New 29 Gallon Build - Journal

[jfhrtn]

Tested the water last night and it still looks good. Ammonia was 0ppm, nitrites 0ppm, nitrates 10-20ppm, and pH was 7.6. Everyone looked like they were getting along pretty well. The fin nipping looks to calming down now that everyone is settling down.

Got one question. The food that gets sucked up through the filter intake is probably going to do nothing but break down and create ammonia for the filter to have to break down. How often should I take the media basket out and rinse out the food particles?

6/29/17

Ammonia: 0ppm

Nitrites: 0ppm

Nitrates: 10ppm

pH: 7.6

 

[TMaier]

Hob filter?

 

[Fresh2o]

Ease of filter maintenance is always a plus with any filter. Yes, removing/replacing the mechanical media will remove the matter that will eventually breakdown into nitrogenous compounds. In aquaculture, measures are taken to remove as much intact physical waste before it gets a chance to break down. This helps maintain decent water quality.

 

[jfhrtn]

@TMaier It is an aquaclear 70 hob filter. Thought about taking a couple gallons of water out the tank in a 5 gallon bucket and just swishing the sponge around to get any food or intact waste out. Then just using tank water to rise out the filter housing. Seems like a couple NLS pellets inevitably get sucked up in the intake when the current from the power head pushes it down the water column. Would a sponge pre-filter be a good idea to keep any intact waste from getting sucked up the intake or is there something that might work better that doesn't inhibit water flow?

Like @Fresh2o said I just want to try to keep the best water quality I can not only for the plants but to keep the fish as healthy as possible.

 

[Fresh2o]

I use Fluval internal filter foam sponges on the intakes of AC50s on my shrimp tanks. Yes, they will begin to clog within a week or less but this forces me to rinse them (I do this in the bathtub) and the amount of gunk that comes out them is amazing.
You can always increase water change percentage and/or frequency to counter waste buildup.

 

[jfhrtn]

I have been looking at PetSmart to see if I can find a sponge to put on the intake but PetSmart is really limited on their inventory I have found. Might have to order something off Amazon. I will look up the Fluval internal filter foam here in just a minute. My main worry is if the filter sucks up 1-3 pellets a day at the end of the week that really adds up. I might try unplugging the circulation pump when I feed them until I can get a sponge on the intake.

Now that I have the nitrates at an acceptable level I am thinking 20-25% water change every 4-5 days. Not sure if that is enough or often enough but I'm open to advice

 

[TMaier]

Your stock and feeding habits and tank parameters will dictate your maintenance needs. If the pellets are getting sucked up before anything has a chance to nibble then that's a problem. I run my circulation pump in the morning hours 4-6 hours. It's on a timer.

 

[jfhrtn]

I think I may pick up a time this afternoon and have it on an hour after lights cut on and an hour after they cut off. Only thing I am kind of worried about is it decreases the surface agitation. Might cut the pump on once the lights cut off since that is when the plants produce co2. What do you think?

Also I am having to feed them where the filter is dumping water cause I would have to move the light to open top. I that is the main problem. The circulation pump is pushing water to the filter and the filter is hitting the front glass. When he pellets get in the current hitting the front glass they immediately get pushed down. I don't put but one pinch of pellets in so there isn't a terrible lot of food in there. I have considered putting the circulation pump on the same side as the filter but don't know how it perform. I think it would still hit the dead spots on the opposite side. I'll post a pic to help explain what I am thinking.

The green is where it is located now (rear left corner) pushing water from left to right. The red is where I am thinking of putting it (front right corner) pushing water from right to left so it hopefully would push the water away from the front glass maybe making or a more equal distribution of the food instead of it all residing in front of the filter intake. I hope this makes sense haha. Apologies for the finger drawn lines I'm on mobile right now

 

[TMaier]

I don't use the circulation pump at night so the fish can snooze. I don't know about your surface gas exchange and Co2. Move the circulation pump and see how it works out.

 

[jfhrtn]

Last night I tested the water, vacuumed out some fish waste, cleaned the debris out of the filter, and added back the 25% of the water that was taken out during the vacuuming process. Also put a timer on the circulation pump to come on 3 hours throughout the photo period. It does last one hour past the photo period though. It comes on from 8-9am, 11am-12pm, and 2-3pm.


6/30/17

Ammonia: 0ppm

Nitrites: 0ppm

Nitrates: 5-10ppm

pH: 7.6

Temp: 78.6

 

[jfhrtn]

Tested the water this evening and all is still good after cleaning the filter housing and rinsing the sponge/media in a bucket of tank water. It's good to see the same ammonia, nitrite, and pH numbers in each test. Makes me think everything is stabilizing. I'll get a FTS up in the morning of how everything is looking.

Did how ever loose my year and half old neon during the course of the day today. I found him/her stuck to the filter intake this evening. Rest in peace little guy. It sure was a good ride.


7/1/17

Ammonia: 0ppm

Nitrites: 0ppm

Nitrates: ~20ppm

pH: 7.6

Temp: 78.8

 

[jfhrtn]

FTS from this morning. Anyone got any recommendations on plants? Thinking about trimming the repens to get some of the diatoms/brown algae off but may leave it for my oto and nerites to munch on. Just not sure if it needs trimming.

Would a sponge filter take up too much room in the tank?

Also the sponge for the intake tube should be here today sometime

 

[TMaier]

I'm not family with repens. But o can suggest you do a bit of a vacuum to remove the diatom covered sand a bit.

I use a hose with a pen cap on it.

I gently agitate the surface of the sand to remove debris. Not so deep as to disturb plant roots. Then you can use straight tap water to clean it once it is out of the tank. And then soak it in Prime treated water before putting it back in.

 

[jfhrtn]

That is a great idea with the pen cap. So the chlorine in the tap water will kill the diatoms on the top layer of sand once it is out and in a container to clean? Also how do you strain the sand out of your bucket of water?

 

[TMaier]

The pen cap I saw someone else do on YouTube. Stirs up stuff enough to siphon without pulling up all the sand.

I am a very patient woman. I dump all the water out of the bucket. Usually to water the yard. I sit the bucket in the sun. Dry sand goes back in the tank.

 

[jfhrtn]

I'll have to give that a try. When I do a rescape I'll have to take some sand out and dry it in the sun like you are talking about. I don't think an oto or nerites will clean up the sand will they?

 

[TMaier]

I never found anything that choked down on the Diatoms. Now I am assuming you will picking up very little of the sand. If you remove a bunch rinse it in just tank water and perhaps a bit of H2o2 and return it too the tank quickly

 

[jfhrtn]

I vacuumed a bit of the surface sand last night and it looks a little bit better now. Still got a ways to go. My oto is cleaning the tops of he plants pretty nicely. The nerites have done a number on the rocks. They are starting to move to the glass for what looks like the beginning of green spot. It seems to disappear quickly thanks to the nerites.

I am thinking of rearranging the repens and if I do I will clean that whole top layer of sand underneath where I can't get the vacuum now.

 

[jfhrtn]

Has anyone ever seen a black racer nerite burrow itself in the sand before? I have a time lapse of a few pics while it was burrowing itself over the course of like 4-5min. Wondering if anyone has any info on this or if anyone has seen this before? Only can upload 4 at a time now I guess

 

[jfhrtn]