[mrlegion]

maybe i am just having a hard time displaying it, i have the long tube that blows the bubbles laid across the bottom of the tank on top of the gravel in the back of the tank with the tube running in the corner to the whisper air pump, I do not have a hood cover with lighting, so i figured that wasting my money on water plants would go to a waste since it requires proper lighting :/ , but the tank does sit nicely near a sliding glass door that gets that good old fashion south florida SUNSHINE, so maybe a live plant can work in the corner of the tank to the hide the tube that runs down the corner? can natural sunlight replace the need to have a hood cover with proper lighting???

do i really need air , does the current from the filters already make the bubbles on the top surface by hitting the water? isn't this enough bubbles for the fish?

my tank its 30gal ,30"width, 24inch" tall

 

[bmlbytes]

I know that I am kinda new to the aquarium thing, but I was under the impression that you shouldn't keep an aquarium in direct sunlight, as it will get too hot.

Also, I'm pretty sure that a lot of people do not have bubblers. I have one because I like the look of it.

 

[betta0fish]

i dont have one and my fish are fine but i heard air bubblers could come in handy when you have medicine in the tank cuz the filter sucks up all the medicine stuff

 

[lohachata]

it's ok for a tank to get some sunlight ; but not a lot as it can get the tank a bit too warm and will also cause algae growth..
all of my tanks have air diffusers..i(i'm old..i don't call them bubblers..lol)
even in tanks that are heavily planted..when the lights are on ; plants take in co2 and give off o2.............when the lights are off ; that process is reversed.... the diffusers create turbulence that helps get rid of the co2....

 

[COM]

In a tank with power filters (canister, HOB) you're fine without diffusers / bubblers unless your tank is really deep or really overstocked. Most people only use them for visual effect.

Placing your tank near a window provides good light. Some of the very experienced breeders on this board often talk about keeping fish in tubs outdoors in the summer. Same thing, of course. Just do whatever you would usually do to abate allergies.

As for plants and CO2, yes, all plants have dark reactions that consume oxygen, but they are not nearly at the scale of light reactions that consumer CO2 and produced oxygen.

 

[mrlegion]

thanks its near along side the wall right there,near the sliding door,the sliding glass has shades so i can close them whenever i want to and it just gets shade, i have not noticed any change in water temp,seems more cooler to me cause of the a/c running in the house or i just keep all the shades usually closed in the house....


I also have an outdoor 30gal res turtle tank set up, just one turtle. I got two internal tetra whisper filters, and the dock area, and a simple log ornament in the bottom. The two filters work great due to the waste byproduct of turtles, and me feeding her the basic pellets and salad diet 2x a day. No problems with the turtle since i got her 2 1/2 yrs ago


Writing this reply makes me think about adding another filter to my new fish tank setup,the water kinda smells or starting to get that smell....., i am using the supposedly 30-40gal filter by tetra whisper that hangs from the back, i double cartridged the filter so it can cycle the water cleaner faster....i may add another filter in month after this fresh water tank settles because i plan on adding more fish.........

 

[COM]

Mrlegion, I don't understand your last paragraph. Can you try to be a little clearer.

And oh yeah... I meant abate ALGAE not allergies. My bad.

 

[pxexaxcxex]

I just bought my tank and airstones

Piggy back question:
So I bought a 5" air stone and was wondering if I could bury it under my fine particle sand? I like the way bubbles look, but maybe I made a mistake with the fine grain sand...can I just mix some course grain or rock in there?

 

[lohachata]

you can mix gravel or rock with sand ; but soon the sand will all be under the gravel..kind of the same thing with the airstone..

 

[pxexaxcxex]

what about mixing it with the eco-complete from caribsea? I am worried the fine particle sand will not be friendly to plants and I want to grow plants. I bought the fine sand at Petsmart that looks almost white from caribsea. Do you have any suggestions for helping the plants to grow with fine sand...the sand is in...no going back.

 

[ron v]

You are correct. Rooted plants do not do well in fine sand. The sand packs too tight for the roots to penetrate.

 

[bmlbytes]

@pxexaxcxex: Why not just get a toy to put the airstone in instead of putting it under the sand?

@COM:What I think he meant was that he just thought of a new question. His water is starting to smell bad. He is using a 30-40 gallon tetra filter, that he put 2 filter cartridges in to help clean the water faster. He is considering adding another filter because he wants to add more fish. He is wondering if it is a good idea.

 

[lohachata]

i don't care for using sand as a saubstrate..it gets packed down like ron said..then come the pockets of stagnation...there will be black spots...pockets of deadly gasses that will make the tank smell bad and kill all of the fish....but...if you must have sand;then you will have to deal with the problems that go along with it..but you could get a bunch of malaysian trumpet snails ; they will aerate the substrate ..that will help some..
a fine gravel is far better for plants....
e-mail this [email protected] ....he sells a gravel that is excellent for plants and costs much less than eco-complete and other specialty gravels...

 

[pxexaxcxex]

riverstones

I think I will be using an idea in one of the forums of using river stones to cover the airstone. They are large and easy to get out of sand, plus they are more natural looking, which is the look I am going for--lol, except that lit volcano my daughter won't let me return...jeez.

 

[ron v]

fine sand is good in some applications. Several dwarf cichlids species enjoy sifting through sand. Some even blow it out through the gills. It must be very fine or they are not happy. Loha is right about the anaerobic pockets. When I use fine sand it is only 1/2" or so thick. I use swimming pool filter sand.

 

[pxexaxcxex]

Thanks Ron, I used 40 pounds of sand for my 55 gallon tank. It is uneven because I really wanted that sandy beach look. I will just make sure to get some of the snails that can sift through the sand and those dwarf cichlids sound cool.

 

[mrlegion]

how much is to much fish in a tank ? i got 2 pleco's in there now,12 tetras ,2 ostro's or whatever they were called for the bottom feeding

 

[Toshogu]

I don't have airbubblers in either of my two tanks. Between the Emperor 500, and the output nozzle on the 50gal. I've got more than enough surface aggitation and current.

And on the 10gal. I've got a Powerhead that sucks up water through the UG filter and has a little tube that sucks in air and blows bubbles through it.