6 gallon tank question

[arcab4]

question for ya all..well..bunch of questions.

i got ahold of my older tank..a 6gallon which has everything built in. it's got a duetto filter in it.

also has a filtermedia that's "blue and kinda coarse". does anyone know what that is?

then it has another filter area for i guess a prefilter that contains carbon. but i can't the right filter for this section so can i just fill a bag of carbon and stick it in there?

this is just a low-maintenance tank..so i was wondering if i need to put some gravel in it. or should i go barebottom.

i'm thinking of moving my 10gallon stuff (vals and a few neons) into there so i can convert my 10gallon into saltwater tank.

what do u think?

 

[clothahump]

I should imagine the blue filter media to be some type of foam which is a good home for bacteria.
Why bother with carbon? it is a functional media but tends to dump all the contaminants back into the water if left for two long.
I would add some gravel as the fish feel more at home, bare bottoms reflect the light back up unsettling the fish.
10 gallons for marine use will be very unstable, and you will have to constantly test the parameters,bigger is better in this case. 8)

 

[arcab4]

thanks clothahump. instead of carbon, what should i put in there then.

i know the 10gallon marine tank is going to be very unstable but it'll be very lightly stocked. just one fish. nothing too complicated.

oh btw...since i'm converting my 10gallon into salt..do i need to dry out the biowheel first? or can i just put it in there.

thanks.

 

[clothahump]

If only lightly stocked you should be OK.
As you are going marine then I would use Carbon in a bag, but remeber to change it regularly.
Do not clean your bio wheel, it will colonise much faster as a lot of bacteria can live in fresh and marine conditions.
Are you going to use a protein skimmer? 8)

 

[Matt Nace]

I would go gravel as well. If you decide to put any decorations in there..well the gravel will help. Also it will hold bacteria as well. It also looks nicer.

Forget the carbon. Put some extra floss in there to filter the debris, if you have the biological sponge stuff cloth mentioned.

You can use the bio-wheel for salt. What fish are you getting for it? A non-reef tank is very easy to do. Worry about salinty and nitrates. Is this non-reef(fish only)?

 

[arcab4]

thanks for the advice.

it's going to be a sw fish only tank. very very lightly stocked. one or two fish at most. i was going to use the information from the posts in the saltwater discussion board to start off. i think i'll go with the floss instead of carbon. and i'll be adding gravel from my existing10gallon tank into there. won't be using a protein skimmer. probably use the live rock as extra filtration.

 

[SegaDojo]

sorry to hear that you've given up on your planted 10g arcab.. i was hoping to see some final pics of it planted...

but i think it'll be best if you do add gravel.. it gives you the option of planting it.. and it adds surface area for the beneficial bacteria to grow.

 

[Ovrclckd]

Ok im scared now. First marine tank, a very small one, and your making important mistakes before you even get it?

1. Marine bacteria differs completely from freshwater bacteria. The biowheel will die and start again, Id clean it. Same with the gravel. I'd actually lose the biowheel, in a marine tank a biowheel is nitrate factory, a protein skimmer will remove the wastes before they break down.

2. For stability, I'd go with the substrate as aragonite sand. If that costs too much, go with silica sand, does not have the buffering capabilities, but it preferable to gravel.

3. I am not familiar with the eclipse system (its an eclipse on a ten right?), but if you can get a couple oyster shells, crush them, put them in something to hold them together, submersed in the water. That will bring your buffering capacity up to level.

4. Skimmer is a VERY good idea, its only $70, for a prizm, it will fit the tank (you may have to mod your eclipse hood). On marine tanks we like to take out wastes before the bacteria breaks them down, using foam fractioning, which only works on marine.

5. Carbon is another good idea. The skimmer removes the larger wastes, the carbon will take the very small wastes up. Larger time between water changes.

Theres more... I just can't think of it... going to work now... first day working at my LFS  

 

[Matt Nace]

Owned..read Arcab4's message again.

He is asking about what to do with the 6 gallon for fresh water.

But good tips for the 10 gallon he is thinking of converting.

 

[arcab4]

not a problem. thanks for the help. didn't have a place to put the 6gallon but ifound a spot...right inside the 29gallon cabinet. had to move a cannister filter outside but that was okay. i'll be slowly moving over gravel, plants etc to the new tank..so i won't have to do a complete re-cycled.

 

[Ovrclckd]

[quote author=MaleRubyBarb link=board=beginner&num=990599178&start=0#9 date=05/24/01 at 13:54:04]
Agreed on the crushed aragonite substrate. Is that the little crushed shells..or is it sand? I would use the crushed shells...which is what I mean by cheaper.
That should buffer and raise the ph.It isn't expensive either.

How does the biowheel(say you cleaned it)end up being a nitrate factory?

[/quote]

Aragonite is sand thats made from crystalized calcium carbonate, found at the site of a reef. Its really old coral thats broken down over the years.

In a marine tank, you have the ability to remove most wastes before they break down, unlike freshwater. A protien skimmer will remove the wastes from the system. Mechanical filtration in freshwater catches wastes and allows the bacteria to break them down. A bio wheel will break down the wastes and put the into the water as the end product nitrate, which is fine for freshwater, because you do frequent water changes. In a marine tank, one of the goals is to create a system that needs little support from you, for example there are reef tanks that don't need to be fed or the water changed. So why allow the wastes to break down and degrade water quality when they can me removed?

 

[Matt Nace]

Good point.

See ..this is why you are the man for saltwater.