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A question of filtration...

G-Town J

New Member
Messages
5
Greetings, been lurking for a bit and trying to absorb as much information as I can being a complete newb with fish.

Inspired by a friend who has some amazing tanks I thought I'd give it a try.

I'm a bit of a stickler for having a plan all laid out before I start anything and after patiently waiting for a tank I finally acquired one I thought "might" suit my plan.

I now have an OptiClear low profile tank measuring 120cm x 30cm x 30cm 108 litre (29G) tank.

My fish plan is basic, a pair or trio of Apisto with 10-12 tetra of some description. That's all.

The tank will be planted and set up as many threads on here suggest to create line of sight breaks using plants, driftwood, rocks, leaves etc.


So my first question on this journey to learn is what filtration system would best suit a tank like that to ensure the best water quality and water flow are achieved?

Apologies if I have left out information required or asked a question that can't be answered due to there being factors a n00b might not be aware of.

My local water parameters are as such (left the craft beer info in there because...) Is this considered a soft or hard water?

Cheers in Advance

wp.jpg
 

Wazaaaa

Active Member
Messages
106
Location
France
Hello,
Personally, I use an external filter Eheim pro 4+ 350T (Thermo) of 1050 L/H for my tank of 300 L (120x50x50) that I regulate at half of the flow and I use at 100% RO water thanks to my osmosis machine.
Be careful with tetra if you want to breed your apistogramma, there is a big risk of predation for the fry
 

G-Town J

New Member
Messages
5
Hello,
Personally, I use an external filter Eheim pro 4+ 350T (Thermo) of 1050 L/H for my tank of 300 L (120x50x50) that I regulate at half of the flow and I use at 100% RO water thanks to my osmosis machine.
Be careful with tetra if you want to breed your apistogramma, there is a big risk of predation for the fry

Thanks for the reply. Happy to let nature take its course in regards to the tetra.

I was thinking a Matten filter at one end as reading this site they seem to be potentially idiot proof and I like to keep things simpler haha

Just don't know if that size tank is too big for one or if the flow won't reach the other end and leave a cold spot or something other at the far end.
 

MacZ

Well-Known Member
Messages
2,958
Location
Germany
I have to agree with Wazaaaa, the type of filter is completely up to your discretion.
Only important parts are that it has to be appropriately sized (L/h) to your tank and does mechanical and biological filtration. Everything else is secondary.

did not take too strong a pump, the Apistogramma does not like big debit
It depends completely on the species. There are some species that actually do like a certain current.
 

Mike Wise

Moderator
Staff member
5 Year Member
Messages
11,201
Location
Denver, Colorado, U.S.A.
Looking at your conductivity (263 µS/cm) and total hardness (36 ppm) I would call this water moderately soft. Looking at the beer brewing Ca hardness (14 ppm) I believe that about half of the total hardness is from carbonate hardness. I'll leave the water experts to correct me if I am wrong.
 

MacZ

Well-Known Member
Messages
2,958
Location
Germany
Total hardness in water analysis usually refers to what we all know as GH + KH.
GH is comprised of calcium AND magnesium (and barium, but that's always only present in traces).
Combined "beer brewing"-total hardness of Ca and Mg is given 34mg/l, total hardness is given as 36mg/l.
I am leaning towards discarding the "beer brewing" stuff completely, as this has nothing to do with and is completely irrelevant in a water analysis. That's like looking at hardness from a washing mashine manufacturer's point of view.

Anyhow: Be it 34 or 36mg/l, 1° hardness equals about 17.8mg/l, I would say with roughly 2° hardness the water is very soft. If the "total hardness" refers to KH only, we're at 2° for GH and KH each.
 

G-Town J

New Member
Messages
5
I have to agree with Wazaaaa, the type of filter is completely up to your discretion.
Only important parts are that it has to be appropriately sized (L/h) to your tank and does mechanical and biological filtration. Everything else is secondary.


It depends completely on the species. There are some species that actually do like a certain current.

Thanks, the flow to the far side of the tank was my main concern if I ran a side fitted matten filter.

Just wanted to make sure I would be getting a decent enough flow to reach the far end.

Shall do some more research into what pump would suit that set up.
 

G-Town J

New Member
Messages
5
Total hardness in water analysis usually refers to what we all know as GH + KH.
GH is comprised of calcium AND magnesium (and barium, but that's always only present in traces).
Combined "beer brewing"-total hardness of Ca and Mg is given 34mg/l, total hardness is given as 36mg/l.
I am leaning towards discarding the "beer brewing" stuff completely, as this has nothing to do with and is completely irrelevant in a water analysis. That's like looking at hardness from a washing mashine manufacturer's point of view.

Anyhow: Be it 34 or 36mg/l, 1° hardness equals about 17.8mg/l, I would say with roughly 2° hardness the water is very soft. If the "total hardness" refers to KH only, we're at 2° for GH and KH each.

Much appreciated. There's a lot of craft brewing goes on in my region so I guess they added that probably not relevant ( to fish people) information on for that industry :D

So would I be a bit fortunate then in regards to Apistos that I have naturally soft water coming out of the tap?
 

MacZ

Well-Known Member
Messages
2,958
Location
Germany
So would I be a bit fortunate then in regards to Apistos that I have naturally soft water coming out of the tap?
Yes.
But although you looked at the analysis by the provider (which - in comparison to average users in other aquarium forums - is genius!), I would still do my own tests. The analyses usually show the year's average, so if there are fluctuations they will not be shown in the results. I've been testing the first year I kept fish in the apartment I live in right now just to see whether there are fluctuations. Turned out some values had fluctuation amplitudes that made me go for an RO unit in the blink of an eye.
 

Ben Rhau

Apisto Club
Messages
566
Location
San Francisco
Yes.
But although you looked at the analysis by the provider (which - in comparison to average users in other aquarium forums - is genius!), I would still do my own tests. The analyses usually show the year's average, so if there are fluctuations they will not be shown in the results. I've been testing the first year I kept fish in the apartment I live in right now just to see whether there are fluctuations. Turned out some values had fluctuation amplitudes that made me go for an RO unit in the blink of an eye.
Agreed, my tap is 25 TDS right now, but there are times in the year when it’s 120 TDS for weeks at a time. It’s good to at least know what it is on any given day.
 

MacZ

Well-Known Member
Messages
2,958
Location
Germany
The most stiking fluctuation here was Nitrates. This is due to the sources the provider uses. They basically mix ground water and reservoir lake water. From late fall to early summer the provider uses more reservoir water, which has virtually no nitrates with a smaller part ground water, which has umbelievably high readings (140mg/l and more). As long as the reservoir is full that's not a problem. But by early summer through to fall they use more and more groundwater. Result: At the height of summer the tap has 40-50mg/l and sometimes up to 60. Just FYI: 50mg/l is legal limit in Germany.
 

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