nabokovfan87

The first thing I will say is that I HIGHLY recommend the metal gang valve available pretty much everywhere, but specifically the metal version. @Fish Folk has shown off an amazing method for using these to create as many "drops" as you need for as many items as you need. NOW...... you just need to size the standard pump with what you effectively need to power. This gives you two main options I will get to in a moment, but first, I will give you two pieces of advice I can from my "trial and error" of trying to run things and ruining far too many pumps. Aqueon, fluval, etc. 1. Make sure you run a check valve (leading into the gang valve) 2. DO NOT buy a pump that touts multiple outputs. Instead, find a pump that will more robustly power one output and use the gang valve. This is what I prefer and it will power anywhere from 2 devices intensely strong, 4 devices really well, and 5+ devices would likely work. There is two sizes available. The key for this one being, this is a bit more robust than other STD air pumps because it has the "deep water" feature. I pretty much won't use anything besides these now. I highly recommend the CO-OP air pump when the USB-C version is released, but if you're trying to run several devices for a very large setup or a spot with 2-3 tanks in one region, you cannot beat what this pump can do. It might be more readily available other places, but it gives you an idea of what to look for when you're buying a pump in comparison to other dual output or lower power traditional style air pumps. https://www.amazon.com/Tetra-Whisper-AP150-Aquarium-Applications/dp/B000V7KM32

WOW! That's so many! I would love to see you show off your stuff if you feel like it. Sounds like a pretty amazing setup.

This is the most recent one for me. Replacing damaged sponge off the Ziss Bubble Bio Moving Bed Filter and adding a fine filter foam to help keep the media chamber / air chamber from filling with gunk. Another way to perform this is to use actual fine pad cut into a circle and only the black foam (bumpy side down) This is the original, replacing it because it's tearing on both sides right in the middle. This is the new one, bumpy foam, stacked with bumpy side facing each other so it fits in the filter. Edit: More mods to the ziss. Trying to buffer my water without adding it to the substrate (black substrate) https://forum.aquariumcoop.com/topic/23806-ziss-bubble-bio-crushed-coral/

Something I always struggled with as well was the stems and knowing how/when to trim them to clear off the bare stalk regions. This is a really awesome guide of what to do and might help you out with some of yours. That being said, regarding your algae. Drop the pure white to 65%, drop cold and warm white to 50% and 60% respectively. Blue down to 3%, Pink at 30-40% should be good. Keep an eye on nitrates and adapt those via your water changes. (if your nitrates stay high, you need to change water more often to get them down short term and eventually, long term, balance the cycle of the fish load with your plant intake) Short term. Dose some easy carbon daily (or every other day) and you might need to switch off of the seachem stuff because it's not providing all of the nutrients your plants actually need. There's a ton of options, but I'd of course recommend easy green. SO..... There's a lot going on here, but I was right in your shoes and I think some of what your going through is very normal. My absolute FIRST recommendation is to go ahead and add amano shrimp. 10+ if you can and let them work on the substrate and algae issues for you. Long term, they will be the kings of the tank and will absolutely crush a lot of what you're fighiting. They help to balance out the ecosystem really nicely in my tanks and help combat the hell out of persistent algae that nearly nothing else actually eats. Second to that, if you don't have them, the plants you have would greatly benefit from 5 or so Otocinclus being added to the tank. Instead of a bigger pleco, the otos will hang out on the leaves and work hard on the glass. It's a really perfect size tank for a small shoal of them. Essentially what you're running into is micronutrient and other deficiencies that are slowing down growth. The light is so intense that the algae is out competing the Macro nutrients that are there. (More of this in the bentley video above). After a month or 2-3 months you can slowly increase the light as the plants fill in and start to thrive in your tank. The biggest thing is to understand how long this takes and to give the animals / light / nutrient changes time to take hold. (In my journal you can see where I started and where I'm at now) I wish you the best of luck, be patient, and keep the plants going!

I don't know what your options are but this might help make it a LOT easier to maintain and give you the advantage of forcing the water through the sponge without using seals. You can also use the sliders you have, cut out the shelves excluding the bottom one and then use the shelves to pull things in and out of the sump. Especially if you're finding full thickness foam pieces like what they have in the aquaclear 110 or something like this... https://www.amazon.com/ViaAqua-Coarse-Sponge-Aquarium-40x40x1/dp/B07R63JQBH/ref=sr_1_5?crid=1HOQFQ09R32TA&keywords=aquarium+sponge+blue&qid=1652054343&sprefix=aquarium+sponge+blu%2Caps%2C417&sr=8-5 Yellow = Coarse PPI foam red = Medium/fine PPI foam Green = Filter Floss. This would let you swap out filter floss a lot easier to keep the media chamber clean as well as remove/maintain the sponge without too much hassle and removing so many pieces. This is similar in design/function to the Fluval 407 canisters as well as a few other sumps I've seen. This video is a pretty good setup too. I like both designs. I would definitely be down to have one of these in place of a HoB any day of the week.

Just sort of depends. You might have the scape to handle multiple and they can definitely be territorial towards one another. If you get a male+female they might be the best of friends, same with two females. If you get unlucky and get two males, might have more of an issue. The rams will definitely stay moreso towards the bottom but they may swim around every so often.

Very sorry for your loss and I hope things turn around for you. I know how frustrating and down this type of an event can make you feel. It is probably a perfect choice to run sponge filters given the flat bodied fish. You can also ensure whatever filter you purchase for future use (if you want something with power on it) has flow adjustment. A metal gang valve will also let you hook up multiple sponges and eventually remove them to place in another tank if need be. There's a lot of great videos and support for issues like you've been running into. I wish you the best of luck, future success, and continued enjoyment with your tanks.

I could literally write some sort of an essay on how much I have had to mess with my HoBs to get them to function and "fix design issues". I have always enjoyed this aspect of the hobby and I'd love to ask everyone about their setups. For reference below, I'll toss in a few pretty epic videos when it comes to filter setups. Please feel free to post and share your filter setups here! I'll have to grab some paper and sketch out a few mods I've done!

dean has a ram guide. I'd follow that.

They have some brushes and things used for cleaning espresso machines. I don't know why we don't have those in the hobby. Something where it's simply the same thing but fish safe materials. Should be a pretty useful multitool.

Just get a lid if you can. Mesh net also works and can be super nice if you look up some of the places that make those for SW tanks.

I just think to my days trying to get my amano. sitting there with a magnifying glass, a light, a flashlight, a syringe, and looking up some weird places to buy a bottle of green water to feed the zoeys. Then I found some step by step, super in depth amano guide that had showed different methods to "replicate" the path down the stream and someone who build a series of tanks to replicate the journey, their log, notes, and a lot of photos showing their development over time. I wish you luck and let the memes roll. 😂

It kind of depends where they come from. If they are from a farm that is generally warmer, they might do better with warmer temps, some might do better under other conditions. I definitely lost some when I first purchased my group. I have had them hot, cold, and all over the place. During the summer, it's crazy hot here and I have no real way to chill the water. Cooler water and good flow is general what "cooler water" or river type of species prefer because there is some oxygenation differences in the water. It all can be related, it might not be. In my experience I feel like I run higher flow and cooler tanks that other hobbyists and have success, but I also understand there is regional differences and even the same species that can be kept at a variety of temperatures successfully! As always, it's great to have different insights to help out with the issues. This is a good one to just enjoy, it speaks to testing parameters, temperature and the conversation at hand a bit.

Literally gave me the chills. Can't do it! LOL

you'd never think they could be so particular, but mine are looking for silk sheets or something. 😂 Last time they spawned they had 3-4 different spots, the bottom of plants as well, which are not in the tank. And they did lay on floating anubias (under the leaves). They spawned on the glass. It was a massive spawn.

That definitely helps me out to see how you're using them. I have two I can toss in for floating, one short, one long, and then this is what I've switched to currently to try to give them more of the moss on rock interaction.

Just rinse the substrate before you add it. remove the betta because it's easy to do and will reduce stress on the fish. you can then use a small kids plastic cup or something to slowly add the substrate.

Three for bolivian ram! I think the only issue might be temperature, it really depends where the tank is at currently and if that is warm enough for the ram. The Honey Gourami is another great choice and you do have an affinity for the gourami species. The apisto is also a very beautiful fish but much harder for me to get. Same things mentioned for the rams above, just double check temp and parameters and you're good to go with whatever you decide. The ram might spend a lot of time sifting through the substrate, so keep that in mind as well. It won't bother the corys, but just something to be aware of with regards to how they interact with the tank itself.

You can create a "holder" of sorts for floating plants or use that same method to keep the flow itself from disrupting the surface too badly (see photo below). There are a lot of videos on youtube on how to reduce the output disruption for fish like bettas, but I think running the HoB filter on the side of the tank might fix a lot of the issue you've had with too much flow at the output. I also recommend looking up how to "upgrade" your filter away from using cartridges. This will naturally go ahead and reduce the output flow slightly and might be enough to fix the issue you're having. You'll also have better overall long-term housing for beneficial bacteria, which just means that the tank and fish will adapt a bit better if you do have a spike in ammonia. You do have ammonia in your water and you really shouldn't. So my assumption here is going to be that the tank isn't really cycled fully or robustly enough to help fight off ammonia spikes. A simple tweak, run the tank for a few weeks, then we can test again shortly after feeding and see if that resolves your ammonia showing up. Looking up your hang on back cartridges, it might actually have flow adjustment as well already built in. Here's a good breakdown of how you can modify the filter, based on the way it functions it looks like your best bet is going to be to fill it up with sponge that is cut to fit. I don't think you need *that much* flow in your tank. but having your heater placed in a good spot for flow is pretty important. Try moving the HoB filter to the side wall and then try moving your exiting pump to the back corner near your heater. That should help to give you a better dispersion for the output of the HoB and feed water towards the input of the HoB as well. If you don't like the setup, you can always move things back, but it might be worth a shot to try it out. The only real issue with side mounting is that your light might not have a place to hang, Which most likely means that isn't an option. Let me know if that is the case. you can of course verify the HoB you do have (for the higher heater) and determine if the one you have does have flow control. At full blast the output might be too strong, but reducing it to say.... 80% might fix the issue you were having, or we can talk about building a weir type of thing or something like.... This is going to be the easiest way to fix up your GH. I'm sure some people here can help or you can find videos / directions on youtube that hopefully clarify how to read the seachem directions without the chemistry degree you sometimes need to have. Again.... Once you have these few things sorted out, you can go ahead and run some more water tests and give the tank time to build up some bacteria to fight ammonia and have the nitrogen cycle take hold a bit better.

I would start with 3-4 corys and 3 otos. I know people are going to say to have 6 minimum, but you can add more in future if those otos do well. For the corys, you likely may end up with more, so starting with fewer might be a good idea. 5 is fine, I would start with 3-4 personally. Temperature, if you can drop it to 74 as a ceiling and try to keep it in the 72-74 range for the oto/cory you mention. I don't know what else you have in the tank specifically and that temps they require. For your other question above, the main thing is to make sure they have the behavior that they are happy. Otos kind of enjoy having an eye on them, meaning that it's best for them if you see them eating and grazing. If you don't see them doing that, they might not have enough food, and especially if you don't see waste, that might be a sign of issues. I would offer them a wafer at least every other day minimum. If you have a small one, and one they like, daily is absolutely fine. Repashy Soilent green is a a pretty great choice for the fish mentioned. Community blend also might be a great fit as well.

Here is a pretty good breakdown of how to setup the filter. Please feel free to ask any specific questions you might have. For media, I would try to find something ceramic and have it in a media bag. given the filter you're using, your best bet is likely to just completely fill the container with sponge and skip any other media.

it can definitely be muddy depending how big and how deep the holes are on the stone itself. I would try to clean out any deep holes you see and if you see a lot of mud, soak it for an hour or so and then try to get more of the mud out. The more lace-like the texture of the stone, it will have some mud pockets and stuff that can be tricky to clean out.

Something that I get to see, but pretty much no one else does. It only really works in video form. 😂 My pleco was flaring on their little hide in the wood, this is Luigi. He usually is very splotchy and very nocturnal. He looks a LOT healthier and naturally colored once I removed the caves to add some plants. He was having some fun on the wood so I started recording, then all the fish wanted to say what's up.

Definitely not doing that! 🙂 I just really have to giggle at seachem sometimes. "help me, help you" This is the mesh. The colored one from the tanins is the bags that come inside of the tidal filters and what I would call a "very fine" mesh filter media bag. hilarious to me.

That is such a beautiful tank! The only value it looks like to me is going to potentially cause issues is the GH value. https://www.aquariumcoop.com/blogs/aquarium/ph-gh-kh Can you ask the local store where you're purchasing the fish from what their values are? What is the value you're getting directly from the tap, what about after 24 hours of aeration? Because this is a 20L aquarium I do believe the HoB is going to be an issue and there are potentially some dead spots. Can I ask you to clarify what you mean by "rather violent waves" of the filter. What is the oxygenation test that you're using? What is your media in the filter and how is it setup? Maybe there is a way to reduce the turbulence but keep the flow for this water volume. (I see the pump on the top left of the tank and that is honestly giving you a lot of oxygenation) If you didn't have that secondary flow source, I would really think that the flow on this tank is just very low. In terms of the "map" of the flow this is what I am seeing: Purple arrow = the flow from your secondary pump that is centered toward the front of the tank. This doesn't provide a ton of flow to the back of the tank, especially where the heater is located. So right now you might have a hot spot where that heater is located, while the rest of the tank might have a different temperature. You can place your thermometer next to the heater grate and then move it to the other corner of the tank and compare results. This could also decrease the life of your heater. Second loop is very much to the side of the tank and as you specified that filter is undersized for this tank. This flow is going to be very much towards the far end of the tank and not really helping with the center / left regions of the tank. A fish can basically show you that flow is an issue if you see them moving to the higher flow region of the tank often, or if you see them retreating to a different part of the tank to escape the flow. Does this tank have lids? One method to help with your issue of the violent output on the filter might be to side mount that HoB so it outputs the long direction of the tank instead of the short direction. I honestly don't have experience with this disease. I can point you to this video from cory on the topic and the species. Hopefully it helps.