Mongrel job

16 posts • Page 1 of 2

Discuss all topics related to freshwater and planted tanks.


Alasse
 
Posts: 993
Joined: Sun May 09, 2010 5:35 am
Location: QLD Australia

Mongrel job

by Alasse

I decided to try to put the new canister on an established tank today....dang thing!!!

Soooo difficult to get the hoses right when ya cant get to the back of the tank. I got one on good enough but the intake grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr i cant get it cut short enough cause i cant get to it properly.

I can see me emptying the darn thing moving it and fixing the filter then refilling *LOL*

After fighting with it for 2 hours i've about had enough!#$%#@@


yasherkoach
 
Posts: 1306
Joined: Sat Jul 26, 2008 1:24 pm

by yasherkoach

why not just empty the tank water, move the tank/stand or whatever the tank is on, out from the wall or whatever the tank is up against, and then fill it back up and try again with the hose

just a thought


Alasse
 
Posts: 993
Joined: Sun May 09, 2010 5:35 am
Location: QLD Australia

by Alasse

Because i dont want to full cycle the dang tank, putting a new filter on it will throw it into a mini cycle as it is without killing all the bacteria in the tank due to having no water in it

Anyway i solved the problem with the help of my other half. No need to empty, move...just a different way *LOL*

Rated for 200litre tank, but honestly i wouldnt put it on a 200litre thats for sure. But it should do the 130litre no probs, i might even throw in a powerhead, will give it a few days and see how it does.


yasherkoach
 
Posts: 1306
Joined: Sat Jul 26, 2008 1:24 pm

by yasherkoach

well at least you solved the problem, all that matters

by the way, very little good bacteria in the water column, so if you empty the tank by 75% or so, you will not lose any good bacteria or the tank will not go into mini cycles or a cycling process...on the other hand, if you replace all your filters with new ones, throw out half of your gravel, then yes, your tank will have a mini cycle (possibly even go into a full cycle)

anyway, good that you got it all straightened out, all that matters


Alasse
 
Posts: 993
Joined: Sun May 09, 2010 5:35 am
Location: QLD Australia

by Alasse

To move the tank i would need to fully empty it! I never move larger tanks with any water in it, done it once with bad results, never again *L*

Fully emptying it would most definately kill most bacteria, adding to that a brand new filter spelt full cycle (old one was stuffed and removed). Not only that it is fully planted and my plants would not do well out of water for the length of time while i fiddled with the filter, i really didnt want to lose any, i wanted to avoid that.

It will go into a mini cycle i'd say due to the new filter, but they are no problems to deal with, frequent small water changes over a few weeks will have it settled back in no time.


yasherkoach
 
Posts: 1306
Joined: Sat Jul 26, 2008 1:24 pm

by yasherkoach

well you could have spray bottled the plants while you fiddled with the new filter hook up (about 2 or 3 times a year, I will dispose of 75% of the water in the tank and while the leaves are exposed for the brief period of time, I spray the leaves with water (as long as the leaves are kept moist, the plants will be fine for the brief time it takes)

to take out 75% of the water in a tank, to have fixed the filter, couldn't have been more than 30 minutes, at times spraying the leaves with water then to refill the tank is just one way to go about it...of course, you found another way, which is fine, it worked, all that matters

a tank can be moved slightly to the side if 75% of the water is out of it...to pick up the tank and move it somewhere, one will need to completely break the tank down (I have moved twice from one house to another, I know this process well)...but to just move it away from a wall to fix an intake, 75% water out, move slightly, that could have worked too

as for the water column, I emptied 100% of the water when I moved the tank to the new residence (empitied everything out: rocks, wood, packaged the plants in wet newspapers, filters, water pump, heater...kept the bio-wheels and filter pads moist in a bucket of tank water)...set the tank back up, and on each move I did to the new residence, the ammonia, nitrite and nitrate levels all checked normal (0,0, 25 ppm) with no full cycling or mini cycles...why? because the filters and bio-wheels were kept moist and the good bacteria were kept alive

rocks were all dry so was the wood by the time I set the tank back up (on both times I moved)...100% new water added...and never lost one fish due to either move

so what can we draw from all this: good bacteria is maintained mainly in the filter pads and if one has them, in the bio-wheels...the water column has only a trace of good bacteria and the surface of objects in the tank (wood & rock) also have only about 20% or so good bacteria attached to their surfaces

so I hate to burst your bubble alasse, but with 75% water taken out of the tank, either because of a filter problem, a residential move or just plain taking 75% because one wants as much new water as possible, be it 2-3 times a year or whatever, is perfectly fine


Alasse
 
Posts: 993
Joined: Sun May 09, 2010 5:35 am
Location: QLD Australia

by Alasse

OK...am i special or what, that you feel the need to 'argue' every point i make in my tanks...

I am NOT a beginner nor am i stupid, so please cease treating me that way.

YOU are not listening to me at all, i stated that i could NOT move the tank without completely emptying the water out of it, there is NO 75% option so that whole comment is moot. I can NOT just move it to the side (there are tanks on one side and a part wall on the other) It had to be completely moved out a far distance and then to the side, far too heavy for that, not too mention my experience of moving a tank with asome water in the bottom before resulted in me with a tank that the bottom cracked in...

The filter setup was not a case of just sitting the pipes in, hooking hoses etc. I had to modify many of the pipes and spray bars to suit what i wanted, the hosing had to be cut and fitted. trying to do this and spray plants on a hot day under hot lights is just not good for plants. Not to mention the emptying and filling time, which i have to do by bucket...definately not a 30 min thing, takes me at the very least an hour. When warm here i tend to remove plants into water containers if i am going to be doing a long time task. If its gonna be a few min or even 15 min thats different, but an hour or more...please

Fully emptying it WILL send it into a FULL cycle due to killing off the bacteria in the substrate and on decor, plus the fact i put a brand new filter on it....that is a FACT. I would have ended up with a major bacteria bloom also, i wanted to avoid all of that. Which i did.

Yes IF i was emptying it and putting a ESTABLISHED filter on it, its fine, no cycling, though possible mini cycles, i know because i've done it! but again that is NOT what i was doing. I was putting a BRAND NEW one on. There was NO old one still running to help it along.

AGAIN nowhere did i state about bacteria in the water column, but again decor and gravel sitting in the warm weather under hot lights with no water cover is NOT conductive to keeping bacteria alive. Add that to the new filter would result in a tank going through a full cycle.

So i hate to burst your bubble, but dont assume things about people and their tanks. Geez....regardless the tank is now setup with the new filter, it is going through a small mini cycle, but it will settle soon.


yasherkoach
 
Posts: 1306
Joined: Sat Jul 26, 2008 1:24 pm

by yasherkoach

"the intake grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr i cant get it cut short enough cause i cant get to it properly" is your exact quote I was responding to.

I didn't know you had to do the following you wrote which you wrote later: "I had to modify many of the pipes and spray bars to suit what i wanted, the hosing had to be cut and fitted"

it's like saying, my tire is low it needs air not that I have a huge screw in it and it needs replacement

okay alasse, enough of me...main thing is, you got it fixed


Alasse
 
Posts: 993
Joined: Sun May 09, 2010 5:35 am
Location: QLD Australia

by Alasse

I wrote that because that was what was frustrating me at the time *L* I needed to walk away for a bit and vent! Modifying the other bits, while time consuming, was no problem.

I'm sorry yasher, i got frustrated, you (how it came across to me) were going on about stuff that was irrelevant if you had of actually read my replying posts. The burst ya bubble comment tipped me over the edge *L*

I dont wrote everything in a post, unless you want to hear absolutely everything i did, including the toilet stops, eating stops, when i had coffee breaks, how many buckets of water etc *LOL* No-one includes every detail.

Only thing i will add. Actually read the post they put in, a few times cause ya might have missed something. If in doubt ask! Do not assume anything. (thats advice for everyone)


yasherkoach
 
Posts: 1306
Joined: Sat Jul 26, 2008 1:24 pm

by yasherkoach

it's cool Alasse, I can take it - you remind me of my wife (((I'm used to it)))

next time, I will not assume

Mongrel job

16 posts • Page 1 of 2

12
Display posts from previous: Sort by: