[Just put the Blue Rams with Zebra Danios = Params mismatch]

yep, I did that. Another rookie mistake! And now the internet is telling me that their water parameters don't match. 

=> 78.8 - 86F: Blue Ram
=> 64.4 - 75.2F: Zebra Danio

source: http://aqadvisor.com/

However, some youtube videos did suggest that Danios will do fine up to 82F. 

My tank's temperature is currently sitting at 79.88F

I only put 2 rams (pair) and 7 danios.

Got 2 amano shrimps at the bottom but they are hiding somewhere, which I believe is normal.

What do you guys suggest I do? They both seems to be doing ok so far. Danios are doing their thing on top of the column and Rams are swimming gently everywhere. They are going into that plants, swimming around the rocks, sometimes they go to mid column, sometimes it looks like they are looking for something in the substrate. So far they are both swimming together for most of the time. I am not 100% sure that it's infact a pair. Will look into that tomorrow. 

 

What do you guys suggest I do?

[Help me pick the filter]

On 2/23/2022 at 3:49 PM, Wrencher_Scott said:

I think you will be good with that filter, just use coarse foam in it (as much as possible). Put it in place of that carbon and biomax stuff. It will save you money and give you better biofiltration.  

Yes movement of the water does provide oxygen, it's hard to say how much though. I just like overkill on the O2 with lots of air just in case, you know? 

You could try one of those tiny USB ones, they are cheap and silent. It is amazing how much air they put out. I see Cory sells them here, I got one on Amazon for using with my hospital tank. 

Did I post this yet? Cory's video on optimizing HOB filters? Check it out!

 

OK. I removed the sponge filter from the u2 and put it in the aqua clear along with the sponge it came with. I also mixed up the white rocks from u2 with the ones that came with the aqua clear. Which I will remove later. I only kept them because of all the nitrifying bacteria it might be carrying. 

 

I'm running it at the lowest settings. Since the flow is moving all my background plants. I now have little empty space between my background plants 😞

 

I also notice some algae in the tank this morning. Forgot to plug in the filter last night after a little adjustment with decor. 

 

I will continue to monitor the tank tomorrow. 

[Help me pick the filter]

Just few order placing the order of https://www.amazon.ca/gp/product/B010PRHDWK/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o00_s00?ie=UTF8&tag=tank01-20 I cancelled it and order this instead https://www.amazon.ca/gp/product/B000260FVG?ref=ppx_pt2_dt_b_prod_image

I did not want the sponge filter for two reasons one is that I would have to put two of them which will mess up the aesthetics and second the noise from the air pump is annoying. 

The hang back filter seems to be solving all the issues.

Stayed up till 3 AM trying to fig out which filter to order. Phew!

 

On 2/22/2022 at 1:10 PM, Wrencher_Scott said:

I think I would consider two sponge filters for that little tank. One in each back corner as an example. Get the largest ones that you can stand too look at. 🙂 just run them with a decent size air pump and you will get aeration too. Perfect.

I guess try to visualize the amount of foam compared to the other filter, the more the better. 

I think I would consider a good size HOB filter, one that you could easily fill with foam like in Cory's video. It would be way easier to clean too. Put a foam piece on the intake to make it shrimp safe.  You would of course need an air stone for air with this setup, where as the sponge has it built in. 

Yes, the sponge filters flow just fine, they use air in the uplift tube to provide the water flow.   

So many decisions.....

I did lots of research and finally ended up with a canister filter on my 90 gallon, filled every tray with foam, it works great! I don't know if there is a small one for your 20 gallon though. They pump lots of water. 

Why does one need air stone with HOB filter? Doesn't HOB filter provides oxygen with the water flow and surface movements?

Or am I missing something here.

 

 

[Help me pick the filter]

ok so I just ordered this guy https://www.amazon.ca/gp/product/B010PRHDWK/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

 

And here is how my betta is doing with U2

 

 

It is currently set on the middle spray bar on the lowest setting.

 

[Help me pick the filter]

On 2/22/2022 at 12:38 PM, Wrencher_Scott said:

Sorry was referring to the thing with two sponges. My bad. I don't know how that in tank one is set up, but I'm sure it has a small powerhead running it.

Ok I looked it up, it also has useless fluval "rocks" the white things. If you must use that fill it with coarse foam instead of the pads and little white rocks. 

Cory has a great video on youtube about optimizing hang on back filters with foam. You could apply that to this thing too. If you put foam in in place of the pads and rocks it will not hurt your cycle much because you still have the old foam in there with benifitial bacteria on it. Also you won't have to buy new pads, just rinse in tank water when they get plugged up. Cheaper to run and more efficient too, a win win.

Here is that video:

 

 

 

Make sense!

I guess what I need to figure out at this point is that should I replace my U2 with a sponge filter (with or without rocks)?

Does the sponge filter itself provides water circulation? 

[Help me pick the filter]

On 2/21/2022 at 10:25 PM, Wrencher_Scott said:

IMO that thing is a sponge filter with worthless rocks under it. 

Try like super course foam instead of the rocks. 

The key to filter size is more of how many fish you will have (tank load, stocking) than gallons of water. Although you do need enough flow to keep the tank circulating well of course. 

Does the foam filter creates the circulation? Because U2 is doing a decent job with circulation I see water is constantly moving and so does my mystery snails.

[Help me pick the filter]

On 2/21/2022 at 9:00 PM, Colu said:

A sponge filter might be better if your having shrimp what I would do is add the sponge filter and run it a long side of the u2 filter till your tank cycle them remove the other filter the one in the picture should work fine am not sure how effective the bio media would be or you could try a co-op course sponge filter 

What if I don't add shrimps?

[Help me pick the filter]

On 2/21/2022 at 8:46 PM, Colu said:

How big is your tank as the u2 is rated for 30 gallon as long as you have some were out of the flow for your fish to rest a don't think it will be a problem

It is a 20 gallon tank. On the box of U2 it says up to 30 gallons

I am also thinking that u2 maybe an overkill since I am gonna have some shrimps and corydora at the bottom as well. I do have live plants as well. 

[Help me pick the filter]

On 2/21/2022 at 8:43 PM, Colu said:

 I have used a fluval u3 in a 50 gallon it did have a lot of flow you can a just it so it comes though the long middle section to reduce the flow a bit

This is what I have it running at, still feels a bit strong. Maybe I am overthinking.

[Help me pick the filter]

Hi, here I'm again with another help topic. 

I'm currently running a fish less cycle. The filter I own is fluval u2. Although I have a feeling that it'll be too strong for the fish I'll add in the tank. I might replace the fluval u2 with the conventional sponge filter. 

To add to my confusion I'm now finding sponge filter with bio chemical filter. See pictures below. 

My question is does it really make a difference? Does it provide cleaner tank and do a better job? 

 

Thanks. 

[Please help me read this test result]

I also think this is around 10 Ppm.

 

I will use a cell phone flashlight next time thanks @Torrey

[Please help me read this test result]

What do you guys think? 

[Help with my first test readings please]

It's coming along nicely. Plants are showing signs of growth. 👌

[Help with my first test readings please]

Here's an update on the readings. 

Ph 6.5, previously 6.0

Ammonia 1.0, previously 0.25

Nitrite 0.2, previously 0

Nitrate 10, previously 10

 

What do you guys think? Going in the right direction? 

 

Thanks 

[Help with my first test readings please]

On 2/16/2022 at 3:48 PM, Torrey said:

Not if this is one of your first tanks.

After over 4 decades of fish keeping, I built my first "filter free" tank last year. It's in my signature, the "Walstad-Inspired Scape"

There were several hickups I ran into, that could have wiped out my fish. Personally, I am glad I waited until I really knew my fish, and could recognize any distress signals, because I ended up needing to add airstones, and do a few more water changes than were included if I had "done it by the book".

Healthy plant growth will give you a buffer as long as the plants are healthy and growing. 

If the tank is under fertilized, if you end up sick and unable to take care of the tank, if a random ice storm interrupts power and the tank gets too cold, and the plants have a sudden die off, a lack of additional filters can leave the aquarium with dead fish.

That's why almost all my tanks have a UGF and a sponge filter. 

Because redundancy is an aquarium keepers best friend. 

Plants protect fish, as long as we are paying attention and doing our part. An ammonia spike from a tank of rapidly deceased plants is going to be lethal to fish.

Plants, plus filters, equal safe redundancy and happier fish

 

got it! Thank you for explaining all of this.

I am happy to have a filter in there as it is keeping the water clear so far. 

[Help with my first test readings please]

On 2/16/2022 at 2:02 PM, Odd Duck said:

Many plants will absorb ammonia directly and if you have enough plants, it can take more time for your other biofiltration to get up to speed or you can depend on your plants to “handle” the biofiltration.  In this case, I meant your plants may be handling all the bioload in your depending on what method you are using to develop your beneficial bacteria.

 

On 2/16/2022 at 3:02 PM, Torrey said:

This is the 'best kept secret' of the hobby.

I will never again put fish into a [permanent] tank before the plants have finished the 'melt back and begin to grow' stage.

Plants have been more reliable than my mechanical driven biological filters. The 4' and Walstad inspired are able to handle a bioload I never would have imagined trying... except, livebearers🤦‍♂️

ok so you are saying that I may not need the fluval u2 filter in there? I should be ok with some plants and a sponge filter?

[Help with my first test readings please]

On 2/16/2022 at 9:58 AM, laritheloud said:

Don't water change if you're doing a fishless cycle. That said, your PH is low and you might struggle with growing a bacteria colony at acidic water levels; bacteria is slower to reproduce at low PH. You could add baking soda to bump up the PH and give you some mineral buffer for the bacteria colony to grow without fish (once you go to add fish, adding baking soda is not necessary). There's two approaches you can try from here:

1) You can keep adding an ammonia source, dose your tank to 2 to 4 ppm ammonia, and wait for a cycle to get started/complete (you would see ammonia drop and nitrite spike, then nitrite will drop and nitrates will spike; continue to add ammonia to 2 to 4 ppm when you see it drop). This is probably going to be a bit hard on your plants, and the tank will look uglier before it looks better. I find when I do a fishless cycle with plants, there is a large diatom and algae bloom, but it tends to 'right itself' after some maturation and the algae is gone after a few more months. This has the potential to take a long time, and we can't guarantee a timeline for how long it will take your tank to cycle. BUT at the end of this method, you'll be able to add a larger number of fish without fear of straining the biofilter's limits.

2) You can focus on growing your plants for about a month then add very small amounts of fish at a time. You can fertilize your plants weekly, do your weekly water changes, and just get into the habit of caring for your tank. You're not guaranteed to have a fully functioning cycle at the end of this, but the tank would be 'mature' enough to handle at least a small amount of bioload at a time.

Hope this helps.

I have added 1 tsb of baking soda - is that enough for 20 gallon? Thanks for the tip.

On 2/16/2022 at 10:00 AM, Odd Duck said:

Can you show us pictures of the tubes against the white part of the card next to the color chart?  Sometimes the ammonia will have a very faint green tint, especially if your tap water has chloramines in it.  I would try adding ammonia aiming for just 1 ppm.  Then test again in 24 hours.  That will tell us much more about your filtration capacity.  That substrate can leach ammonia for a while, so your filter and plants may be close to handling it already.

ok - I will take pictures when I run the test again. Thanks

On 2/16/2022 at 10:01 AM, Odd Duck said:

With only a few days in, it’s more likely to be plants handling it than filter, but you’d be surprised sometimes at how soon you can add fish if you have enough plants.

hmm, I need to find out what does `plant handling it` means. 

On 2/16/2022 at 10:09 AM, Patrick_G said:

A benefit to using Stratum is that it’ll leach ammonia into the aquarium and help start the cycle. In your case it looks like it’s also leaching N in the form of Nitrate. A disadvantage is that it tends to lower the PH and that slows down the formation of bacteria. I’d follow @laritheloud’s advice in #2 above. Keep watching your parameters until you see nitrates rise and then start to fall then consider adding a small number of fish. Keep an eye on the PH! It’s a logarithmic scale so a 6 is 10 times less than a 7. Not all fish will be happy. 

Maybe @Streetwise can consolidate these two threads? 

make sense, I just threw in some baking soda and some betta fish food. 

I am thinking of moving decors from my small betta fish tank as well. I got enough toys for the betta.

[First attempt at first tank]

Thank you, make sense. I will see if I can find easy green or a similar product here (Toronto, Canada)

[Help with my first test readings please]

Hi,

I got a brand new tank running, started 4 days ago 

I finally got my testing kit yesterday (topfin test kit) I did some readings and here is what I got.

PH 6 

Ammonia 0.25 ppm

Nitrite 0 ppm

nitrate 20 ppm

 

Now my confusion is that should I do a water change right away or does some amount of ammonia help in any way to get the beneficial bacteria?

I mean should I wait few more days to see if ammonia levels go down by itself?

I do have live plants in there.

 

TIA

 

 

[First attempt at first tank]

Hi all,

 

Just got into this hobby, it's expensive but exciting and most importantly rewarding. This is a 20 gallon tank that sits in the family room as a corner piece so I gotta make it look pretty.

Plants I'm using are rotla in the corner, Monte Carlo as a carpet but only in the back (will cover 25% of the tank) I want to keep the front clear, got some anubias petite and java moss on the dragon stones and Hygrophila as background.

I have fluval stratum as substrate. No soil, no fertilizer and I didn't use anything additional(no seachem products). Internet told me that stratum should take care of my plants in the first 6 months at least, because of the added nutrients.

I also have fluval u2 filter running. Although I'm not sure if I should keep it or replace it with a sponge filter. It is doing an amazing job at keeping the water clear.

I did not add additional ammonia to kick start the nitrogen cycle, something I'm still learning. I might move the lucky Bamboo and some decor from my betta fish tank to introduce bacteria.

I do plan to add fish and make it nice colourful community tank for the kids (including myself) to enjoy.

Let me know what do you guys think or if you have any advice for me.

 

 

Cheers