jaswartz55
Aquarium Advice Newbie
All,
Moving up from my Fluval 12g Edge, which I've had going for a good year now, to an 85g tank (Crystalline by Planet Aquariums). A local vendor convinced me to go with a sump system rather than a canister because he said it would provide better filtration and I could more easily convert to saltwater if I decided to do so down the road. The sump is a Sicce Multi 4000 (990 gph/45W). The tank has a ghost overflow to drain water into the sump system.
Today I loaded in 5 bags of the Caribsea Eco Complete gravel, dumped a large number of buckets of water until the system was full and turned the thing on. It seems to be working well except that it is noisy in the overflow box (sounds like a toilet tank refilling after a flush). I thought it was supposed to be quiet. A saw a few things on line indicating that the sump might be too powerful but it seems the right rating for a tank this size. I called the local guy from whom I bought the tank, and he said to expect some noise but that I might put a small sponge in the overflow box (not blocking the drains) to quiet it down. Haven't tried this yet but thought I'd ask. Anyone have any experience with this issue and if so, what did you do/recommend?
The Caribsea product is supposed to speed up the initial cycling. Is that true and how long will it take (approximately) for this tank to cycle? I am in no rush and planned on waiting at least 1 to 2 weeks before considering moving my small community from the Fluval over to their spacious new home.
And recommendations on led lights? I will have plants in the tank - several very nice African swords that have flourished in the small tank as well as dwarf hairgrass but I don't want this to be a heavily planted tank. Just enough to give it a nice look but not the point of emphasis. I have seen the Finnex Planted +24/7 recommended, but there appear to be comparable products made by Fluval as well as the Satellite Freshwater LED as well as Marineland. Hard to decide between these. Any thoughts on which would be best?
Any thoughts/help would be much appreciated.
James
Moving up from my Fluval 12g Edge, which I've had going for a good year now, to an 85g tank (Crystalline by Planet Aquariums). A local vendor convinced me to go with a sump system rather than a canister because he said it would provide better filtration and I could more easily convert to saltwater if I decided to do so down the road. The sump is a Sicce Multi 4000 (990 gph/45W). The tank has a ghost overflow to drain water into the sump system.
Today I loaded in 5 bags of the Caribsea Eco Complete gravel, dumped a large number of buckets of water until the system was full and turned the thing on. It seems to be working well except that it is noisy in the overflow box (sounds like a toilet tank refilling after a flush). I thought it was supposed to be quiet. A saw a few things on line indicating that the sump might be too powerful but it seems the right rating for a tank this size. I called the local guy from whom I bought the tank, and he said to expect some noise but that I might put a small sponge in the overflow box (not blocking the drains) to quiet it down. Haven't tried this yet but thought I'd ask. Anyone have any experience with this issue and if so, what did you do/recommend?
The Caribsea product is supposed to speed up the initial cycling. Is that true and how long will it take (approximately) for this tank to cycle? I am in no rush and planned on waiting at least 1 to 2 weeks before considering moving my small community from the Fluval over to their spacious new home.
And recommendations on led lights? I will have plants in the tank - several very nice African swords that have flourished in the small tank as well as dwarf hairgrass but I don't want this to be a heavily planted tank. Just enough to give it a nice look but not the point of emphasis. I have seen the Finnex Planted +24/7 recommended, but there appear to be comparable products made by Fluval as well as the Satellite Freshwater LED as well as Marineland. Hard to decide between these. Any thoughts on which would be best?
Any thoughts/help would be much appreciated.
James