New tank journal

[DefJ123]

Shouldnt set you back to far. Its not like beneficial bacteria only live in filters. I believe I read somewhere over 80% of bb lives in substrate. Should just be a minor cycle.

Which eheim do you have? I love my eheim ecco pros. Though im becoming more and more interested in sponge filters of late. Sorry if previously mentioned

 

[jbradt]

I have a Ecco 2232 that I got probably 8 or 10 years ago. Runs beautifully, but the gaskets must have dried out while it was in storage for 5 years or so. I love this filter.

I've also been thinking about sponge filters a lot lately. They seem pretty bulletproof, but not so great for mechanical filtering.

 

[DefJ123]

I have a newer version of the ecco 2232, the easy 30. Its a nice filter, does a great job. The 10g it filters is always crystal clear.

 

[jbradt]

Sorry I've been so quiet... things are getting crazy in the lats 2 weeks before the wedding...

So I decided that it's not worth nickel and diming parts for my old filter. I ended up ordering an Eheim Easy 35 from Amazon and figured that I'll be able to use the old one for parts should the need present itself. I've also ordered some biohome ultimate media to go in it. I probably won't set all this up until I'm back from the honeymoon, and just keep things the way they are for now to settle down for while I'm away.

Over the weekend, I added 3 more neons which all seem to be doing pretty good. The sickly little panda cory didn't make it. So with the addition of the new neons, the stock looks like this:

1 bristlenose pleco
1 small molly
2 khuli loaches
1 glass catfish
4 panda cories
5 neons

After adding the neons, I'm showing a little bit of ammonia again, so water changes and prime dosing every day. The readings aren't much, so I feel like it's a pretty safe bet that it will all settle down and be nice and stable for when I go away on 10/14.

Once I get back, I'll take the bio-media from the AC20, and put that in the new canister to help seed it and run the canister with the AC30 for a few weeks until I'm sure the canister can take the full load of the tank. Then I'll remove the AC30.

I think in the end I'm looking for a stocking something like:

12 neons
6 cories
4-5 kuhli loaches
RCS colony

I think I'm going to end up rehoming the pleco, molly and glass cat.

As always, any and all feedback/suggestions/advice welcome!

 

[Rbishop]

Which fish are getting married?

 

[jbradt]

Which fish are getting married?

LOL... we're having a mass ceremony for all the neons.

 

[Rbishop]

Orgy-nism?

 

[jbradt]

Orgy-nism?

Aqua-Orgy-Nism.

It's new... most people haven't heard of it yet. It's gonna catch on though.

 

[jbradt]

Ok... so I just sat down and opened up the new canister filter. I thought they would be essentially the same, and they are except for one huge thing...

The old one came with two good sized media trays. The new one comes with one media tray identical to the old ones and a ring that goes around the top of it with a coarse sponge in it. I get that they intend this to be a pre-filter, but I dont' really get the point. They removed a ton of space for media which IMO makes the whole thing much more inefficient. So I took the media baskets from the old one to use in the new. As far as I can tell, it should still work as intended, but I wish I could talk to the guy that changed the design of this thing. I'd like to extend my sympathies for the severe blow to the head he must have taken.

Some pics to demonstrate my point:

The two trays in the old one:


Each of those is about 1.25" deep. For a filter this small, there is a ton of room for media. The way I set it up was that the bottom tray had a course sponge then a fine one. The top tray had room for a ton of bio-media.



Now the new one comes with one tray that's a little taller than the old ones, a ring of course sponge, and a little chimney in which you can put bio-media.



Sorry for going on a rant about something that's probably a little thing, but it's been a long day and I guess I needed to vent.

 

[fishorama]

If it fits, I'd think it'd be ok to switch out the trays/media...but I have no Eheim experiences. Can you just get to a stable point before your wedding/honeymoon?

Who's fish sitting while you & your new bride are off having honeymoon fun? A kid-ish person? A fish experienced friend? That can make a difference.

But go, have a wonderful time...& deal with whatever afterward. It may be nothing to worry about or just a few WCs to get back on track. Don't sweat this tank stuff, just GO!