(Part 2) Best products from r/aquarium

I've been in the turtle game for about a year now, recently I've upgraded my 55 gallon canister filter to 150 gallon one called Sunsun HW-304B and wow has it been an improvement. Turtles need 3x the filter so if you have 55 gallon tank you're going to need one rated for 150-200 gallons which canister filters are preferred since they can last a long time without cleaning and provide better suction.

If you do go the canister filter route I would get this media kit that has everything you need to started.

As far as chemicals go I would stick with TetraFauna Aquasafe and API Sludge Destroyer, use only a little bit since that will make your water cloudy if you use too much.

To pick up food waste and whatever else get this long pole fishnet instead of those short ones that they sell at pet stores so you can get in there really deep without shoving your arm in.

Turtles also need 2 types of light UVB and heat, I found that this combo lamp works fine.

I just use one these for all my tanks. For a 10 gallon, put a 13w CFL bulb in it and call it good. Make sure you get one that is "daylight," around 6500k. I get them at Bed Bath and Beyond.



Works like a charm

10 Gallon Tank w/ Endlers Livebearers

1x 10 gallon tank empty tank without hood $10

2x Super Bright clip on LEDs from ebay $14

3x 5lbs gravel bags $10

1x 25 watt heater $10

1x Aqueon Filter $12

Dual Sponge Filter and Air Pump $15

Endlers The worlds best fish!

Endlers are prolific, colorful, rare, and have a better persoanlity than chicilids (I have both)

3 gal is on smaller side for betta alone, without cories. If your room temperature is less than 78F/25C, heater for betta will be needed, any 25-50W heater should be enough. If you can get adjustable heater and it will keep temperature at 80F (not all of them do), even better.

With fish, having something for water flow and mechanical filtration is better than not having it, place outflow near heater for an even temperature distribution in the tank.

Fish will poop, cleaning has to be done, water changes too. Waiving tubing above substrate should not disturb plants and helps with collecting waste.

Sponge filter is good enough, especially T-shaped, it will bubble too. For running it you will need air pump and check valve to prevent siphoning water out if there will be power outage and air pump is below water level.

If internal water filter, it should have not too high flow, 10x tank volume per hour, not more, IMO. Hang on the back power filter like Azoo Mignon 550 or Deep Blue BioMaxx Nano will work too, flow is adjustable.

See r/nanotank for aquascaping ideas, it takes time and some resources, but the result is well worth it.

I wouldn't recommend anything smaller than 10 gallons, personally. I have a really hard time keeping the water parameters where I like them on my 10 gallon.

10 gallons is nice because you aren't limited to just one fish, which is what you would be limited to with anything smaller.

I would recommend a 10 gallon and letting your son pick out the decorations, and put in a few anubias or easy-care plants into the gravel.

As far as your heater goes, I would recommend an adjustable one rather than a single-temp. Additionally, for ease of accurate readings I would buy a digital thermometer.

For filtration, I really like the Marineland hang on the back filters, such as this one.

http://www.amazon.com/Marineland-Penguin-Power-Filter-70-Gallon/dp/B0009IMDQM/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1414876612&sr=8-2&keywords=marineland+filter

And for lighting, it all depends on if you decide you want real plants or fake plants - fake plants, any old lighting will work. If you want real plants, I'd recommend the Finnex planted+. I bought a Finnex RayII for my 37gallon and it's too much light, so I'm not getting the growth I'd like since I don't have a CO2 system.

Yes, it's a shame they don't always say if a plant was grown emersed or submerged or even if it is truly aquatic or just marginal. I think those are 4 basic words important to know for aquarium plants. The one PetSmart got me on in the beginning was Mondo Grass... lesson to the wise, pull out your smart phone...

I hesitated to order plants at Amazon, but got some Buce and it was very healthy https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01JEE2TRO/ref=oh_aui_search_detailpage?ie=UTF8&psc=1

The water from my well comes out so high and buffered nothing bothered it. I grew some plants like others have said but it's really annoying on how few critters you can throw in there.

I ended up getting one of these and now I just mix my tap and RO water. It made my life SO much easier.

Plus, now my tea and coffee tastes better. ;p

oh ok so just something like this for the timer?
Also what tanks do you use, would this work well? And for tubing is it one size fits all for the fancy small diffusers and stuff

Those are definitely Camallanus worms OO. If you have a quarantine tank, I suggest you get one and put the guppy in it. Then try this medication: http://www.amazon.com/Bendazole-250mg-Fenbendazole-Powder-packets/dp/B009TAQ4OI?ie=UTF8&psc=1&redirect=true&ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o02_s00.

The worms and the eggs can easily infect water, so also do water changes in the main tank.

Here's a good article: http://www.fishlore.com/fishforum/freshwater-fish-disease/41023-how-get-rid-camallanus-nematode-worms.html

So, so each of those sleeves is something different. Chemical, biological and mechanical filtration. I'll go over each quickly (apologies, this is more than you asked :P)

1. Mechanical. This is normally a sponge/mesh or something similar. It catches things like leaves, bits of food, etc.
   
   
2. Chemical. This is Activated Charcoal. It's an agent that binds to just about anything and is used to remove any impurities from the water. Most aquarists do not use charcoal past the cycling phase of their tank. The reason is because it's not necessary (see below) and because because it binds with EVERYTHING, it will actually remove some good stuff from your tank along with the bad. If you keep replacing it, your tank will be crystal clear, but you have to keep up with it and it's not "stable" in the sense that biological filtering is.
   
   
3. Biological. This is the bacteria that lives in your tank. This is "the cycle" that processes the nitrogen cycle in your tank. This is what is necessary to preserve.
   
   So what I've done with most of my tanks is take those pre-fab things out and just put these in the main compartment. The whole point is just to have a base for the bacteria to grow on so they can do the job of filtering your tank. This is all I run in my tanks, from my 20 up to my 165.
   
   Now, you can do what you've been doing, that's fine and that'll work. But this way is cheaper and more effective, imo. If you DO go this route, you need to get those things get established before you swap them out. Get a media sock and just let them sit on the bottom of your tank for a month or so. Then, you can take out those sleeves and just drop as many of the ceramic things in as will fit.
   
   If you go this route, when you clean the filter, take the rings out and set them aside. Rinse out the main body and put the rings back. If they are REALLY dirty, you can rinse them too, but they don't tend to accumulate much.

There is not enough oxygen in the water. Get a bubbler or another filter that can add more oxygen to the water. thats why theyre jumping out.

remember that water temp changes (by a few degrees) is alot for fish. when im changing the temperature from 80 to 76 it takes me about 2 weeks. Its a very slow process. I would recommend getting this, and this . It makes water changes a breeze. The first is a must if you're lugging water. The second is amazing. I use it because i have extremely mineral heavy water and it really works, I've been doing water changes with these for over two years and I haven't had any issues. The advantage of the tap adapter is that you can add hot water until the water temperature reads the same as the water in the tank.

The filter eliminates 99% chlorine. There are other filters that are cheaper but i haven't found another that eliminates chlorine as well. For good measure you can still add half a dose of stress coat +.

You really need some blues and reds for a planted tank to be successful, but the shrimp will probably be ok with any light. I use this light for my 10g planted shrimp tank and it seems to be sufficient for the plants, but I wouldn't go with anything smaller. It's about 3-4" in height on top of the tank and might just work in your space.

I actually never do that, I always think it just makes the fish stressed out. Here's my routine:

1. I use a mini siphon to take out 25% of the water
   
   
2. Dump out the bucket I put the dirty water in, and rinse it out, then put new, clean water in with some dechlorinator. I use Prime. I always just use my hand to feel that the water is close to the same temperature as what's already in my aquarium.
   
   
3. Very slowly pour the new, clean, dechlorinated water into the tank.
   
   
4. That's it! I always double check my filter to make sure it's not too gunked up, and clean that as necessary, but that's usually like once a month or less.