Mah Tank (Yeah another one)

Burninator

I dont really know anyone in my area who has a tank, so thats really not an option.

Im going to bury that want whenever i go to put more decor in there. The fewer times i have to stick my hands in the cold water the better. lol

Can someone link me to a sponge. I want to make sure im getting the right thing. The filter i have has these big carbon filters to go with them.

Does it matter what kind of fish food i put in there? Isnt that also going to make the water rather murky since its just going to decay? How much should i be putting.

Excuse my ignorance, i just wanna make sure im doing it right. If there is a write up ill more then happily read it. I looked through the stickies but i didnt really see anything talking about this. Thanks!

Burninator

Tetra Whisper EX20 Carbon Filters - Filtration & Circulation - Fish - PetSmart
Thats the kind of filters i have in there right now. Its floss with carbon.

willow

hi
i can't seem to find your filter on google
you don't need carbon,unless ou are clearing the tank form
medications really.
how come you water is cold,what temperature is it ?

Burninator

well at the time of the picture the water was around 60, because i hadnt turned on the heater yet.

Now the tank is around 78, but thats still colder then what it is outside.

My actual filter is Tetra Whisper EX45 Carbon Filters. If you could help me find just a regular non carbon filter that would fit that i could go with that.

You didnt really answer my question about the food. How much should i be putting in and what kind.

iamntbatman

You should be adding in any kind of fish food and enough of it to get an ammonia reading after a couple of days. Honestly it's impossible to tell you exactly how much, but a decent sized pinch every day should be good. Yes, it will make your tank really gross, but since you'll need to do a big water change before you add fish anyway you can vacuum out the rotten food when you do that change.

The Tetra filter you have is Tetra's brand new line of filters so it might be difficult to find different options for filter cartridges. After looking at it just now online, it seems like they've made it so the filter floss and sponge materials are separated from the carbon filter cartridge. What, exactly, does the carbon filter cartridge look like? If it's some sort of basket or plastic frame, you might be able to replace it with filter floss, filter sponge or even an old-style Tetra bio-bag.

Pasfur

I'm a little concerned about the filter on the aquarium. From reading the thread I don't see any mention of a biological filtration source... only carbon and floss.

What type of filter do you have?

iamntbatman

The Tetra EX45 seems to have a weird cartridge system - one area has two grades of floss - one finer for mechanical filtration and one more course to act as a bio-sponge. Drs. Foster and Smith doesn't offer replacement cartridges for these, so I get the feeling Tetra has designed the filter so that these never get replaced. Although I wouldn't say that's ideal (you do need to replace them when they start to fall apart and you at least need to rinse them in used aquarium water from time to time to keep them from clogging up) it's certainly better than their old system, where the entire filter cartridge was meant to be replaced on a regular basis. The only part that they seem to want you to change out at regular intervals is the carbon cartridge. Of course, if you're an advocate of carbon use, you'd want to change this out at least monthly, but if you're an anti-carbonite like myself, you'd want to find a way to replace it with more bio media like filter sponge material or loosely packed filter floss.

Burninator

There are replacement filters. I got 2 just in case i needed them so i wouldnt have to try and get them in a rush.

Its basically a plastic clam shell that holds the filter in place. The filter is floss with a carbon filter in the middle. I could take the filter out and cut something to fit in there if i really wanted to.

Burninator

I wasnt really sure what type of food i should buy so i just bought some generic tropical fish food.

Im going to wait to start putting it in until i get the test kit and hear word about the filter from you guys.

Thanks for all the help thus far!

willow

hi
one of the other guys will help about the filter :)
as i've got canister one on my tank.
fish food: yep that's ok what you have,it dosen't have to be
anything fancy,tropical flakes are just fine.
:) good luck with the fishless cycle.
post your test results and we'll be able to see how you
are getting on.
you could raise the temperature to 79/80f.
just remember to resurch the fish you wish to keep,as some of them
will require lower heat.
:)