Ben's Tropical Tank

[waterdrop]

Are you sure it's not air noise? Whenever you perform maintenance on an EC filter the media will of course get air bubbles all through it and those bubbles can collect at the top of the filter box and create noise as they interact with the impeller blades.

One trick to seeing if this is the case is to carefully and gently lift your filter (take care that you don't knock off tubes, etc) and give it a small stiff vibrational shake while tilting it very slightly at different angles slightly off of straight-up. If you have air this should cause some of the bubbles to dislodge and go shooting out the output tube. You should hear a swishing noise and possibly see a sputter at the spraybar or outlet.

Of course if it's pump noise then it may be caused by a worn impeller assembly which needs to be cleaned or replaced. Or it could just be the noise that a Fluval makes. There are plenty of variations within manufacturer but many consider the Eheim to be the rolls-royce of filter systems, in terms of lack of noise.

~~waterdrop~~

 

[L4byr1nth]

Yeah, one thing I have noticed is that there is a lot of air in the filter - any little knock or shake causes a bubble explosion at the outlet pipe.

The filter is brand new, so I'm sure it's not worn (yet!).

In other news, tank has cleaned up nicely. It is still cloudy to some extent, but I can clearly see into the tank now.

Considering ordering a Hydor Ario 4 aerator and a load more plants from eBay - wonder if they'll come before Xmas...

Ben.

 

[Aqua Tom]

Yeah, one thing I have noticed is that there is a lot of air in the filter - any little knock or shake causes a bubble explosion at the outlet pipe.

The filter is brand new, so I'm sure it's not worn (yet!).

In other news, tank has cleaned up nicely. It is still cloudy to some extent, but I can clearly see into the tank now.

Considering ordering a Hydor Ario 4 aerator and a load more plants from eBay - wonder if they'll come before Xmas...

Ben.

Sounds like you have a lot of air traped in the filter. It will work itself out over time.

 

[waterdrop]

Yup, that's it then. You can either do the shake operation I described or just leave it to eventually work itself out as Tom says. WD

 

[L4byr1nth]

Ok, so the water is still pretty cloudy in the tank, but it's clear enough to take a couple of new pictures - sorry about the poor quality; until I move my 25 litre out of the way, I can't really get access to set my lights and reflector up.

Obligatory FTS showing final layout

Sumatra wood finally wedged into place

Re-scaped the rocks

My newer, much larger Mopani section

​

I've bought a collection of plants from eBay, so they should be here just after Christmas - that should help get that 'planted' look, as I only have three in there at the moment, as you can see!

Unfortunately, where I filled the tank, it seems to have left horrible white marks all over the inside of the aquarium. Any tips on getting them off?

Ben.

 

[Skins]

 

[FishAreFriendsNotFood10]

looking good

 

[BIG BAD BARRY]

Make sure your media baskets in the filter are stacked properly and not overfilled.

 

[AmazonFTW]

Rainbowfish - I don't believe a pair would really be enough. If you are worried about overstocking I would suggest Neon Dwarf Rainbows (Melanotaenia Praecox) as they are smaller and a shoal could be kept (4 minimum). If you want Bosemani I would suggest 3 absolute minimum (2 males, 1 female) but of course the more the better.

As for the filter, mine is very silent. Maybe you haven't purged it properly. I think you do this by moving the silver thing down that say start - it may not fully be closed. You could also use the shake method.

AmazonFTW

 

[L4byr1nth]

Thanks for the kind comments - I'll be sure to check the filter is assembled properly in a little while, but I'm sure it is.

The tank has been up and running for three days now, is up to temperature, and has been dosed with AquaCycle constantly.

I had two guppies in my other tank, and their fins are always raggedy because they constantly chase each other around. I think they're both males, and for some reason don't like each other very much.

This annoys me, because I like a placid, peaceful tank. They were SWMBO's choice of fish, along with the Peacock Goby (which we love, awesome fish!), and thus have become prime candidates for Operation: Certain Death.

In short, I've plonked them in the new tank to help kickstart the cycle (and to ensure my plants don't die).

As the tanks are the same temperature, I just netted them one by one and dunked them in. They seemed a bit miffed for all of 5 seconds, and now normal service has resumed (the big blue one is chasing the smaller yellow one around the whole tank - they look tiny in there!)

I'll leave them in there for a couple of days, and then if all goes well add the rest of the fish from the other tank over.

Ben.

 

[BIG BAD BARRY]

The setup is looking raly cool.
| take it you are doing a fish in cycling then?

 

[L4byr1nth]

Yeah, at the moment I'm just using the Guppies to kick it into gear though.

Everything's good. Water is clear now. Guppies are still alive.

Adding plants after Xmas.

Ben.

 

[L4byr1nth]

Ok, Neons are now in.

If there's anything wrong with the water, I'll be able to tell in the morning, I 'spose.

Ben.

 

[L4byr1nth]

Water crystal clear now - not even any tannins from all that wood! I recommend the Fluval 305 wholeheartedly.

Neons and Guppies doing fine - might leave it a couple of days, then add all the bigger fish.

Ben.

 

[FishAreFriendsNotFood10]

more piccies!!!