Rebuilding an old abandoned 29g

[FishHobby99]

I predict great success in this endeavor. You are a smart cookie, as Judge Judy would say.

 

[wgoldfarb]

Sorry I've been silent recently. Underwent a follow up monthly treatment that put me out of commission for a few days, and now I have some family visiting from out of town. So I will be checking in daily but I'm afraid I won't be as active over the next few days.

My lid is finished and the tank is painted!

As you may recall I tossed the old filter media when I cleaned up the tank. It gives me a chance to reinvent my filter I decided to not get the same Eheim media that originally came with the filter. I also decided to put the biomedia as the last step in the filter (Eheim puts it as the next-to-last step, before the polishing pad). I figured you want the water as clean as possible before it hits the biomedia to avoid clogging the biomedia pores as much as possible. Eheim doesn't do that because putting their polishing pad under the ceramic biomedia would squash the polishing pad (which looks a lot like polyester batting).

So I'm starting with Eheim mechanical ceramic media at the bottom (I had some left over) as a first very coarse mechanical filter. Then 3 successive layers of sponge from coarse to fine, then a polishing pad, and then the biomedia on top. To avoid having the sponges and polishing pad squished by the ceramic biomedia I will use poret foam, because it's supposed to be non-compressible (it's the same foam Eheim uses to make its blue coarse sponges). And instead of using "squishable" polyester batting I will use a felt pad as a polishing pad.

Instead of using Eheim biomedia I've decided to give Biohome media a try. It's made from the same sintered glass used by Eheim but it's supposed to have a lot more porosity and space for bacteria -- including anaerobic bacteria that allegedly turns nitrate into soluble nitrogen. Im not sure it really works, and it's supposed to take months for anaerobic bacteria to get established, but if it does it should (in theory) help keep nitrates close to zero. We'll see.

The Eheim canister I have has some extra space at the top of the media basket. I have always figured it was for temporary chemical filtration (e.g. using a carbon pad to remove medication from the tank) so I've never used it for anything, and it was just wasted space. So I will probably fill it with some polyester batting just to avoid leaving it empty. Extra filtration can't hurt.

 

[FishHobby99]

Nice hearing from you! Enjoy the guests.

I‘ve heard well of Eheim filters & your modifications are brilliant. I will get the same filter when the need arises. The local shop that ordered the 125 G for me recommended Marineland Pro450. I saw bad online reviews for this filter & went with a pair of Fluval AC 110’s per Colin’s suggestion & my own research. Now I have a Plan B should the Fluvals prove inadequate, but I’m fairy confident they won’t for my setup.

Still no word on when tank will arrive. But the question of how much weight it could handle (when stocked with heavy rocks)came up in another thread here, so I called the tank manufacturer & had a very nice chat with a very nice man in their technical department. He said no problems should I decide to stock an entire tank of huge rocks!

 

[MonsieurLaGrenuoille]

I'm also looking for denitrifying bacteria in my filters, but to my capacities it seems to be impossible to realize. As I have read long time ago for both nitrifying and denitrifying bacteria to do their work they should have a very slow water circulation through the filter media, a big sump that flows very slowly would be possibly right but not the little canister filter from Eheim with their high water circulation, bacteria would do the work all the time anyway, and are adaptable, I think you are on the right path with the filter media you want to built, I could only suggest that if you have only a media basket in the filter and not several separated (like I, with 3 baskets in a 5L Eheim ecco300 which makes 750l/h) you would have much more room for media by removing the basket out of the filter at all. I do so with these Eheims.

 

[FishHobby99]

Nice hearing from you! Enjoy the guests.

I‘ve heard well of Eheim filters & your modifications are brilliant. I will get the same filter when the need arises. The local shop that ordered the 125 G for me recommended Marineland Pro450. I saw bad online reviews for this filter & went with a pair of Fluval AC 110’s per Colin’s suggestion & my own research. Now I have a Plan B should the Fluvals prove inadequate, but I’m fairy confident they won’t for my setup.

Still no word on when tank will arrive. But the question of how much weight it could handle (when stocked with heavy rocks)came up in another thread here, so I called the tank manufacturer & had a very nice chat with a very nice man in their technical department. He said no problems should I decide to stock an entire tank of huge rocks!

 

[FishHobby99]

Well I just replied to to you with some additional interesting info from the tech at Aqueon, but it seems to have vanished when the dogs momentarily distracted me. My apologies if it resurfaces & I have repeated myself.

I‘ve been told here at TFF an underlayment under the tank is essential, most recently to distribute weight from large rocks. But for another reason in the past. We flipped over a 30 G high unused tank & saw the glass bottom is ~1/3 “ above the rails. Matt felt that if an underlayment was needed, it should be cut to fit between the 4 rails. The Aqueon tank tech said no underlayment whatsoever is necessary

.

Some seem to think the underlayment (often 4 x 8 ft foam insulation panels) levels the tank if the stand/floor are not flat. With the extreme exceptions,I wonder if this is accurate. Nonetheless, I took a level to the table to be used as a stand & it‘s good.

 

[FF_Member146894]

Well I just replied to to you with some additional interesting info from the tech at Aqueon, but it seems to have vanished when the dogs momentarily distracted me. My apologies if it resurfaces & I have repeated myself.

I‘ve been told here at TFF an underlayment under the tank is essential, most recently to distribute weight from large rocks. But for another reason in the past. We flipped over a 30 G high unused tank & saw the glass bottom is ~1/3 “ above the rails. Matt felt that if an underlayment was needed, it should be cut to fit between the 4 rails. The Aqueon tank tech said no underlayment whatsoever is necessaryView attachment 150054.

Some seem to think the underlayment (often 4 x 8 ft foam insulation panels) levels the tank if the stand/floor are not flat. With the extreme exceptions,I wonder if this is accurate. Nonetheless, I took a level to the table to be used as a stand & it‘s good.

the point of the foam under the tank is to even out irregularities for tanks without trims (flat glass-bottomed), the aqueon tanks are raised on a trim, so you don't need anything under them

 

[Essjay]

I am hopeless at drawing, but this very crude attempt shows which type of tank needs a mat and which doesn't.

 

[FishHobby99]

Fascinating! I can clearly see the glass bottom elevated above the rails on 2 empty tank here. Same for the cichlid tank when I crawl underneath the stand. The other 7 tanks here appear similarly constructed, probably all Aqueons made by the company’s tech I spoke to yesterday. My major concern was the added weight of big stones should I go that route. Love how the guy said I can fill the entire tank with rocks,

And your sketch rivals Picasso’s later work.

 

[Essjay]

I've never been compared to Picasso before

 

[FishHobby99]

I politely omitted criticism that he churned out crap in his later years because everything he did sold for a fortune. Seriously, he did all these little scribbles.

Your sketch is better than his later work!

 

[wgoldfarb]

Nice hearing from you! Enjoy the guests.

I‘ve heard well of Eheim filters & your modifications are brilliant. I will get the same filter when the need arises. The local shop that ordered the 125 G for me recommended Marineland Pro450. I saw bad online reviews for this filter & went with a pair of Fluval AC 110’s per Colin’s suggestion & my own research. Now I have a Plan B should the Fluvals prove inadequate, but I’m fairy confident they won’t for my setup.

Still no word on when tank will arrive. But the question of how much weight it could handle (when stocked with heavy rocks)came up in another thread here, so I called the tank manufacturer & had a very nice chat with a very nice man in their technical department. He said no problems should I decide to stock an entire tank of huge rocks!

I wanted a canister filter to keep as much equipment as possible out of the tank and hidden. I chose Eheim because someone recommended them, but I can't remember who! I'm very happy with it.

 

[wgoldfarb]

I'm also looking for denitrifying bacteria in my filters, but to my capacities it seems to be impossible to realize. As I have read long time ago for both nitrifying and denitrifying bacteria to do their work they should have a very slow water circulation through the filter media, a big sump that flows very slowly would be possibly right but not the little canister filter from Eheim with their high water circulation, bacteria would do the work all the time anyway, and are adaptable, I think you are on the right path with the filter media you want to built, I could only suggest that if you have only a media basket in the filter and not several separated (like I, with 3 baskets in a 5L Eheim ecco300 which makes 750l/h) you would have much more room for media by removing the basket out of the filter at all. I do so with these Eheims.

Yes I do have only one basket and have been thinking about removing it completely, precisely to allow for more media volume.

About the nitrate consuming bacteria, I read it can take several months for it to develop, so I'm not holding my breath. I also do know they require very slow water flow. I'm hoping that the very intricate internal structure of the biohome media will provide lots of very small "capillaries" where the water will flow very slowly. But I recognize it's a very long shot.

 

[FishHobby99]

I wanted a canister filter to keep as much equipment as possible out of the tank and hidden. I chose Eheim because someone recommended them, but I can't remember who! I'm very happy with it.

How are they hidden? Please forgive me if you‘ve already specified & I lost track. The only concealed filters I have are in a sump tank.The two new Fluval AC 110s are the bigget ugliest filters I’ve ever seen! I hope to position them left & right on the tanks sides to minimize this ungodly sight. If that fails, I will dress them in lacy French pantaloons.

 

[Essjay]

Unlike HOBs and internal filters, canister filters have just tubes in the tank. The body of the filter is in the cupboard underneath the tank.