Freshwater 29 Gallon Setup

[Scoobcake]

Update for today.

24hrs from last PWC
Ammonia: 0ppm, Nitrite.25ppm, Nitrate 10ppm

Everyone looks happy and healthy except for my last remaining guppy. All of my fish deaths have had the same symptoms: They lose color/turn pale, become sluggish, and stay near the bottom of the tank till they eventually die. I was reading up on various sources that said that the amount of ammonia Ive had should not be lethal to fish in this short time frame of exposure. Ammonia and Nitrites have never been above .25ppm and they were only in there for around 5 days now. Could this be something else killing them? I dont think it would be an oxygenation issue. I added my live plants at the same time would that have any affect on them? Not sure want to do different at this time. Checking water parameters every day and have been doing a 50% wc every day.

2nd guppy died off. just before death she was almost acting if blind. was on bottom and i poked her with net and she'd dart off and run into the glass and dive bomb the bottom then just lay there. here is a picture of her. Abdomen had turned white over a couple days.

 

[Scoobcake]

>>bump<<

 

[Batt4Christ]

Negative on the chemicals. The only thing I can think of that my fish shop warned me about is burning candles. I dont use candles but I have those warmers where you put wax on top and the scent fills the room. Do wax on the warmer actually evaporates into the air but it does make the air heavily scented. Not sure if thats something that can affect it or not.

Also I was going to ask about my filter. been running a month now and I probably need to change it but I didnt want to discard all my good bacteria during this delicate phase. Am I ok to change it out?

As far as burning candles - we do from time to time - and no issues with that. I suppose if the wicks were not trimmed, and the candles smoked a bunch RIGHT next to the air intake on an air pump... or maybe some noxious candles like citronella (bug repellant)....???

Filter changes - if possible, just swish/squeeze out the filter media in a bucket of the water you pull out of your tank with a water change. That way, you retain most of the bacteria.

Lets ponder on your filtration for a moment:

I see listed a Tetra 40 (Assume it is a Tetra Whisper PF 40). It is rated by the manufacturer at 210gph (gallons per hour) of flow. Problem is - nearly every make and model of filter/pump rates their flow based on perfect conditions (with no filter media). Tetra filters are notorious for having relatively weak motors - and thus not likely to get anywhere near the advertised flow rate. So lets be very generous and say that it (with clean media) is pushing 180gph (which I still believe is WAY more than reality)...


There are two components to adequate filtration (not discussing bio load which is a whole other monkey wrench) A good rule of thumb is a minimum (light stock, never overfed, etc.) of 5X tank volume in flow rate per hour. So:

29g X 5 = 145gph.

Further - media capacity (volume of available space for floss/sponge/other material for bacteria to colonize) is important. All the flow rate in the world with limited media is practically pointless (and the media will need far more frequent cleanings).

Your filter, though rated for 210gph, is likely at best pushing 180gph= 180gph. So technically, you should have enough flow. BUT - it takes very little goo in those relatively small filter pads to drop that rate down 50% or more - which means you are likely at around 90gph or less. Further - the media capacity only allows so much bacteria to form and still have good flow.

Our first tank (after a nearly 15 year hiatus from the hobby) was a 29g. We found that getting that tank fully cycled was a nightmare with a single Whisper 40 (came with the tank). Added a smaller whisper i-series filter and got the tank "cycled"... but when the first fish were added - the tank crashed. There just wasn't enough filter capacity - even though stocking was "low". I finally bought a Marineland Emperor 400 (supposedly overkill at 400gph ideal flow)- and tank quickly balanced out and have had zero issues since - even after taking the 400 off to use on the 55g, replacing with a significantly smaller AquaClear 50. We did run the two side-by-side, then transfer some media from the 400 (poly-fill) to the AquaClear. The AquaClear is rated for 200gph - But the capacity for media is FAR FAR greater than the Tetra products - thus it handles the 29g heavily planted tank just fine (not a heavy bio load).

So - my theory is that you are walking a very tight rope trying to get your tank fully cycled and balanced out with the filter you have. A second of the same would get you in a safe level of flow rate - BUT - both filters together likely don't have the capacity of one AquaClear 50 (or a Marineland Penguin 200 with biowheel).

Keep up the water changes - and if you can, get you a second filter - I personally prefer the AquaClear or Marineland Penguin/Emperor. Both have much more filter capacity (AquaClear the most flexible). Get one that would supposedly be enough by itself for your tank and run both filters. Then you have a lot more capacity, plus you are not likely to lose both filters at the same time (short of a power outage). I suspect the tank would finish cycling and get stable pretty quickly with the additional filtration. Then - after whatever fish remaining are recovered - only then consider adding more stock.

 

[Scoobcake]

Alright, that makes sense actually because as my bioload has been diminishing the fish are looking happier and healthier. After researching filters I went with a Marineland Penguin Power Filter, 50 to 70-Gallon, 350 GPH. Probably way over kill but found it for $25 so cant go wrong there. Plus I plan on upgrading tank sizes later on so I may be able to use this somewhere else later. How long should I run both filters together before I can remove the tetra whisper 40. Dont want to remove all my BB.

 

[Batt4Christ]

You won't regret the Penguin 350. IT's a great filter, and no - it shouldn't be "overkill" - recall that in my post I indicated that I put the Emperor 400 on my 29g! It is basically the same filter, with 50 more gph!

The cartridges for that filter have carbon in them. while it won't hurt you, after a week or so, my suggestion would be to carefully cut open the top edge of the blue side and empty out the carbon, then stuff the cartridge with polyfill stuffing. It will both set up with beneficial bacteria, and will help to "polish" the water too.

 

[siva]

To answer an earlier question that I don't think was touched on, when you need to change your filter material, if you have a cartridge style filter, remove the fiber from the plastic frame before you discard the old cart. Place the old fiber in with the new cart so you can transfer BB to it and avoid any kind of mini cycle.

 

[Scoobcake]

Well 3 consecutive days with 0 ppm ammonia and 0 ppm nitrite. Think things are finally stablized. got the penguin 350 in and running. My only complaints are that the biowheels cause the water to splash more and "waterfall" noise was kinda loud. I attached a small piece of plastic on each side where the biowheel cover meets the water and corrected that problem. The only other issue is that the way my hood is made does not allow any spare room between my hood's light switch and the cover of the filter so its kind of a pain to turn the light on and off but thats alright. I have both filters running at the moment and was wondering how long I should run both before I can remove the old filter. Also, The Penguin 350 has an extra slot on each side for additional filter media. Should I leave it empty? I picked up some polyfill I just dont want to end up restricting water flow too much through the filter.

 

[Batt4Christ]

Sounds like thinks are leveling out! That's great.

The extra media slots, I believe, are for optional media containers (or additional pads...not sure if that is the best idea). I bought a 350 right after they came out (showing my age now...) and it came with two grey containers, open at the top, that you could fill with (they promoted carbon and zeolite....) media. Not sure about the case now - but those slots may now hold the containers that come standard in the Emperor 400 - clam-shell design that I stuff with polyfill and actually put in the slot closest to the biowheels - putting the blue standard pads (filled with poly instead of the carbon that comes in them) in the other slot.

AS far as the biowheels causing splashing noise - that isn't my experience - how far below the discharge is your tank water level?

 

[Scoobcake]

Well I was thinking water level might be part of the problem. However, Im keeping my water level a tad lower than usual so there no chance of my fry escaping the breeder net. It's not too much lower than I'd like though and I wasn't convinced that would help. Once I can add the fry to the main tank we will see what happens with that. Either way the noise problem is fine with the extra plastic pieces I attached for now.

The only other thing was how long before the new filter is seeded with BB and I can remove the tetra whisper 40?

 

[Batt4Christ]

Yeah - if I can hear my Emperor 400 (nearly the same filter) - I have let the water level fall too low. So that likely is the issue there.

As far as how long for bb to set up in the 350... Its hard to say, but the easiest way to get them established would be to pull the filter pad from your Whisper and just drop it in the empty space on one side of your Penguin 350. There is plenty of room in there between the back of the filter case and a filter pad. That would likely get the new filter established super-quick. Then again - there's nothing wrong with just leaving both running for a while - you have extra filter capacity. But if you just have to remove the Whisper, then I would let both filters run AT LEAST a week or two.