2 Filters And 2 Heaters?

[Rorie]

I have just got my new QT. It is a clear seal and is 18x10x10 inches, which is around 29 L i think.

I have two filters which are fine for small tanks, but i am not sure if they will be enough for this tank. Can i put both in? What is the story with 'mini cycles'?

I have 2 heaters too. one is 50W, which should be enough i think, but are there any calculators which state the wattage per L?

Thanks

 

[Rorie]

bumping this up to the top as somebody on here must know the answers

 

[coldcazzie]

50W is fine for a little tank like that. Might even be too much in fact, 25w would be better (I used 25w on the tank I had of that size).

What lph are the filters? If it's just going to be for QT then it doesn't have to be much, just enough to support the bioload. Not like you'll be heavily planting or anything! I usually just put some media from my main filter in the QT filter, then when I put the media back into the main failter again, I know for sure that it will support the bioload, because the combined media was supporting it, only in 2 seperate tanks instead of one.

As for mini cycles, what do you want to know? What's happening or how long they take to resolve?

 

[Rorie]

50W is fine for a little tank like that. Might even be too much in fact, 25w would be better (I used 25w on the tank I had of that size).

What lph are the filters? If it's just going to be for QT then it doesn't have to be much, just enough to support the bioload. Not like you'll be heavily planting or anything! I usually just put some media from my main filter in the QT filter, then when I put the media back into the main failter again, I know for sure that it will support the bioload, because the combined media was supporting it, only in 2 seperate tanks instead of one.

As for mini cycles, what do you want to know? What's happening or how long they take to resolve?

Well the tank is 29L i think. I am going to add a fair few cardinals to it if i can, so i was wondering if i added two filters, would i be able to process twice the amount of ammonia (if they had the same turn over)? Or would there be an issue with 'mini cycles'. I dont know what mini cycles are, so an explination could be good!

I have taken media out my main filter and put it in the small one. I have then added ammonia to the small tank to try and build the bacteria in that a bit more.

Can i really have too bit a heater? Would it not just switch off for longer periods of time? I used a 25W before on my 23L, and it looked like it was on just about all the time trying to keep the water at the correct level!

As for turn over of each filter, i have no idea! Is there away to test it?

 

[coldcazzie]

The filters should say on them what turnover they are. I used to use a little one which said 260l/h on the side of it. While that was probably a bit of an overestimate, for a 26L tank it was just right so it didn't matter.

Yes on more filters - double the filters = double the media = more bacteria to process ammonia.

A mini-cycle is like a normal cycle. Only instead of it occurring when the filter is brand new and just set up, it occurs when the filter is already mature (ie, already has a colony of bacteria to process ammonia within it), usually when some kind of mistake has been made that kills off some (but not all) the bacteria: could be washing one of the sponges under the tap, letting one of the sponges dry out, keeping the filter off for too long, not not adding dechlorinator quick enough etc, or when a large amount of extra stock is added, thereby increasing the bioload substantially meaning there are not enough bacteria to handle the increased amount of ammonia. The bacterial colony approximately doubles in size every 24hours (ish), so theoretically if you double the bioload then it should only take 24 hours for the ammonia colony to catch up, but then you've also got the nitrite colony to catch up too. I believe 1ppm of ammonia = ~2.4ppm of nitrite or something, so you need to allow at least 3-4 days. They can last 2-3weeks depending on your circumstances, and as we don't know all the possible influences there are on bacterial growth within a filter, there's no way you can really know what your circumstances are - only hope they are good ones! While you have a mini cycle you're in a fish-in cycling situation so you should be testing water every 12-24 hours and doing large multiple water changes to keep ammonia and nitrite under 0.25ppm.

Finally, the heater being too big is not a problem, UNLESS is breaks. A broken 50w heater will cook your fish a lot quicker than a 25w heater, thus meaning you have less time to notice there's a problem and rectify it. I guess it's a risk you need to judge yourself. Personally I always try to use a heater appropriate to the size of the tank. I take it you don't have a 25w heater?

 

[Rorie]

not really understanding the whole mini cycle thing to be honest, despite your good explanation haha.

Lets go basic as i'm sleepy after a long day at work! If i put both filters which are suitable for 25ish L tanks each into the one 29L tank, the fish waste will get processed twice as fast, and there will be no bad consequences? i.e. the bacteria not building up correctly or anything?

I do have a 25W heater, but i replaced it with the 50W heater as the 25W one seemed to be on constantly! So i still have it, but its in a box

 

[coldcazzie]

Well, give it a go and see what happens. You can always change them round if needs be!

Basically a cycle happens when there is more ammonia being produced than there are bacteria to process it. Whether that happens when a new tank is set up, or when a tank is already set up doesn't make any difference - it's still the same concept: you need to grow more bacteria to process the ammonia into nitrite, and then the nitrite into nitrate. Just, when it's a filter with new media it's called your cycle, and when it's a filter with media in it that already has some bacteria, then it's called a mini-cycle. That's all.

If you put 2 filters into 1 tank then there will be more filter media, therefore more bacteria, and therefore can handle a higher number of fish. Whether or not the media will be sufficient I cannot say - you will only know that once you've put the filters on the tank, the fish in the tank, left it 12-24 hours and tested for ammonia. If you have no ammonia, then you've got enough bacteria. If there is ammonia present, then you haven't.