Setting Up A Second Hand 96 Litre Tank

[alysonpeaches]

We have kept a kids tank (21L) with 4 white clouds in for a couple of weeks and it set me off wanting my own. I managed to get a second hand Juwel 96 litre tank, which is about 32 inches long. I have cleaned it (with just a new sponge scourer and warm water) rinsed it, and I have just filled it with water to test for leaks. It seems to have none! (phew!). So the next step is to put it on its stand in its permenant home.

The original filter has been replaced by a Resun Magic Jet one. Should I put new filter media (sponge) in it or stick with the old one? I have had to clean the filter housing considerably because it was really gunky. This has meant that the sponge has been washed in untreated tapwater along with the bag of carbon filter stuff. So replace or not?

Also where can I get a heater guard for a Juwel heater? (I havent got the Juwel filter).

 

[Miss Wiggle]

hi there, welcome to the forum, if the old media has been cleaned in tap water, left to dry out or not given any food source (the bacteria in the filter eat fishy waste) for more than 24hrs then it'll be no good to you now so you may as well start with new.

you'll want to fishless cycle the tank before setting it up, have a read of the link's on cycling in my sig which should explain it all to you.

 

[alysonpeaches]

hi there, welcome to the forum, if the old media has been cleaned in tap water, left to dry out or not given any food source (the bacteria in the filter eat fishy waste) for more than 24hrs then it'll be no good to you now so you may as well start with new.

you'll want to fishless cycle the tank before setting it up, have a read of the link's on cycling in my sig which should explain it all to you.

Thanks. Ive read about fishless cycling, but will read again.

Are filter media all the same, or do you have to buy the refills which are made by the filter company? The reason I ask is that I have a box of Juwel filter refills which are a bit large, could I trim them to fit?

Do I also change the net bag with the stuff in that is possibly carbon which is also in the filter?

 

[Miss Wiggle]

yup media is just media, you can cut it up or do what you like to it to make it fit. doesn't matter at all what brands you get, you don't need any fancy carbon or nitrate removing media, just get something like bio balls and some sponge and you'll be well away. just sling the carbon and put some extra bio media in it, it'll be much more useful long term.

 

[alysonpeaches]

Thanks. I will see if the ones I have can be made to fit. I think I was given some balls (?) too. Well spherical black things with bits missing anyway.

I switched the filter on whilst it was in a bucket of water and the muck that came out was unbelievable, so it is going to get new media. I had thought about taking it to my local fish shop to see if he had anything to fit, but I think I will try the ones I have first. Some are fine (blue) and some are coarse (black). There are some smaller ones which are white too and look like the stuff that scourers are made from!

Are you basically saying fill the filter compartment with any filter medium and it will work?

 

[Miss Wiggle]

pretty much yeah

have you just got 1 compartment or do you have a couple of places to put media?

in larger filters it's preferred to put media in a certain order, but in a smaller filter just put in some sponge and/or some bio balls or other ceramic media.

 

[Miss Wiggle]

just thought it'd be worthwhile giving you a bit of a run down on different types of media actually..........

you've got three main types; mechanical, biological and chemical.

Biological is by far the most important, that what your bacteria grow on, biological media is basically designed to have the biggest surface area possible so that as much bacteria can grow on it, so sponges do this as do the funny shaped balls with bits cut out, you also get cermaic noodles and all sort of wierd and wonderful things like that. They are all basically designed just as large surface areas in a small amount of space so that you can grow a lot of bacteria.

Mechanical filtration is basically anything which catches the debris, bits of poo, uneaten food, plant leaves etc etc etc. Usually this is done by a course sponge, in smaller filters you often only get a sponge, this then does both mechanical and biological filtration.

Chemical filtration is the least important, it's definatley not essential, just nice to have in certain circumstances. Carbon is the most commonly used form of chemical filtration, it basically takes toxins out of the water. it's useful for if you have to medicate the tank, then to remove the medication you can add carbon to the filter which will suck all the meds up, you then remove it 24hrs later and throw it away. You can also get one's to remove phosphate, nitrate and various other elements, but in a standard tank they aren't needed all that much. By all means keep some carbon in the house, but don't use it day to day.

Hope that helps you understand it a bit better.

 

[waterdrop]

Yes, you can cut up other sponges with scissors. Try to make them have a tight fit. Try to determine the flow direction of the water inside the filter. The ideal media order is coarse sponge first to mechanically filter out some of the larger debris first. Then the water can next move through whatever biomedia you get. Ceramic rings are common and help to randomize the water flow which is good. Ceramic pebbles and bioballs are also popular. The main purpose of biomedia is to provide lots and lots of places for the good bacteria to anchor themselves. Finally, a fine sponge can followup the loose media and do some final mechanical filtration. Both the coarse and fine sponges will be good bacteria anchors also, so all of it is good stuff, and again, this is an ideal and its not necessarily all that bad if you have to do a different order for some reason.

When making up your own media type and order, you'll want to watch that you don't lose too much water flow. You should have a nice healthy flow from the spraybar so that you can disturb the water surface and help keep the water saturated with oxygen.

~~waterdrop~~