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Water advice

strangemark said:
Just wanted to say thanks for the advice, the water is looking so much clearer! Skimmer arrived yesterday and looks so much better after being in there over night 👍
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Looking visibly better indeed! Just hold on a little more - no cleaning, no media changes/cleans until that water becomes really clear. Hold your nerve!! :D
 
MichaelJ said:
Thats great to hear! Yes, that looks better for sure.

Btw. What are you going to do with that massive Dull Eyed Royal Pleco ? ... If you want a nicely planted tank you will probably have to find a new home for it.

Cheers,
Michael
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I've had Chompy for years now so would not be able to bring myself to part company with him (even though he re-scapes the tank occasionally).

I was thinking that I could go with some large Jave ferns off of the drift wood? He seems to leave the Anubius Nana now I have it off the deck and I the drift wood.

In all fairness to him, he's left the plants alone now, it the cory that seem to like having a nibble now 🤦‍♂️🤣😂 I'm sure I'll get there one day..... (what are your thoughts on the Java?)
 
As a point of interest I found a skimmer either didn’t work or was a danger to shrimps. As a result I followed advice on here and introduced air diffusers in both of my Nano’s and it’s cured the problem. I make my own Limewood diffusers. They produce nice fine bubbles for a couple of months before needing replacement. I already happened to have an air pump.
 
Aqua sobriquet said:
As a point of interest I found a skimmer either didn’t work or was a danger to shrimps.
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I sort of went through the same issue with the skimmer i used but cutting out a small piece of coarse sponge and put it inside at the top where the inlet is located prevented any small shrimps to get stuck in there. The main reason why I don't use it now is because my floating plants congregate around the inlet which makes it close to useless.

Cheers,
Michael
 
MichaelJ said:
I sort of went through the same issue with the skimmer i used but cutting out a small piece of coarse sponge and put it inside at the top where the inlet is located prevented any small shrimps to get stuck in there. The main reason why I don't use it now is because my floating plants congregate around the inlet which makes it close to useless.

Cheers,
Michael
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No shrimp, but I do have floating plants and hopefully more as they grow! I did find the frogbit got stuck so had to relocate the skimmer - seems to be doing the trick at the moment 🤞
 
strangemark said:
but I do have floating plants and hopefully more as they grow! I did find the frogbit got stuck so had to relocate the skimmer - seems to be doing the trick at the moment 🤞
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Frogbit will procreate very quickly if they have enough nutrients ( Duckweed index ) and as your tank matures. By that time you probably wont need the surface skimmer anyway but it wont hurt to keep it in there for the aeration.

Cheers,
Michael
 
MichaelJ said:
Frogbit will procreate very quickly if they have enough nutrients ( Duckweed index ) and as your tank matures. By that time you probably wont need the surface skimmer anyway but it wont hurt to keep it in there for the aeration.

Cheers,
Michael
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Thanks for the links, lots of reading to do 👍
 
Finally hit the sweet spot, tank fully cycled!
I've chucked a load of java fern in, and the frog bit is doing a great job of producing loads of off shoots. I just wish the rummy nose would stop eating the roots 🤣😂
 

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Is the Aquarium looking clearer to the eye? Clearer than before? (Hard to tell with the cameras!)
 
Bradders said:
Is the Aquarium looking clearer to the eye? Clearer than before? (Hard to tell with the cameras!)
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Yes, it's looking much clearer to the eye, front on that is! If you look down the length of the aquarium it looks a little cloudy, I was considering getting purigen for the filter? However, I may try some fine filter floss first.
 
strangemark said:
Yes, it's looking much clearer to the eye, front on that is! If you look down the length of the aquarium it looks a little cloudy, I was considering getting purigen for the filter? However, I may try some fine filter floss first.
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I would leave it alone for a while longer. Dont mess around with purigen or filter floss.

As you can see, there is already an improvement, so as the filter matures, it will get better. Only clean it when the flow starts to grind to a halt—and only then clean the bio-filtration very lightly.

I think this is a case that a little more patience will produce the results! :)
 
Bradders said:
I would leave it alone for a while longer. Dont mess around with purigen or filter floss.

As you can see, there is already an improvement, so as the filter matures, it will get better. Only clean it when the flow starts to grind to a halt—and only then clean the bio-filtration very lightly.

I think this is a case that a little more patience will produce the results! :)
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You're probably right, the process has taken a little longer than expected, however, it was a fish in cycle!

Just out of interest, why would you not use filter floss?
 
Hi all,
strangemark said:
Just out of interest, why would you not use filter floss?
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If the filter floss filters out a lot of fines it is <"likely to clog">, and this could reduce flow far enough so that nitrification is compromised by lack of oxygen.

Cheers Darrel
 
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I agree with Darrel. Also, you can see the results happening, so you just have to keep going in that direction.

What filter are you running again and what is the media inside?
 
Bradders said:
I agree with Darrel. Also, you can see the results happening, so you just have to keep going in that direction.

What filter are you running again and what is the media inside?
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I'm running a aqua one ocellaris 1400 UV (not overly impressed, im useto Fluval cannisters), with a tray of sponge and then 2 trays of Alfragrog, oh, I have also used the space at the very bottom and filled that with tubes of ceramic media. Also, when scaping the tank I placed a base of Alfragrog within the tank prior to placing the sand in, had read that this can support BB to growth within the tank too?

I was thinking about running a small.pump within the tank stuffed with floss to polish the water, and give more flow - would you still recommend patience 🤣😂
 
dw1305 said:
Hi all,

If the filter floss filters out a lot of fines it is <"likely to clog">, and this could reduce flow far enough so that nitrification is compromised by lack of oxygen.

Cheers Darrel
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I was thinking about running a small.pump within the tank stuffed with floss to polish the water, and give more flow - would you still recommend patience
 
If it was me (and this is my personal view) I would do two things at the moment.
  1. Leave the filter alone (as is) until the water gets even clearer. Maybe take some pictures down the length of the tank every couple of days just as a reference point. Of course, if the flow simply goes too low then clean - but really, really lightly.
  2. After the water is very clear, replace the alfragrog and ceramic media very slowly. One section at a time maximum every 2-3 weeks. Replace with 20/30 PPI sponge. The sponge, by volume, simply houses more beneficial bacteria than either the alfragrog or ceramics. Therefore, doing this will maximise your filters capability.
I would not focus on replacing the external filter you have, just maximise its capacity using effective media like sponge.

I only use 20/30PPI sponge and a little plastic K1 like media and my water clarity is pretty good. (See below). No carbon, no filter floss, no purigen and minimal filter cleaning. But it took 4 months to get to this stage as it takes a long time for the filter to fully mature - ammonia and nitrite removal is only the first step really.

IMG_0870.jpeg
 
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