the-obstacle

I'm trying to seed my 2 new Aqua One 1200s on my 75L tank. I've got one plumbed in with the eheim that was originally on there and I'm wondering if I could plumb the second one in series so the water comes out of the tank - into 1200 #1 - into 1200#2 - back to tank. Because the eheim is the permanent filter on this tank the 1200 takes up the other side of the tank so I couldn't add the 3rd onto the side of the tank as I'm out of space for fittings. I suspect I'll have to at least take the pipe running from filter #1 to filter #2 up to tank level to give the pump something to do but other than that will this work? Is it worth it? Is it a stupid idea? Your thoughts please..

Yep. The only issue is that you run the risk of anything in one tank spreading to the other but other than that it's a very good idea and easily achieved.

needs more neon rocks and underlit air stones.

espanol

Avon River Biotope? Should be fairly easy to source inspiration locally

Sweet, I'll be throwing the filter out anyway - it was a homemade air powered one made from a link that ryanjury referenced that did an ok job and proved the point but is easier to dump than sterilise.

Definitely. Run both as long as you can - there's no such thing as overfiltration.

Cool, thanks for those tips. I'll be busy tonight with bleach and razorblades.

I had a friends pond goldfish that was near death that I tried to treat in my hospital tank but it didn't make it. As the tank had a dead fish in it I now don't want to put anything in there until I've cleaned it out. What do I need to do? I can pretty much throw all the water and gravel out but there is a green tiger lotus in there I'd like to keep - how do I make sure it doesn't bring anything bad with it? How do I serilise/wash the heater and glass in the most fish safe way? thanks in advance

ahh, that makes sense, I know exactly where it is now. I grew up around there but never thought to look.

I was picturing a polynesian goldfish with a tight fitting black shirt with SECURITY screen printed on it's dorsal fin saying "not in those shoes mate" to everybody that tried to use the toilet.

Well, I managed to get 1/3 of the base off by smashing a middle bit that was already broken and levering the sides enough to get the razor in. I then did a side piece to prep it for re-siliconing and found that once I get a blade in each end I can then work my way from one end to the other and keep adding/moving one of the blades behind the newly cut area. Slightly levering the silicone up by a blade width each time and making the next cut that much easier. It took 4 hours to do 100mm and 30 minutes to do about 2 metres of silicone once I figured out the blade lever technique.

Yeah, but I got over it I'm now running an eheim 2224 and a CF 1200 on the 75L to cycle the 1200 in for the big tank so there's no reason why you can't fit them on. it just doesn't look right

yeah, caught me out to but I'm too far away to take it back to him.

Feel free to design me a SA clear water amazon scape for the 700L. I'm a bit lost at the moment. I have a few swords and the like and would like to add some wood and some rockwork of some sort but I'm a bit lacking on the vision side of things to design anything at the moment.

Selleys Aqua Kneed It - it's about $18 at Bunnings and you won't use it all.

If it's easy to get to Greg I'd get him to drill some holes in the end bracing for the canister pipes like smidey did. The end braces on mine mean the canister intakes are too far from a corner to get a good flow.

Where/What is this Pupuke you speak of? It is by the lake?

For reference I've tried everything possible over the last 6-8 weeks on my 75L tank and while I *thought* it had cycled it really didn't even start to try until I gave up and stopped adding things like smart start and stress zyme (seperately of course because the bloody thing wouldn't cycle). I am a fool for not waiting because I'm sure my fish have been suffering for it. I now have white spot i'm trying to get rid of due to the nitrite spike once the actual cycle kicked in, i've been using prime to manage the impact with daily water changes to keep the levels down. Bottom line - do it properly, wait it out. The cycle will start quicker with seeded media from an existing filter but depending on the bio load it will still have to cycle, it will just be a whole lot quicker.

:lol: so true. I think I'm finally getting the last little details sorted. I should really update the diagram... Oh yeah, it's for fresh water so they're just dividers. I am planning on running a constant water change system. 700L seems like too much of a pain in the arts to do manual water changes and the plumbing is nearby in the room where it's going so it'll be a piece of cake (famous last words). The refugium will have a constant drip feed from the overflow from this system but it'll be one way as the water will have to fall out of the sump to get there and the rufugium overflow (to wastewater) height will mean there'll never be enough water in it to close the loop back up and risk the quarantine tank being exposed to the main loop. This is my pure lack of understanding. I had no idea what/how bio balls were used and assumed they were the convention so I threw them in there. I've since realised that I'd be better off with noodles so will be replacing the balls with noodles and having 2 chambers so I can clean one out at a time (it's a long tank). After talking to David R I'm definitely going the filter sock route and with 2 canisters also running on the system I'm expecting there won't be much to clog the noodles. haha, yep, this has started because I have 2 old fish tanks Fortunately I also have a bunch of dividers as one of my tanks was once a sump in a previous life so I figure I'd best use them. Also with the extra dividers in place I hope that the heavier crud that does somehow get through the filter socks will have a chance to settle before the pump section to avoid running the risk of blocking the pump and hopefully prolonging it's life. Thanks for your suggestions, they did make me think which is exactly what I'm after.

Yeah, but then I'd actually prefer to go the bag route if it's financially viable. I'll also lower the first divider down as a failsafe - can't be too careful.

I would say double that at least for tank volume for 8 dems.

awesome! I wasn't aware we could get them here. I did fear that the wool would block or collapse and just let the water through without stopping any particulate. Someone on MFK suggested the filter sock too which will be great. I put this down to a complete lack of knowledge about bio balls. I see everybody else runs them so I thought I would too. The MFK thread has had someone tell me to replace the balls with more noodles too so I can clean half out at a time. Seems this is coming together. Thanks

so 1 heater in with the noodles as there's always water in there? Yeah, this drawing is not to scale. Thinking of LA's post maybe one in the first chamber before the filter wool would be a good idea as it'll just be water (and crud) in there? would be a bitch to clean though.

Hi, Can somebody critique my sump design for me please? The inlet will empty straigth into water to keep the noise down then go up a wider than usual divider thish has filter wool in it that I can remove to clean / replace, then overflow to a bioball chamber, then onto a noodle chanber, and then finally into the pump chamber with 2 300W heaters and a suitable pump. Because I intend to plumb in an automatic water changer / drip system I'll plumb in an overflow at the right level to then flow into another smaller tank (which I have lying around) that will act as a planted refugium / quarantine for new fish which then has a built in overflow which goes out to the wastewater or stormwater systems in the house. This second tank will also allow me to use it as an overflow tank with a pump on a float switch if I ever move the tank to where it will be below the wastewater piping in the house. your thoughts? the tank I'm planning to use is a 1m long tank with glass and perspex dividers.