Big update!
Hey All! So as some of you know, we finally got our tank up and running! Its been running for 2 full days now and our fish our happy, our water parameters are great and all of our equipment is running well!
I've been thinking about this post update, and Im not sure how to structure it (since apparently I can't edit my OP). I know people have been asking a lot about the Milwaukee Reg. and the ISTA Max Mix CO2 Reactor, so I guess I will start with those topics first, then go into some other areas I would like to touch on.
CO2 Setup-
Initially opening the package of the Milwaukee regulator, I was displeased to find a lack of instructions, but knew my friends here at AA and other YouTube videos would get me through the install. It seems very solid, and I really like the built in bubble counter. Keeps everything neat and I don't have co2 lines running all over the place.
Erin.k and I run a Sun Sun HW302 canister along with our Marineland Penguin 350. We quickly realized that the best way to get CO2 into the system was through an inline reactor. This would allow us to put a direct line from the canister through the reactor and up to the spray bar from the canister. After a little research we settles on the ISTA Max Mix CO2 Inline Reactor. Since we have a 55g tank, we went with the larger version. (The true size is escaping me at the moment.)
So, now we have our Milwaukee CO2 Regulator with Bubble Counter (on top of a 5 lb co2 tank) and our ISTA CO2 Reactor. We filled the Bubble Counter with Veggie Oil in the beginning, but realizing that veggie oil spoils, we quickly switched to water. After filling the counter and making sure all of our fitting on the regulator were tight, it was time to connect the CO2 regulator to the reactor.
We have CO2 proof line that is run from the top of the bubble counter on the regulator, to the top nipple (lol...nipple) of the ISTA reactor. After this we simply cut the water outflow line from the canister (while it was off, of course) attached the main outflow line to the input/side nozzle, of the reactor. We then took the piece of line we cut earlier, and attached that from the top of the reactor to the spray bar.
To make sure we have proper CO2 running in our tank, we picked up a drop checker from CAL AQUA. This works great! Every day when I get home I look at the drop checker, and its a spot on match. Its good to know that we have the proper amount of co2 (almost 5 or 6 bps) running in our tank, and we are not suffocating our fish!
Review-
These products are great. Granted we've only had them running for a few days. We have the lights and co2 solenoid on a timer. Our CO2 clicks on an hours before our lights do, and goes off an hour before our lights go off.
I would highly recommend both the Milwaukee CO2 Regulator and the ISTA Max Mix CO2 Inline Reactor. Im sure you could pick up a cheaper drop checker, but our CAL AQUA looks really nice and gets the job done perfectly! I really don't see why people don't like drop checkers! Its so easy!
Sun Sun HW302 Canister Filter-
I have been looking forward to writing about this for some time now.
I LOVE THIS CANISTER!!!!!
Setup is a breeze, we currently run purigen and a filter pad on the top layer, ceramic on the second, and bio balls beneath. (We have carbon and regular filter pads on our Penguin 350.) We made sure to wash all of the parts, then simply took out the media bags, washed them and placed them in the canister. For the purigen we used seachems "the bag." Its a welded filter bag that allows purigen to stay in the bag without falling out as the purigen beads are very tiny. If your using purigen, i recommend getting "the bag."
After placing the media in their respective trays, and putting the trays together (making sure to line up the inlet pipe) we got the lines hooked up to the reactor and spray bar, and the return from the outflow pipe.
Next was priming. Priming was the one difficult process of setting up this filter, but after becoming frustrated and taking a break for a minute, I figured out a trick that should help others with this same priming issue. After you have assembled your media and media trays, and gotten the lines ready for priming and use, simply fill the canister up with water almost to the top. This will allow water to be pumped out to the spray bar, and creating enough suction to get water through the return line. It does take a bit of pumping the priming switch, but I assure you this method will work.
After she's primed she is good to go until you need to clean your media. You can follow this same process after your media is cleaned, just remember to use aquarium water when filling the canister.
Review-
Great canister, especially for the money. It was super easy to setup, and the media trays are so large, you could almost fit two media bags in each! My only issue, and its a small one, is the suction cups that attach to the spray bar and the media pipe. The suction cups are okay, but the little plastic pieces that attach to the spray bar and outflow pipe are very flimsy and its difficult to get them to stay upright. I will soon be replacing these as to fix this issue. Other than that tiny issue, I would highly recommend this to anyone looking for a canister.
800GPH Circulation Head-
I went searching for a good wavemaker/power head and found that alot of them are REALLY expensive. I looked around online and found
this. It has great reviews online and is working really well for us in our tank, plus it was only $11 dollars. I would highly recommend this to anyone looking to save some cash on a powerhead or wave maker.
Fish & Plants
This is the fun part! We currently are doing a fish-in cycle (after much debate) and have 6 awesome fish! We have 3 gold dwarf gouramis, and 3 cobalt gouramis. They are getting along very well even though the golds seem to enjoy chasing each other around, no one is being harmed and all are in good spirits.
We plan on adding a pleco, and are still unsure about what other fish/inverts we want, but we will cross that bridge when we get to it.
As for plants, we started out fairly light, and will be adding more in the weeks to come. We have two java ferns, one aqua fern, one amazon sword, two small patches of dwarf baby tears and some bamboo. (We will be removing the bamboo as research shows the leaves need to be above water or it will rot out.)
We use a few different seachem products for our plant life. When we plant, we use seachem root tabs, which help with root growth. We also use Seachem Flourish, Flourish Excel and Flourish Iron. These seem to work well, although it is certainly too early to tell.
Lastly, our decorations are pretty cool too, especially being a pilot. Erin.k bought me a downed mig fighter with both wings "broke" off. We have taken one of the wings and put it ontop of our tall driftwood, simulating the wing hitting the tree, staying there, and the airplane crashing on the ground below. We also have a cool rock formation we found at our local LFS and another piece of neat-looking driftwood.
Water Parameters-
Thusfar, I am generally happy with our water parameters, especially with our 6 DGs. We use Seachem prime to dechlorinate our water, and the API Master Test Kit to test our water. We have soft water here out of the tap, so our KH is around 3-4. Our temp (we have a fluval 200l heater) is steady at 78 degrees F. Ammonia has been steady at .25ppm and obviously no nitrates or nitrites yet. PH has been hovering a bit, between 6.6 and 7.2, but I think its because when I take a measurement in the morning, the co2 has only been running for an hour or so, whereas at night, when i do a water test, the co2 has been running all day. Just a thought.
Pictures-
Having some issues getting pictures from my phone to the computer. Will post some later!
I hope this helps out people wondering about our tank and with questions on the equipment we've used. If you have further questions or comments, please post them below. Erin.k and I will be happy to answer any and all of them!
