Christmas Haul!

[sudz]

Hey guys, I thought there will be millions of posts here right after christmas...

Superpet has a boxing week special going on... Fluval 304 for 99 bucks! I went to my nearest store and bought the LAST one at 10am today. I have it set up along side my AC70, Once I feel it has a decent amount of bioload capability, I'll cut off my AC70.

Its great. I have to use the valves to tone it down, and my AC70 is on low now too. There is still great flow in the tank. Its supposed to handle a 70 gallon tank, so it should be more than enough for my 44.

My Ultimate goal is to have a wire-free setup. (except for the lights, of course)

I was sick of looking at a tangle of wires at the back of my tank. Soon, all that will be is the heater, Lights, and 2 tubes for the filter!

I also scored a 50 dollar gift card to big-al's from my brother. I plan on getting a few rainbow fish once the filter is all set up. I'll definately try and go for a school of them. Maybe some plants too. I have a feeling it won't last long at all. lol.

I'm also nearing 1000 points on my big al's card... thats another 10 bucks haha. I'll post more when i get the fish.

I'm thinking boesaumi rainbows... since i just lost my only one. I loved him/her. maybe 4 or 5. They have smallish ones at big al's right now.

[melosu58]

Congrats. Cant wait for the pics

[roka64]

Awesome!

[Jchillin]

Way to go! I've promoted the canister filters for that very reason...clean neat lines and less clutter.

[sudz]

Its NOISY. I think i may go have a talk with the people at petsmart about it. It seems like air is leaking INTO the system somewhere. Because everytime i shake the canister, it mulches up bubbles. It makes a noise very much like a cheap "whisper" pump i had. My Aquaclear is MUCH MUCH quieter than it. Other than that, I am pleased with it. I HAVE noticed my heater going on MUCH more often. It has ribbed plastic tubing, i have a feeling they are letting out a lot of heat.

*edit*

To give you an idea of the noise level... it is behind a solid desk, behind the fish tank, and it is louder than my computer, which is in line of sight. My computer has 3 hard drives. It is slightly noisier than a normal computer. Its kinda... "grindy" noises every 2 or 3 seconds.... its like. prrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrGrind prrrrrr grind grind prrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr its ANNOYING. and i can't sleep with it. It was the reason why i BOUGHT the thing. Quiet, and neat.

[Marconis]

How quiet should a filter really be? Mine sounds kinda like an electrical oven, which is to me pretty quiet. The loudest thing though is the water trickling noise. I find it relaxing and rather easy to sleep with.

***
I take that back. It actually sounds like a slightly faint computer fan.

[sudz]

this is loud. It would make me raise my voice to talk. I had to turn it off because it was bugging my mom in the next ROOM.

[Toirtis]

Originally Posted by sudz

Its NOISY. I think i may go have a talk with the people at petsmart about it. It seems like air is leaking INTO the system somewhere. Because everytime i shake the canister, it mulches up bubbles. . Its kinda... "grindy" noises every 2 or 3 seconds.... its like. prrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrGrind prrrrrr grind grind .

I would take it back...it should be making nothing like that kind of noise...it should have a quiet hum almost inaudible from across a quiet room.

[melosu58]

Yes I would think about taking it back also. Not supposed to make that much noise.

[sudz]

I stayed up late last night puttering with it. I took out the impellor, to see if there is any imperfections, and there is. I BELIEVE (its ever so slight) that the actual "prop" on the magnetic impellor is a bit off center. This would cause it to shake around, and probably make this horrible noise. I'm going to call Petsmart this morning and see what they will do. It was a ROYAL pain in the butt to get everything installed on my tank. I wonder if i can keep all the "plumbing" and just take a new canister.

**Update:**

I went to petsmart to get someone to look at it. Apparently, someone took out the ceramic "axle" for the impellor. So it was just floating around in there on its own. Thankfully it was too loud and i turned it off before damage was done to the impellor. Its now quiet. Not QUITE as quiet as my Aquaclears, but it is a bigger motor. I imagine it will quiet up once theres a bit of "sludge" in there I know AC's are sometimes noisy for the first week before they wear in.

[sudz]

Well, with my 50 dollar gift certifricate to Big Al's (plus a bit.... )
I bought: 2 plants, yet to be ID'd... (4.88 each bundle)

3 red finned rainbows and 2 "mellenium" rainbowfish, which i believe were mis-ID'd as well. I'll post pictures as soon as the water clears up.