Advice?!?!?

[Skeeter84]

So heres my story. I recently upgraded from a 10 to a 30 gallon tank (taller than wide). I have 2 cichlids and an algae eater, and 3 live plants. The hang on back filter that came with the tank was loud and annoying, so after doing research, and buying and returning a HOT magnum, i ended up buying an eheim ecco. silence is golden to me and i am loving it. I had it set up where i was geting no surface agitation (im new), and i come home from work to find all of the fish hanging out with their noses on the surface, the plants brown, and the plants had put out some film / pulp and polluted the entire tank.. I assume this was all cause of no aeration in the tank, so temporarily i pointed the output valve of the filter to break the water surface and removed the dying plants. after 1 day the fish are acting normal and the water has cleared up. I went to buy an air pump (rena) and a bubble wall for some aeration, but was bothering me (my house is very quiet and the vibrations going through the walls bothers my roommate). I got a penguin powerhead, but it is making a rattling noise. So my question is...... does anyone know of an effective yet quiet tank aeration method, and when would it be safe to add a few more fish and replace the live plants? And has anyone had any rattling noise issues with penguin powerheads, should i just let it break itself in? im thinking that after a few days it should get a good slime coat on the impeller...??? ...or, if i were to buy the spray bar for the eheim, would that be enough aeration (keeping in mind that the tank is taller than wide) . or has any used the hydor ario submersible air pumps? I heard they were garbage. thanks in advance for any advice!

 

[jsoong]

Your plants may be dying due to the move. <Crypts are well know for that, they can melt completely if the roots are disturbed. However, if you keep the roots, they will grow back.> The other cause may be inadequate light due to a deep tank. <Stock light for those tank will almost always be inadequate!> For the moment, I would just keep trimming off the dead & dying leaves to avoid polluting the tank.

As far as aeration goes, the Eheim should be fine on its own. A spray bar is nice to get lots of circulation in the tank. If you can set it so the output ripples the water, but not so much that it is noisy, you should be set.

How did you transfer your tank. If you did not transfer your filter & substrate, your 30 will be cycling. Did you check your levels? Ammonia or nitrites will interfere with gill function & cause your fish to act as if the water is low in O2.

 

[TankGirl]

Agree with jsoong, and though it is true that the Eheim should be enough, it might not be.

Which Ecco model did you get, Skeeter? I have been VERY underwhelmed with these models, and I am a huge Eheim fan. I had the largest Ecco running on a 37g and it was barely enough water movement for it. I now have it running tandem with an Eheim Classic 2215 on a 40g.

 

[Skeeter84]

Thanks for the replies guys.

No i did not transfer my filter. Like i said im new. Probably a big mistake??? Luckily everything seems to be getting healthy again. I am not too familiar with checking levels yet, When i had my 10 gallon I was using Those stupid tablets to balance my ph, ammonia and nitrate.


I have the Eheim Ecco 2232. The outlet really bothers me. I can point ot downwards to get the lower water circulating, or i can point it level with the surface to get some agitation. Right now i have the outlet pointed down, and a powerhead moving the top. Seems to be working well.

Thanks again for the replies and anymore advice!!

 

[gzeiger]

If you didn't transfer the filter then you have ammonia in your tank. Read up on the cycling process, test your water frequently and change water whenever ammonia starts to build up.

 

[Pacei]

I have a similar problem as well on tanks that don't have good seals on the top. I position my spray bar in such a way that it creates surface agitation but no noise. After 1 day, on some tanks, enough water evaporates that it makes noise again and I have to add a cup or two of water. If I lower the water direction, it lasts longer but I see a film on the surface.

So for me, I just add a bit of water every day. I'd rather do that than to deal with film or to deal with more noise. No air stones for me.