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#1
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Ok... I goofed. Time to fix the tank.
Greetings,
My first tank was a series of mistakes. My newest and 3rd tank, however, turned out better. 50% Flourite, 50% small gravel, a decent light fixture and an Eheim canister. I want to fix my 72 gallon bow tank. I didn't know any better. I thought the large gravel looked cool. And spent a fortune on ornaments and plastic plants... which are almost all sitting in a box in the basement now. I'm hooked on the live plants. So... what's the best way to swap out the boulders with some Flourite? Even after rinsing the stuff endlessly... the Flourite I added to my 40 gallon hex tank made the water look like chocolate milk. I kinda have an idea... but am wondering if anyone else has a better one. Get a 5 gallon bucket. Drill a bunch of one-inch holes in the bottom. Get some nylon window screen and line bucket with it. Pour in flourite, and rinse it with a garden hose outside. I don't know how much Flourite I'll need for a 72 gallon tank... but it's gotta be a LOT. Then, to add to the tank... purchase a length of PVC tubing 2 or 3" in diameter. Butcher a funnel and attach to one end. Dump Flourite down tube to bottom of tank... hopefully preventing most of the sediment from floating around that I really don't want running through my expensive Eheim canister. Whaddaya think? Oh... What in the world is Potassium Permaganate, and where can I acquire it? Thanks very much, Gary |
#2
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Dr. wrote:
So... what's the best way to swap out the boulders with some Flourite? Even after rinsing the stuff endlessly... the Flourite I added to my 40 gallon hex tank made the water look like chocolate milk. I've changed my substrate several times now. I simply placed fish & plants with tank water into picnic coolers and plastic tubs while I drained the tank completely and replaced the substrate. I took the media out of my filters and kept it and the filter parts wet in a bucket. I also placed styrofoam over the concrete floor, under the plastic tubs to keep them warmer. I probably retained only 20 percent of the aquarium water. The whole process took a few hours, with no real problems. The only issue has been, that clown loaches and rainbow fish may swim vigorously in their tubs and bruise their noses. That's why I now use quite a few plants in every tub. Good luck! Steve |
#3
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Dr. wrote:
Greetings, My first tank was a series of mistakes. My newest and 3rd tank, however, turned out better. 50% Flourite, 50% small gravel, a decent light fixture and an Eheim canister. I want to fix my 72 gallon bow tank. I didn't know any better. I thought the large gravel looked cool. And spent a fortune on ornaments and plastic plants... which are almost all sitting in a box in the basement now. I'm hooked on the live plants. So... what's the best way to swap out the boulders with some Flourite? Even after rinsing the stuff endlessly... the Flourite I added to my 40 gallon hex tank made the water look like chocolate milk. I kinda have an idea... but am wondering if anyone else has a better one. Get a 5 gallon bucket. Drill a bunch of one-inch holes in the bottom. Get some nylon window screen and line bucket with it. Pour in flourite, and rinse it with a garden hose outside. I don't know how much Flourite I'll need for a 72 gallon tank... but it's gotta be a LOT. Then, to add to the tank... purchase a length of PVC tubing 2 or 3" in diameter. Butcher a funnel and attach to one end. Dump Flourite down tube to bottom of tank... hopefully preventing most of the sediment from floating around that I really don't want running through my expensive Eheim canister. Whaddaya think? Oh... What in the world is Potassium Permaganate, and where can I acquire it? Thanks very much, Gary The rinsing plan sounds fine. I don't think there's any way to avoid some sediment unless you use Eco Complete rather than Flourite. Aquaclear makes a water polishing filter for their powerheads. The sleeve that inserts into the filter can be slipped over just about any filter intake and stapled or rubberbanded tight. It's made of fine enough material to trap most the Flourite haze before it hits your Eheim. Potassium permanganate is a strong oxidizing agent that is more fish-friendly than bleach. It's good for reducing bacterial loads in tanks, sterilizing newly purchased plants, and for treating some fish diseases. Jungle sells it as Clear Water and Pond Guard and Kordon as Permoxyn. -- Elaine T __ http://eethomp.com/fish.html '__ rec.aquaria.* FAQ http://faq.thekrib.com |
#4
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"Steve" wrote in message . .. I've changed my substrate several times now. I simply placed fish & plants with tank water into picnic coolers and plastic tubs while I drained the tank completely and replaced the substrate. I took the media out of my filters and kept it and the filter parts wet in a bucket. I also placed styrofoam over the concrete floor, under the plastic tubs to keep them warmer. I probably retained only 20 percent of the aquarium water. The whole process took a few hours, with no real problems. The only issue has been, that clown loaches and rainbow fish may swim vigorously in their tubs and bruise their noses. That's why I now use quite a few plants in every tub. Good luck! Steve Draining the tank sounds like a better idea than what I had in mind. I read an article posted in another group about using an UGF with planted tanks. And growing algae under the UGF. Here's the link: http://www.thekrib.com/Filters/algae-ugf.html Sounds interesting, and I'm going to look into it a little more. If I decide to go with it, draining the tank is pretty much a must. Thanks, Gary |
#5
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"Elaine T" wrote in message news The rinsing plan sounds fine. I don't think there's any way to avoid some sediment unless you use Eco Complete rather than Flourite. Aquaclear makes a water polishing filter for their powerheads. The sleeve that inserts into the filter can be slipped over just about any filter intake and stapled or rubberbanded tight. It's made of fine enough material to trap most the Flourite haze before it hits your Eheim. Potassium permanganate is a strong oxidizing agent that is more fish-friendly than bleach. It's good for reducing bacterial loads in tanks, sterilizing newly purchased plants, and for treating some fish diseases. Jungle sells it as Clear Water and Pond Guard and Kordon as Permoxyn. Thanks for the reply, Elaine. I'll check into the Eco Complete. I think the LFS where I buy most of my goodies carries it. The Potassium Permaganate I'd like to use for sterilizing plants. I think I introduced ICH into one of my tanks recently by not sterilizing plants I bought. One of the pet stores here has nice dirt cheap plants... but they're in not so nice tanks. Thanks, Gary |
#6
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Dr. wrote:
"Steve" wrote in message . .. I've changed my substrate several times now. I simply placed fish & plants with tank water into picnic coolers and plastic tubs while I drained the tank completely and replaced the substrate. I took the media out of my filters and kept it and the filter parts wet in a bucket. I also placed styrofoam over the concrete floor, under the plastic tubs to keep them warmer. I probably retained only 20 percent of the aquarium water. The whole process took a few hours, with no real problems. The only issue has been, that clown loaches and rainbow fish may swim vigorously in their tubs and bruise their noses. That's why I now use quite a few plants in every tub. Good luck! Steve Draining the tank sounds like a better idea than what I had in mind. I read an article posted in another group about using an UGF with planted tanks. And growing algae under the UGF. Here's the link: http://www.thekrib.com/Filters/algae-ugf.html Sounds interesting, and I'm going to look into it a little more. If I decide to go with it, draining the tank is pretty much a must. Thanks, Gary Heck - why not get heating cables if you're going to rip the tank down? Red Sea makes affordable ones now. -- Elaine T __ http://eethomp.com/fish.html '__ rec.aquaria.* FAQ http://faq.thekrib.com |
#7
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How does that work, I thought Algae needed , some form of Sunlight to grow
? bassett "Dr." wrote in message ... I read an article posted in another group about using an UGF with planted tanks. And growing algae under the UGF. Here's the link: http://www.thekrib.com/Filters/algae-ugf.html Sounds interesting, and I'm going to look into it a little more. If I decide to go with it, draining the tank is pretty much a must. Thanks, Gary |
#8
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"Elaine T" wrote in message ... Heck - why not get heating cables if you're going to rip the tank down? Red Sea makes affordable ones now. Another thing I haven't thought about. I might just do that. If I decide to do the UGF with it to grow algae under the plates... I might not need heating cables. The guy that wrote the article that I read about the subject used a cheap desk lamp under his stand left on constantly to grow the algae. Those might provide plenty of extra heat. The possibility of the matting used to cover the plates rotting over time worries me a little. I want this to be the last time I tear down the tank... so I don't want to make any mistakes that will require another teardown. Gary |
#9
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"bassett" wrote in message ... How does that work, I thought Algae needed , some form of Sunlight to grow ? The article I read stated that he used a desk lamp, under the stand, left on 24 hours. Probably one of the ones with the flexible head, so it could be pointed upward illuminate the UGF plates. A cheap flourescent light fixture from a hardware store suspended upside-down under the stand would probably work better, I'd think. If the article is correct, I guess algae doesn't require sunlight to thrive. Someone with a tank that is not exposed to any natural light, such as a windowless basement would be able to say for sure. Gary |
#10
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"Elaine T" wrote in message news The rinsing plan sounds fine. I don't think there's any way to avoid some sediment unless you use Eco Complete rather than Flourite. The LFS where I buy most of my goodies had the Eco Complete, and 2 planted tanks with it as substrate. Looked really nice. I picked up 200 pounds of it, and will probably do the deed next weekend. Or tomorrow, if I'm feeling ambitious. Gary |
#11
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Dr. wrote:
"Elaine T" wrote in message news The rinsing plan sounds fine. I don't think there's any way to avoid some sediment unless you use Eco Complete rather than Flourite. The LFS where I buy most of my goodies had the Eco Complete, and 2 planted tanks with it as substrate. Looked really nice. I picked up 200 pounds of it, and will probably do the deed next weekend. Or tomorrow, if I'm feeling ambitious. Gary Cool! I hope the switch goes smoothly for you. Eco Complete says not to rinse on the bag, but I dumped it in the tank and rinsed it by draining and refilling the tank because I wasn't sure I wanted their buffers. Eco Complete has a lot of small particles so it wouldn't be easy to rinse through a sieve. It worked fine. Then I mixed in the Flourite and got the famous cloud that you get to avoid. ;-) -- Elaine T __ http://eethomp.com/fish.html '__ rec.aquaria.* FAQ http://faq.thekrib.com |
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