nabokovfan87

I would definitely add the neoprene sheet. It gives the tank some "cushion" against the issue your facing. You shouldn't need the adhesive version (might be one without it that's slightly cheaper) Can you stack some paper and use that to measure the gap you're seeing? (stack paper and see if you can still slide it underneath, repeat until you can't, then measure that dimension) If is .063 or so, I would think you're fine and the mat is more than enough to fix any issues. Inspect the stand itself, how thick is the top piece of wood and do you see any issues internally in terms of water damage?

I reference this just to demonstrate the point. Again, not going to say go buy biohome or anything, but media definitely comes in various qualities and there is good and bad. There is a logic behind what works well and why. We are talking about aerobic not anaerobic bacteria which is a pretty "easy" thing to grow. More oxygen feeds that bacteria. A clogged filter doesn't as well as a clean one. And for someone having issues with how clogged is clogged.... See some of the videos posted above for filters that have been ran for far too long between cleaning. Sponge is generally regarded as a means to remove much, not specifically for bacterial growth in every single use. Yes, there is sponge filters, that's what we are talking here. I'll go back to my point about (just like ceramic media) there is a difference in media quality, be it sponge or anything else. Certain materials and production methods mean different variables.

yeah, my issue for me was just trying to force too fine of a bubble. I haven't had to replace the felt, but simply clean it off. Yeah, it's all dependent on what kind of a setup the tank has. I totally understand what you're saying. I was also referencing not just surface area, but the ability of the bacteria to populate with ease. Some foam materials are very low friction, very smooth, others aren't. Plastic (or closer to that) would have a harder time sticking around but the bacteria that does would be stronger. If it's clogged, surface area doesn't really matter anymore and there is no flow / surface area for the bacteria to clean the water on. Ceramic media, sintered glass media, sand vs. gravel substrate, there is a lot of variables that would cause better or worse sustainability long term. Simply put, even if you're running sponge only, adding a bag of some half-decent ceramic media (or rocks) or something to sustain bacteria in a high flow region wouldn't hurt in this situation, especially with the OPs concerns. But yeah, sponge absolutely works as proven 100000000x over and over with sustaining a colony to keep a tank thriving. There are variable for what is "best" and it's totally subjective in some of those variables (like air vs. pump). Definitely interesting to see the chart you referenced, good little bit of knowledge to check out.

ACs have pretty course filtration if you aren't running filter floss. I run a ziss on everything that is 29G or larger because I like having the flow and when doing water changes there is still air going and things moving so I can take my time. In my 75G I had two Tidal 75s and two ziss bubble bios. The Ziss filters do "polish" the water a bit nicely and there is a product from seachem I use in the case of really *needing* to clear out fines in the water. (Clarity is the name) There is also another filter from sicce that works but it's so fragile I do not recommend it. (shark series) For your issue, you probably can get away with just running a fine filter pad from now on in addition to any other media.

As long as the cory has a piece of wood or something to give them a place to feel hidden, a solo cory will manage just fine. I would look up / purchase a fluval brand hang on breeder box and use that for observation. For a full on hospital tank it does need its own filtration, especially for medications, but if you are just running observation, a hang on box is perfect.

125G you wont necessarily need high light, but based on what the schedule is (and intensity) you can get a pretty good balance with the lighting needs compared to the root tab needs. Jungle val loves to grow and depending how you run the light will change up what the plant wants. I think this video will be a big help to you, please be sure to tag me / ask if you have any further specific questions 🙂

here is a good conversation on the topic. In my experience with the co-op sponges, I've had the ziss "never clog" airstones clog because they had too much mulm on the felt. I have also had the sponges themselves fill up with mulm and detritus slightly quicker than I thought because of the flow they were running on was probably higher than others would run them. I took the stones apart and loosened them a bit. cleaned them, but I would recommend treating the airstones themselves like an impeller on a HoB filter. Every week or bi-weekly clean the sponges, then once a month check and clean out the stone itself.

Even with the sponge being course, I would still suggest you clean it at least once a week or bi-weekly. I would suggest trying to get the mulm on the substrate and not the filter itself. Shrimp will graze on the filter and some species also prefer to root around on surfaces embedded with mulm, but with that being said I think that any rocks or other surfaces in the tank, wood, or slow areas of the tank would be a place where you would be able to let that mulm build up. I used some of the morimo moss balls to create a calm area where the fry would hand in and out. As to your other question.... Yes, the sponge will clog over time and you will lose filtration. It should not cause a nitrate spoke (that is likely from food). The sponge is a very "poor" surface for bacteria but it does work. You're going to have more bacteria on the rocks, sides, substrate, and surfaces of the tank. If you're really concerned you can add a pile of lava stone, or media in a bag near the sponge and that can also help the tank to "seed" more bacteria. High flow = more success holding the strong bacteria. Reduced flow means that the bacteria might not be as strong. Example being something like the..... anoxic type filtration compared to the bubble bio filter available on the co-op.

Python works. I use a hand version (aqueon) but the cheaper recommendation is to use a hyggar version if you want to save a little bit of $$. Bentley Pascoe has a very good comparison video on youtube. When I clean my 29G I just use two 5G buckets and don't hook it up to a hose. For a larger tank, I'd definitely recommend one. I would also add to your list (and I am listing this based on the available items on aquarium co-op): 1. Fritz salt 2. Med Trio (with the additional item available from fritz for additional internal parasites) 3. Fluval E Series heater (nothing better available, amazon cannot comprehend how to ship / package these without damaging them, so just keep that in mind) 4. Hang-on back filter (or sponge if you prefer). I recommend the Tidal series, Aqueon Quietflow series, and others would recommend the aquaclear or fluval brand HoBs. 5. Ziss Airstone also is useful if you would prefer to add some aeration. 6. When they are available, the Aquarium co-op battery powered air pump with USB-C connection. They are switching to a new supplier, I would suggest waiting for that. 7. Seachem prime (or another water conditioner) 8. Hang-on box for breeding or the "catch bin" type of devices where you can hang them on the rim of the tank and use them when cleaning or for storing equipment behind the tank easily. 9. Towel 10. 5G bucket (or two) 11. Lid for the aquarium

Everything mentioned isn't really going to need a ton of easy green. The plants that are not swords/crypts will be slow growing and won't excessively grow by dosing more. You should only need to dose about 50% of the tank volume per week. If you have a 20G tank, dose once a week with 1 pump, and then see how the numbers change. Nitrates above 40, is an automatic water change until you get the numbers under control. You might need to do this every 24 or 48 hours until you have it under control. Test the water every 12-24 hours so you can verify the water changes are helping. A few things I would suggest.... Firstly, is to verify all of the root tabs are deep enough in the substrate. If they aren't, they could be leeching and causing the high numbers. (someone from Aquarium Co-Op, we would really appreciate some experienced use and verification on that comment). Secondly, If you don't see nitrates lower after 48 hours, dose salt (or move the fish temporarily) and then go ahead and pull 1/2 of the root tabs you have in the water. The reason for this is just that you might have placed too many. I would think you only need 1-2 per each sword or crypt and no other plants would need any. Third, please report back with your light, lighting schedule, and parameters for the light. Note: Anubias and and java fern are very slow growers and prefer indirect sunlight. Some plants are labeled as "lowlight" but most anubias and plants that grow extremely slow prefer to be in off-direction / shaded areas of the tank. Generally, if the plant has wide broad leaves that is how to view it, but there are some variations to that rule. I would make sure the plant is overhead on the sword / crypts and that the anubias and fern is indirectly lit. They can be under the light, but you would simply need to adjust the lighting settings / schedule accordingly. Finally, if you have any issues with the BBA longer term, I highly recommend adding some amano shrimp.

Definitely interesting. In general, yes this is a very interesting design issue. As someone who has designed stuff with plastics with specifically wear in mind, I would wonder what the thickness / materials of everything is in your stress locations in the design. I am pretty sure you can basically remove all design faults with some material or tolerance changes.

If I had the room / means to setup a sump I would: 1. Filter socks (large particle size) 2. Foam in various sizes (Coarse / Medium / Fine) 3A. More filter socks, but smaller particle size 3. fine particle pads 4. floating bed media / refugium 5. media storage (sintered glass variety) 6. Exit pump / thermometer / co2 dosing / dosing chamber

I would highly suggest just ordering it online via the coop. Other options include just using plaster of paris, pumice, and seiryu stone (with heavy white marble patterns.

underrated, I loved my little aqueon HoB. For a 10G tank, try out the 20G version, especially if you can adjust the flow. (I run a seachem tidal 35 on mine). I see that's what you upgraded to! Hopefully it's working well for you. I would be interested to know the difference in temperature between the two setups. To answer your thread title question.... Yes, absolutely. Especially when we elaborate on what you mean by "perfect balance". I know some people will argue about planted vs. non-planted tanks and how that balance presents itself. In my experience you notice the balance a lot more easily with plants because the plants themselves tell you the tank is well balanced. This meaning, the nitrates are feeding the plants and the plants are growing with enough lighting, the fish are behaving normally, and the tank is not being decimated with algae. In terms of a non-planted tank, I would suggest that a "perfect balance" speaks to the tank having a large enough volume of water, that the fish are healthy, parameters are setup for the fish to thrive, plants can be added (like anubias), and you are performing water changes regularly to avoid algae from taking over. Either one of those situations I would call balanced and the hobbyist (and fish) in question are happy. The issue might also just be substrate depth and the depth at which the plants are planted. Photos would help us clarify that one. If you don't want duckweed because of the tidal surface filter (it doesn't work on the 35G version) you can also try to track down some salvinia.

Eco complete and some others are known to release ammonia for the first 2-4 weeks. It is unfortunate and just a part of those types of medias. It just takes time for the ammonia to seep out and water changes / tank to be able to handle the ammonia. If you're running into major issues (fish in the tank), something that @Jeklabo seems to be going through, add some extra media to the HoB filter (or just lava rocks/pumice or a bag of media in the tank itself on/near the sponge filter). Adding some media gives the bacteria more places to call home, especially in a HoB and will help get the cycle up faster. Once you have that going, keep up with water changes daily, whenever the water gets above the ammonia level of concern (10 ppm or higher, change 15% water daily). I would also recommend adding bacteria from a bottle for this time just to push the aquarium to cycle as quickly as possible. It should take 3-4 days to get through this and then about 7-10 days for you to no longer needing to be concerned with ammonia anymore. Please be sure to try to find some test strips, you're going to need to test the water almost every 24 hours while you are working through this issue. Unfortunately the ammonia tests are one product while the nitrite/nitrate testing is another item to purchase. Which type of filters are you using? How are they setup? Add prime only while you're trying to cycle the tank. You might have too many chemicals in the water causing issues (this came up in another thread where the fish were struggling as a result). For now, prime only, bacteria only. Avoid the stress coat until after you have a cycle set in and when you see or have situations where the fish are stressed out. If you need to add something for stress, I highly recommend salt instead of stress coat. When you have your water tested at the local shop, take one sample of test water and one sample of water from the tap. This will give you an idea if the issue is the tank or the water itself. this is a great suggestion. The only issue is whether or not you're having issue with ammonia or ammonium in the water and what is being bonded with via the water dechlorinator or removed via aeration.

Just a bunch of Corys hiding out.

I know there is some places for the fish to hide. Let me grab a photo of one of my cory setups for the sake of explaining what I am trying to say..... BUT, the plant above I think is the right one (back row, second from the left) should be about the right texture that the corys use if they are the type that will put eggs on the bottom of the leaves. Some prefer something like almond leaves on the ground, or a flat rock (slate or pond type, flat sieryu also works) or just on the glass, floater roots/mop, or basically wherever the flow is something they like. I would be very interested to see what surface the fish prefer based on the setup you have. The only thing I would do is to try to have a cave of some sorts for the fry and for the adults to escape to if need be. I prefer to use wood where the corys actually dig down a bit and get underneath the wood. In that tank, without a 1.5-2.5" deep bed it's a little bit tougher. Per Cory's video, the corys will love to breed if you just go ahead and have it as a species tank with a surface they like. heading to my tank to try to show off the cory wood behavior.

what brand was it? The stuff usually sold as sand (actual sand) is from a highly reputable and high quality company that literally has nothing in the bag except for sand and sometimes has bacteria. It's generally expensive because of the size/particle filtering that goes into the product as well. Caribsea being the brand mentioned above. The only issue with sand in the aquarium you need to really worry about is the pure black sand having some magnetic materials in the product, which has come up before in a few of the reviews. For the cut/dry method just for anyone who needs it when you are rinsing substrate, even if the product itself is delicate there is a method you can use to rinse it if you are at all concerned. 1. Put the sand into a 5G bucket and fill with water. There will be some very fine particles that overflow to the top of the bucket, this is what you are mostly rinsing the substrate to remove. 2. Similar to when you rinse rice for cooking, you want to let the bucket fill, agitate the substrate gently with your hand, dump out the excess water slowly and refill the container. (typically 5-8 times) 3. Once you have the water generally remaining clear then you can add the substrate to the tank using a small cup or scoop. Dumping the entire bucket can shatter or scratch the bottom of your tank glass. Driftwood you would expect it to either be boiled (removes any pathogens or issues on the wood itself to "sterilize" the material. You would want to generously rinse the wood itself and inspect to make sure there is no sap / sticky residue on the wood itself. (I have never collected wood locally for fear of just completely messing it up, 😞 ) Once the wood is "prepped" then you would float it in water to make sure it sinks in the tank or just use rocks to keep it submerged while it gets waterlogged. In the tank itself, if there is anything off with the wood it's usually a sort of white slime / mold / algae that appears in the aquarium. The oil in the first post I don't think was anything more than the water being a bit different in its surface tension. Something like added ammonia or nitrite/nitrate levels can cause this as well as medicines or excess chemicals in the water. If you're having something similar like this "oily" surface in the tank I highly recommend running some filter floss and trying to get rid of any surface scum that way. If you're running into an issue where the fish are struggling, reply back with some parameters and stuff and we can try to figure out what's going on 🙂 BUT! it looks like you're all good to go and everything is fixed with your water changes. Awesome to hear.

Once the daytime temps are high enough and the house air temp is consistent. You should pretty much always have the ability to run without heaters. For something like discus or extremely sensitive fish I would leave the heater in for the floor to make sure the temps don't go too low. In basically all of my tanks the mass is either big enough where the water always feels (and is) warm or the species specifically want a cooler tank. My pandas love it into the high 60s at times and do just fine and enjoy the added oxygenation. The only issue I've ran into is when I moved a Bolivian ram and didn't keep in mind temperature. It's difficult to decide when. But the house can get into the 90s and I have to pull therms to give the tank a chance to get cold enough and then rise through the day. It's a west, desert, California thing I'm guessing. Something people in Utah, Arizona, Texas, Nevada would also deal with a bit. I totally understand the idea of dropping the therms down and just keeping them in. I guess it saves some of their lifespan if I'm not running them too? So I've always pulled them. For anyone who isn't used to this idea, here's Cory discussing the concept. In my case, purpose for the thread, is to try to promote some Cory breeding. I have decided to wait 7-10 days and then I'm going to pull them based on weather again. It got slightly too cold the past two days for me to feel comfortable about it. When I pull them, I'll report back regarding a temp drop or water change and any breeding behavior.

This is a question that I had too. Generally, it should work for anything. It is a safeguard for fungus and such not species specific.

What size tank do you have room for? Swordtails get pretty chunky. 40 breeder?

Just a huge nod to jimmy and his amazing work. See attached from his oto video. You can see the tiny bit very many little thorns on their skin. Equate them to a shark type of texture. Otos are generally skiddish and definitely struggle in nets. Catching them by hand is difficult. I use a wide mesh net and the important thing is to always be patient and let them work themselves loose. The wider mesh is a little bit easier for them to get out of. If you can, use the coop's method for catching fish and it works pretty well to corral the otos calmly. If they swim aggressively into the net because they are scared they will get stuck and it's difficult. Invert the net, give them time to escape. For your situation, try to handle the to and use very fine, blunt (not sharp) tweezers and remove the fluff. The oto will struggle with it there. Move against the grain and hopefully the photo helps to show what direction and how to handle their skin roughness. High oxygen. Cooler water (72-74 or so) and if need be a little bit of salt to help oxygen exchange. Best of luck. Poor little guy.

@Matthew Grobhow goes the tank?

Hey everyone. I have gone ahead and looked up temps for the next week or so. It's getting pretty hot here and I expect things to get warmer. Tanks are running eheim heaters, 74 degrees. One of the issues with my location is that nights to get pretty cool. In my view, some drop in temperature is good because it gives the fish that cycle and the real goal is to protect temps from dipping too low. For reference, on the tanks in question for the past few years I added them back into the tanks when the house was around... 55-65 in the mornings and it didn't get above 68 for a good portion of the day. The fish in question are both cory species tanks, everything is about the 70-72 sweet spot temps, but it's california, in the summer, it's going to get hot. When do you decide to pull heaters, or them as low as possible / off, if that is your preference to do so?

Totally makes sense. The stockings you had should be ok and work well (with the danios) and everything you have currently.