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New Tank Journal


Bruce

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Thanks Rat, can we keep the tank topic about the topic about the tank. Not my interior decorating skills or your HSC result :)

Bruce

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Thanks Rat, can we keep the tank topic about the topic about the tank. Not my interior decorating skills or your HSC result

Love the carpet, the reds are just devine! Im guessing Ming Dynasty? :lol1:

Out of interest, what wattage is that UV? What flow rate have you got going through it?

Glad to hear the stand is still going strong too!

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The UV is 6 watt, the pump is the 4200l/h going through that one. It's not meant for a tank this size but I figure I might as well use it and maybe upgrade later.

Bruce

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Okay.. something to contribute. Usually you need 5-15x more circulation then your tank capacity. 4200L/hr really is borderline. I'm doing around the same on my 5x2x2 tank.

There's no harm in trialing it though. It's just a lot more of a pain to change once the tank is up and running with bacteria dependant fish inside.

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It's just a lot more of a pain to change once the tank is up and running with bacteria dependant fish inside.

Its easy, just unplug the existing pump and plug the new one in. Place it in the sump and switch it on.

Stock levels are what determines your turnover.

The first couple of pages explain the filtration methods he chose and why.

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It's just a lot more of a pain to change once the tank is up and running with bacteria dependant fish inside.

Its easy, just unplug the existing pump and plug the new one in. Place it in the sump and switch it on.

Stock levels are what determines your turnover.

The first couple of pages explain the filtration methods he chose and why.

Yes but you have to be careful so as to not kill off all the beneficial bacteria in the tank.

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Yes but you have to be careful so as to not kill off all the beneficial bacteria in the tank.

What am i missing here? How does changing a pump in a sump (completely different to a cat in a hat) have any sort of effect on your bacteria in the tank...let alone in the sump???

Why do i sence the worlds largest :wallbash: comming on here?

Where is CThompson when you need him?

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Serkan can you give us some more information about this concern of yours?

I'm with Huzzy. I can't see for the life of me how changing a pump can mysteriously wipe out a tankfull of bacteria :dntknw:

If he was changing filter media, that's a big worry. But changing pumps, I have never heard of that being a bacterial risk.

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Also, if you actually read the thread you will see I am using two pumps. Are you sure you're not getting confused with a canister. All the pump does is move water and doesn't aid whatsoever with bacterial growth.

Bruce

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When I changed my tank from koi to cichlids, the guy from a LFS came down and helped me remove the koi. I asked if it was cool if the sump stayed off for a couple hours while I went to help him with the koi at his store. (This is because I had to add some water to make up for the water he took). He seemed pretty serious about getting the sump back on a.s.a.p.

I guess if Baz agrees with Huzzy then Huzzy has to be right.

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When I changed my tank from koi to cichlids, the guy from a LFS came down and helped me remove the koi. I asked if it was cool if the sump stayed off for a couple hours while I went to help him with the koi at his store. (This is because I had to add some water to make up for the water he took). He seemed pretty serious about getting the sump back on a.s.a.p.

I guess if Baz agrees with Huzzy then Huzzy has to be right.

This is because if the bacteria doesn't get new water it will die. The changing of a pump would take an hour tops. The bacteria wouldn't get affected in this time.

Bruce

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When I changed my tank from koi to cichlids, the guy from a LFS came down and helped me remove the koi. I asked if it was cool if the sump stayed off for a couple hours while I went to help him with the koi at his store. (This is because I had to add some water to make up for the water he took). He seemed pretty serious about getting the sump back on a.s.a.p.

I guess if Baz agrees with Huzzy then Huzzy has to be right.

As Bruce said it is because the good bacteria is very oxygen consuming and without the new water running through the sump you will encounter some good bacteria kill off. ;)

Bruce,

I would add a small airstone if possible to be on the safe side. An hour may turn into two when your dealing with tanks. You may have encounter a problem and forget to keep time. :thumb

And come on guys lets not give people a hard time. Everyone makes mistakes.

Sam.

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If its any use to anyone, when doing a full clean on my display tank the sump is without power/water for 5 - 6 hours. I have never had any sort of measurable bacteria loss or ill effects on the system.

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Thanks for the advice Sam. The water in the tank at the moment isn't being used for the tank. It will be used around the garden. I wanted to do an empty fill before I got the background in to see what was happening with the weirs etc.

Bruce

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On the sump subject it really depends on the type of sump you are running.

With Bruce's sump (and mine) the media will stay under water when changing pumps or during a blackout. Keeping the media under water lessens the effect and you will lose less bacteria.

If it was a bio ball tower arrangement, the majority of the media might be above the water level and become dry in a blackout. I still don't think there would be much of an issue if he was just changing pumps though.

For the record, I have lost power on my tank (and sump) for more than 12 hrs in the past and didn't notice any changes in my water parameters that might indicate substantial bacteria die-off :thumb

Huzzy, love the signature :lol3:

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Haven't got a final list yet as some things will change. But as it currently stands it is;

20 something juvie foai (coppers)

Breeding pair of Xenotilapia flavipinnis

Colony of Xenotilapia spilopterus

Trio of Eretmodus cyanosticus "Zambia"

Would love to get a colony of good quality cyps and also maybe a colony of melanogenys later on.

Bruce

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Here are some new pictures for the worlds slowest tank development!

I was playing around tonight and came up with the perfect filter outlet; it is just what I wanted. This is how I made it;

  1. Took a 20cm piece of 20mm PVC pipe and cleaned it well with glue primer
  2. Use a paint stripped to heat up sections of the pipe and when it is flexible insert rubber tube and bend until you achieve desired shape, then dip in cold water to cool it and harden the plastic
  3. Repeat last step until you have all the bends you need
  4. Heat the end of the pipe and use your pliers/fingers to flatten out the end which will increase the flow

Paint Stripper

IPB Image

Finished Pipe

IPB Image

Flattened End

IPB Image

Flow in tank

IPB Image

New Whole Tank Shot

IPB Image

A Random Shot of the sump entry chamber

IPB Image

Bruce

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hi bruce just read your post from the start. great work mate cant wait to see it with fish. i think you made the right decision regarding the weirs i have a tank with the bulkheads in the back of the tank and they are really noisy. i put rope down the pvc it quietened it down some but still fairly noisy. i think you can add some bio balls to that extra chamber for more bio surface area? just make sure that that tank is perfectly level due to the stand mate. if not u need to fix this one way is to get some scaffolding adjusters . you can get these from any construction site and a bit of pipe these can be used to adjust your flooring from underneath the house mate .i am currently setting up for a 10ft tank so your post has been very interesting keep it up. i think you need some sponsors i noticed you mentioned some lfs a few times and they make plenty so i think there is no reason why they cant come up with the substrate for cost and some fish to cycle the tank for free mate .

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Thanks for the encouragement guys.

Glad to hear you enjoyed the thread kdusta. I hope it is of some value when setting up your new tank. Aquariums@Asquith has been massively helpful with this tank and I owe it all to them. Besides...I get my sand from Bunnings :p

Bruce

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