Hospital Tank Help Needed

[vikkibanks]

Ok guys and girls, need your advice on something.

i already have a Rio 180 set up and running and love it, but i have just bought a small Aqua One Aquarium Aqua start 320 (second hand)for a hospital tank incase i need one, going to get it up and running and ready.... but i am confused about something, when i bought it the lady said it came with pump , heater and filter, but since got it home, cleaned it out fully and when i took the substrate out there was this thin plastic thing under with a hole with a pipe coming out up to the top of the water, and in the middle of this pipe was like an air stone on the end of the tube. Also under the 'white plastic' thing there is a big piece of white filter stuff that covers the whole bottom of the tank. i cant see how this works at all, as it just seems to make bubbles within the tube and thats it. i am thinking of putting an internal filter in instead, but can you guys 1 explain how the current filter system works that i seem to have and what filter is best to buy, i like the rio 180 cos the filter is contained and so easy to change and maintain.


sorry for the long winded post, any help would be appreciated and i am new to this fish lark btw lol

 

[fluttermoth]

What you've got is an undergravel filter. You put a layer of gravel over the plate in the bottom of the tank, and air moving up the tube sucks the water down through the gravel and up the pipe (the 'uplift'). Your filter bacteria would live on the gravel.

Whilst they can be very good (in fry tanks for example), it wouldn't be very easy for your to keep it cycled, so I would swap it for a smaller, sponge filter.

Then you can keep the sponge for it in the filter in your main tank, so when you need the hospital or QT, you can just take the sponge out, pop it in the small tank and you'll have it instantly cycled.

 

[vikkibanks]

ok, thankyou for that, any chance you could find me a link to the filter you recommend?

 

[fluttermoth]

Sure; it depends what would ft in your main filter best, but something like this or this would be perfect; you do need an air pump to run them though.

 

[vikkibanks]

thanks for that could i not put a filter in like the one i have in the rio 180? but obviously on a smaller scale?

would something like this be ok?

http/www.amazon.co.uk/Fluval-Mini-Underwater-Filter-200LPH/dp/B002SX0EIA

 

[fluttermoth]

Yes, of course you could. The important thing is to have something you can run in your main tank (preferably actually in the main tank's filter) and transfer over to your QT when you need it. Else you'll have to be adding ammonia all the time to keep the small tank cycled, which is a hassle.