Complete Newbie

[Arcticfox1977]

I have searched the net for foam cartridges for my filter but it doesn't seem that they make any other media apart from the carbon ones. Could someone recommend foam media to me that would fit my filter.
Thanks.

You can buy foam by the sheet and cut it to size. Marina won't make them to fit as they want you to buy their expensive cartridges. You can get coarse, medium and fine foams, floss if you want crystal clear water and also carbon foam if you need it for getting rid of meds after a course of treatment. Once your tank is cycled with the 2 cartridges you already have, you can add whichever foam you pick to the empty slots to seed with the cartridges still in place. Some of the beneficial bacteria will slowly migrate to the foam. When the existing cartridges eventually deteriorate you can replace them one at a time (preferably not both together as you'd be losing a good proportion of your friendly bacteria in one go and could end up with ammonia and nitrite spikes harming your fish) with the foam of your choice depending on what you want to achieve. Coarse foam is good for trapping solid waste and the finer ones for removing smaller particles. As mentioned floss is good at "polishing" the water as it is very dense and excellent at removing the tiniest particles.
I'll try and find the link I had for filter foam sheets on Ebay and let you know.
Just adding a note, filter foam lasts for ages and shouldn't be replaced unless it is physically falling apart. The solid waste should be rinsed off in the old tank water you are replacing before you throw it away or use it for your plants. Never rinse in untreated tap water as the chlorine will kill off your BBs. Sorry if you know all this, but I'd rather someone reminded me than have them assume I know it.
http/www.ebay.co.uk/itm/DIY-FINE-FOAM-SHEET-FILTER-PAD-MEDIA-FISH-TANK-/260723646752?pt=UK_Pet_Supplies_Fish&hash=item3cb4572120
 
Not saying you should get this one, just as an example. In the search box I put filter foam and got a long list of sellers.

Thanks for this very helpful advice and link. I was planning to buy an air pump and a treasure chest that blows bubbles to help.

 

[RCA]

Regarding the bottled bacteria, I know some people do not regard it as beneficial but I used it when setting up and I found I was going through tons of this on my large aquarium.  I now use Aqua Pure Pond Balls (not the bomb version!) http/evolutionaqua.com/acatalog/Pure_Pond.html.  They do an Aquarium version in which the balls are clear, but I use the Pond version with black balls as you get more for your money.  You can just pop a couple of these, or small handful into your filter for each water change, and they slowly dissolve.

If anyone else has any problems with this link, just click it then go to your address bar and delete the . at the end of the line and try again!

I'm not sure about using a Pond specific product though. It might be OK but I'd be reluctant to use them without a bit of research.

 
Opps sorry, did not notice it had done that!
Here is the link also without the DOT
http/evolutionaqua.com/acatalog/Pure_Pond.html
 
See below re: Pond Version
 

The Evolution Aqua rep told me there was little point adding the pond ones to a tank, they are designed to work at a far lower temperature and wont be effective in indoor tanks. Did give me a long winded explanation 2 years ago when I used the pond ones but I cant remember it all now, will ask when I next see him.
 
The pond ones will seem better value because they are designed for people who tend to need to use a LOT more of them than people with small tanks..

 
Thanks I would be interested in what you find out from the rep., as my LFS (who are generally very knowledgeable) advised me to get the Pond ones.  Funnily enough I was wondering when typing it up whether the Pond ones were for cold water and the others for warm.  Something to consider though is what if it is a cold water aquarium, which then?
 
 

 

I have searched the net for foam cartridges for my filter but it doesn't seem that they make any other media apart from the carbon ones. Could someone recommend foam media to me that would fit my filter.
Thanks.

You can buy foam by the sheet and cut it to size. Marina won't make them to fit as they want you to buy their expensive cartridges. You can get coarse, medium and fine foams, floss if you want crystal clear water and also carbon foam if you need it for getting rid of meds after a course of treatment. Once your tank is cycled with the 2 cartridges you already have, you can add whichever foam you pick to the empty slots to seed with the cartridges still in place. Some of the beneficial bacteria will slowly migrate to the foam. When the existing cartridges eventually deteriorate you can replace them one at a time (preferably not both together as you'd be losing a good proportion of your friendly bacteria in one go and could end up with ammonia and nitrite spikes harming your fish) with the foam of your choice depending on what you want to achieve. Coarse foam is good for trapping solid waste and the finer ones for removing smaller particles. As mentioned floss is good at "polishing" the water as it is very dense and excellent at removing the tiniest particles.
I'll try and find the link I had for filter foam sheets on Ebay and let you know.
Just adding a note, filter foam lasts for ages and shouldn't be replaced unless it is physically falling apart. The solid waste should be rinsed off in the old tank water you are replacing before you throw it away or use it for your plants. Never rinse in untreated tap water as the chlorine will kill off your BBs. Sorry if you know all this, but I'd rather someone reminded me than have them assume I know it.
http/www.ebay.co.uk/itm/DIY-FINE-FOAM-SHEET-FILTER-PAD-MEDIA-FISH-TANK-/260723646752?pt=UK_Pet_Supplies_Fish&hash=item3cb4572120
 
Not saying you should get this one, just as an example. In the search box I put filter foam and got a long list of sellers.

Thanks for this very helpful advice and link. I was planning to buy an air pump and a treasure chest that blows bubbles to help.
 
The air pump will not replace the need for a good filter that is big enough to do the job, as all it does is aerate the water and operate your ornament, it does not remove toxins from the water.  A good filter will do this as well as remove toxins.  I will let the others explain further as they are the ones this is directed at

 

[Mamashack]

Glad to be of help Arcticfox
The air from the air pump will not directly oxygenate the water, but anything (including internal filters) that causes a break in the surface of the water helps the gaseous exchange takes place replenishing the oxygen(O2) levels. If you decide to have live plants, be aware that they use carbon dioxide (CO2) during the day and O2 at night and a lot of air bubbles can drive off a lot of the CO2 affecting plants or so I've heard.
As RCA said the filter is a different matter altogether, but it seems that you've made a start with getting the one you have cycled without fish in the tank and that's a good thing!
Is it a Marina Style 95 tank that you have from Pets At Home? I have a Marina Style 60 that I got 2nd hand on Ebay for less than half the price in PAH. I personally didn't like the Marina hang-on filter after I'd researched the filter foam etc and decided to stick with the Fluval U1 I'd had in my 30L tank. Fortunately it was over-powered for that and seems to be working fine in the 60L (which is actually contains only around 48L considering the space the gravel, the plants and the equipment take up).
Good luck with the tank and the cycling. You are a bit ahead of me - I'm on day 3 cycling my old 30L (possibly for betta/siamese fighting fish tho not fully decided yet)

 

[Mamashack]

"I think when you're older, what gets hard is that you forget how to take things as they come. And sometimes, the things that do come are more than anyone should have to take" Steven Spielberg's TV series 'Taken'.
 
Sorry MBOU this just doesn't have to same impact as the guppy one! lol
 
This is the link directly to the aquarium version of the Aqua Pure Pond bacteria/enzymes etc.
http/evolutionaqua.com/acatalog/PURE_Aquarium.html
Don't know anything about them - would they help with cycling or is it best to avoid any additives and play the waiting game?

 

[Arcticfox1977]

Again thanks for the useful advice. I'm taking it onboard. Spoke to my supplier of the tank about the filter and they said as long as the water has ripples and very small bubbles appearing below water level the filter is good for the tank. What kind of filter would you guys recommend?

 

[Mamashack]

Again thanks for the useful advice. I'm taking it onboard. Spoke to my supplier of the tank about the filter and they said as long as the water has ripples and very small bubbles appearing below water level the filter is good for the tank. What kind of filter would you guys recommend?

Well it's a bit more than just causing ripples at the surface - it's whether it has the capacity to process and neutralize the amount of waste that is being produced by the occupants of the tank. That will depend on a few factors:
 
type of fish - will produce waste (NB by fish I mean anything living in the water, snails included - they all need to excrete)
no.of fish - will define how much - needs to be viable for the tank size
presence of live plants etc - will mop up some of the nitrates (end product of waste after being processed by the 2 types of nitrifying bacteria)
 
Frequent water changes are a must when you've got occupants - initially depending on water test results, but at least weekly and only 25% at the most unless the results dictate otherwise. You'll need to test the water quality daily after you add your first fish and don't be tempted to add the full wack all in one go.
There is a rule of thumb saying  total of 1" of fish body (not including tail) to 1 gallon of water - however this only applies to small fish - you wouldn't want to put a 6" fish in a 6 gallon tank for instance, but you could add 6 neon tetras for instance if you are going tropical. There are loads of stocking suggestions on the forum - depends whether you are doing - freshwater, marine, coldwater or tropical. Whatever you decide do the research before hand and don't buy on impulse at the LFS.

 

[Arcticfox1977]

Now that its getting close to fish, what gravel/hoover would you recommend for a 95l tank. Also do I need to buy a seperate syphon to remove the water or do the Hoovers do this as well?

 

[Mamashack]

As a rule it's best not to hoover all the gravel at one go - do about 20-25% of the whole each water change to help preserve the bacteria which will be growing on the gravel. You can still suck up the solid waste sitting on top, but avoid doing a deep gravel hoover on more than 20-25%. You can get the siphon gravel hoovers which also remove the water. However that's still a lot of buckets to achieve a 20% water change in a 95L tank. Last month I got a water pump and hose from Ebay very cheaply and it makes water changes so much easier and quicker. I still use a bucket (15L), but it saves me trying to get it at a height where the siphon effect kicks in! I just sit it next to the tank after dechlorinating and checking that the temperature is similar to the tank temp then switch on and let the pump do the hard work.
If you want the Ebay links for the products I mentioned let me know and I'll post them

 

[Arcticfox1977]

Very handy. If you could post the links I will have a look. This forum is great due to the active knowledgeable members.

 

[RCA]

I am sorry I do not agree with your supplier re: the filter, it is undersized for the aquarium, check it out on Marinas website it is only for tanks up to 76L.  Therefore they have sold you a filter that is not up to the capacity of your aquarium.  This will mean you will have to under stock to ensure it is capable of handling the bio-load.  A Filter I would recommend is the Fluval U2 as it has the ability to alter the flow, top, middle, or bottom, as well as the force of flow and can be vertical or horizontal.  I have the old model Fluval 2 and it clears a ton of muck and is very quiet - in the bedroom.  I bought the new model for some friends on here, for £15, and it is great, and again so quiet you need to check it is running.  Another good filter is the one by Maidenhead Aquatics but go for the one with the ability to alter the flow, I have the Aqua Internal 100 in one of my aquariums and again it is silent in running - another in the bedroom.  The only thing with this one is it is limited for space for bio-max (or similar), you can cut the sponge, but what I have done is remove the carbon in the centre and put the BioStar media in the middle with a small about of Seachem Prime - now that stuff is amazing!
 
This is a good article on stocking and filterst that will help you further http/www.thinkfish.co.uk/article/stocking-levels-for-tropical-aquarium-fish.html
 
Re: Cleaning equipment, this is by far my favourite gravel cleaner as it is small so the water comes out at a reasonable rate vs the large ones.
http/www.amazon.co.uk/Marina-Clean-Aquarium-Gravel-Cleaner/dp/B0002AQI6I/ref=sr_1_9?ie=UTF8&qid=1363796899&sr=8-9
 
Also as per Mamashack I have a hose and battery powered pump which I use on my larger aquarium, and it makes the job so much simpler.  I believe it is a pump for a caravan,and then I have attached a micro hose.  It pumps straight out of the window onto the garden (remember to save some water for cleaning the filter) and then I fill it the same as Manashack with a beer 25L bucket on a stool next to the aquarium, plus add boiled water to get it to temperature, then add the dechlorinator and then let the pump do the work to re-fill the aquarium.  Joy - no back ache.
http/www.hozelock.com/watering/hose-reels/small-reel/10m-micro-reel-2430.html
 
Glad you are finding the forum useful

 

[Mamashack]

This is the water pump I've got, but if you search for submersible aquarium water pump you'll get a long list. You'll need to buy the hose separately, but believe me it makes water change time so much easier!
http/www.ebay.co.uk/itm/251179764587?ssPageName=STRK:MEWNX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1439.l2649
 
This is the water hose I got - it's 1.5 m long and fits the above pump perfectly - I jusat wish I'd got a bit longer however it does the trick nicely!
http/www.ebay.co.uk/itm/251166029460?ssPageName=STRK:MEWNX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1439.l2649
 
They are both from the same supplier and altho the water pump arrived with a broken bracket, they sent another one out very quickly and as it happens I don't use the bracket anyway (tho I didn't know I wouldn't need it til I tried it)
The size of the pump is dictated by the head rather than the volume of water. Mine will take a head up to 1m, but there are bigger ones if you need more head (sounds almost rude! lol)
Good luck!

 

[cpwebsite]

Again thanks for the useful advice. I'm taking it onboard. Spoke to my supplier of the tank about the filter and they said as long as the water has ripples and very small bubbles appearing below water level the filter is good for the tank. What kind of filter would you guys recommend?

 I use a Aqueon 55/75 on my 55g tank.

 

[Mamashack]

Actually, RCA, when I've checked the capacity of the marina s20 it says it's for a 20G which is 90L. Once the gravel and equipment are in - there will probably will be less actual water than that anyway. My tank is a 60L but I've calculated there's only about 45-46L actual water in there. I'm using a FluvalU1 (good up to 45L) and am doing partial water changes every 5 days or so. My stats are good and the fish are breeding so I assume the water quality is good too.
 
If you use the Marina s20 filter Arcticfox, I think it should be ok, but I would definitely eventually replace the cartridges one at a time with filter foam as described in one of my earlier posts for the expense if nothing else.
It might be as well to invest in a Master Test kit so that you can do your own testing whenever you need it rather than traipsing down to the petshop for them to do it (unless you live next door to one, but then they are only open during shopping hours!). I use the API one but there are some different ones out there. Tests can tell you if the water quality has changed, however one of the best indicators is knowing and watching your fish often and then you'll be able to spot any behaviour changes and act quickly.

 

[RCA]

Actually, RCA, when I've checked the capacity of the marina s20 it says it's for a 20G which is 90L. Once the gravel and equipment are in - there will probably will be less actual water than that anyway. My tank is a 60L but I've calculated there's only about 45-46L actual water in there. I'm using a FluvalU1 (good up to 45L) and am doing partial water changes every 5 days or so. My stats are good and the fish are breeding so I assume the water quality is good too.

 
 
Thanks Mamashack but I got the information from here http/usa.hagen.com/Aquatic/Filtration/Clip-On/A287, which clearly states 76L (20USGals).  I also checked the UK site http/uk.hagen.com/Aquatic/Filtration/Internal/A287 and it states the same.  What source are you getting your info from?
 
I agree the Fluval U1 could do the job, on their site it says up to 55L, and I am aware of the water displacement, but as I previously mentioned I tend to over filter as many do anyway.  I felt the U2 to be a good filter as it offers extra filtration options over the U1, which can be useful if required, but both are good filters.

We can only go on our experiences and knowledge then I guess it is up to Articfox1977 to decide.  I think his filter will be fine initially if he keeps his stocks low but as it was bought new I thought he may have the opportunity to discuss changing it if he wanted?
 
The best thing for Articfox1977 to do would be to contact the manufacturers of the filters if he wanted to explore the above option. 
http/uk.hagen.com/
 
Thanks for the debate, happy to be corrected again if I am incorrect

 

[Arcticfox1977]

These are all great advice that that everyone is providing. I have recently purchased the fluval2 and the api master test kit along with water treatment for chlorine. I have heard the marina s20 has narrow tubes and blocks easily after a short time. I agree both of you and both are completely correct going on my own research. I will take a trip into Maidenhead Aquatics in the future.
I really do appreciate all this advice.
Thank you all.