A place 4 my questions & ponderings as I build a 34 Gallons (127L) tank

[AilyNC]

Cool, thanks

 

[AilyNC]

Oh no. I just stumbled across a dalek, cybermen & TARDIS. I'm finding it very hard to resist. I think I'll look at more aquascaping videos to get Doctor Who out of my system Swell UK can't deliver sand to me so it's €36 for 20kg Limpopo Black Sand or €5.50 Argos play stand.

 

[AdoraBelle Dearheart]

Hey, have a look at some themed tanks too, they can be brilliant as well! Heavy planting, with a dalek poking through? Winner right there. And the dalek is weirdly cute.

Have see some wonderful themed tanks, nothing wrong with it, and your kid will love it too.

 

[AilyNC]

Hey, have a look at some themed tanks too, they can be brilliant as well! Heavy planting, with a dalek poking through? Winner right there. And the dalek is weirdly cute.

Have see some wonderful themed tanks, nothing wrong with it, and your kid will love it too.

Forget the kid I absolutely love DR Who I'll think about it but will get the tank first, see what way to place the plants and build from there.

 

[AilyNC]

@vanalisa I studied Yates but not sure if I did that one. College blur, old now, memory gone.

 

[seangee]

I think I'll order today from Swell. Getting the Aquaball 130 & Aquaball 60 as recommended by @Lajos_Detari but using sponge & filter floss only. If I feel the two filters are too much even with flow adjusted I can use the the Aquaball 60 in my 58L tank. I don't like that filter anyway that came with the Ciano 60 tank.

Only question is if the Limpopo Black Sand 20kg will be enough for a tank of 36" length x 18" width?? Any ideas @AdoraBelle Dearheart and @seangee as you both have that sand?

I bought a 20kg bag for mine and still have some left over - but 10kgs would not have been enough.

 

[mbsqw1d]

I reckon you'll regret not going for the Limpopo.. the argos stuff is just too bright IMO. And all one shade.. not very natural looking. As great and as cheap as it is

 

[Lajos_Detari]

And is that because the tank is so long? It's the same height and length as @seangee has though mine is 18" depth and not 12".

Yes, one reason is the length of your tank. I am afraid the filter won't have enough power to suck the water from the whole tank if you only have one filter. Two filters will be more effective and in case one is down, you will still have a backup.

Also, whenever you choose a filter, two things tht you have to consider:
1)Flow rate.
2)Biomedia surface area.
Usually the manufacturer will give the specifications/recommendation for the filter.
For Aquaball 60, it can be used for tank up to 60 liter whereas Aquaball 130 is for tank up to 130 liter.

For the flow rate, manufacturer usually will recommend 5-6 times or slightly more of the tank volume.
So, for a tank of 60 liter, the flow rate will be about 300-400 liter per hour or more.
The flow rate for Aquaball 60 is up to 480 liter per hour which is more than enough.

EHEIM aquaball 60 | Internal Filter Aquarium | 60 L

EHEIM aquaball 60: Internal Filter for your aquarium from 30 - 60 L. ✮ Flow Rate adjustable! ✮ mechanical-biological filtration ✮ Shipping only 9.90 (EU).

www.aquaristikshop.com

Take note that the biomedia that you can put for Aquaball 60 is quite small.
The bigger fhe biomedia, the more beneficial bacteria(BB) that it can hold.
I prefer if you have one 130 and one 60.
But if you prefer two 60, probably it might be ok.

Usually I prefer to go big even though there is a limit to how much BB that your filter can hold.
How much BB in your filter is also dependant upon how many fish you have in your tank.
The BB feeds on your fish waste. So, if you have only a few fish, then definitely your filter won't have much BB.

 

[Ch4rlie]

Usually I prefer to go big even though there is a limit to how much BB that your filter can hold.
How much BB in your filter is also dependant upon how many fish you have you have in your tank.
The BB feeds on your fish waste. So, if you have only a few fish, then definitely your filter won't have much BB.

While this is correct, do bear in mind that every surface inside the tank and filter will also have bb.

Substrate, plants, decor and tank glass will all have bb covering them, so even if the filter only holds a small amount of bb the tank itself is full of bb so its not a major factor if stocking numbers is fine, if the tank was overstocked then yes, do go bigger on filtration.

The biggest factor is the flow and amount of water that goes into and from the filter to filtrate the water itself.

You’ve covered those points nicely.

 

[AilyNC]

Thanks so much guys - very helpful posts. I think the Aquaball 130 & 60 is a good so. It'll mean nice flow in the water, good filtration & a back up as you say @Lajos_Detari. I really want to get this set up right - like having strong foundations of a home.

 

[AilyNC]

Quick question @Lajos_Detari - there's only £1 difference between the 130 and 60. Would getting 2 x 130 makes sense?

 

[Lajos_Detari]

Quick question @Lajos_Detari - there's only £1 difference between the 130 and 60. Would getting 2 x 130 makes sense?

Yes, definitely.
Get two 130 as it has more compartments and can store more biomedia.

I like Eheim product especially where the flow rate can be reduced to quite low as the minimum flow rate is 180 liter per hour.
This is useful as most fish don't like flow rate that is too fast.
You can set the flow rate somewhere in the middle, not too fast nor too slow.

Also, take note that all filters will slow down after some times due to clogging (you will have to clean it). So, it's better to get bigger(130) than smaller(60) flow rate.

EHEIM aquaball 130

EHEIM aquaball 60: Internal Filter for your aquarium from 30 - 60 L. ✮ Flow Rate adjustable! ✮ mechanical-biological filtration ✮ Shipping only 9.90 (EU).

www.aquaristikshop.com

If you use only the given sponge and filter floss/wool, it will be fine.
The sponge has many pores with big surface area which is good for the BB to grow.

At the most bottom compartment, probably you can use a filter wool which is good to trap the fine dirt. You can change them once every 1-2 mths or when you find that there is too much dirt and its too hard to clean them.

For other compartment, the sponge can be used for a long time withour changing. They are almost indestructible.

 

[Ch4rlie]

Excellent tip from @Lajos_Detari to use the other filter like a polishing filter to help keep your tank water even cleaner as well as storing bb in the sponge media (bb does not like filter floss so don’t tend to find bb on this media)

 

[Lajos_Detari]

Another thing about this filter is it can push air into the water. It's like having an air pump with an air stone in your tank.

 

[AdoraBelle Dearheart]

Starting to make me want one of these filters!