Stages of "tankhood"?

[TLT]

Sorry, I think I made up the word tankhood, lol. As a newbie, I just wanted to ask anyone to tell me what the various stages I expect my tank to go through. I know that for planted tanks there stages of algae and murky water? I'm not sure though. Here's where my problem lies:

For the first few weeks when my tank was cycling, everything thrived, fish and shrimp were active and the plants grew like crazy (maybe with the help of Eco-complete substrate). Then that blissful period ended and I saw spot algae. Now I see algae (thread and diatoms) on the plants, the animals are not as active and several shrimp died. To add to my woes, my tank water is now sort of cloudy....Is this a phase? Thanks for any input!

pH=7.6
Hardness=150
Ammonia=0
Nitrite=0
Nitrate=20
Temp=78F

[Lupin]

What test kit are you using? How do you clean your filter and how often? What about tank maintenance schedule?

[TLT]

I'm using the API sticks and the filter is a Tetra Whisper 30 that hangs off the back wall. I've read somewhere that below 20 for nitrates is better so I've been doing 20% water change everyday with gravel vacuuming on my 29 gal.

As for the filter cleaning, I think this is where I'm misunderstanding. I replace 50% carbon in the filter pouch every 2 weeks. Monthly, I discard the pouch and rince the filter in the old water. I'm paranoid about destroying the bacterial colonies and having to cycle my tank again. Are there more bacteria in the filter or in the gravel???

[Lupin]

Stop using the carbon. It does nothing to your tank other than remove the odor but it's still impertinent when you are doing water changes anyway. All you need is filter floss and sponges in your media. You can add bags of gravel, lava rocks and other materials such as bioballs if your filter is big enough to support the selection. As far as cleaning the filter media, use dechlorinated tapwater or tank water only. There are more bacteria in the filter.

[PieterE]

Stop using the carbon. It does nothing to your tank other than remove the odor but it's still impertinent when you are doing water changes anyway.

I agree with Lupin, remove the carbon :grinyes:. Carbon adsorbs, and most of the time (I'm no scientific guru or anything so I may be wrong) it might remove some of the trace elements needed by plants. Most people remove theirs and their tanks are thriving.

[Rbishop]

Other than the initial bacteria bloom of filling a tank and the period of establishing a bacteria colony, I don't see any other stages that a tank goes thru.

I see conditions caused by improper maintenance or fine tuning the balance of nutrients and lights for plants. But those are not encountered by all.

You don't need the carbon and it does provide useful functions. The controversy of using it in any tank, planted or not will be debated forever.

I use carbon all the time in most every tank and love what it does for clarity. I also believe if you have adequate tank circulation, your bacteria is everywhere and not concentrated in any one spot.

[KarlTh]

Stop using the carbon. It does nothing to your tank other than remove the odor but it's still impertinent when you are doing water changes anyway. All you need is filter floss and sponges in your media. You can add bags of gravel, lava rocks and other materials such as bioballs if your filter is big enough to support the selection. As far as cleaning the filter media, use dechlorinated tapwater or tank water only. There are more bacteria in the filter.

Can I be impertinent and point out that the word you wanted was "pertinent"?

[runs away]

[TLT]

I think Lupin chose the right word. It's not pertinent or necessary--and thank god for that, the Fluval carbon is EXPENSIVE! I love this forum for how it helps the average fishkeeper avoid unnecessary purchases.

[KarlTh]

"impertinent" does not mean "not pertinent". It means rude and insolent. It arose from the negative form of "pertinent", with the sense of "not belonging", but "rude and insolent" is the meaning now.

Dictionary.com lists no antonyms for "pertinent", so the only option is "not pertinent".

[Rbishop]

I wouldn't consider carbon unnecessary. It does perform distint functions that are required by some.

Many folks do not need it and they are usually the ones with good water but are also using poor quality and insufficeint quantities.

Many folks will claim a water change equals the use of carbon, but that is incorrect in many cases. If your source water has impurities, another water change isn't going to help.

I use it for the clarity it delivers.

[PieterE]

What's the topic again...oh yes...Stages of "tankhood"?
For a moment I thought it changed to grammar or spellingb or something.
:hitting:

[KarlTh]

Sorry, just an irresistible language joke.

[JohnEX]

i don't think having carbon is the cause of any of his problems. why are people focusing on that?

what kind of lights and how long are they on? reducing the photo period should help reduce your algae problem.

the cloudy water could be a bacterial bloom if your tank is going through a mini cycle when you change out the filter. do you have the blue sponge in your filter? that should give you your bio filtration, but you can always add more bio media. i've added ceramic bio media in my whisper filters...

[Marinemom]

i don't think having carbon is the cause of any of his problems. why are people focusing on that?

what kind of lights and how long are they on? reducing the photo period should help reduce your algae problem.

the cloudy water could be a bacterial bloom if your tank is going through a mini cycle when you change out the filter. do you have the blue sponge in your filter? that should give you your bio filtration, but you can always add more bio media. i've added ceramic bio media in my whisper filters...

Very well said. I agree 100%

Marinemom

[TLT]

Thanks for your replies :) No, I don't have a blue sponge...I place in a spongy pouch full of carbon, which I replace. Should I always keep in a piece of sponge, even if it gets dirty? Also, how thoroughly should I rince off the sludge in the external filter apparatus itself? I'm not sure how much beneficial bacteria reside in the sludge, lol.

As for lighting, I regret getting a tank kit. For a 28 gallon bowfront, the lighting supplied was a puny 17 W that's about 17 inches long. It sits over a glass cover/lid and I'm not sure how I can upgrade since all the Hagen lights of that length are 14W. To compensate, I have the lights on for more than 12 hours. I thought the plants weren't getting enough light so the algae started, but now I realize that it could be too much light?

Thanks for reading all that!

[SchizotypalVamp]

yeah, the quality of light won't be improved by leaving it on longer. That could def. be the cause of it.

[JohnEX]

Thanks for your replies :) No, I don't have a blue sponge...I place in a spongy pouch full of carbon, which I replace. Should I always keep in a piece of sponge, even if it gets dirty? Also, how thoroughly should I rince off the sludge in the external filter apparatus itself? I'm not sure how much beneficial bacteria reside in the sludge, lol.

As for lighting, I regret getting a tank kit. For a 28 gallon bowfront, the lighting supplied was a puny 17 W that's about 17 inches long. It sits over a glass cover/lid and I'm not sure how I can upgrade since all the Hagen lights of that length are 14W. To compensate, I have the lights on for more than 12 hours. I thought the plants weren't getting enough light so the algae started, but now I realize that it could be too much light?

Thanks for reading all that!


so you have the white filter bag that you put carbon in... a lot of people don't throw the white filter out and just rinse it in tank water during water changes to get the gunk off. most of your bacteria is on the filter surface so you can get rid of the 'poo' :) i throw mine out, but i have additional bio media with the sponge and ceramics... i just rinse the sponge in tank water to clean it.

the expert plant people can help you with your lighting, but i'm guessing that 12 hours is too long and 17w is too low. in the long run you should probably go higher wattage and shorter photoperiod, but you can probably just cut that 12 hours down for now to reduce the algae.

[malken]

is AH supply still around with their DIY lighting upgrade kits? that's what I would recommend. try to get at least 2 WPG

[TLT]

I've finally decided to post a picture of my tank. Somehow my camera does not capture the health state of my plants, which have rotting lower leaves and stems (ludwigia rupens, cabomba, bacopa). The echindorus species have holes in them too....Annnyway, I looked at the AHsupply site and was wondering, if I did get (and could successfully put together :eek: ) that stuff, which should I get? The 2x36 watt or the 55 watt? My measurements for the 28 gal bowfront are:

16 inches high
24 inches across
~15 front to back on top

Thanks for any suggestions!

P.S. In the back is my airstone for my DIY CO2. I'm still working on it :grinyes:

[SchizotypalVamp]

It's looking good in there!

[Wateveryousay]

Wait on the carbon packages for the Aquatek filters it says it de-clouds the water too is this wrong?

[SchizotypalVamp]

Rbishop says that it helps the water clarity. Keep in mind to really get results from carbon you have to use quality carbon and you have to use enough of it, which is rarely what is inside a cartridge.

[Wateveryousay]

The packages for Aquatek filters have a actual bag packed with carbon so i figure it has enough for the size of tank it was designed for

[SchizotypalVamp]

http://www.aquariacentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=94711

A good place to learn about carbon.

[Wateveryousay]

Ahhh thats interesting so in my case the carbon is needed.

[SchizotypalVamp]

You don't *need* it, it's not vital to the health of the aquarium. You can replace it with extra biofiltration. In fact, it's preferable if you don't have quality carbon in the right amount, because if the carbon isn't doing its job then an affective biofilter would be more beneficial. Sorry if you already knew this ,it's hard to tell over the net.

However, if you want the beneficial affects of carbon then yes, more is needed than a cartridge.

[Rbishop]

Nice looking tank, TLT.