New Tank, Air Pumps?

[SensesFail]

Hi all I'm new to this forum and hobby I currently have a 190L tank cycling. I have been using waterlife biomature and I'm onto the 3rd week or so and still waiting for the nitrite to go up. Tested on Sunday at it was 0.3 l.

I have an external canister filter and was wondering if it's worth using an air curtain? Which ump is the best to get? And quiet!?

Many thanks

 

[waterdrop]

If your external cannister uses a spraybar or output pipe that can create visible surface flow then I would not think aeration would add much.

Most of our members have not been happy with the various bottled products that claim to be related to establishing a nitrogen cycle and creating a working biofilter.

By contrast, we have hundreds of engaged, happy beginners who have been through our fishless cycling process and learned hands-on about biofilters while also learning about good water changing techniques, good filter maintenance and how to prepare a good stocking plan. All those things can happen while the members are helping you monitor a real fishless cycle, done with a good testing kit and simple household ammonia.

~~waterdrop~~

 

[Carlovel1]

Im a fan of air pumps and I recommend the Tetratec APS300.Its cheap and quiet and powerful.

 

[SensesFail]

If your external cannister uses a spraybar or output pipe that can create visible surface flow then I would not think aeration would add much.

Most of our members have not been happy with the various bottled products that claim to be related to establishing a nitrogen cycle and creating a working biofilter.

By contrast, we have hundreds of engaged, happy beginners who have been through our fishless cycling process and learned hands-on about biofilters while also learning about good water changing techniques, good filter maintenance and how to prepare a good stocking plan. All those things can happen while the members are helping you monitor a real fishless cycle, done with a good testing kit and simple household ammonia.

~~waterdrop~~

It does seem to be taking some time I must say so I decided to test it once every few days. Household ammonia would have been the best I reckon in price I'm currently spending 6.50 for 120 mill of waterlife and onto the second bottle now. Least there is some nitrite I guess l as for water changes I was ba king on around 3 a week? I have been reading up for weeks on how to keep discus fish and have an aim of keeping these in months to come.

Water change wise I was thinking of buying 2 50L bins one for the water in and one for water out? I bought an extra heater to heat the water ready to be added to the tank so there would be little difference in the water temp being added? Does anyone else have any other ideas on easy ways of water changing?

Im a fan of air pumps and I recommend the Tetratec APS300.Its cheap and quiet and powerful.

Do you use an air curtain with this? Which one is best for it? Do you just store the pump in a cabinet and run the cubing into the tank? I have read reviews on the APS 400 and they all said they worked well for 1 month then they needed to replace parts such as the diaphragm? Have you had any problems on the APS 300?

Cheers

 

[raptorrex]

Im a fan of air pumps and I recommend the Tetratec APS300.Its cheap and quiet and powerful.

I, too, am a fan of air pumps. unfortunately, apart from looks, they offer no benefit to the environment. so are a, purely, aesthetic addition.

 

[waterdrop]

Yes, I have to be honest and say that I did use an air pump and airstones in my fishless cycle. I was following the excellent rdd1952 article. Its just that in the time since then I've seen plenty of fishless cycles complete successfully without added aeration and have come to believe that this suggestion is basically "covering the bases" in case beginners don't really have enough surface disturbance and circulation.

I remain a fan of simple household ammonia, which I got at the grocery store for less than 1.00 in a huge quantity. There was an interesting discussion a while back with Neale M. about the possibility that organic dosing, like fishfood, breaking down into the ammonia to drive the fishless cycle encourages both the various heterotrophic species and then of course the autotrophic species once the ammonia is finally supplied and thus is bringing on more aspects of the eventual complex environment that is the tank and filter. Things like the waterlife product are supplying these various organic molecules, same as the fishfood or prawns, that the heterotrophs can break down.

My own take is that worrying about the heterotrophs is unnecessary because they as a group are such lightning fast growers and reproducers (ever see how fast a bacterial bloom can appear?) Its the very slow autotrophs that I feel must be concentrated on if we want to optimize the overall speed of the process. They are the limiting step in the overall process and by beginning immediately to supply them with the ammonia that they use, we are not delaying the process but are instead attacking the problem head on. I feel the heterotrophs can multiply so fast that they will absolutely "be there" once the cycle ends and the real life of the tank with fish and plants begins (with the safety of our nice big robust biofilter already in reliable operation on the first day the fish arrive.) Ultimately we understand that our bacterial colonies will "drop down" to meet the bioload and that they will hopefully diminish further once our plants are healthy and contributing to the more complex environment we want, but a robust biofilter is such a great safety net and our tanks are so small compared to the real environments of nature that we virtually always want one.

~~waterdrop~~

 

[Carlovel1]

If your external cannister uses a spraybar or output pipe that can create visible surface flow then I would not think aeration would add much.

Most of our members have not been happy with the various bottled products that claim to be related to establishing a nitrogen cycle and creating a working biofilter.

By contrast, we have hundreds of engaged, happy beginners who have been through our fishless cycling process and learned hands-on about biofilters while also learning about good water changing techniques, good filter maintenance and how to prepare a good stocking plan. All those things can happen while the members are helping you monitor a real fishless cycle, done with a good testing kit and simple household ammonia.

~~waterdrop~~

It does seem to be taking some time I must say so I decided to test it once every few days. Household ammonia would have been the best I reckon in price I'm currently spending 6.50 for 120 mill of waterlife and onto the second bottle now. Least there is some nitrite I guess l as for water changes I was ba king on around 3 a week? I have been reading up for weeks on how to keep discus fish and have an aim of keeping these in months to come.

Water change wise I was thinking of buying 2 50L bins one for the water in and one for water out? I bought an extra heater to heat the water ready to be added to the tank so there would be little difference in the water temp being added? Does anyone else have any other ideas on easy ways of water changing?

Im a fan of air pumps and I recommend the Tetratec APS300.Its cheap and quiet and powerful.

Do you use an air curtain with this? Which one is best for it? Do you just store the pump in a cabinet and run the cubing into the tank? I have read reviews on the APS 400 and they all said they worked well for 1 month then they needed to replace parts such as the diaphragm? Have you had any problems on the APS 300?

Cheers

I actually have a 30 inch air curtain and it looks very cool. I've had my air pump for around 7 months and I've never had a problem. I think the APS400 should only be used in 300litre+ tanks it's just too powerfully!

If your external cannister uses a spraybar or output pipe that can create visible surface flow then I would not think aeration would add much.

Most of our members have not been happy with the various bottled products that claim to be related to establishing a nitrogen cycle and creating a working biofilter.

By contrast, we have hundreds of engaged, happy beginners who have been through our fishless cycling process and learned hands-on about biofilters while also learning about good water changing techniques, good filter maintenance and how to prepare a good stocking plan. All those things can happen while the members are helping you monitor a real fishless cycle, done with a good testing kit and simple household ammonia.

~~waterdrop~~

It does seem to be taking some time I must say so I decided to test it once every few days. Household ammonia would have been the best I reckon in price I'm currently spending 6.50 for 120 mill of waterlife and onto the second bottle now. Least there is some nitrite I guess l as for water changes I was ba king on around 3 a week? I have been reading up for weeks on how to keep discus fish and have an aim of keeping these in months to come.

Water change wise I was thinking of buying 2 50L bins one for the water in and one for water out? I bought an extra heater to heat the water ready to be added to the tank so there would be little difference in the water temp being added? Does anyone else have any other ideas on easy ways of water changing?

Im a fan of air pumps and I recommend the Tetratec APS300.Its cheap and quiet and powerful.

Do you use an air curtain with this? Which one is best for it? Do you just store the pump in a cabinet and run the cubing into the tank? I have read reviews on the APS 400 and they all said they worked well for 1 month then they needed to replace parts such as the diaphragm? Have you had any problems on the APS 300?

Cheers

I actually have a 30 inch air curtain and it looks very cool. I've had my air pump for around 7 months and I've never had a problem. I think the APS400 should only be used in 300litre+ tanks it's just too powerfully!

 

[raptorrex]

I actually have a 30 inch air curtain and it looks very cool. I've had my air pump for around 7 months and I've never had a problem. I think the APS400 should only be used in 300litre+ tanks it's just too powerfully!

how do you "mean too powerful" surely that depends on the air toys connected, not the tank size?