nabokovfan87

For the sake of clarity, if anyone has a tidal 35 and needs to add a prefilter:

Doesn't matter. I cut mine in the shower or outside in the driveway. No issues. I have cut it dry and wet, doesn't much matter if you don't mind the water. I think the 37 has a brace! That's why I'd prefer it over the 29. My 29 bends a bit more than I'd like. The 29 does a great job for me simply because it does have a good separation of upper, mid, low levels in the aquarium. A 20, it's a lot more condensed vertically, but it's one of my favorite tanks.

Looks awesome and I really enjoy the array of fish / discus patters that you have going on. I apologize if it was mentioned, I double checked a few times I swear, what temp are you running this one at? I am curious that's all. I also wanted to ask about your exp. with the Tidal HoB filter, how you've enjoyed or issues you've encountered with it? I think the one to the left is aqueon?

Hello! Welcome to the forum. A few things to review and this all might be something where you already have it and can check it out, or potentially choose something more appropriate. -Substrate: I would be very careful with catfish, particular corydoras, and eco complete. It is, from some reports, literally just lava rock. Depending how much it's tumbled in the bag or at the manufacturing facility you may have some pretty sharp fine edges. Capping it with sand is a great way to go, but eco complete is something where it absorbs nutrients over time and holds them to be available for the plants. It has a high CEC value, which is useful, but up front it might not be what you're expecting in terms of plant value. Capping it may or may not reduce the CEC viability. Depending on what your own water parameters are, something like amazonia, stratum, etc. might be of better use here if you're specifically looking for a plant substrate that is beneficial to the plants themselves. I can dig up the substrate article I found that talks through a bunch of options if you wish. "black sand" is a pretty vague term, please be careful with coal slag / BDBS if you use this as well, it's not a known recipe in terms of what could be in the bag and might be full of metal or other things the fish cannot handle. I recently tried it and had a lot of issues. I removed it a few days later. Others have reported success and very minimal issues. Out bags of "sand" and substrate looked very, very different but were the same brand / label. When it comes to "black substrate" I'd recommend something inert like gravel or rocks. Fine particle size is better for the corydoras if they do decide to burrow a bit (it helps hold the food above the substrate and they don't struggle to dig as much). They will dig, but just a better overall fish and substrate relationship if it's a finer particle size. For my tank right now I am using caribsea sand and then in my other tank (both with corydoras) I am using seachem flourite black. -In terms of the filter, if you haven't purchased it, I would recommend the Tidal 55 over the tidal 35. If the flow is too much you can simply turn it down. There are some issues with the tidal and I'll go ahead and link a thread for you to check out and ask any questions you have here, in that thread, or in a DM. I do recommend modding that filter. If you don't want to go that route, something like the aqueon quietflow or marineland penguin pro filters are equivalent and wouldn't require modification. Finally, if you do plan to run the tidal 35 I would recommend having an airstone in the tank as well for surface scum (the skimmer doesn't work too well) and to just boost up the flow / oxygenation. I highly recommend the ziss airstones that you can adjust.

Be sure to ask the source what temp they are at currently to help with acclimation. Dean has said he lowers or alters the temp over a few weeks to get it where he keeps them.

Yeah. they went through meds for 2 weeks, about a week ago. The little dude has shortened barbels and looks like he has a big fish mustache while they grow back. 😞

It totally will. BUT, you have to mod how you run it. I can dive into it, but yes.... some people have just given up and removed the basket. It would then flow left to right, not bottom to top. Removing the basket drastically changes the flow path.

That's what I used. I bored out the hole a little bit to try to give the glass some space. The inlet is 1" diameter on mine, the sponge is 1/2" hole. It definitely is the right size, but I had to cut out the hole a little. I'll have more photos and so forth on the experiments thread I have for the Tidals. I am still testing things out. Generally speaking, I'm not a fan of pre-filters. At this point, with the mods, it's pretty necessary, but we'll see.

Yeah. I would never find them during the day, I saw them at night. I check on the corys / eggs at night pretty late. I use a flashlight on low just to see if there's any issues. It keeps the shrimp and catfish calm (clown plecos and stuff). I honestly didn't see them until I did this and was like.... uh..... that's a worm. Some will be in the substrate, hardscape, others in the filter, others on the glass. Behavior, location, shape, etc. are all going to help narrow down what you're dealing with! 🙂

Yeah, my problem is just drips. Drop on the cart, all good to me or the specimen container. Hmm..... 🤔 Something that fits inside or on a specimen container might be a nice way to add an add-on product that is super useful! Super cheap to make too. Python could do so many things to add useful products, it's a weird thing. So can Marina / Fluval. The cart stuff, I think we had a cart thread one day, but I have one saved in my amazon list. It's like the one Jimmy used in his fishroom (all nice and black), but the one I found have some place for little bins and hooks if need be. Looking forward to hearing your thoughts. You're officially test point #2. Whenever you're "ready" and have some thoughts on the whole process I'd really appreciate the thoughts in that experiment thread! I am intrigued as to how hidden it looks in the tank when installed. Should make the equipment hide a little bit easier. I am still trying to figure out how to get this thing to not bypass. At the point of modding the basket a little bit next.

Nope, just normal maintenance. I follow the Rachel O'leary / King of DIY method, I'm totally not sure if that's a thing. The sand is relatively new so it hasn't had a chance to take in too much junk. I have two sponges on that tank so it's very easy for the tank to hold muck on the surface of the sand. I feed red rood on white substrate too, I always see the little bits. On camera, I think I just got the shutter / Iso and all that setup a certain way where it looks blown out. But, generally speaking, it's just new. If you're having issues with mulm / sand just gravel vac it. If you have issues with the vac in particular or technique I can send you some stuff.

not good...... keeping on reading. Agreed. Kind of need it for scale as well. Just to be safe, after lights out. Check the water column after dark with a flashlight to see if you see any free swimming. Looks like Mopani wood right?

Awesome progress. Nicely done, Keep it up!!!

oh yes. Melon barbs I love as well!

Attempt 2. They literally are like a pack of manatee. 😂 The one I zoomed in on is the little dude that was the most sick. https://youtu.be/LyH7thE57pg

Speaking of..... Someone invent a slightly better version of this. There is an EHeim "work thing" where you have a slightly designed space to put things for maint. And it hangs on the tank. I am on the verge of talking myself into the crazy price for it. Or the metal fish cart......

That's awesome! I'd love to hear more. Ah, very cool! I might not have gotten to that part yet. I was thinking in my mind about how some judges view different things and interpret the weight of things a certain way. There are some "points you need to hit" that they want to see, etc. It's really interesting to see the pattern / variety of all of these tanks. Even what tank sizes seem to pop up specifically. #16 is amazing! (just popped up). I'll try to find the part you mentioned! Thank you 🙂

I saw the ADA channel had something about this. I'm glad that they have all the photos and stuff, that's awesome. I always get excited by the titles, but then the videos are 1-3 minutes long (typically) 😞 . @Patrick_G Do you happen to know if there is any video where they discuss how they judge the tanks? What parameters go into all of this apart from visuals? It would be interesting, I'm not sure if it exists, but to have something similar just sorted by various style categories and then see a video like this for each one! (#78 is my favorite so far, #74 has a very intense hardscape, in such a good way!)

I definitely recommend just "checking" on the pump housing every 2-5 weeks, especially while you're getting used to the changes. You don't necessarily have to take the pump apart, but just the cavity with the pump to make sure it's working and not clogged up. The nice thing about the Tidals is you can clean 95% of the gunk off the impeller without doing too much more than having a hose blow water through the chamber. Maybe you had one on your hands or plants that moved over? Snails get everywhere and are so small it can be hard to see them. One day you look, yep, you got the snails now. 😞

grub pie and the iagapo explorer I want to try one day! Cool to hear the first one works well 🙂

Had to check on the little ones after the whole BDBS incident. This is shot at 120 FPS and edited lower so the footage is slowed down slightly. Hopefully enjoyable. I'm so happy to see the pandas back in the sand and doing what they do.

Woke up today and it wasn't stuck to the glass. Turned on and I'm guessing that pushed it off the wall. The cradle that slides on to the suction cup is very thin. It's an extremely small pump, which is nice. It's essentially (in size) the same pump you'd get on a tidal 55. Looks like an early version of it. Here you can see the opposing side of the tank, CO2 bubbles effectively moved around. I'm still going to go ahead and get the spraybar setup. The kit I found "works" and I'll have those details when the time comes.

I can totally see why the fish were like. "nope, I'll wait."

That's awesome to hear. I'm definitely going to clean things up a bit and make a concise post once I'm done testing.

Looks right! Gotta deal that hole where the dial was, then the little slots in the media basket on the front / back where you added that plastic cover. Came out super clean which is awesome.