6 Uarus Oh boy!

  • We are currently upgrading MFK. thanks! -neo
Pics of the overflow, where the water drains out of the tank to the sump will be good. I know nothing about acrylic tanks so can't comment on the bowing/crazing.

There is nothing intimidating or complicated about it once you get your head around it, a picture is usually worth a thousand words so I whipped this up in MSPaint in about two minutes flat...

sump.JPG

Hope that makes sense!

With regards to cleaning out your current filter, I would leave the biological media alone unless it is completely clogged with crap. Just rinse the mechanical stuff under the tap.

If you are having trouble with nitrates you could try Pothos plants. However, I haven't been able to find an answer on whether the roots are toxic to fish and I think there is a good chance that the uaru would nibble on them, so it could be a bit of a gamble unless you can keep them away from the uaru.

sump.JPG
 
I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but conventional filters do not remove nitrate. Nitrates are the end product of the nitrogen cycle and are actually being produced by the bacteria in your filters. No matter how large or powerful your filters, they will not reduce nitrate. That is what water changes are for.

There are some products that supposedly reduce nitrate (like Purigen) and there are ways to lower it (building an algae scrubber, adding Pothos plants, etc.) but water changes are the easiest and fastest way. In this case plants will not work because Uaru will eat both plants and their roots -- my Uaru chewed Pothos roots down to nubs.

This is why a larger tank is going to be essential for large fish. The larger your volume of water, the longer it will take for nitrates to build up.
 
Purigen doesn't removes nitrates but actually just slows down the production of it.

http://www.seachem.com/support/forums/showthread.php?t=3888

There is a common misconception that Purigen removes such contaminates. This is not the case, Purigen controls them by removing the nitrogenous organic waste that is converted into these compounds. When using Purigen, people see their nitrates gradually drop and they believe that it is actually removing them when, in fact, it is actually removing the waste that causes them.
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Now there's product called fluval labs series nitrate remover. I'm wondering if someone has actually tested this.

Developed from a pure High Grade String Base Anion Exchange resin, Nitrate Remover rapidly and selectively removes nitrate and eliminates toxic nitrite within a matter of hours, resulting in a healthy environment for your fish.
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Article on nitrate reduction through ion exchange

http://www.watertechonline.com/articles/removing-nitrates-with-ion-exchange
 
Wow David nice diagram :) i can see what ur speaking of. The difference is the holes are in the back of the tank in the center. They had pvc looking pipes coming out and into 2 other smaller arylic cubes one had black balls the other some floss and carbon look a likes. It was saltwater. Im not sure what freshwater filtration can go out the back of the tank. Ur thoughts?



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Ryan uve explained it very nicely i finally understand the nitrates. I was hoping the ac110 will help w the waste better than the 350 i have...in between wcs. Looks like i will be doing 75% wcs and see what that does and how long it will last. No plants! they will be gone before they can take effect lol. I don't want to use chemicals unless i have too at this point. Just trying to get by until the upgrade. Still may be a few months out for finalization. If need be i guess i can part w 2 uarus if it its a matter between life and death. Hopefully ill get a pair out of 4.

Lots to think about. Btw my water source is 0ppm nitrates so that's good. No ammonia which confirms my internal reader is correct. Ph is 7.6. Not gonna worry about that until i get a handle on nitrates.

Rocstar thsnks the links. Good stuff!

I like a challenge and these uarus have definitely raised the bar. I want a breeding pair i will do whatever it takes!
Lol

How long after my w/c tomm do i retest for accurate results?

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ryansmith83 said:
In this case plants will not work because Uaru will eat both plants and their roots -- my Uaru chewed Pothos roots down to nubs.
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So you can confirm the pothos roots aren't toxic to fish? Good news, glad I've got some growing in my sump too!


Bubbles, it doesn't matter where the pipes come out of the tank, the basic idea is that gravity drains the water down to the sump and the pump returns it to the tank. As long as the sump is below the tank it will work fine.
 
smk said:
hi to chime in on filtration do yourself a favor and skip the fluval stuff and go with an ehiem 2217 good luck wish i could find some uaru oh and use the NLS ( new life spectrum) its an excellent food i'd go with the 1mm for now
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I have used about every kind of filter ever made and I will never use anything but fluval ever again... IMO they are the best on the market unless you are filtering a 1000 gallon or bigger tank... I have a 125 set up right now with my Pbass and I have 2 fluval 405's on that with (2) 500 watt heaters and everything works great.. Now on my 125 cichlid show tank has a fluval FX-5 and a fluval 404 on it just because it is so over stocked...
 
David R said:
So you can confirm the pothos roots aren't toxic to fish? Good news, glad I've got some growing in my sump too!


Bubbles, it doesn't matter where the pipes come out of the tank, the basic idea is that gravity drains the water down to the sump and the pump returns it to the tank. As long as the sump is below the tank it will work fine.
Click to expand...

Oh ok. Im catching on. Thank you!

INTHECOWBOYSWETRUST said:
I have used about every kind of filter ever made and I will never use anything but fluval ever again... IMO they are the best on the market unless you are filtering a 1000 gallon or bigger tank... I have a 125 set up right now with my Pbass and I have 2 fluval 405's on that with (2) 500 watt heaters and everything works great.. Now on my 125 cichlid show tank has a fluval FX-5 and a fluval 404 on it just because it is so over stocked...
Click to expand...

Thanks ITCBWT. I will look into those :)
 
David, the bowing of the front of the tank is the design. It's not due to the crazing. The crazing is just like internal scratches/cracks in the panel of the Acrylic. I posted a thread hope to get some feed back on it. If the crazing is a problem. Then this tank will be of no use. So we build or we buy..
 
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