Good morning. I'm Cody from Waco. I came across the forum numerous times when googling questions related to my aquariums and decided it was time to register.
I started with a 10 gallon about 11 or 12 years ago and quickly upgraded to a 29 gallon within a year. Everyone has always told me that a 10 gallon is the same amount of work as a 75 gallon. I went many different directions and themes with it and for the last several years it was only a crawfish tank for creatures I caught with my nephew in my parents front yard. I recently replaced the tank during the latest Petco $1 per gallon sale and have since totally revamped my setup. I used to run two Whisper 30 HOB filters with one strainer close to the bottom and the other near the middle. This required cutting out the back of the hood and it wasn't too appealing to the eyes. Recently I purchased a new Marineland LED hood that is really sleek looking, then realized afterwards that it probably wouldn't work well with plants. I put in new CaribSea Instant Aquarium Black Tahitian Moon Sand and a new Top Fin Large Hollowed Out Driftwood. I bought a new Marineland C-220 Canister Filter and ran it simultaneously with one of my HOBs for a few weeks and then added a sponge filter with my old Whisper 30 air pump. I was irritated with the noise of the air pump and the poor flow through the sponge so I switched in a Marineland Maxi-Jet 600 powerhead last night. I was hoping to keep this aquarium and upgrade to a 75+ gallon as well. When my wife saw me researching new aquariums, she didn't ask my intentions and bought me a 10 gallon bowfront for Christmas. It looks awesome but has been a pain in the butt to startup. The Whisper 10i internal filter would splash water out of the back of the filter and leave a huge water mess on my dresser and wood floors. I ran my old trusty Whisper 30 HOB for two weeks, but it was too large for the acrylic top and I didn't want to start cutting on it so I purchased a Fluval U2 internal filter that takes up a huge amount of space. I tried to do a cycle with fish and couldn't get the BB established so I moved all my fish into my 29 gallon. I'm really frustrated with this aquarium. I've left the sponges from the previous filters in the aquarium when I changed the Whisper 10i to the Whisper 30 HOB to the Fluval U2. I'm going to do a fishless cycle this time and will be adding a sponge filter as well this week. Patience is a virtue.
Sorry for the long post, but I didn't know when to stop or what exactly to say!
I started with a 10 gallon about 11 or 12 years ago and quickly upgraded to a 29 gallon within a year. Everyone has always told me that a 10 gallon is the same amount of work as a 75 gallon. I went many different directions and themes with it and for the last several years it was only a crawfish tank for creatures I caught with my nephew in my parents front yard. I recently replaced the tank during the latest Petco $1 per gallon sale and have since totally revamped my setup. I used to run two Whisper 30 HOB filters with one strainer close to the bottom and the other near the middle. This required cutting out the back of the hood and it wasn't too appealing to the eyes. Recently I purchased a new Marineland LED hood that is really sleek looking, then realized afterwards that it probably wouldn't work well with plants. I put in new CaribSea Instant Aquarium Black Tahitian Moon Sand and a new Top Fin Large Hollowed Out Driftwood. I bought a new Marineland C-220 Canister Filter and ran it simultaneously with one of my HOBs for a few weeks and then added a sponge filter with my old Whisper 30 air pump. I was irritated with the noise of the air pump and the poor flow through the sponge so I switched in a Marineland Maxi-Jet 600 powerhead last night. I was hoping to keep this aquarium and upgrade to a 75+ gallon as well. When my wife saw me researching new aquariums, she didn't ask my intentions and bought me a 10 gallon bowfront for Christmas. It looks awesome but has been a pain in the butt to startup. The Whisper 10i internal filter would splash water out of the back of the filter and leave a huge water mess on my dresser and wood floors. I ran my old trusty Whisper 30 HOB for two weeks, but it was too large for the acrylic top and I didn't want to start cutting on it so I purchased a Fluval U2 internal filter that takes up a huge amount of space. I tried to do a cycle with fish and couldn't get the BB established so I moved all my fish into my 29 gallon. I'm really frustrated with this aquarium. I've left the sponges from the previous filters in the aquarium when I changed the Whisper 10i to the Whisper 30 HOB to the Fluval U2. I'm going to do a fishless cycle this time and will be adding a sponge filter as well this week. Patience is a virtue.
Sorry for the long post, but I didn't know when to stop or what exactly to say!