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First off, I know the pain of a long cycle time. I've been trying to get my 60g tank cycled since December. Believe it or not. Why so long? Simple answer is my tap water contains 12ppm of Chloramines. Which is above the EPA recommended amount of 4ppm. So when I put Prime, or Ammo'lock, or...

I have a Aquatop 500, Odyssea CFS500, and an Eheim 2217 canister filter on various tanks. I like them all, but I like the Aquatop the most. Why? First of all ease of setup. The Odyssea I did the circumference mod on so the initial setup took awhile. Also, the plastic valves are a bit stiffer...

Correct. It typically only kills the algae spores in the water which prevents new algae from growing as long as those spores pass through the filter before taking "root" somewhere in the tank. If you already have algae growing somewhere you need to clean it all off first to actually get rid of...

aren't cut up straws suppose to be good as bio media as well? Can get a few packages at the dollar store as well.

Incorrect, unless there no back pressure of air to press down on the water level from figure 2. If there is no air pressure present in figure 2 at the red line, THEN the water would go up as indicated in figure there. In reality it would go up further from figure 2, but not as high as figure 3...

Ummm, no. Yes there is "some" siphoning action going. Here do this as an experiment. Take a glass fill it full of water. Take a tube, suck water into it and put your finger at the end to prevent it from coming out when you stop sucking after you fill the tube. Make the output of the tube from...

No, the reason you input into the top, even if the pump is at the top, is because you use siphoning through gravity and air pressure to up fill the canister. When the input is all the way at the bottom, the siphoning action stops as soon as water reaches the bottom. Which means the pump now has...

I'm surprised it is working well. I'm guessing the pump is doing way more work than it should be though based upon your design. Why? because you aren't using gravity to help your pump at all in your design. You are going to burn the motor out on that filter WAY too soon. There is a reason why...

There's an O-ring around the lid? I didn't see one on mine at all. I ordered mine off http://www.aquatraders.com/Odyssea-CFS4-Canister-Filter-p/42044.htm for $60 shipped. Got it in last week. Did the mod listed here. Glued the white and black foam pieces together with gorilla glue and letting...

Pumps of that nature don't work based on a vacuum alone, but based off gravity along with the vacuum that would be created but air pressure prevents that vacuum. You siphon water from the bigger jar station in a position that is above the smaller jar being used a filter. If you have a hose line...

API master liquid test kit. http://www.amazon.com/API-FRESHWATER-MASTER-TEST-KIT/dp/B000255NCI As for the tub, this is one that has NEVER been used. No cleaning products or nothing. just ran water through it occasionally. I also checked with a test later using 4 glasses I got straight from...

Well I went to go do a water change on the tank(s) that I have. I asked my GF to fill unused bathtub in the spare bathroom up with water while I was at work. I got home from work and decided as a test to check the water for ammonia. I did the test and came up negative. I decided to speed up the...

No point in water changes if I'm using prime or stresscoat. Both nuetralize the ammonia level without effecting your cycle. Water changes aren't needed from what I understand until nitrates start to rise.

Aquatop, which is the brand name version I just picked up. I will say these things have gone up in price now for all models available. I went with the currently biggest one, the he-404b, I could find. Originally a few of these sold for $100 on ebay through kool_goods but that vendor is no...

It's this one. http://reviews.petsmart.com/4830/3804465/marineland-marineland-r-60-gallon-heartland-aquarium-ensemble-black-reviews/reviews.htm So basically 55 gal but taller for 5 more on top. 48x13x24 is what I remember measuring it out to be roughly. Although when I calculate that into...

Local Fish shop here as a big 200+ gal show tank with tons of Malawi cichlids in there. Like 70 or more. Also a few Cyphotalipa Frontosa and even a Midas in there. to round it out there is some full grown plecos and clown loaches. They are freaking HUGE!!!! Shop owner says that's his show tank...

Go back to petsmart if it's only been less than 14 days and get free replacements? Assuming he got it from them or a place with such a return policy.

You can do dynamat, and that does work well. There are alternatives. I am also a computer building enthusiast, have been for years and there are tons of people who do silent PC mods. Trust me, a PC can be much louder than any aquarium setup that doesn't have pistol shrimp in the tank. Still you...

As for the ammonia level, I actually had ammonia from the get go with my new 60 gal tank. Why? It took me awhile to come up with an answer. There isn't cloramine used as treatment in my waterwhich rules that out. I've tested my tap water and it comes out ammonia and chloramine free. I even...

Well I'm new to the hobby and thought I'd give a shout out here. I've been doing some lurking here for a couple of weeks and love all the information I've read. Even the contradictory stuff. A little history: (skip if you want) I used to have a small aquarium as a child long, long ago. Had it...