55 Gallon Questions

[ALEXF]

Hello,

This weekend was a busy one. I Spent way to much money but it was rewarding in the end. I finally got my 55 gallon tank set up and have began the fishless cycling. I am running a marineland pengiun 350 (rated for up to 70 gallon tanks) and i am planning on adding a second one. But heres the question i have been told different things about runing 2 filters. From person #1 I was told it will allow you to slightly over crowd your tank and to have to change the filters less often. Person #2 says you can slightly over crowd your tank but you still have to change filters ever 4 weeks and person #3 has said you cant over crowd your tank but you wont have to ochange your filters for at least a month and a half? now if any which of these are true??? Also i had a question about the bubbler.... id there anyway to make it quieter because it is LOUD. It can be heard clearly in the next room. Is that what the gang valves and check valves are for??? if not what are those for? Also my local petstore has these things called "bioballs" which are said to have good bacteria now is this true or are they just trying to rip me off? Now as far as stocking is concerned (changed since my last post on the subject)

i wanted to do:

1-Angelfish
1-Banjo Catfish
2-African Dwarf Frogs
4-Long Finned Danios
6-Lemon Tetras
6-Von Rio Tetras
2-Powder Blue Dwarf Gourami

Does that seem ok or over crowded?


Thank You.

Alex

 

[waterdrop]

While it is a great plan to have two filters (esp. backup for failures) and the extra filtration capacity, as a TFF member would you really want to overcrowd your tank? Would you really want to let your filter get clogged because you had not developed a habit of fairly frequent and careful cleaning? You probably wouldn't be here doing so many things right if that were the case.

On air pump lines, gang valves are there so you can distribute the air to multiple stones, filters or devices and adjust how much air each is getting. I believe check valves are just to protect your pump from water being sucked back in and damaging it in a power outage (if the pump were below tank water line level.) Sorry, don't know how to make it quieter, BTT is keeping this secret to himself (just kidding)... I have the same problem myself.

My own glance and rough add-up of your stocking list makes me think you are not overstocking a 55G but I'm often wrong about that part and there are some tuffTFFers here that might want you to cut down... To my eye those fish also look reasonably compatible with each other although personally don't know if Rios have any quirks. Personally I've always liked a pair of angels - I know some might find problems with that - its just that they can seem so graceful together. Also, you may get comments about Dwarf G. diseases, but I've always liked DGs and hope people will keep trying to have them.

~~waterdrop~~

 

[ALEXF]

of course i dont wWANT to over stock, and i dont WANT to slack on the changing of the filters but i do WANT to save money lol.and of course i HAVE TO keep my fishes in good health. hmmm i should probably add the check valve but i only have one bubbler so i dont need to add the other thing as it only goes to one place. hmmm there has got to be a way to make it quieter lol. i mean i can sleep through it so its not that bad but i know where there is a will there is a way.... also i was going to do 2 angels but i dont know if mine is male or female and i have read that it is best to either do one or at least four and i wanted to have a community tank so i really didnt want to have four althou i know they are amazing fish. thank you for the reply and i am welcoming more input.

Thank You,

Alex

 

[waterdrop]

Yeah, I was mostly just trying to give you a hard time Alex as its obvious you're pretty serious and will do a good job with it. Hey, foam earplugs are amazing (in the meantime!) [I plan to turn off my airpump once fishless is over, even though its pretty!]

 

[ALEXF]

Yeah, I was mostly just trying to give you a hard time Alex as its obvious you're pretty serious and will do a good job with it. Hey, foam earplugs are amazing (in the meantime!) [I plan to turn off my airpump once fishless is over, even though its pretty!]

lol i was thinking about the same THING. I think having 4 places where water returns from the filter should be enough of a splash to airate the tank enough for them. do you know anywhere i can read about dwarf g. diesease?

 

[waterdrop]

No, DG disease is totally new to me too. I actually had a lot of success with DGs as a kid and thought they were quite hardy - very sad to hear. I'm sure you could search up threads in the sections on the individual fish or maybe in the emergencies forum.

A human can get used to anything, given enough days of trying. I've learned to use earplugs and eyeshades in hotels or other places of unpredictable or predictable noise and light - they actually work quite well, lol.

~~waterdrop~~

 

[ALEXF]

lol thanks. yea it doesnt bother me as far as sleeping. just when im watching tv i have to keep the tv up louder than the thing and ehhh its not horrible but its not super needed either....

 

[ALEXF]

bump

 

[Kendalyn]

A 55 gallon tank may be too tall for African Dwarf Frogs. They aren't strong swimmers and can have trouble making it all the way to the top.

 

[Tobigara]

Good pick on the filter! i have 2 myself and the one for 50 gal tanks. as for the 3 different things you've been told about running 2 filters...you can overstock a bit and you still need to replace the C-sized cartridges but you only need to do that when you can't clean them anymore. just dunk them in old tank water and give em a good rubdown and you should be ok for another week. just make sure they have decent flowthru. i'm sorry if you already know this but i figured it worth mentioning: don't replace the bio-wheels at all.

your stocking seems good to me but i would add another angel. a 55 has plenty of room for their own territories.

i have a rena air pump and it's supposed to be super quiet but it deffinitely was not quiet at all. i just wrapped it in a washcloth and now i can't tell if it's on unless i touch it or look for bubbles

BTW good luck with your new tank

 

[ALEXF]

thank you for the replies... that makes me sad about the dwarf frogs thou as far as the air pump itself... its not that loud, its the bubbles it is making in the tank that is the loud part? should i try to lessen the airflow to the ornament?