It will lighten over time but the first few months will be the worst. And you can get nice pics, you just have to take them right after a water change. Some say using activated carbon can reduce the tinting but I couldn't tell the difference when I put it in my sump.
Getting a 550 gallon tank next week...
- Thread starter ChiPerf
- Start date
Cool, we'll see how it goes in the next few weeks. Just got a few hundred pounds of rock to go in too.
Thanks! So I shot myself in the foot again. I got gravel for the 400 because I didn't want to take the chance of not liking sand, and just got some sand for the 125 to give it a try, and love it. It looks so clean. Maybe when I get another few smaller tanks I will scoop the gravel out for them and get sand for the 400. Tried out my invention of super duper speedy water change setup tonight too. I put a T in the return line with ball valves at each end. One end goes to the tank, and the other goes outside through the house. I just close the one to the tank, open the one outside, and turn the pump on again and empty out the sump. I just have to get rolling on the water lines going to the tank area and I'll be all set. I'll get a water temp mixer too so I can just turn the water on and fill up the sump with warm water. I'm loving it.
If you don't need a pump to drain your sump,(gravity drain) they your almost done with a trickle system. I trickle in 1 gallon of cold water per hour to each one of my tanks and one gallon of dirty water trickles out of each one of my sumps per hour. I have 4 tanks on the system and I love it! No more water changes. Very low stress for my fish. My plants, bushes, and trees love the fishy water. No forgetting the water is overfilling the tank or the syphon is emptying the tank. (maybe this only happens to me LOL) No more water changes is a wonderful thing!
No gravity when you're in an English basement.
A trickle system would be perfect. Wish I could do it. It's no big deal though the way I have it. Just a few extra steps each week should keep the water safe. Not real good with running copper water line, but I guess we'll see how it goes. Already have the current fish in another 125 gallon tank right now. Just waiting on the 400 to cycle, and the barbs and balas to grow a bit too so they don't become expensive feeders.
Here is what I did so far. T in the return pipe and the right side goes outside. Easy. Once I get the water line hooked up I'll be a water changing fool.
Yeah, I can't be carrying buckets and messing with hoses and stuff like that. Too busy during the spring/summer to mess with that, plus the mess and fuss. I'd rather take the time and do it right one time.
