nabokovfan87

One of the better tips I've heard is getting fish (basically most of them) in groups of 1,3,5,etc. instead of even numbers. For SAE, I think 1 in a tank might do fine. In my 55/75G I had 3 and they were awesome little friends. they definitely had to deal with the tank boss, but they did perfectly ok. (tank boss = red tailed black shark) I'd definitely put them in the 29G if you can because of the vertical height. Love it! LOL.

Looks awesome! I love the placement on the stand and it fits really well. Very nice Aesthetic together with the tank. Been there.... 😕 I hope you don't mean SAE as in the one that gets really big? I think they are one of those 40 breader minimum size fish? They can jump out of a tank pretty easily and usually require a lot of space! Just a heads up. Keep up the awesome work, looks good!

Cool, there IS some ceramic in there, but not much. You can very likely fit more. Essentially when you're modifying a filter there's a few choices. All of them are centered around how does the filter operate and how do you take advantage of the flow path itself. One of the easiest ways to mod a filter is to just fill it with sponge. Based on the top down view it looks like.... Blue = Flow in, there should be a small inlet here when you look inside. Red = Flow out, Right now the ceramic media bag would be on this red side of your cartridge. Green = sponge = mod Essentially you'd just have to measure the length, cut it to fit, then you're good to go. If you wanted to have sponge and ceramic, you'd just leave a gap on the red side and then you would slot the media in there. If you have a filter that flows bottom ---> top and not only left to right you could do something like this as well.

For sure.... This is how mine went. BEAUTIFUL Hope. Attempt 3: I'll grab a pic / edit when I get back to the tank, but imagine more algae. Less green. Always looks like it's going to work well though! (I had just replaced the light after taking this photo with a longer version)

Oh this is interesting! I would be intrigued to know if this is the full result. A lot of people around where I live tend to get sold a system similar to what you have been describing. I'm more of the mindset of just a good series of filters that go to whatever need be (ATO style, under sink drinking filter, but the whole house version). I do see the advantage of re-mineralizing water, don't really hate hard water (the pipes do, but me no) as long as it's stuff my body actually needs and not weird stuff. There was an episode of Clarkson's farm on water testing, pretty funny stuff there too.

Very much so! No idea why it doesn't come with something... anything. I'll look into the magnet stuff. Pretty sure by the time I get the magnet stuff, I'll end up snapping off the little clips 😩 but I definitely like his little project! My only other real complaint, the cord comes off the pump in a weird direction.

How is that skimmer doing for you? I have one for my QT just because the filter didn't really do what I needed it to, it wanted a little buddy I suppose. The little sponge / system works! but I wish it was easier to clean.

Sanity check: His is a 5200 mAh lasted for ~17 hours Very cool to see him try it so many times to test it!

Me too. I enjoy it. I am trying to run just a dwarf hairgrass carpet in my tank and it's been 3-4 attempts at this point. Make it look easy for me! lol

Sweet! Hopefully you start to see more nitrates soon!

Can you post testing results of you tank as well as your tapwater? 1. Take a sample from the tank, test it. 2. Take a sample from the tap, test it. 3. Take that same sample from the tap, aerate it for 24 hours with an airstone, then re-test. My gut assumption is that you're seeing PH swings, potentially very soft water compared to what the fish are used to.

Looks awesome! Please be sure to post it here too 🙂 Awesome looking, simple scape. I like the big chunky mopani mixed with the gass type plants up front! I can't wait to see it filled in.

They are in a QT tank right now. they've been there for far too long. It was supposed to be in a 75G, which was "negated" because someone wanted to have a TV there. The other location with power was an issue because it was "in the way". With the house under heavy construction it's just been a challenge to try to find a place that works (floor issues) and then have it out of the way so it doesn't get bumped. The current location is underneath the stairwell, power is on the opposite wall (main entry into the house) which just isn't something where I can run a power cable in that way. I had to move the 10G off my dresser to my desk. It's not a perfect situation but they are now on a slightly more reliable surface. This tank in question is basically where they should be headed to. 10G--> 29G and it's just running empty right now until everything is set. More thank likely it'll end up in my room with my other tank, but it's supposed to be a community setup for others in the house to enjoy, with their fish. On the 1/2 wall behind the tank there is a chimney, but there is also a set of wall switches. My assumption is that it would be very easy to add an outlet in this wall. One of the reasons this spot was discussed as an option. Unfortunately, I can't get a clear answer, but obviously my priority was to have the fish in the larger tank asap, which is why the battery solution and sponge filters became an option. This is the spot opposite the tank currently, there is a little cubby, but it gets knocked nearly every time anyone walks by. It's a hallway essentially and they added spiral stairs. Also, the floor itself is very much warped badly where you see the glass shelving right now. It's right by the front door and having power mounted to the wall and all that just isn't what they want to walk into. The other spot we discussed is the sunken in living room (I'm pretty sure it used to be the driveway by how the floor is sloped). It might end up here, but there's some breaker issues I need resolved, all part of that construction unfortunately. The floor here also looks to have some water damage or something, warpage or just poor quality work on the 1/2 wall itself. Being next to the TV in that proximity, may or may not be an issue as well. This is the other main room. If you're viewing the photo, my original proposed location for everything was lefthand side. There's a brick wall there, again, no power, and there's this brick shelf I asked if they were going to have removed or leave, still no answer on that. No power though, so similar issue. The chimney itself you can see in the photo above, the "brick shelf" is supposed to be a pizza over but it's one of those weekend project looking things and I don't know at all if it was done correctly 😕 . But, the tv on the wall was supposed to be the actual place for the tank I had. The poster / section to the right of it is right in front of an 8' slider, which makes it not a great spot. It also has major floor issues. There is a small step down where you see those pain cans and what looks like the original backyard patio (massive slope for water drainage in about every direction possible). That's kind of the overview of it all and why this is remotely a setup that's happening. Hopefully the testing date is worth it for someone in their future use! Found this. It's essentially how to build out the idea mentioned by @dasaltemelosguy

Essentially, your filter doesn't support enough bacteria right now. You're getting a massive ammonia spike when you add the fish in, and then you're having other parameters change dramatically as a result of all of the fluctuations. What we need to to is figure out how to best "fix" the filtration. The easiest way is going to be by adding some aquaclear sponge material into the compartment. Let me grab a video. It would also be helpful if you could provide the specific filter model you're using. If you have questions please feel free to ask and I'm sure many of us will have lots of valuable experience doing this. another method might be to add a pre-filter sponge as well, if that is an option.

I get what you're saying. You would think that by now someone would have a simple 5v VCC output for a variety of methods. Something like the ecotech batteries is basically what you're talking about too, but it comes in a case. I don't have any idea what their hookups are, app support, versatility. Essentially it seems like this whole thing isn't really a viable option long term. I really appreciate your guidance and help. For reference on anyone who wants to have the data: d-cell battery "portable pump" = ~20 hours use time (batteries could be old, so I'm re-running) nano air pump on lithium Ion battery bank = 4-5 day run time at 20,000 mAh For the larger load, I would assume you're looking at 2.5-3.5 days, but I won't be able to complete that trial until I have one on hand to test. I'll post some final results when I have them.

I would still do a WC. Even at 50%, you'll get the nitrites to 10-15 ppm, plenty for the bacteria to digest. Is ammonia 0?

Essentially dual outlet pumps have 2 sets of parts inside. So it's really two pumps in one case. The only real way to turn it off is to just run it to an airstone and drop it in a tank somewhere. If you connect both of them to a single outlet, one of them could push back pressure onto the other and they could end up damaging one another. For this reason, I've switched off of the dual outlet pumps and opted for "deep water" stronger pumps and connecting them to a gang valve. It's a whole rabbit hole because you're basically oversizing the airpump in a similar fashion to oversizing your filter. Depending what the load is, use case, is going to determine what amount of drops you need.

It works for Nitrites and Nitrates as well. Found this. But. Ammonia, I can totally understand dosing prime. Nitrites, I'd dose bacteria, time, and 25-50% wc daily Nitrates, I'd just track it and do water changes.

Oh..... sorry. Totally missed that. Yeah, I would still do water changes. Try to get it to 0 but you need the cycle to finish. I'd dose bacteria (stability or something) instead of prime.

yeah, even at 40 you should be ok without needing to dose prime. https://www.aquariumcoop.com/pages/water-changes This is the nifty tool the co-op has to help out. 🙂

Definitely! I don't think you need to be dosing it daily or anything. I would track it, if you have something above 40, just do a water change that day. As long as you're done treating meds and stuff. Keep an eye out for ich, also. Just to make sure it's gone and you don't accidentally bring it from one tank to another.

You might only need one or two pumps once a week. If you get algae, basically turn the lights down (or be consistent) and then potentially less ferts because the plants in the tank aren't necessarily needing that much.

LOL. well. Look up Pat McAfee colts lose to jaguars and you'll giggle for a little bit. So, the whole KH thing, I'm sorry I've been busy. it's been a week! I am very happy to hear the coral has really helped you out. PH and your nitrates, we know that the KH is slowly going up, so your PH will too. You have nitrates from something, and we basically need to figure out what is causing it. Usual suspects are. 1. Tank buildup (gravel vac / WC issues, old tank syndrome) 2. Feeding 3. Something is hiding and releasing nitrates, injured fish or something. Easy green, on my 29G as an example, I feed and my nitrates are in the 10-20 range. I try to keep them low these days, so I haven't been dosing as much (plants are still trying to grow in, low load for sure). But, if I dose, my nitrate is low for instance, 3 pumps, I'm in the 30-40 range. I don' t know if this is what caused the nitrate spike, but the best way to find out is just to test daily, to see if it climbs and if it keeps climbing or if it stabilizes.

very cool. He's a luigi fish! LOL That's the name of mine, similar pattern.

Is he ok? it's ok because you can much more easily perform water changes with the QT setup. (and usually it's more often with meds). But. If it's ICH. you need to treat the tank now.