1st : white & blue wool2nd : Jap mat3rd : black sponge4th :
bio ring5th : pump
FILTER SYSTEMLets talk about filter system shall we.?What are
the two elements we must have in our filter.?1st. Mechanical
filter. Mechanical filter is used to filter out particles from the
water like fine sands, mud, rust, dirt, undigested food etc
etc.2nd. Bio filter. Bio filter is used to break down dangerous
gasses to not so dangerous gasses called nitrogen cycle.Mechanical
filter.The most basic mechanical filter media is, filter wool.
Filter wool comes in a variety of colours and prices too depending
on its quality. White ones, wide available in all LFS about RM1 -
RM2. Technically not usable after 2 to 3 washes if you wash it
roughly and 3 to 5 if you wash it gently. Either way, its not
recommended. Green and blue ones, more expensive but more durable
than those white ones.How many layers of this mechanical is
recommended.?The answer to this question may varies depending on
your tank setup. The higher the flow rate (L/H) the more layers,
the better. Water will always find the easiest way to escape so
will the dirt in it. The faster the water moves, higher the chances
they will bring the dirt as well. "Am using 12 layers of green
filter wool for my 3000L/H pump".What will happen if you cant
afford more layers (restricted by the space etc etc).?To the owner,
do not worries, all you got to do is wash more frequently and the
clearness of your tank water might not be as good.As for the fish,
not very good. The dirt might get stuck / build up in the gills
which will caused a wide variety of sickness. And we are only
referring to dirt. How about tiny organic material.? House for
bacteria and fungus perhaps.?Some will be thinking right now, how
long will it takes to wash so many layers of filter wool.? Our
answer to that is "oh very fast 45 mins only (in a very sarcastic
way)" Its a responsibility. Not a question of time.Here are some
tips on how to maintain your mechanical filter.1st. Although they
are meant to be mechanical filter, they will also act as a house
for beneficial bacteria. So you are not suppose to wash them so
frequently. That is why you need to put more layers so that you can
only wash the first few ones. In other words, you are not suppose
to wash it if its not clogged.2nd. Frequent water changes. Suck up
all the dirt / poo that are lying around the base during WC helps a
lot in maintaining the water quality. We do water changes twice
every week and "I've not wash my filter wool for 10 months" @_@
Yes, you read it right, 10 months. Just to satisfy your curiosity.
"My water is crystal clear, ammonia reading is zero."3rd. Select
the right diet for your fish. Will this affect the filter.? Hell
yes it does. Super worms and meal worms especially. They will
clogged the filter wool 3 times faster. Reason being, their
exoskeleton cannot be digested.Here is one random information.
Carnivores fishes has a very bad digestive system. These fishes can
only digest 90% of the food they consume. And how do we know it.?
We read a lot and we did a little experiment on our own and found
some tiny undigested bones (of a feeder fish) in a custom made
filter bag.
This time, we'll discuss about Bio filter system.Like we have
mentioned before in Part III, Bio filter is used to turn toxic
gasses into not so harmful gasses in a process being referred to as
nitrogen cycle.So, what are these dangerous gasses we are talking
about here.? Its called Ammonia.Ammonia is created by all sorts of
rotting organic material. So we can imagine how easily and widely
available can this be in an aquarium. If you still dont understand
what we are saying, it is the uneaten food, the poop and pee of the
fish(es) and etc etc.In this regards, ammonia present in the tank
got to be absolutely ZERO. When we say ZERO, it doesnt matter if
you ask us if its okay to have 0.1 ppm. Golden rule when it comes
to ammonia is, Better Be Safe Than Sorry.And how do we make sure
the ammonia present is zero.? Through the help of bacteria.
Bacteria.? Yes, bacteria, but not those typical bad bacteria out
there. We called it beneficial bacteria. Ammonia is kind of like
their (beneficial bacteria or the scientific name Aerobic bacteria)
food. They convert ammonia into nitrite (not as lethal as ammonia)
during the 1st stage of the cycle and subsequently into nitrate
(not as lethal as nitrite) at the last stage. A brief explanation
we came out with so to not confuse any new beginners.So, before we
add out beloved fish into the tank, we must cycle the water1st. To
cycle the water;1st. We must have have ammonia in the tank. To do
that, just throw in couple of Plecos, some bog wood with aquatic
plants tied to it. Throw in some sinking pellets for them to eat.
More they eat, faster they excrete and hence, faster will be for
the ammonia to form, from the rotting of the organic material.2nd.
The beneficial bacteria. In the olden days, they run their tank for
weeks before adding their fish in. But now, we have all kinda
booster and bacteria for sale in both liquid and powder forms.
Which makes the cycling part very much easier. Just pour them into
the tank, and these bacteria will attached to any hard objects (bio
filter media).3rd. Keep the lights on, make sure the is plenty of
oxygen in the tank and 1 week later, your fish is good to go. The
best way to be sure is always to test the water. But is a hassle to
test it everyday. So we recommend to check your tank for algae.
Algae needs nitrate to flourish same goes to any aquatic plants.
Refer back to 1st step, " bog wood with aquatic plants tied on them
". So with algae present, is more than enough prove that nitrate is
present.So now we know briefly what and how this bio filter works.
Only things left is their house in this case, its the bio filter
media.Almost anything can be the " house " of the bacteria. Only
question is, how they perform. When we say perform, its the amount
of surface available in the objects and how well will the water
flow through the surface.A very straight forward example, a rock
and a coral stone of the same size. This beneficial bacteria can
only cling onto the surface of the rock where as the coral stone,
they (bacteria) can cling onto the tiny little gap within it (coral
stone) and water can flow through easily. So, the more surface an
object has, the better they work as the bio filter media. But do
take note, we mentioned almost anything, not everything. Some
objects may be harmful to aquatics animal when there are expose to
water for a pro long period of time
Okay, we have covered the tank, water changing routine and its
chemistry and filter system. Somehow we have covered most of the
initial part to start an aquarium hobby.So in this part of the
discussion we will go slightly in depth into the filter system.How
is best to set up a mechanical filter.? Like we previously
mentioned, its to filter out small particles from the water so that
it will be clear to our naked eye. The question is, how to achieve
the level of convenience and result that we desire.?There are
various of ways to do that. One that we would like to share is
actually very simple and it works well. Just put a layer or two of
bio foam at the bottom or in other words, the last location the
water will flow through to their next location. If you guys / girls
out there remember us saying, the more the merrier. But at the end
of the day, the one closest to the place where the water flow out,
will eventually clot because that is where all the water has flow
through in order to get out whether to the next compartment of a
sump filter or back into the tank for an OHF (over head
filter).Now, we also mention although its main purpose is for
mechanical filtering, beneficial bacteria will also clung onto the
filter wool. So is best not to wash them unless they are clot. But
having say so, most of you will ask, how to maintain the water
quality then.? Wont the water will be very dirty.?Our answer to the
above question is no, the water will be just fine.Here is the brief
cycle of the fish poop. When the fish excrete, the poop will break
down into tiny particles in the water. And once they flow through
the filter wool, they will get lodge into them. Over time, they
will eventually break down into almost nothing and dissolved into
water and turn into gasses. And hence, ammonia is created.But
again, for carnivorous fishes, they wont be able to digest
everything (what we have mentioned before), and little bone and
shells from insect is also almost indigestible. So in time, sooner
if less wool or later if there is more wool, they will clog up.Let
us share one of our personal filter set up.
Bio foam at the bottom.Attached is the pictures of what my
personal filter look like at the 1st compartment. As you all can
see, there are quite some amount of dirt collected by the glass. I
havent wash this filter wools for 10 months. As for the clogging
issue, refer to the next picture.
Water flowing level.As you can see, the water flowing is quite
smooth although the filter as you all see is quite dirty. 1st sign
to look for when you suspect your filter is clogged, is by looking
at the highest water level of 1st and the point where it flow into
2nd compartment. If the difference is too great, then is time to
wash it.If you guys are wondering about the blue tape I have there,
Is actually for my own safety so I wont cut my hand when I need to
do some cleaning.As for the media I'm using for the Bio system, is
stainless steel pot scrubber. @_@!! haha, yes, I get the face. Here
is a little picture to ease the worries.
Chemistry readings.My ammonia reading is zero and my PH is at
6.5. All these with a 22" Arowana, 6 Lampang all above 5" as tank
mate and a 11" DBKL (pleco) as primary cleaner. Okay, done with the
sharing and let us move back into setting up a filter properly.To
set up a proper bio filter, there must be enough and constant
supply of Oxygen for the BB (beneficial bacteria) to grow properly
and strong. So we will advise you to put at least an air output at
the bottom before the rest of the media. With this, even when you
are doing water changes or the power is out, there will be
sufficient Oxygen to keep the BB working.To set up a good and
strong bio filter system is not as easy as some of you might think.
Pour in the bacteria water and let it be. It is true to some extend
and also depending on your filter system set up as well (type of
filter and the amount of lights) Here is the brief explanation.In
order for the BB to grow, they need great amount of lights. But in
order for them to work in their full potential, they got to be in
dark environment. You all get the pictures.? Bright grows well but
dark works better. Is easy to counter this with a sump filter, just
put a couple of clip on light where the shine is not strong enough
to penetrate all the way down, with a timer if you want. They get
to grow and the water flow will bring them down and settle there
for them to work. This is for cabinet sump. For steel rack, dont be
bother because the will be natural lights and naturally dark during
the night.By saying so, am not saying canister filter will be at a
disadvantage. Most of them do allow a certain amount of light to
penetrate especially good brand. Am going to stop here as this part
has gone longer that we expected and we believe the readers will
need time to digest as well.Next, we will go into the miscellaneous
of filter media.
Okay, lets get this going to miscellaneous of filter material..
In order to not complicate things, we will only touch common filter
media(s) that are easily available in most if not all LFS..
Image from www.bar-b-que.com1. Lava RockThese porous rocks are
naturally formed / not man made. Big chunks are widely use in
planted tank as a base for tying plants or simply as a decorative
item. Smaller pieces are used as filter media for the biological
system. And even smaller pieces are used as substrate. Could be
very messy.
Image from jeboaquarium.com
Image from petcity2008.blogspot.com2. Ceramic RingMan made.
Mainly used in biological filter systems. Secondary usage as
substrate. A few selection to chose from. Non porous are
technically useless. Best choice is to pay more and get those with
pores. User friendly.
Image from bulkheadbioball.com3. Bio BallMan made. Have seen
many types and each differ in price depending on materials and
quality. Primary usage is for (Dripping Filter System) - huge and
generally harder to set up. Amateurs should not attempt.
Image from www.alibaba.com4. Bio FoamA must have in any sump
filter. It's primary usage is for cultivation of beneficial
bacteria. In a sump, we can use it to breakdown waste(s) to achieve
better flow, to reduce noise, to prevent blockage. "What we have
been doing". Very user friendly in all terms.
Here, as promised to one of our reader, the 1st part of the
notes is dedicated toEn Hamizi Manap.There is no easy way or short
cut in lowering down the PH level of our local tap water which may
varies from place to place. In an aquarium, lower PH level is a
natural occurrence if the tank is well maintained.Black water, is
something we can get easily in any LFS and the uses is to lower
down the PH instantly to the desired level. It is a good choice
provided the fish you are keeping required low PH readings but, if
it is not, there is really no point in it.Why do we say so.? It is
because, most fishes we get from a LFS are are captive breed and
most are being handled in tap water environment once they are ready
for business transaction.It is different if you caught the fish
from a river with acidic water environment, in this case, Black
Water is a must.Now, back to maintaining the PH level. It is not an
easy nor it is a hard task. Only thing we need to achieve this is,
TIME.Like we previously mentioned, it is a natural occurrence in
any aquarium. Only question is, how we maintained it that way.In
our previous notes, we have stressed that, frequent water changes
is technically one of the mandatory thing to do. In this PH matter,
it is so that the PH wont spike upwards because of a larger volume
of WC which many of us fish keeper ignored. So the first thing we
need to do to keep the PH steady, is Frequent Water Changes.To
select and chose the right media that will not altered the PH
reading. Use the right amount of buffer(s) "coral chips"As a kid
myself when I 1st started this hobby, the LFS owner once told me,
make sure you wash your filter frequently. Am very sure most of us
have been told about this. Which as a matter of fact, not true. We
are not suppose to wash frequently not to mentioned dont wash at
all if its possible. So, filter system is the next in line to take
note of.To go in depth in filter system is very long. So we will
leave this for some other times.Next in line will be Ketapang
Leaves "Indian Almond Tree Leaves" One of the best way to bring the
PH down very slowly, safe and its free :) As for the preparations,
will also be in a different notes.So conclusion;1. Frequent Water
Changes2. Filter system3. Water treatment with Ketapang LeavesLet
us continue inmiscellaneous of filter material.
Image from www.momotaro-koi.orgBio HouseTechnically bio ring in
extra large size. Like the extra size, $$ also extra :) Aside from
the size and the obvious price, the power also extra. Mainly used
in big scale filtering system. So if you are worried about the
power of your bio filter system, this is a very good choice. Some
also use it for planted tank "decoration and tying plants" and
shrimp tank "hiding place". If I'm not mistaken, it was designed
for pond usage. Fairly simple to use, just align them nicely. Not
suitable for canister filter.Image from fwdmagazine.com
Image from www.chemistryland.comActivated CharcoalThis AC, in
your filter, might have saved our fish(s) many times even without
us knowing it. These small little pieces of burnt wood are fairly
annoying to use at 1st because it needed to be wash so thoroughly
it is basically a pain in the ass. But when I know for sure it
saved my Aro life once "will share the experience in future notes",
I wouldn't mind even if I have to wash them for one full week. In
terms of benefit, its more to a supplement kinda thing than a bio
filter media unless being prepare other wise. People uses it widely
for adsorption purposes but I personally am using for both bio
filtering and adsorption.P/SMany kinda different stories
surrounding AC. PH spiking and de-sorp a.k.a leaching are the most
commonly talked about. Will not discuss over here because it will
defeat the purpose of introduction.Thank you again for staying
tune.. Please feel free to ask us question on our notes. But if you
wish to know more about Activated Charcoal, please ask on our wall.
Have a pleasant night. :)
Welcome back people. Today we will write about salt.Many of you
might think salt has nothing much to be write about. But in the
truth, it is not. It is not as simple as, ( add some salt during
water change(s), or when setting up a tank or when your fish is
sick ).Most people dont really understand what it does aside from
what the owner of the LFS told them. Promote appetite, helps
breathing and to cure sickness being the most common ones I
believe.Salt in an aquarium can be extremely useful at the same
time, can make matter worse if used wrongly.For example, when
setting up a tank. Why we recommend to add some salt.? It is so
because we can eliminate most if not all parasite /
pathogen(s).Most will agree, it is good because they kill bad
things. But after initial cycle, did the owner of the LFS tell you
to do a partial water changes to reduce the amount of salt in your
tank before adding in any fishes.? If they dont, they are wrong.
Did they tell you not to add salt during normal water changes.? I
bet most will say, " add some salt during water changes ". And
again, it is not the right thing to do.Do not forget, like all
living cell, parasite / pathogen too have different level of
tolerance towards something in this case, Salt. If your very 1st
dose of salt did not kill all of them, it is very likely they have
build up a certain amount of tolerance towards it. So what happen
if you add salt again during water changes and at a dose that did
not kill again.? More tolerance.If this cycle goes on, the moment
your fish gotten weaker, one way or the other, they will attack
your fish immediately and the worse problems is, to kill them off,
you need a higher dose of salt to do the job and that is not good
at all for the whole system.Salt is most useful when the
concentration suddenly changes. In this case, a tank without any
salt concentration or with the minimal concentration of salt, will
have a better chances of curing most parasitic and bacteria
infections with salt alone.So, we will advice our readers not to
add any salt during normal water changes unless the occupant(s) of
the tank specifically requires it.A very contradicting arguments of
not using salt at all during water changes will be " with the uses
of salt, we can prevent many unhappy outcome and not to mention
good properties like increase appetite and heal better "So, can we
conclude in the end that, using salt during routine water changes
have more positive effect than negative.? The answer is still NO.
No matter how many good points you can bring up, we can always
counter the arguments with good filtering system and frequent water
changes. None of the above will happen if your fish is living in a
good environment and is as healthy as it can be.So again, we are
stressing good filtering system and frequent water changes is the
most important of all.Another issue, which many of us out there are
not aware, using Zeolite in a tank with salt concentration are
technically wasting money and time because instead of adsorbing
ammonia, Zeolite prefer the salt and to make matter worse, they
will release what ever ammonia they have adsorb in exchange of
salt.A random piece of information for our readers, Zeolite are
reactivated / recharge through dipping in salt water. So, instead
of throwing them away after use, dip them in salt water and rinse
them clean, they are as good as new.Lastly, we can use salt to
create a bath " longer duration, 10 days " for quarantine and
healing of nitrite poisoning, or a dip " short duration 30 mins "
to immediately treat severe parasitic infection ( only certain
parasite ).Please take note, do not use household salt as there is
added chemical in it. Very likely it will kill your fish rather
than saving it.Image from www.indiamart.comRock salt from the
Himalayas. High minerals traces. Recommendation of use - Once in a
blue moon :)Image from www.foreverlookingood.comNormal sea salt.
Normal mineralstraces. Recommendation of use - I wont, unless for
treatment =)
Image from frugal-foodie-recipes.comKitchen salt. Iodized and
with additives. Recommendation of use - Dont waste the cooking
salt, you might as well give me all your fish since you will be
killing them :D :DGood day all. That will be all for today.Next we
will go a level deeper into Nitrogen Cycle.
Nitrogen Cycle, a process take place in the filter. A very
important process that keep our fish alive by keeping the water
condition / parameters in proper order. So to say, we decide the
fate of our fishes. Well, maybe not wholly but it plays a big
part.A simpler way to put it, Nitrogen Cycle is a process of
breaking down toxic gasses to non so toxic gasses. And like we
previously mentioned before, Ammonia is the major killer of our
beloved water pets.Where do Ammonia comes from.?Image from
www.chemicals-technology.comThis is how it is look like at
molecular levelIn the tank environment, they come from all kinda
organic material, to be more precise, decaying organic material
which include fishes faeces / waste(s), which is the biggest
contributor of them all. Unlike us, fishes have no choice but to
excrete their waste in the water and unlike in the wild, aquarium /
tank were not aided by the natures to neutralise it. Other factors
that contribute to the increase of Ammonia will be uneaten food and
also plants.This is how Ammonia comes by in our tank. And this is
the 1st stage of the cycle that comes with the name
Ammonification.Why is Ammonia bad for the fishes.?Ammonia will
disrupt the ability of fishes to regulate water and salts. Under
these circumstances, damage to the fish(s) tissue will occur both
externally and internally. The very 1st part of the fish that will
get damage from Ammonia poisoning will be the gill. Fishes gill's
has the most delicate tissue. And the 1st symptoms of Ammonia
poisoning is the fish will be seen on the surface gasping for air.
Lets move on to the cycle..With the help of Nitrosomonas bacteria +
Oxygen, Ammonia is then being converted / breakdown further into
Nitrites that comes with the name Nitrification.Image from
WikipediaNitrite
Image from WikioediaNitriteAlthough not as deadly as Ammonia,
Nitrite should not be taken lightly. Nitrite are irritants for
fish. So the 1st symptoms to look for if you suspect the
concentration of Nitrite is too high is, the fish will rub
themselves against objects or jumping or darting around for no
apparent reason. Many hobbyist mistook this for parasitic
diseases.Due to its properties of being able to bind themselves to
red blood cells, under prolong exposure to Nitrite, fish(s) will
develop Brown Blood Disease, " the colour of the blood turned brown
" and this will seriously impaired the ability of the blood to
carry oxygen. Immune system will become significantly lower.Lets
move on to the cycle..With the help of Nitrobacter bacteria +
oxygen, Nitrites is then being breakdown into Nitrates that also
comes with the nameNitrification.
Image from WikipediaNitrate
Image from WikipediaNitrateNitrates, the third stages of the
Nitrogen Cycle. Nitrates do not harm our fishes directly. But
prolong exposure to high concentration of Nitrates will also
impaired the fish immune system and their ability to reproduce.
When we say high, its 50ppm compare to 1ppm for Nitrites
only.Frequent water changes will keep the Nitrates level in
check.Lets continue to the final stages..The final stages of the
Nitrogen Cycle breakdown involves bacteria from the family of
Pseudomonas and Clostridium without the presence of oxygen "
anaerobic " into harmless final product called, Nitrogen. The
process is calledDenitrification.Although anaerobic bacteria can
survive in aerobic conditions, we were unable to confirm the
existence of thesebacteria in our filter system at the moment and
whether they can breakdown Nitrates or not. We are still
experimenting on it and hope to get an answer as soon as
possible.Breaking of Nitrates absence oxygen will releaseHydrogen
Sulfide which are extremely toxic. This we can confirm. Under such
circumstances, is denitrator filter still advisable.?Stay tune for
our result..
Image from chemistry.wikia.comNitrogenP/S: Ammonia can be
categorize into two different element under different environment.
Environment being the PH level of our water. At PH above 7 (
neutral ) ammonia are highly toxic in any given amount. At PH below
7, they are not as toxic. But having said so, Ammonia should be
kept at absolute ZERO ( 0 ) at all times. Prevention is better than
cure.So unless the fish require absolute high PH water, try
lowering it down to below 7.
K1 Media will be here this weekend.April 17, 2012 at 4:16amDear
all, the long awaited K1 Media will be available from us from this
weekend onwards. Feel free to place your bookings here at the
comment(s) section so that we can avoid flooding the page. Thank
you very much.
K1 Media
K1 Media close upThose tiny translucent thingy at the center are
Beneficial Bacteria100 grams RM191kg and above RM15/100 gramsnew
price updated 22/8/2012
AQUATIC sOLUTION42, Jalan Anggerik Vanilla AD, 31/AD Kota
Kemuning, 40460 Shah Alam, Malaysia