40 gal set up

[lp85253]

to make it simple I never worried about params the first part of cycling ,,depending on your source water having bad stuff in it you might have to adjust ,,,but if you do 25% w/c's every other day for first 2-3 weeks it SHOULD BE PLENTY... after that the ammonia , nitrites will become more prevalent and you may actually have to go more or more often,,,so in summary the .25 w/c schedule will work ...but for me, to insure regular w/c's ,I put myself on that schedule and then tested every few days to make sure it didn't need more.(wc's).....it's a pain,,,,but the fish you save will undoubtedly be your kids favoriteps GIANT DANIO'S OR CONVICTS, handle cycling better than the ave. fish...

 

[jaws7777]

to make it simple I never worried about params the first part of cycling ,,depending on your source water having bad stuff in it you might have to adjust ,,,but if you do 25% w/c's every other day for first 2-3 weeks it SHOULD BE PLENTY... after that the ammonia , nitrites will become more prevalent and you may actually have to go more or more often,,,so in summary the .25 w/c schedule will work ...but for me, to insure regular w/c's ,I put myself on that schedule and then tested every few days to make sure it didn't need more.(wc's).....it's a pain,,,,but the fish you save will undoubtedly be your kids favoriteps GIANT DANIO'S OR CONVICTS, handle cycling better than the ave. fish...

cool I think i'll just do that too and test for ammonia probably easier just doing it every other day ... thanks for the tip..my son and his friends are losing their minds up there...acting like this little fish are the coolest thing

 

[jaws7777]

added the sand yesterday and I thought with the AC110 on this little tank the water would be clear by now... cleaned the hell out of the sand is this to be expected

 

[lp85253]

added the sand yesterday and I thought with the AC110 on this little tank the water would be clear by now... cleaned the hell out of the sand is this to be expected

pretty much ...word of warning ,sand will mess with your aquaclear impeller...you might want to get a little pre filter sponge.. they cost just a couple bucks.. if it(the filter) ,starts getting noisy pull the impeller and clean it..it only takes a few minutes and may save the impeller.. lots of lighter sand (sandbox type)will kinda float around.. pool filter sand usually goes right to the bottom & will clear in the water column overnite

 

[jaws7777]

will get it tomorrow... where does the pre filter sponge go ? on the outside of the instake ? I wasn't able to get to the pool store so I just got sand from the lfs. doesn't change ph or anything so I figured I was good

 

[lp85253]

The sand is probably OK...the prefilter sponge goes over the intake...any type of aquaclear type sponge will do ,just cut a hole with a knife and slide it on ....your LFS may have sponges that are already cut as prefilters

 

[jaws7777]

The sand is called marine life suitable for fresh and salt water? Dunno

 

[lp85253]

The sand is called marine life suitable for fresh and salt water? Dunno

if the lfs said it's ok for fw I am sure it is.. ...if you end up not liking it you can get pool filter sand from home depot for about $8

 

[jaws7777]

The ac110 is kind of making more noise than I remembered. Took it apart today to see if any sand was in the impeller that could be causing the noise but it was clean. Very very small amount of sand in the bucket under the pad. Its almost like a vibration or something. Its as level as I can get it with the dial on what he bottom of the tray.

 

[lp85253]

if it was in the bucket it likely was around the impeller so that was a good move to pull it apart & clean.. the vibration you hear is one of three things most likely 1.impeller got scored by sand.....2. the lid is rattling....3.the media basket is rubbing against the inside of the housing...2&3 are easy fixes, 1 is a little different... if it is the impeller try a little vasoline around the outside of the magnet(don't worry it won't hurt the fish)if the noise persists get a new impeller ,they cost about $20 on amazon(well worth it)