Rebuilding an old abandoned 29g

[FishHobby99]

For American tanks anyway, the bigger the tank, the wider the trim, thus the further from the stand the bottom glass sits....if that makes sense

Yes, that’s what the tank manufacturer told me on the phone when he said no underlayment needed. I asked if the mat should be cut to fit the gap or if the entire tank should sit on the mat. He said no mats no where.

 

[MonsieurLaGrenuoille]

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.

I needed to say you some little about the right filtration in freshwater tanks, in all of my currently four from 20 till 150 (including 30 and 60) and they are all "the nanos" untill this 150L giant nano from eheim that can be used for salted water, i ve seen that the mechanical filtration with motorized filters should be abusively applyed to produce enough of the circulation in the tank, take the double and put 2 instead for 1, thats the important to me for well planted aquariums because because of the plants the current will be very tempered and disappear nearly. For my tanks i ve seen that the soil with its gravel or sand and then mostly the plants would be main filter of the AQ, much more than the canister filter from eheim but they cannot be underestimated at all, im curious about the biohome substrat but in your case i would take a lot in the eheim, for the bacteria you need all the time this water circulation which is vital and your aquarium ground is totaly important for them you know this very well so you must be acceptant in order to pay this electricity you need for your aquarium

 

[FishHobby99]

The tank mat issue has been resolved. My Grandfather has spoken & says:

Burn the ancient White Man’s table, Little Running Fish. Build this and the Great Spirit will protect you & your fish for all times.

 

[wgoldfarb]

I needed to say you some little about the right filtration in freshwater tanks, in all of my currently four from 20 till 150 (including 30 and 60) and they are all "the nanos" untill this 150L giant nano from eheim that can be used for salted water, i ve seen that the mechanical filtration with motorized filters should be abusively applyed to produce enough of the circulation in the tank, take the double and put 2 instead for 1, thats the important to me for well planted aquariums because because of the plants the current will be very tempered and disappear nearly. For my tanks i ve seen that the soil with its gravel or sand and then mostly the plants would be main filter of the AQ, much more than the canister filter from eheim but they cannot be underestimated at all, im curious about the biohome substrat but in your case i would take a lot in the eheim, for the bacteria you need all the time this water circulation which is vital and your aquarium ground is totaly important for them you know this very well so you must be acceptant in order to pay this electricity you need for your aquarium

I agree! My canister is rated for twice my tank size, which I did on purpose. And for biomedia I will have almost twice the amount (by weight) that Eheim suggests for this tank. I think my filtration should be very good... But it remains to be seen if it's enough to develop anaerobic bacteria for nitrAte reduction.

 

[FishHobby99]

I will be using two Fluval AC 110s, each rated 60-110 G for my 125 G (still no idea when it’s arriving)
Only 8 fish I already have are going there, so the filters should be up to the task. I may add three 3” Synodontis E. Catfish if I can figure out how they’d do with the others.

 

[MonsieurLaGrenuoille]

I will be using two Fluval AC 110s, each rated 60-110 G for my 125 G (still no idea when it’s arriving)
Only 8 fish I already have are going there, so the filters should be up to the task. I may add three 3” Synodontis E. Catfish if I can figure out how they’d do with the others.

Alors ca est tout encore dans les nuages? Nothing heard? Something online? Yo soy un comanche en mi corazón y de aprendiz de brujería un apache de profesión (lo sabe el Gran Espíritu).

 

[MonsieurLaGrenuoille]

I agree! My canister is rated for twice my tank size, which I did on purpose. And for biomedia I will have almost twice the amount (by weight) that Eheim suggests for this tank. I think my filtration should be very good... But it remains to be seen if it's enough to develop anaerobic bacteria for nitrAte reduction.

I heard the Matrix from seachem should be the best for denitrifying bacteria, i noted after the removal of the guppies females better conditions in general and the plants have brilliant colors and developpe well all the time, in the sand aren't no mud or sediments at all and the eels are going to stirr it good all the time, everything is filtered through 3 sponges shrimp baby safe and i have 2 fiters in this 150 eheim vivaline, Ecco300 750l/h and internal eheim 650l/h. Saturday i put some Azolla filiculoides in the tank, plant N°3, it's too late and i'll have the monster now for a while

 

[FishHobby99]

Not a word on the tank, Monsieur. They are saying it has to do with a glass shortage & I have no idea if it’s about transportation issues or what.

Now you are an even better friend of mine as the Apache & Comanche are our mutual friends. I am Choctaw. Will see if I can C&P a recent post on this subject.

 

[FishHobby99]

We are Choctaw, the Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma. There are 2 other Choctaw tribes. We’re either the 3rd or 5th largest federally recognized tribe in the US, depending on what one reads. About 250 K. We were forced from the Deep South (Trail of Tears) to Oklahoma in the early 1830s. During the Dust Bowl, many Choctaw left OK to farm the Central Valley region of California. My family is from there. This area has the largest Choctaw population outside OK.

 

[MonsieurLaGrenuoille]

Yes I heard the Jesuits had been there in california but the old indians inhabitants were death altogether anyway, or almost, the world is a crazy place and as it seems there should be some influences even from remote extraterrestrial times all over the world, creatures from out there that will be having living in such a planet like Earth since a long long time. That's the extraterrestrial way. Just to make you crazy, I've lived it.

 

[FishHobby99]

The Jesuits were no friends to the Native Americans in California. I am unaware of any extraterrestrial influences on our planet, but maintain an open mind. I know they are out there; I don’t know they ever got here. Write a good book & convince me!

 

[MonsieurLaGrenuoille]

Oui mein grosser Häuptling but life is too short and I'd not be able to realize no one of the suggestions you gave me and no book could be writen by a chicken or something similar, I had to learn that life doesn't always be what it appears to be but unfortunately I've no answers I can trust, one other thing is to think of extraterrestrials as some space ship passengers coming from other planets to the Earth as you know this from hollywood movies and other influences but I'm speaking of ghosts and much more horrible freaks that are out there and practically all over near you, the others will be there and they are different and probably alien and sort of enemy, you know everything that could happen is already happen; one very interesting theory is that the dinosaurs could possibly have achieved some human-like thinking being, if they weren't destroyed through the giant meteorit at the end of the Cretacian periode 65 mio. of years ago. Who knows, very often I am seeing the humans as dangerous and crazy animals, there are several theories about what it could be, to speak about religion at this forum isn't neither allowed, this couln't work good. Excuse-moi ma chère madame! Mais on se revoit quand-même!

 

[FishHobby99]

Please do not take offense, mon ami, but I have never believed in the supernatural as in ghosts etc. I do enjoy reading books on the subject such as the rise of Spiritualism following the US Civil War when grief stricken people sought contact with their beloved dead ones. And there was no shortage of charlatans to accomodate them. Who’s to say? Perhaps it brought comfort & was cheaper than psychotherapy.

Yes, there are evil people in our midst. True crime is my favorite genre. But always remember they are in the minority and for every psychopath there’s hundred’s of thousands of good people such as yourself.

 

[MonsieurLaGrenuoille]

Mais non ma chère Jenny I wont take offence of nothing but I can definetily say to you that there is the supranatural and the unbelievable on this earth, everyone is going to have their especial experiences and they are really different, even what I have seen I couldn't tell you what it is, but doesn't matter, you don't know, or yes, the old europeans philosophers such as Decartes or Sartre which don't are sure they are going to have a nose where it appears to be....

Not the ghosts of the dead people are around but some inexplicable non humans creatures, that's sure, but don't trust what the people of the church are saying to you, and very FELIZ NAVIDAD to you and to all the fish-interested people all over the world! See you later alligator! And keep healthy.

 

[FishHobby99]

S’il te plait, not much later, mon ami. Or I will miss you as I do @wgoldfarb (sp)