HELP!! Aragonite or Sand

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mymindseye81

Feeder Fish
MFK Member
Jul 29, 2009
136
0
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Houston TX
Everyone:
I need help with deciding the proper Substrate for my Tanganyika tank. I know that Aragonite creates a great buffer but the color of this product is contrasting with my decor. Its exactly what im trying to get away from, it makes my fish look dull. Im leaning towards black sand, but how is it to clean? Does the black sand make the waiste in the tank more visible? I have read that the darker the substrate the more color comes out of the fish, is this true? I need expert advise here. Please give pro's & conn's of both please. I want to create a nice buffer but i want the tank to look great too. My tank is 75 gallons with a 3 chamber sump water trickle filteration system with a CPR over flow box. Someone help me with this. Thank you
 
here u go
black sand is great looking for fronts and such fish but u will notice the waste as its much lighter in color, but if u have the returns of ure overflow positioned right the waste should be swept away.Maybe add aragonite to the sump via a baggy?
 
in the picture you can see my over flow in the top right corner, is this right? also i was thinking about adding the aragonite in the sump. can you be more specific as to how to do that properly? thanks OZZ465
 
Ill try to post mine later today as i have a similar set up , but what u try to do is direct the return to slightly blow over the floor to help move the debris . As for the arogonite i was thinking netting to hold it together? Not sure as im planning to add other media to my sump and was thinking a sort of netting like pantyhose but i have to make sure its water safe.
 
since you have a similar setup let me ask you this, this morning for instance i was hearing a sucking noise coming from the over flow box. i lifted the air hose up a litle bit, and of course the water started to rise in the over flow box, as the water level started to fall back down to the sump, a bunch of crap and debris shot out of my return hose. it instantly made my tank dirty. this has happened many times before. is my return pump clogged with $h!t? my sump box is tinted black in color so its hard fro me to see the stuff inside. i shined a flash light down in the return chamber and the bottom of the tank is covered in a silty brown substance. im thinking this is the media, the healthy bacteria? is this correct? if it is not do i need to clean all of that out of the sump? the whole bottom is covered in this stuff. its a light brown color, very small particles
 
WHAT DO u use for mechanical filtration?? sounds like too much of the waste is not getting filtered out.as for the event it prob means the pump ran dry for a bit then shot out fast when it got water.
 
the return pump im not sure on, i bought this second hand but he did tell me the pump is for a pond so i was thinking its probably cycleing about 600 to 800 gallons an hour. just from what ive read about retun pumps for a pond. should i be cleaning or replacing the plastic tubeing on a regular? ive had the tank for about 8 months now and have not replaced any hoses except for the air supply in the over flow box. i have never felt like it filter the water very much. i always see particles floating in the water, no matter how many times i do a water change. i do not over feed. i feed twice a day, in the morning before i go to work and then around 7 at night. morning food consists of pellets and then evening is frozen brine, blood worms, or kril. i keep them on a variety of frozen foods. when i drop food in there i do a little at a time to make sure they eat it all. are my pumps clogged or going out? this would suck if my pumps are going bad
 
if the flow is less than b4 they may be clogged or failing. do u use filter pads in the sump?? i use fine pads to trap the debris . my pump does 780 gph and my water is crystal clear.
 
how do i test for the B4, what is B4? i use one filter pad that rest on top of my bio balls and one on my over flow. im not sure if the pad is fine or not. i have no base of comparison. should the gph be printed on the pump? how can i check to see if my pumps are clogged?
 
mymindseye81;3340525; said:
how do i test for the B4, what is B4? i use one filter pad that rest on top of my bio balls and one on my over flow. im not sure if the pad is fine or not. i have no base of comparison. should the gph be printed on the pump? how can i check to see if my pumps are clogged?
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Just dismantle the connections to the pump and check it , as for the b4 comment i have no clue what u mean.
 
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