Ac50

[AndrewH]

I went out today and picked myself up a brandy new 29 gallon at petco. I also picked up an AquaClear 50 for it. Now the box says it's for 20-50 gallon tanks at a GPH of 200 but we all know the box isn't always correct. My question is, would this be sufficient or should I also use my Penguin 100 which is at 100 GPH and already has beneficial bacteria with the AC50?

 

[SpeedEuphoria]

Well if you want to seed the tank you should run both, or take the media from the Penguin 100 and float in the tank while the AC50 is running or try and fit it in the AC50.

Just the AC50 would be a good filter for the 29G

 

[AndrewH]

If I don't have to then I probably won't. Thinking about using Bio-Spira to cycle my tank a lot of experienced people I know have had great success with it.

Also I'll be using pool filter sand as my substrate. I plan on putting the wet sand in first after cleaning it. Then putting a plate down and filling the tank to prevent clouding. After that should I run my filter? Or should I wait for the sand to settle then run the filter.

 

[saffikeagan]

It's best to wait for the sand to settle. If you wash the sand well, you shouldn't have too much clouding from anything other than the settling sand.

 

[AndrewH]

How often should I stir the sand after the tank is established?

 

[Alaris]

Ok I sat in my tub with half a bucket of pfs (for a 10g) for an hour and it still didn't clean all the dust out. I put it in my tank and poured the water in and it clouded up so bad that I couldn't see the rock in my tank. I was told to run my filter (AC20) with some polyfiber (pillow stuffing). So I grabbed some polyfiber from my craft closet and stuffed the filter basket with it alone. I turned on the filter at 8am and by 4pm when I came home the tank was crystal clear. I rinsed out the polyfiber and stirred up the sand and it was cloudy, but not as bad. Now my tank has been running for a week and every time I stir the sand it doesn't cloud.

 

[AndrewH]

Ok I sat in my tub with half a bucket of pfs (for a 10g) for an hour and it still didn't clean all the dust out. I put it in my tank and poured the water in and it clouded up so bad that I couldn't see the rock in my tank. I was told to run my filter (AC20) with some polyfiber (pillow stuffing). So I grabbed some polyfiber from my craft closet and stuffed the filter basket with it alone. I turned on the filter at 8am and by 4pm when I came home the tank was crystal clear. I rinsed out the polyfiber and stirred up the sand and it was cloudy, but not as bad. Now my tank has been running for a week and every time I stir the sand it doesn't cloud.

Sweet, thanks for the advice I will do just that.

 

[new2betas]

Andrew,
I have a 29 gallon also and just put a AquaClear 50 on mine and am very happy with it. I had a AquaClear 20 on it as I didn't know I could put the 50 on there at first. I then moved my AC20 over to my 10g tank and also love it!

 

[meegosh]

I agree, the AC50 will be more than enough filtration for your 29g. I have one running on a 30g long for several months now and I have no complaints.