I have narrowed it down to 2 choices…
The Tetra Whisper 40i or Zoo Med Turtle Clean 318?
It will be going in a 29 gal tank (with only about 7 inches of water) with some fake plants, gravel, one 5 inch male RES, and possibly some fish (which will eventually be eaten)
Which do you think would be better?
The one thing I really like about both of them is that they are in-tank filters, no need to hang over the edge.
If you have any feedback or advice it is greatly appreciated!
Thanks 
I do not want to pay a lot… that is another reason why I like these 2. They are both less than and the tetra filter uses the same filter pads as one of my other filters.
I do not want to pay a lot… that is another reason why I like these 2. They are both less than and the tetra filter uses the same filter pads as one of my other filters.
Help me out. My brain is tired after a long day.
I do 25% water changes on my tank every 1 or 1.5 weeks, depending on when I can get around to it. I’ve got an enormous tank, so it takes a lot of time.
Anyway – about once a year I’ve got to rinse the gravel b/c it gets all mucked up. It doesn’t look dirty at all, but anytime I stir it up the water becomes a dirty mess.
In the past I have had to spend about and hour cupping the gravel out. It’s such a horrible task…
Do you think that once all the water is cyphened out (keeping 75% in a few large buckets) that I could vacuum the gravel out w/the hose extension on my Dyson vacuum? It’s bag-less, so I could just dump it into the bucket then whisk it off to the bathtub for a rinse.
Would that work? Would it damage the vacuum? Anyone ever given this a try before?
If you think it’s a disaster waiting to happen…could you offer another idea?
Good idea, Dwarf…but I’ve already got one and there is so much gravel that it’s pointless. It’d take even longer than cupping it out + rinsing it.
Can you suggest another brand of vacuum maybe? Perhaps mine was a dud.
Posted in aquarium advice (Tags: bathtub, brain, buckets, dirty mess, disaster, dud, dwarf, dyson vacuum, gravel, tank, water changes) | 5 Comments
Hello Happy Holidays to all,
It’s been maybe almost a year since I setup my first tank, a 29 gal. freshwater. Naturally went through a bit of trial and error, but fortunately found the internet and these forums before I made any serious mistakes like many new fish keepers do. Anyway, I’ve been seriously thinking of setting up a second tank for a while, but now that a friend has given me a 40 gal. tank, I’m thinking about setting it up within a month or so. So after contemplating whether or not to go salt water, I’d decided not to. Just gonna stick with what I know for now, and leave marine to a later tank. My question come in with the stocking and also filter. For a filter I think I’m just gonna go with a Eheim classic. Either that or another bio-wheel like I have for my 29 gal. Any comments on that would be great. Also I’ve been considering maybe so far convict cichlids, maybe green terrors, firemouths, a geophagus, and some sort of pleco. Any stocking Ideas would be appreciated. Thanks if you actually took the time to read this. Also I will be running a fishless cycle, and might just order from liveaquaria.com if I don’t like what I see at some of my local shops.
Posted in aquarium advice (Tags: first tank, fish keepers, fishless cycle, gal tank, geophagus, green terrors, happy holidays, salt water, second tank, stocking, trial and error, wheel) | 2 Comments
I’m going to get an aquarium. For all their advice on on every animal, they sure don’t like to focus on this very popular way for keeping pets.
Last thursday i purchased two axolotls. They are in a 1m tank, (perhaps 20gallons?). with large pebbles, some pipe to hide in, rocks and two plants.
I filled it with tank water (no chlorine, i assumed bacteria would be established), and added sodium bicarbonate to achieve a pH of around 7.3.
I have a reasonably good filter, (500L/hour) which is attached via suction caps, and positioned for minimal flow, as to not disturb the axolotls. I also have an air pump.
Last few days i have noticed a powerful odour coming from the tank, though i have not left any food remains etc in the tank.
I figured this might be due to an ammonia build up, (though early, axolotls produce a lot of waste?) and so today i purchased some beneficial bacteria and aquarium salt. I added 20ml of beneficial bacteria, 1/3 cup of aquarium salt and did a 30% water change.
Will the salt harm the axolotls or plants at all? is there anything else i should do? any advice or criticisms appreciated.
Thanks
Does adding aquarium salt kill beneficial bacteria?
I only added the salt because the lady at the pet shop suggested it. She says she adds it to all the tanks, and said it wouldnt hurt the axies. Ill do another water change tomorrow.
Yes i have read through axolotl.org, and they suggest added salt if your water, as mine is, is soft:
http://www.axolotl.org/requirements.htm#hardness
Are you really sure it will damage them? its a very minute amount of salt in proportion to the tank size, (hardly 3 tbsp), and it was recommended by both axolotl.org and the aquarium lady.
Posted in aquarium advice (Tags: 1m, ammonia, aquarium salt, axies, axolotls, beneficial bacteria, change tomorrow, chlorine, few days, last thursday, minute amount, odour, pebbles, pet shop, proportion, sodium bicarbonate, suction caps, tank size, tank water, water change) | 2 Comments
I have a 29 gallon salt water tank. I have a bunch of live rock encrusted with coralline algae which is red, green and purple. However some of it is fading and I want to maintain it’s color and health within the tank.
I add calcium to the tank but my lighting consists of one 50/50 flourescent bulb. What should I do? I cannot do metal hallide types of bulbs and don’t have a huge budget either!!!
Thanks!
i have metal halides on my tank and i need a cover for my tank so my fish won’t jump out. what should i use? i need something that can with stand a lot of heat. and that light can penetrate through. any advice will be greatly appreciated
Hi there,
Im looking to set up my first tropical aquarium, and I like the look of a mini pentagon aquarium (46×42x42cm, 39L). I would just like someone to explain what I need as essentials, the type and amount of fish I should have as a starter, and whether it will be easy to keep.
So I buy fish from a freshwater retailer, poke a couple holes in the bag with a needle, and set it in the water.
How long should I leave the bag in the water before it’s safe to let the fish out? A few of the fish I’m after are too delicate to go through hours of bucket dumping, and siphon dripping, so the bag/diffusion method seems the wisest choice. I’m assuming the time would depend on the salinity, I’m aiming to set the tank at 1.008, keep it at 81*. Salinity, hardness, pH, oxygen, all the other factors considered, how long should the fish sit in the bag before they’re released?
At this point, I’m just in the researching phase, any advice would be absolutely wonderful. Ideas, fish suggestions, tips, techniques… I haven’t had an aquarium in 4 years, so I’m a little rusty. I’ve only ever done freshwater, which seems considerably easier. I’ll be using sand as a substrate, intend on live plants, driftwood, and rock slabs. Outside of the brackish fish, what freshwater and marine fish can adjust to a brackish environment?
Don’t tell me about mollies, I already know. XD
Okay, I understand that ammonia among other things builds up inside the bag, but two cups of water in 150 gallons shouldn’t throw it out of whack. I never had a problem with that. Supposing I’m going to ignore that tidbit of advice for the time being (I’m starting with mollies, ghost shrimp, and, yes, guppies, so I highly doubt that little bit of ammonia would wipe them out. Especially when they spent the time IN the bag to make it that way). How long for the water to diffuse?
Posted in aquarium advice (Tags: ammonia, Aquarium, brackish fish, couple holes, diffusion method, driftwood, ghost shrimp, little bit, marine fish, oxygen, plants, rock slabs, salinity, substrate, tank, tidbit, xd) | 2 Comments
I have only had experience with freshwater fish. I have two 10g tanks and one 29g tank that I love. But I would absolutely love to try out a saltwater aquarium, fish only to start. I was planning on waiting to purchase a tank but then I saw a kit at WalMart for a 55g tank with a heater, flouresent lights, and an AquaTech filter. It seems a good price and I don’t want to miss the deal but I’m worried about purchasing it only to find out the filter wont work and the lights are wrong. I don’t want to rush into anything because I love fish and would hate to make a mistake but I also don’t want to miss out on such a good deal. Will this filter work with saltwater tanks and would I also need a protein skimmer and do I need special lights of will flourescent work? Any help would be appreciated.
