Excited

[steve_jones83]

Really excited. Thanks to all your help, I will be doing the revamp of my Fluval Roma 125 sooner rather than later. Just ordered the following

1.) Tetratec EX1200 external filter

2.) New Fluval Roma oak cabinet (useless at DIY and believe this one houses the ex1200 which mine wont)

3.) 4 bags of argos play sand picking up tomorrow to swap from the gravel to sand.

4.) Various bits of new bog wood

5.) Various little extra's

Should give my tank a much needed makeover.

As much as I am excited there are a couple of niggling questions I could really do with your help on:

1.) Is the EX 1200 too big for my 125 litre and if not, do I need to adjust the spray bar at all?

2.) Have I bought the right sand?

3.) Apart from my existing filter media from my external, what else do you recommend putting in the EX 1200 (someone mentioned cotton due to the sand, others say get rid of the carbon)

I am really excited about trying this. I have done a fair bit of research about the swap so hopefully my fishies will be ok??

Thanks for all your help

 

[eaglesaquarium]

Be sure to clean the sand really well before you put it into your tank. First, get a 5 gallon bucket. Fill it with about 1-2 gallons of sand (less is better). Fill it with water and keep stirring and pouring off the dirty water until it runs clear. Add that to your tank. Repeat as needed.

Personally I recommend having a small amount of water in the tank as you place the sand. I poured it from a small (1/2 gallon pitcher) from just above where I wanted it to lie and it gently filled in nicely without big piles like it would if it were placed without water. It also helps to fill the tank up with water when finished without rescaping your sand with the input water.

 

[steve_jones83]

Thanks for your advice

 

[steve_jones83]

Bump for help

 

[BigbruiserAl]

1.) Is the EX 1200 too big for my 125 litre and if not, do I need to adjust the spray bar at all? Maybe a bit of overkill just adjust the input/output taps on the filter to you likeing

2.) Have I bought the right sand? yep

3.) Apart from my existing filter media from my external, what else do you recommend putting in the EX 1200 (someone mentioned cotton due to the sand, others say get rid of the carbon) Leave the tetratec as is, the carbon is a big sponge on them at will just act a bio after a month or so

I am really excited about trying this. I have done a fair bit of research about the swap so hopefully my fishies will be ok??

Thanks for all your help

 

[ZoddyZod]

wont leaving the carbon in place suck up all the ammonia and nitrite, thus starving your bacteria colony?

 

[the_lock_man]

wont leaving the carbon in place suck up all the ammonia and nitrite, thus starving your bacteria colony?

I thought that carbon was for removing heavy metals, and Zeolite was for absorbing ammonia and nitrite?

 

[BigbruiserAl]

wont leaving the carbon in place suck up all the ammonia and nitrite, thus starving your bacteria colony?

I thought that carbon was for removing heavy metals, and Zeolite was for absorbing ammonia and nitrite?

yep, The material will not normally remove much ammonia from the water (It removes a trace amount). However there are several brands of AC on the market that add a special coating of zeolite which act as a ammonia absorber.

 

[ZoddyZod]

lesson re-learnt!

 

[steve_jones83]

Cheers all,