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What is a good heater for a 45 gallon tank that will maintain a stable temp and a good track record of not making a fish boil?
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Sep 18, 2013 16:41
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Fluval E-Series heaters are excellent. http://www.amazon.com/Fluval-E-300-Watt-Electronic-Heater/dp/B001VMSK0I/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1379519991&sr=8-1&keywords=fluval+heater
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Sep 18, 2013 17:00
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Mr. Despair posted:Fluval E-Series heaters are excellent. Just make sure to unplug them, and let them cool off for about an hour before taking them out of the water. I guess I didn't wait long enough, and fried mine when I moved into my new apartment.
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Sep 18, 2013 17:11
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Thanks for that, it's in the cart. And now on to my ongoing war against algae: I have at least 4 distinct types in my tank at this point (green and brown and black string varieties, and this weird white patch that is slowly spreading along the bottom of my aquarium), one might be a mold. I got the ottos and they were doing a fine job for a while but now not so much. I think once they got their feed on and stopped starving they eat at much more reasonable pace. I do frequent water changes trying to get rid of it, to no avail. My water quality is surprisingly good with no nitrates/ites or ammonia. I still have a hilarious amount of iron and that might be fueling this along with my LED's which I haven't switched yet due to overall money constraints and the fact the tank is near a window so I am not sure how much is the LEDs and how much is just sunlight. So, in lower pH water (shooting for 5.8-6.0) at 82 degrees what creature would like to be an algae heavy hitter? Also what are the general feelings on UV sterilizers?
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Sep 18, 2013 17:38
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Shakenbaker posted:Here's a few from the 75 at least: It's just distortion from your camera lens. This is normal to a degree that varies depending on the lens and subject. Since you're taking a photo of a large object with long, straight lines, the distortion is going to be more noticeable, especially if you're using a zoom lens to fit everything in the frame.
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Sep 18, 2013 19:11
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I’ve been gone for a while, haven’t had internet at all. I’m back to ask you all for some aquarium advice. I work at an environmental education center, and we are trying to set up an aquarium as an example of a native freshwater florida ecosystem. Since I’m the only one with aquarium experience (albeit not much) it’s my project! The tank we are getting is a 90 gallon currently set up as saltwater. Besides flushing it with fresh water is there anything I need to do to convert it to fresh? The lighting is pretty awesome. It has one of the huge hanging lights (not sure of the brand) with 8 bulbs. Right now they are blue, but we will switch them. Do I need to switch all of them or could I leave some blue (for budget considerations)? What type/brand bulb should I replace them with? My biggest concern is the CO2 system. I’ve never used CO2 and frankly it seems overwhelming. We definitely want to grow plants, and we have some serious lighting so I feel like we need the CO2. I’m considering this set up:http://www.drsfostersmith.com/product/prod_display.cfm?c=3578+3747+9933&pcatid=9933. Is that ridiculous? It would eat up a large chunk of my budget, but considering my lack of experience and the fact that volunteers will be doing a large part of the tank maintenance I feel like the more fool-proof the better. What would good alternatives be? Thanks in advance for all your help! I really want to do this right. Please let me know if there is anything I might be overlooking. Cassiope fucked around with this message at 13:33 on Sep 19, 2013 |
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Sep 18, 2013 21:52
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If the bulbs are reef lights, I would get rid of them all. Freshwater plants don't get anything out of reef lights, but algae will. Don't give algae any edge over your plants.
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Sep 18, 2013 23:19
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dirtycajun posted:Thanks for that, it's in the cart. And now on to my ongoing war against algae: I'd actually recommend trying to troubleshoot the algae first before adding more algae eating fish. How many hours of light is your tank getting, natural and LED? Is the tank getting direct or indirect sunlight? What's the rating on your LED lights? If you still have anubias and hairgrass, anubias can do well with little actual lighting. The hairgrass requires a medium level of light, so it may be a casualty, but look at cutting down your lighting hours.
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Sep 19, 2013 00:02
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SynthOrange posted:I'd actually recommend trying to troubleshoot the algae first before adding more algae eating fish. How many hours of light is your tank getting, natural and LED? Is the tank getting direct or indirect sunlight? What's the rating on your LED lights? If you still have anubias and hairgrass, anubias can do well with little actual lighting. The hairgrass requires a medium level of light, so it may be a casualty, but look at cutting down your lighting hours. Yea I agree, especially when its that bad. A little green fluffy algae I'd be ok with, but all that other stuff just means that some factors arent balanced. Direct sunlight is quite a huge factor when it comes to algae, I had to put up a cover on the back and side of my tank to prevent algae from going crazy. Also, physically remove it, especially the hairy ones do you vacuum the bottom of the tank? The mold can grow on waste, uneaten food or driftwood
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Sep 19, 2013 00:16
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Slugworth posted:If the bulbs are reef lights, I would get rid of them all. Freshwater plants don't get anything out of reef lights, but algae will. Don't give algae any edge over your plants. Thanks! We'll replace them all then.
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Sep 19, 2013 13:34
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I sadly think the problem for me might be all the natural light. There is a wall of windows nearby and I am not allowed to keep them shaded because my roommates like natural light. I will relook into my lights and make sure they aren't to blaim and get a timer switch for them anyways. I need to take pictures of this, it is insane.
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Sep 19, 2013 15:34
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dirtycajun posted:I sadly think the problem for me might be all the natural light. There is a wall of windows nearby and I am not allowed to keep them shaded because my roommates like natural light. I will relook into my lights and make sure they aren't to blaim and get a timer switch for them anyways. Please do.. my 20L sits in a window sill that was getting indirect sunlight up until about 2p where it was getting full sun till 6p or so. I did nothing to diffuse it until a few months later when I noticed during summer the temps were getting really high so I bought a rice paper window film and here we are two years later almost with zero algae problems to speak of. The tank is very heavily planted so I am sure that helps suck up the excess nutrients. No water changes, only top offs for me. I can't remember the last time but I think it was earlier this year when I did a 30% change for some reason.
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Sep 19, 2013 17:35
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Cassiope posted:
If you're not planning to go into CO2 in a big way, and budget is an issue, have you considered going DIY? Just get some cola bottles, some airline and a fine airstone, and you can build your own. Just add a load of sugar and some yeast, and you get alcohol (for the love of god don't try drinking it) and a whole load of CO2. The basic plans are readily available on the internet. Just add bottles until you get the required output. The other advantage would be that it really increases the science experiment feel of the tank.
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Sep 19, 2013 21:47
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Cassiope posted:I’ve been gone for a while, haven’t had internet at all. I’m back to ask you all for some aquarium advice. I would skip co2 injection personally. Unless florida's waterways have improved, I remember them being sparsely planted. That is to say, there were plants, but no ada or dutch setup. Since the concern to co2 is mostly dictated by the light, reduce the lighting. Use 4 bulbs instead of the full 8. If plants seem to be struggling, add another. If you are having an algae problem, reduce. How was filtration handled as a saltwater system? Is it a drilled overflow or did they go with the inexpensive and somewhat unreliable hang on overflow box? Is the refugium also included in this tank or at least can be sold off to add a little extra to the budget? Alternative to co2 that still adds some nutrients, use flourish excel. I would recommend when going that route (and should as a tool anyway) to get one of those simple plastic graduated syringes from a pharmacy. That way, when it says add 1ml of liquid, you know exactly 1ml instead of figuring out where in the threading is 1ml worth (seriously, who thought that was a good measuring idea?). It will also be handy for your water test kits to measuring out 5ml of water. I'm assuming discussion on what stock you plan to add is already been discussed.
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Sep 19, 2013 22:49
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It certainly beats 500 dollars worth of equipment, but a 90 gallon would take a *lot* of bottles for a diy setup. 8 to 10? Maintenance would be a bit of a hassle, swapping out four or five bottles a week. Also, not drinking the bottle contents is a weekly struggle for me.... so curious about the taste. But so scared.
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Sep 19, 2013 22:59
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Slugworth posted:It certainly beats 500 dollars worth of equipment, but a 90 gallon would take a *lot* of bottles for a diy setup. 8 to 10? Maintenance would be a bit of a hassle, swapping out four or five bottles a week. you'll pass out and maybe die I'm pretty sure. or if you just mean the alcohol stuff, I'd bet it'll make you want to die.
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Sep 19, 2013 23:54
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Yeah, meant the alcohol. Not looking to huff co2.
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Sep 20, 2013 00:00
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Hey now there's an idea for a goon aquarium project. A hybrid beer fermenter/aquarium co2 system.
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Sep 20, 2013 00:09
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SynthOrange posted:Hey now there's an idea for a goon aquarium project. A hybrid beer fermenter/aquarium co2 system. On it!
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Sep 20, 2013 00:25
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Slugworth posted:It certainly beats 500 dollars worth of equipment, but a 90 gallon would take a *lot* of bottles for a diy setup. 8 to 10? Maintenance would be a bit of a hassle, swapping out four or five bottles a week. You can set up a nice co2 system for a whole lot less than $500. The only expensive parts are the regulator and cylinder. I went with 5lb cylinders at about 53 bucks each, and my regulator cost about 140. There's not much need to get into all the fancier stuff like PH controllers and all that, if you have a drop checker you can adjust your bps to whatever you want and then just put your regulator (with a solenoid) on a timer to shut off at night.
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Sep 20, 2013 15:29
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Oh absolutely, I was just referencing the setup he was thinking of buying.
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Sep 20, 2013 15:44
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Does anyone else get a little scared on water change day because you have to put your hands into a tank with a fish that has eaten fish the size of your fingers? I know my Polypterus endlicheri endlicheri sees my fingers and thinks "that looks like food!" I always have to pay attention to where it is when I'm doing stuff in it's tank. Also, I picked up two Aquaclear 30 powerheads for $8.35 each yesterday. I had to resist picking up the pile of 10's and 20's that were on clearance too. If you have a Pet Supplies Plus near you sometimes they have some amazing deals in their clearance section. This isn't the first time I've found stupidly cheap aquarium stuff there. Don't look at the fish selection though, that will just make you kind of sad and angry as it's similar to looking at fish at Wal-Mart.
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Sep 20, 2013 23:10
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Desert Bus posted:Does anyone else get a little scared on water change day because you have to put your hands into a tank with a fish that has eaten fish the size of your fingers? I know my Polypterus endlicheri endlicheri sees my fingers and thinks "that looks like food!" I always have to pay attention to where it is when I'm doing stuff in it's tank. When I worked at the zoo, I had a special system setup for the redbelly piranha tank, which was 125 gallons, and had a glass support beam across the top. I would lightly hit that beam on either the left or right side, and the fish would swim to the opposite end of the tank, leaving me to work on the other side. This system worked for about two years. In fact the only issues we had were when fuckers (aka visitors) would come in the building, scream about seeing a handfish (wow, you are sooo original), or start beating the glass while screaming how they wanted to see my hand get eaten. The fists on the glass usually spooked the fish, but only once did one of them run barely into my arm; I knew not to jerk out of the way because that meant a better chance I'd leave the tank with few fingers than I went in with. Others like the electric eel, I never got a system worked out. The lionfish were too stupid to figure things out, and the dragon moray somewhat did.
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Sep 21, 2013 00:23
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I am the worst fish dad. Cleaned up some of the algae and installed the heater, come this morning fish are all at surface O2 starved at the surface and I now have a 12 hour shift. gently caress I hate everything. Edit: on my way to my apartment. Philadelphia please for once hold all you emergency calls till I can save my fish. Edit 2: Came back and now that the lights have been on for a bit the fish are not gasping for air at the surface. Switched to an airation bar, hope they make it! dirtycajun fucked around with this message at 12:49 on Sep 21, 2013 |
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Sep 21, 2013 12:17
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Speaking of oxygenation in a way. Has anyone used something like an apex jr controller in their tank? I'm thinking of it as a way to better keep the lights and co2 in balance. The two timers I have now drift at different rates which is a bad thing really. I'm thinking of adding a small air pump and aeration bar to run at night as well to get the co2 out of the water since plants add to it then. That would be three independent timers that will be drifting around and colliding to some extent. I'm just having a hard time explaining off a $400 controller for a freshwater tank. There is high tech, and then there is this level where it gets questionable.
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Sep 21, 2013 12:58
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JuffoWup posted:I would skip co2 injection personally. Unless florida's waterways have improved, I remember them being sparsely planted. That is to say, there were plants, but no ada or dutch setup. Since the concern to co2 is mostly dictated by the light, reduce the lighting. Use 4 bulbs instead of the full 8. If plants seem to be struggling, add another. If you are having an algae problem, reduce. It is a drilled overflow, it flows down into the 30 gallon tank refugium/filter inside the stand. The ecosystem we're trying to duplicate is a depression marsh, which are fairly plant-heavy. You're right that I could probably get away with not doing the CO2, but we're probably going to put in quite a few plants so that visitors can see the (potential) biodiversity of that ecosystem. I think the budget will be approved with the CO2 system included though. I'm just trying to make this as fool-proof as possible so that the volunteers won't have to do much monitoring/maintenance. We're discussing stocking plans now. We have the permits to collect specimens from the state park. Some of the ones we want to include will be the bluespotted sunfish, the spotted sunfish, bluefin killifish, crayfish, grass shrimp, western mosquitofish, and sailin mollies. There exists the potential to add other species but I haven't gotten to the species-researching much yet. Suggestions? Thanks for all the help so far everyone! I'm looking forward to getting it set up and posting pictures.
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Sep 21, 2013 13:42
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Well my 4 year old Red Devil has died  I was gone and my wife was taking care of her so I don't know exactly what the culprit was. All I got was one crappy cell phone pic from her a few days ago. I'm trying to decide what I want to do with the tank now. Right now I've got aquarium salt and the temp cranked up to 90 degrees. I'm going to let it run like this for a week or so and hopefully that kills whatever was in the tank. After that I might go buy a small school of tiger barbs and use them as test subjects. If they end up getting sick I guess I'll nuke the tank and sterilize everything and start from scratch again.The first thing I did when I got home was test the water parameters and the all tested absolute normal. Here is the cell phone pic if anyone wants to take a guess. The RD lived solo in a 75 gallon tank. 
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Sep 21, 2013 16:33
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Desert Bus posted:Does anyone else get a little scared on water change day because you have to put your hands into a tank with a fish that has eaten fish the size of your fingers? I know my Polypterus endlicheri endlicheri sees my fingers and thinks "that looks like food!" I always have to pay attention to where it is when I'm doing stuff in it's tank. My endli is as dumb as a brick. I've never worried about him. Jaeger on the other hand has become really aggro, so I usually distract him by letting him bite on the bottom of the flake food canister that his children eat from. I do have to keep an eye on him at all times, and make motions that are the equivalent of "I am aware of you" when he lurks near. No bites yet. Whale Cancer, I am really sorry about your RD lady! Large, long-lived fish with personality are really hard to lose. If I had to guess, I would say a combination of columnaris (which actually doesn't respond that well to temperature and salt) and bacterial septicemia as a secondary infection. Do you have nitrate tests to go with your other parameters?
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Sep 22, 2013 00:13
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Fusillade posted:My endli is as dumb as a brick. I've never worried about him. Jaeger on the other hand has become really aggro, so I usually distract him by letting him bite on the bottom of the flake food canister that his children eat from. I do have to keep an eye on him at all times, and make motions that are the equivalent of "I am aware of you" when he lurks near. No bites yet. Ammonia and Nitrite were 0, Nitrate was 7. I'm stumped. Do you think I need to nuke my filter media and sterilize it? I did a 100% water change and replaced the substrate with pool filter sand, I've been wanting to do this for a long time anyway. I've been keeping fish off and on for 20 years and this is the first time I've lost a fish to infection/disease
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Sep 22, 2013 01:30
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Most colorimetric tests that I know of use 10, 20, 40, 80, 160, etc as their benchmarks. Water often comes out of the tap at 5-10 ppm, so I'm guessing that you mean it was between 5-10 ppm? I am not inclined to recommend going balls-out to sterilize. It's a good idea to REDUCE the load, certainly, but the bacteria that causes columnaris infection is ubiquitous in most water systems, and will be reintroduced to your tanks at some point. Was the RD full grown when you got her? I know they can live to be a bit over a decade in age, but it seems like these sort of infections only really take down large fish if there is an underlying issue (old age in this case is the only thing I can think of, since you've not had casualties in your time as a keeper).
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Sep 22, 2013 01:45
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Fusillade posted:Most colorimetric tests that I know of use 10, 20, 40, 80, 160, etc as their benchmarks. Water often comes out of the tap at 5-10 ppm, so I'm guessing that you mean it was between 5-10 ppm? I'm using an API kit that measure 0-5-10-20 etc, and it was between 5 and 10 ppm. I had my red devil for 4 years, since she was about 1.5". She's been alone in her 75 gallon tank for about 2 years. I'm at a loss of what to do now. Should I leave my filter alone and treat the tank with maracyn? Right now I've got a 75 gallon tank with 100% fresh water and it's just sitting. Should I go buy a school of danios as test subjects and see how they do for a month or so before I start restocking?
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Sep 22, 2013 02:08
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Last thing you want to do right now is use antibiotics. If you really do want to clean, do so physically with a 1:1 mix of water/vinegar, and drying out in the sun. It sounds like you are patient, and therefore are willing to let the filter get scoured clean and let the tank cycle all over again - which as you know is a month long process! If you do a full tank teardown, may I recommend black or garnet blasting sand as a possible substrate? I've been yearning to do so with my own tanks but they're never taken down at any point since we've moved into our newish house.
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Sep 22, 2013 02:30
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Fusillade posted:Last thing you want to do right now is use antibiotics. If you really do want to clean, do so physically with a 1:1 mix of water/vinegar, and drying out in the sun. It sounds like you are patient, and therefore are willing to let the filter get scoured clean and let the tank cycle all over again - which as you know is a month long process! If you do a full tank teardown, may I recommend black or garnet blasting sand as a possible substrate? I've been yearning to do so with my own tanks but they're never taken down at any point since we've moved into our newish house. I already replaced my gravel with pool filter sand today and cleaned the whole inside of the tank with vinegar/water. I'm just debating on whether to nuke the filter or not. I think I may try the Danio route first and see how they do. Here is the tank with the sand in it. 
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Sep 22, 2013 02:47
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My fish lived and appear fine now, the water seems much less tanin colored today too. I have no god drat clue what is going on but I am happy the fish are alive and well.
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Sep 22, 2013 07:10
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Hi, fellow fish goons! I'm going to be moving 4 states (approximately 700 miles) over a 2-day span in December. I have 4 bettas (2 males in separate tanks, obviously, and two females who love each other to the point I didn't need a third to keep them from fighting). My question is, will they be okay in four separate Tupperware containers over the 2-day span? They most likely won't be in the Tupperware the entire 48 hours. I wanted to see if anyone had any ideas to keep them moving about while driving at a minimum. My plan was to stick the Tupperware in a small box and pad the hell out of it around the containers and make a few small holes in the lids of the containers to make certain they get enough airflow. Should this be sufficient? Any one who's moved fish, specifically bettas, would be greatly helpful.
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Sep 22, 2013 21:04
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avon_grey posted:Hi, fellow fish goons! I strongly suggest 5 gallon buckets instead of Tupperware containers, unless you're referring to the like, seriously huge boxes. The more water, the more resistant it is to having poor water quality for the fish, less worries if some gets slopped out, better temperature control, and better resistance to being tipped over since you can pack other things around buckets to hold them upright. You'll need the air holes in the bucket lids, obviously, but when you're not traveling, put an airstone in each bucket for aeration. Bettas will be fine without filtration for 2 days, especially if you do 25% water changes and don't feed them for the duration. Since you're doing this in December, do not leave the fish in the stopped car unless you're literally just stopping for 5 minutes at a rest stop to pee. Eat your food in the car with the heater running.
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Sep 22, 2013 22:29
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daggerdragon posted:I strongly suggest 5 gallon buckets instead of Tupperware containers, unless you're referring to the like, seriously huge boxes. The more water, the more resistant it is to having poor water quality for the fish, less worries if some gets slopped out, better temperature control, and better resistance to being tipped over since you can pack other things around buckets to hold them upright. You'll need the air holes in the bucket lids, obviously, but when you're not traveling, put an airstone in each bucket for aeration. Bettas will be fine without filtration for 2 days, especially if you do 25% water changes and don't feed them for the duration. Agree with all this but wanted to add, don't feed for 2-3 days before. That way they'll produce less poop and the water quality will stay better. They can easily live a week without food, possibly two.
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Sep 23, 2013 02:12
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You can pick up a battery powered air pump at most fishing/tackle shops if you can't find one at your pet store.
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Sep 23, 2013 02:22
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Do bettas need aeration? I was under the impression they get all the oxygen they need through the surface.
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Sep 23, 2013 02:26
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SynthOrange posted:Do bettas need aeration? I was under the impression they get all the oxygen they need through the surface. They need filtration. Since there won't be any filtration for a few days, aeration will help. I'm not saying CRANK THE AIRSTONE, but a slow bubble will help immensely.
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Sep 23, 2013 02:33
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