Tank Evolution

[Si4geckos]

Once I mange to get the stand in place and spend many hours trying to get it level, I'm going to partially set it up and just check the new filter (fluval 306) is working as it should.

I was originally just going to use just the 306, but doing some research this may not be enough filtration for the size of the tank and inhabitants? Is this correct? 120x40x45 (about 240 litres I think).

I may use the fluval u4 plus internal with it, or may use the APS external and the 306 together. If I use 2 external filters, is it best to have both inputs at one end and both outputs at the other? Or one of each at each end?

Or would the 306 be ok on its own? I only use the u4 internal on my 170 litre tank because the APS filter flow is too gentle, but I believe the 306 will hopefully be a lot better and create much more surface agitation.

Sorry if that's a bit waffley! To summarise...

Where should I position the inputs and outputs if using 2 external filters?
And do I need more filters than the fluval 306?

[TropicalFishForums]

[plankton]

Never having actually used externals I can't speak from experience, but......
The 306 will probably be at it's absolute limit, so any help would be good. The second external will likely be best (and take up less room).
I'm not sure it matters how you set them up, but someone who has two externals would be better placed to advise.

[Si4geckos]

Thanks for the thoughts Ian.

I'll see if anyone else comes back with anything.



Moved it in and levelled with shims for now.



Spent over an hour cleaning sand!




Background (may change) added and water starting to heat up.

Just trying to work out the new filter. Getting excited to be close to moving fishes across maybe tomorrow!


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[plankton]

That looks pretty amazing! Mind the heater on the sand, it tends to crack them.


Moved, it didn't click it wasn't in Tank Logs.......

[Si4geckos]

Well what a faff of a day!

Finally decided today was the big move day for the fish. Not gonna lie, it could've gone smoother....

Set out this morning, as last thing last night I decided I didn't like the jungle background the used tank came with and found a black background for the tank. I used black poster board from hobby craft. £3's worth covered my 4ft x 18in back. Looks decent IMO and cheaper than the £12 the fish shop wanted for plain back plastic.

I came home, mounted that and started to work my way through the plan I'd made in bed last night.

Once I'd transferred half of the water from the old tank I had to turn my filter off so then it was a race against the clock to keep the munchers alive. I decided to split some of the media into my new fluval 306 and squeeze all the foam and floss into it too. I also tipped some of the water from the drained media into the new tank to hopefully spread some bacteria into the sand as well.

I cut some new hoses and installed the APS filter, turned it on and noticed a tiny trickle of water. I stripped it down,cleaned all round the seal, reinstalled and it leaked again! I have an old one that I snapped the clips off where the hoses connect to the top, so stole the O ring out of that and all seems well. Just noticed I've snapped a clip off the second APS one! Gonna ring them tomorrow as it's ridiculous how easily they break! Thankfully it's not leaking, for now.

After some mopping and more mopping and some wiping up water, I managed to get the 306 running too. The flow rate is soooo much better than the APS one. Very happy with it so far.

I transferred all the tank decor for now, moved my only 4 little live plants and installed 2 150w heaters.

As the flooding took so long, both tanks had dropped from 24 to around 21-22C so transfer of fish was pretty quick and easy in the end.

All fish look to be enjoying the new premises from what I can see. I'm running the APS, Fluval 306 and fluval u3 internal for now as I was running them in the last tank, so maximising chances of bacteria survival. It's a bit of a whirlpool with 3 different currents, but they'll have to put up with it for a couple of weeks.

Catfish are schooling around nicely (4 adults and 3 very near adults), cardinals are spread out and look relaxed, guppies are playing in the currents and Gary the gourami is looking which bit of the tank to claim as his own.

Just a case of keeping the fingers crossed for the next couple of weeks now and that enough bacteria survived to maintain the tank without cycling. Pix will follow when is goes a bit darker.

[Si4geckos]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QffJmSE7e0s

The faff is all worth it when the fishies are back where they should be and looking pretty happy.

The background looks a bit blue on the vid, but it's just the effect of my iphone (and probably because the tank is a little cloudy still). Deffo black. Hoping the tank will be crystal clear by morning.

[Gingerlove05]

Looking good, some very active corys there and love the tiny one


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[plankton]

Lovely!
The sterbai will be dancing for days, and it's nice to see the little one joining in!
One reason I haven't gone external, as my back probably wouldn't take all the faffing about......
Glad you got it all sorted though.

[Si4geckos]

Thanks for the nice comments chaps. Appreciated. 

All fish seem to be happily settled in now and I also moved another 2 of the adult cories from the smaller tank across. Had a minor reading of ammonia this morning so did a partial water change and will continue to keep an eye on things. I can see many more water changes coming my way over the next few days and weeks.

Went to a fish auction today and came back with 4 lovely albino sterbai, some java fern to give my planted tank a boost and some frozen blood worm to keep things ticking over. Had a nice and interesting afternoon meeting some breeders and fellow fish enthusiasts.

Hoping the java fern will do as well as the amazon sword seem to be growing unaided. Need to find some well priced redmoor root to attach it to then it's just waiting and seeing what survives. Pix to follow.   

[Si4geckos]

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[plankton]

Very nice.
They will interbreed with normal sterbai, and you'll get mainly normal sterbai fry.

[Si4geckos]

Very nice.
They will interbreed with normal sterbai, and you'll get mainly normal sterbai fry.

They're a fair bit smaller than my adult normal ones for now, so I'll put them in the growing on tank for a while, then they'll move to the main tank to grow fully. I'll probably separate them all to try and get some albino babies when they're older.

I thought albino x non albino = all normal, possible het for albino? I didn't think I'd get any albino babies if crossed with a normal one? Unless an adult is carrying the albino genes? Could be wrong....

[plankton]

It depends on the dominant gene. I can't remember whether the males or females usually carry it, but you're more likely to get "normal" ones than albino.

[Si4geckos]

Well the new albinos are settling in just fine in the baby growing out tank (only place I had to quarantine them, but they're looking super healthy so far thankfully).

I've had the odd bit of ammonia pop up since the main tank move and some ammonia too in the baby tank due to the new fish (despite moving 2 full grown adults out). Regular testing and water changes seem to have kept all fish healthy and things seem to be calming down now thankfully with no ammonia in the big tank for about 5 days now without a water change.

Due to being a little unsure about my T8 lights brightness I've been on the hunt for an LED upgrade. Not wanting to spend a super fortune (£150+) on a new light and nowt convinced the light ballasts will work with LED bulbs I managed to find a used 4ft LED light today and I've just been to collect it.

First impressions are it's a LOT brighter than the T8 (tropical bulb) I was using before. Sadly I have zero information about it. Just looks like a cheap chinese job and the only rating I could find was 15w. Not sure if this is the input or the output. Either way, the tank is much brighter. The light also have one run of blue night time lights for night viewing, so looking forward to trying these out later.

If anyone knows where the light is from or the likely out put, please try and point me in the right direction.

The main issue with the light is it's too long to fit under my lid as it has brackets that sit on the glass. I could somehow fit it in the lid, but wouldn't be able to access the switches, so for now the tank is lid-less, with glass sliding condensation covers and a could of bits of wood to hide them. I'm tempted to add another very similar light to the rear of the tank to give almost full coverage and give plants max growth. But again, thoughts on how powerful it is are appreciated.

Finally the white light is a lot harsher than the tropical bulb I had before. Sand looks a lot pale and colder. Obviously a different rating of LEDs or bulbs, kelvin?? I'm not innitially thrilled by the white, but it's starting to grow on me, but a bit of a warmer white would be better I feel.

Few pix of the light will follow...

[Si4geckos]

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