Ooooh A New Tank

[KateW]

So when she moved house, my gran was reviewing her affairs, and very generously gave all her grandchildren a bit of a cash gift, to be spent on something fun.

So, under the pretext of buying cat food, we went to the garden centre this morning and picked up a new AquaClear Euro Style 80, and thanks to a convenient delivery slot it is now sat in the lounge.

Online specs say it is about 185 litres, but I have just taken internal measurements, and once the 3D background, sand and bogwood and some plants are in, it will be more like 150 litres.

Bogwood is boiling away right now, ready for overnight soaking.

Now I just have to wait for someone capable to come home and cut and silicon in the background (I'm not really to be trusted with anything sharp or sticky )

It came with a 200 watt heater and the filter is an external Aqua One 750 Series 2 - rated for up to 220 litres. Does anyone have any comments, good or bad, about this filter?

On Monday I'll get some ammonia, transplant some mature media from the small tank and we will be in full fishless cycle mode... then I can start thinking about a stocking list.

 

[Skins]

Can't really comment on the filter but do know aqua do make good ones. As for when you start cycling i would be inclined to remove any carbon media and replace with sponge or ceramic noodles/rings, these media types provide a better surface area for the beneficial bacterias you want to colonise within your filter. With your bogwood i would leave that soaking whilst you are cycling so as not to lower your pH, the growth of the bacteria colonies when cycling prefer a higher pH.

Hope this helps, Keith.

 

[KateW]

Hi Keith

That does help, yes. I was going to put the bogwood straight in, but perhaps I will leave it outside in a bucket for a while.

The only thing that looks like it might be carbon related is a black sponge - the instructions don't refer to it as a carbon sponge, but it is the finest of the three (also one layer of ceramic noodle, one layer of ceramic gravel types thingies, and a fine floss pad) - is it worth changing that out too? There isn't a pouch of activated carbon or anything like that.

 

[Skins]

Hi Keith

That does help, yes. I was going to put the bogwood straight in, but perhaps I will leave it outside in a bucket for a while.

The only thing that looks like it might be carbon related is a black sponge - the instructions don't refer to it as a carbon sponge, but it is the finest of the three (also one layer of ceramic noodle, one layer of ceramic gravel types thingies, and a fine floss pad) - is it worth changing that out too? There isn't a pouch of activated carbon or anything like that.

Leave things as they are, the black sponge will act as mechanical media.

Keith.

 

[KateW]

Excellent, thanks for the advice. Going to clean some sand now...

 

[OldMan47]

It sounds to me as if all of your included media will work as both biological and mechanical filtration. My Rena canister has a fine sponge filter that happens to be black in color but I have been using it for well over 7 years now. If there was ever any carbon content in that thing, it has long since been exhausted. You have more than enough heating capacity for a 45 gallon tank so the heater is plenty big enough. You want to start the cycling process as soon as you can so that you don't become impatient waiting for the new filter to cycle.