Cp's Tank And Filtration Setup Options

[CP]

Bro Goldrush,
Thank you very much for the advise.

I wish to clarify to all that I am not that ingenious as some of you may think,rather I am fortunate to have the guidance of a good friend (who made this tank and keeps koi) who actually designed this system as a miniature replica of his koi filtration system.And it worked!I hope to show his system some day (no pic now),its really huge.

We did toy around with the idea of having a backflush (just like his) by incorporating a valve at the bottom of each compartment but finally decided not to as it will be risky opening a hole and risk breaking the glass.I thus have no choice but to do the cleaning less often (once a year).I actually wonder whether besides risking accumulation of bad bacteria,whether these sludge will continuously produce nitrates.

The compartments are not covered as I presume this will make the bio-system more oxygen rich,for the cultivation of good BB.I do encounter mosquito larves (and adults) for the first two months and as my friend had correctly predicted,it is only during the initial stages of the set-up.I dont see red bloodworms in the later stages,but every now and then there will be mini white worms which turns into small insects.These are not a bother,though,otherwise my OC will be the first to scream.

I wish to add that small snails(less than 5mm) are very common,their numbers can be in the hundreds in the filter with the occasional few present in the tank.This,I was told,is a good sign of a healthy filtration and good water quality.Do you agree?

The money plants are a failure,they dont seem to grow (I hope its because nitrates are low ),so now I will transfer to the last compartment as advised.

Regards

[CHLeong]

Bro Goldrush,
Thank you very much for the advise.

I wish to clarify......last compartment as advised.

Regards

Truly enjoy such exchanges, extremely informative!



Rgds
CH Leong

[white horse T1]

I wish to add that small snails(less than 5mm) are very common,their numbers can be in the hundreds in the filter with the occasional few present in the tank.This,I was told,is a good sign of a healthy filtration and good water quality.Do you agree?

i think snail is a sickening pest and i ve "one permanent residential" puffer fish eating them up in the sump tank now. don't snail increase the ammonia level also.?

[CP]

i think snail is a sickening pest and i ve "one permanent residential" puffer fish eating them up in the sump tank now.  don't snail increase the ammonia level also.?

I dont mind them really,they are in the filter and not in the main tank.

Is "sump tank" refering to your filter tank?From what I know,puffer fish is known to attack goldfishes.

[white horse T1]

I dont mind them really,they are in the filter and not in the main tank.

my puffer stay in the so called "filtered" compartment which i called the sump tank/ the names meant the same thing except that the configuration is slightly different.
the pt is i am getting rid of the snail as pest but u seem to encourage their growth as indicator for good water quality. is snail then an indicator for good water quality for u? or they just appear by accident? i know the smail in mine occur bec i did not QT the plants

[CP]

my puffer stay in the so called "filtered" compartment which i called the sump tank/  the names meant the same thing except that the configuration is slightly different. 
the pt is i am getting rid of the snail as pest but u seem to encourage their growth as indicator for good water quality. is snail then an indicator for good water quality for u? or they just appear by accident?  i know the smail in mine occur bec i did not QT the plants

I do not encourage their growth,just that I dont see them as pests.I do not know where they come from,and I do not have any plants,but I notice that their numbers will increase whenever I add in the bacteria culture.
What i do realise is that their life span is short.
I was told by my friend that it is an indication of good water quality,whether that is the truth or not I cannot confirm.

[infocus]

Bro cpiw2002,

Your write-up inspires me to set up a bigger and better tank for my ranchus. Too bad my house don't have anymore space for that liao. Anyway OC will not approve the project.

Just hope to do it one day when I shift to a bigger place. Well done for sharing the informative info you have.

[CP]

An update after 4 days following the spring cleaning:

Nitrate levels were zero immediately after the water change. It was a surprise,considering the fact that tap water in my area usually has nitrates up to 12.5ppm.3 teaspoons of bacteria culture was administered the day following the water change.

I had just tested for nitrates and the reading was 12.5ppm after four days of heavy feeding.For these four buggers,they were fed BWs in the morning and night(1 cube per fish per feeding) and 4 feedings of Hikari Lionhead in between (3 clicks on food timer).Thats 6 meals a day.

I am glad that the tank is cycled after just a few days.

[CP]

Dear fellow RG members,

Allow me to share a tip on how to enhance the looks of your tank.You may have already known it,or you may not have realised it.Most of you may feel that the fish and water quality is of paramount importance (I agree) and enhancing tank looks is somewhat sissy,there may be some members out there who may want the looks of the tank to be part of the home decor,or at least be presentable.

Most of us has been to Qian Hu,if you have stepped into the two rooms I believe it gives you the impression of a 'classy feel'.Fish worth $100 can sell for $200.The trick is pretty simple actually, conceal the water level and the glass edges (joints),the achieve the 'picture frame effect'.

This is what I mean by concealing the water level and glass joints to achieve the picture frame effect.Better still if you can conceal the two tank edges as well.You can purchase these stickers at most LFS.

[desireless]

Picture of the legendary tank restored... thanks to cpiw2002!

[CP]

It was exactly a year ago that I had penned this thread;how time flies, its the time of the year again for my filter spring cleaning.It was carried out yesterday,everything was pretty much the same,and there was no outbreak of diseases over the past year.

Only difference is that sometime in June this year, I had introduced a tray holding filter mats to trap the solids prior to the water discharge into the first compartment.The mats are replaced forthnightly.I reckon that these mats reduces the trapped scums in the filter by as much as 75%.The scums in the filter were significantly much lesser than last year's.

[mountain]

scums (bags of them) plays a important part in the system .. too much and they clogs up the bio-medias and you got a timebomb at home! Gee .. because of these, i gotta wash them 6 times a year, thats 600 percent effort more than you

[CyberET]

wait till u see the live worms i've got in my koi pond filter..
i gotta soak myself in detol after washing the filter once every 6months

[Hamad]

This is such an amazing set up CP! Your fish look beautiful and healthy, I envy you!

But I have 2 questions, I already own an external Fluval 403 filter [for my 55gallon (200l) tank, which I haven't set up yet]. If I fill it up with what you have in your compartments, would the result be similar?

Also you mentioned that you use zeolites to remove ammonia, doesn't that affect cycling a tank? I'm still unexperienced when it comes to different water products so bear with me if I sound stupid LOL

Thanks for sharing all this with us!

[CP]

Thanks Hamad for your compliment.

I have no experience in Fluval (is it a cannister?) therefore I am unable to comment.As for zeolites, I had mentioned that i have done away with it as it serves no purpose because not only is has an adsorbtion limit but also because we actually need ammonia in order to cycle the tank.In short, zeolites are totally unecessary in a filtered tank setup.

A cycled tank is not the way to groom a beautiful fish.goldfish are best kept outdoors and I treat my home cycled tank as a "display", where my fishes are rotated between outdoor ponds(for grooming) and home tank (for appreciation).