sink)
The 4 guppies completely destroyed them in about 5 days.
Eventually this will be getting lots and lots of harlequins
-
2
-
-
It should be, I believe Cory recommended in one of his videos to just plop the plants with rock wool in a new tank to help with the bb from their plants in the store.
-
On 10/27/2021 at 12:04 PM, Patrick_G said:
They’re a more or less invasive tree where I live. I’m happy to have the cones but I wish I didn’t have to deal with the trees!
I hear ya, the acorns that fall from the oak trees are almost deadly lol
-
1
-
2
-
Question about PH and well water
in General Discussion
Posted
Update:
Had a great hour long conversation for the guy from the USGS. As @gardenman had also explained, there are numerous reasons why the ph can change rapidly in shallow wells. One of the things he told me as well was that even the intensity of sunlight day to day can change the ph. The one question he kept going back to due to the amount of rain and flooding that has been happening this year is if rain could have got into the well head. Our well head is hermetical capped and we live on the side of a mountain so I don't think that would be it. Another interesting thing he said hes seen is swings of day to day between 6 and 8 ph just due to weather.
So all in all, I think I just have to be careful and monitor my co2 levels until I get a good understanding of how the ph changes while I do water changes.