should you spray out spunge mechanical filter?

97 posts • Page 3 of 10

Discuss all topics related to freshwater and planted tanks.


Peterkarig3210
 
Posts: 1980
Joined: Wed Oct 24, 2007 3:04 am

by Peterkarig3210

Yea. I wouldn't bother then. Sometimes if there are stores that sell pond supplies you can get a better deal on chemicles and other stuff. You just have to use less because things for ponds are more concentrated. I use pond Melafix. It lasts a lot longer than the dilute aquarium stuff.

If I was in an area that didn't have much in the way of aquarium supplies I'd look at large hardware stores under pond supplies. See what you can find.


gumbii
 
Posts: 1695
Joined: Tue Dec 04, 2007 3:31 am

by gumbii

werd.. i use pond stuff for everything... i have pond prime (highly recomend), pond algaefix, pond melafix, pond blue veil, pond prazi, pond sludge remover and other pond stuff...


i know i have ponds, but i use them in all of my tanks...



the pond prime is a great buy... the bottle is bigger and it's the same price as the other large prime bottle... it says that you have to use less for ponds, but that is because pond are large bodies of water the chlorine dissapates way faster by itself... so i still use capfull for 50g of water... even thought the lable says one capfull for 150g of water... LIES!!!!!!!...


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

by yasherkoach

once I worked at a retail store (Dollar General) and when they throw all their returned or expired products away, they scan all th eproducts beforehand into the computer base, so the company makes most of the time 50-75% off the item becfore it is thrown into the trash dumpster. The items Peter probably got from the trash bins, the store received most of the profit from the products already, so it's no big deal. The only time a store may get a bit testy is when it is a perishable item (food) or chemicals (toxic), outside of this, usually the store or its employees don't mind trash pickers...not that I'd do it, but this is the reason the store(s) don't mind.

Peter, you are right with sand as substrate, to siphon deep is fine. With gravel it is debateable. I prefer not to siphon too deep even though you are right, good bacteria adheres to everything in the tank, still I prefer to only go down about 1-2" into the gravel to siphon all the gunk out of the tank/substrate. Some say it is fine to siphon all the way down to the bottom part of the tank (the glass) because the good bacteria adheres to everywhere; others say, only about 1-2".

Beings my tank is only 3 months old or it is not a well established tank like yours or others, I will stay with the 1-2" deep; probably after 1 year, I will begin to go deeper, I just prefer not to stir up the good bacteria in any way that may kill it off.

So you are right Peter, but I prefer to take the other oute at least for now. In a year from now, I will do a full plunge, so to speak, and let you know how the water test goes.

Also Peter, I like your filter setup. Kudos! I am in the process of having shipped another filter from Dr Fosters & Smith (I buy everything online, it may cost a bit more in shipping costs andtime, but it's a very reliable online store...I bought all my fish from Dr Fostters & Smith except for the first 2 zebra danios, none died), therefore it will give me 3 filters, Marineland Penguin Bio-Wheel 200 (thereby giving me 3 of these babies in a 55 gallon tank, gives me 600 gph. Very nice for fish that do not poop too much.

By the way, nice thread.


jweb1369
 
Posts: 547
Joined: Thu Jul 10, 2008 2:55 am

by jweb1369

I might go to petmart dumpster late tonight. see what they got since they are the largest tank and fish supplier in my area.


Peterkarig3210
 
Posts: 1980
Joined: Wed Oct 24, 2007 3:04 am

by Peterkarig3210

Many stores lock up their dumpsters at night. May just take a quick look during the day. Where I live there is a big busniss in recycling bottles and cans, so it's common for people to be looking in dumpsters. It depends where you live whether you are prone to being arrested.

Yasher: I guess you have some good points there too.


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

by yasherkoach

I truly respect your judgement

thanks pal


Peterkarig3210
 
Posts: 1980
Joined: Wed Oct 24, 2007 3:04 am

by Peterkarig3210

It's all good. Some folks realy struggle with cycling of their aquariums and I sometimes run into problems myself usually when I think I'm above getting into problems. We are all unique in our veiws and sucess with this hobby and it's nice that we can throw our different ideas together and more often than not end up with a positive outcome.

I think we're all of the same thought that if you can afford it the biggest filter and/or as many filters as possible is the best way to go.

I love canister filters because you can put your tank all the way back to the wall and also put a lot of biological bacteria material in them. Many peole think the filter is just for particulates when in reality it's the benneficial bacteria that is most important.

Yasher, you put a lot of thought into this and it's nice to see that.


jweb1369
 
Posts: 547
Joined: Thu Jul 10, 2008 2:55 am

by jweb1369

Hey I got a question about the canisters. If you just use one for bio filtration like the one on that site that the guy made... Do you ever have to clean it?


Peterkarig3210
 
Posts: 1980
Joined: Wed Oct 24, 2007 3:04 am

by Peterkarig3210

I'd say yes, but not very often. You will still have crud buildup that will interfere with water movement and space bacteria need to survive. I put sponge filters on the intake of some of my C filters and it does lenthen the period between cleanings, but I still rinse them out once and a while.


jweb1369
 
Posts: 547
Joined: Thu Jul 10, 2008 2:55 am

by jweb1369

okay cool thanks for the idea about the sponges thats a will-do. I'm going to make a canister filter just like this one.

http://www.petfrd.com/forum/articles.ph ... e&artid=87

should you spray out spunge mechanical filter?

97 posts • Page 3 of 10

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