Open 20 Gallon Long
#1 Guest_Yeahson421_*
Posted 19 June 2011 - 09:58 PM
Plants: None
Substrate: Mixed sized gravel, sand, and river rock.
Shelter: Rock cribs, small pieces of driftwood
Filtration: Filter manifold seen here: http://www.loaches.c...manifold-design (Powerheads will be two Hagen AquaClears rated at 127 GPH)
Fish: Now that's what I want help with. Exact species, I'm more so looking for how many Darters, Shiners, and/or dace would be comfortable in here. I want to focus on the smaller species of Darters (Pretty much anything but logperch) and spotfin shiners (Will be put in pond once they outgrow tank).
Thanks for your time.
#2 Guest_Yeahson421_*
Posted 20 June 2011 - 10:03 AM
#3 Guest_jblaylock_*
Posted 20 June 2011 - 01:34 PM
#4 Guest_Yeahson421_*
Posted 20 June 2011 - 11:25 PM
In my original post I mentioned the river manifold filtration system which is simmiliar to an under gravel filter but the holes are sealed and two powerheads pull water through two sponges, into the tubes under the gravel, and back out the powerheads. The water will be circulated through the system 12.7 times an hour at full speed.What kind of filtration will you use?
#5 Guest_jblaylock_*
Posted 21 June 2011 - 11:26 AM
In my original post I mentioned the river manifold filtration system which is simmiliar to an under gravel filter but the holes are sealed and two powerheads pull water through two sponges, into the tubes under the gravel, and back out the powerheads. The water will be circulated through the system 12.7 times an hour at full speed.
I've seen that manifold system before. Depending on your stock, I'm not sure that will be enough filtration.
#6 Guest_jblaylock_*
Posted 21 June 2011 - 02:48 PM
I've seen that manifold system before. Depending on your stock, I'm not sure that will be enough filtration.
I'm sure the circulation will be enough, but I'm worried that the sponges alone won't be able to handle the bio-load. You may want to think about adding a small cannister filter. You can put the intake on one end and the return on the other, creating more flow.
#7 Guest_Yeahson421_*
Posted 21 June 2011 - 09:47 PM
#8 Guest_jblaylock_*
Posted 21 June 2011 - 10:12 PM
Okay, what about if I filled the tubes in the manifold with bioballs?
You could do that, but significantly reduce the flow rate of the powerheads. I'm not trying to hex your idea, I just felt you may need more filtration. Two sponges probably can't handle a larger bio load.
#9 Guest_Yeahson421_*
Posted 21 June 2011 - 10:40 PM
#10 Guest_jblaylock_*
Posted 22 June 2011 - 06:56 AM
Okay, nevermind the bioballs, I found a 20 gallon canister filter for a good price, so I'll just go wth that. It may be a few weeks before I can get it, so could I start out with just the manifold and stock it lightly?
Should be ok. The tank will need to cycle and it will take a little time for the bacteria to build up, but it sounds like a good plan. The canister will help add to the 'river' effect by adding more flow and another output spraying water.
#11 Guest_EricaWieser_*
Posted 22 June 2011 - 01:05 PM
If you have any tanks up right now or any friends with tanks, borrow some of their filter media and stick it into your new filter. This is called "seeding" with bacteria, and it'll get your tank off to the right start by jump starting the initial population of beneficial bacteria. Buy an ammonia, nitrite, and nitrate test kit and feed the tank with fish flakes every day as if you were feeding fish. (Or you can add a bit of meat, for example a cocktail shrimp, to make the initial ammonia production larger and the whole cycling process faster. I used a piece of deli turkey once, but you didn't hear me say that.) Measure the concentration of ammonia, and you'll see a spike after the first few days. It'll go down after reaching a maximum value, and the reason why it's decreasing is that the the nitrite concentration will be increasing, a sign that the bacteria are active and converting. The nitrite will also reach a maximum value and then decrease. After a certain amount of time (a couple weeks for an unseeded tank, drastically less for a seeded tank. Depending on how well you seed, you may fully cycle the tank to begin with, and see only nitrate) the tank will be fully cycled and will have 0 ppm ammonia, 0 ppm nitrite, and a steadily increasing ppm of nitrate. For this whole process, you should be feeding the tank with fish flakes as if you were feeding fish. It's pretty cool that in the end, even though you are feeding fish flakes and they are rotting into ammonia, the only thing measurable is the nitrate because the bacterial cyclers are doing their job.
Here's a website with colorful graphs that explain the cycling process better than I can:
The graph itself: http://www.fishkeepi...cle_diagram.gif
The website with its explanation: http://www.fishkeepi...ing-article.htm
Edited by EricaWieser, 22 June 2011 - 01:08 PM.
#12 Guest_Yeahson421_*
Posted 22 June 2011 - 02:23 PM
Edited by Yeahson421, 22 June 2011 - 02:24 PM.
#13 Guest_Yeahson421_*
Posted 25 July 2011 - 01:25 PM
#14 Guest_Yeahson421_*
Posted 25 July 2011 - 08:39 PM
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