Above the Tavern with Parka!

[Parka]

Good stuff, looking forward to that. I'm a detail guy.

Yes, because on my last build, I had the shell and floor put together in one afternoon and I glossed over a lot of the work. I have some other question(s) and things to be talked about.

I have a question about when a filter, in this case the under gravel in Chicago, if the pump is off will a bad situation take place, like will things get putrid and or cause other problems?

I also would like to learn how to use air pressure (air pumps) and use fewer water pumps. I'm just thinking out loud, it's the fault of the Hobby!

And this was a big surprise tonight, I took pics but they are too tiny to show up on my rather crummy phone camera. I spotted three tiny fish in the Waters of Chicago! My guess is that Moneywort plant had some eggs on it. These guys are tiny, 1/8" at the longest, very thin body, almost threadlike so it will be fun to see how they do and what they are. Maybe I thought they were Goldfish fry but I don't know what a new hatched Goldie looks like.

I also wanted to Show Off again. Showing Off and Bragging, while very similar, they are NOT the same thing and I happen to be Damn Good at Both! At the Same Time Too, with both hands at the same time!

 

[Sassafras]

I'm not sure that an undergravel filter would go absolutely putrid if the flow of oxygenated water were shut off, but I imagine that you would lose a lot of aerobic bacteria and a lot of the nitrification capacity for a period of time. I wonder of you could incorporate some version of a matten filter into your tank designs. You have those cool round side windows, so you wouldn't want to put it on the end, which is probably the most common location along with corners. You get a large surface area, mechanical and biological filtration, can be powered with with either an airlift or relatively small pump. Easy to DIY, you can hide heaters behind them, low energy consumption. They do take up a lot of space and have to be removed to clean them. Don't know if noise is an issue for you, but if you go to air pumps you get that annoying buzzing and bubbling.

Now this idea would probably totally mess with your design, but you could extend part of the back wall to create a filter cavity that would hide the Matten filter. Sort of like this:

 

[Parka]

Now this idea

I LOVE it! I never heard of that type of aquarium filter and as far as that little extension off the back of the tank, my idea is to skip that part and just let the filter take up space... Now, I wonder if it would be practical and even more effective if this 'matten' filter ran most of, if not the entire length of the tank? Filter talk, it is on my mind!

I think I am really going to enjoy trying to do more with air pumps and less with water pumps, it's a fun challenge! I have a Whisper brand pond pump arriving any day, it is supposed to be able to pump air 8' deep. I grabbed it used at half cost, 20 bucks, 'Like New' we shall see. I have 2 other worthy air pumps also, an 18 watt kinda loud, you've seen 'em, with the cooling fins. They can be had for cheap and if you can blow a small fan on these noisy pumps, they tend to run much cooler to the touch AND they seem to run quieter when they aren't as hot... this hobby gets me obsessed over every detail! Hooray for Hobby Hobbington!

And I also have a very quiet 4 outlet ten watt air pump that can be used and thanks for sharing that idea, now I want to go find some more info on type of filter and how I might be able to use it. It doesn't bother me too much for equipment to take up space in the tank, in the Chicago, the main water pump is proudly displayed as the infrastructure of any Great City can be appreciated, take the Brooklyn Bridge for example, what an absolute masterpiece of 19nth Century NYC infrastructure. I will have pics next post, Parka , Self Reporting!

 

[Sassafras]

Right after I posted that drawing I thought, "it would be a lot easier to just run foam all the way across the back, like a false back wall". Evidently, you had the same thought, much better idea. Just got to remember, although you can go quite a while between foam cleaning, eventually you'll have to pull it out and clean it. Probably could cover the back in sections small enough to be pulled out and cleaned. maybe some kind of a frame that would hold sections of foam? I don't have an in-tank Matten filter, but I do use the foam for filtration in my sumps. You've probably seen duanes setup down in Panama. He uses matten foam and plants in a separate sump to filter his tank. He has a post about it in the planted tank and aquascaping section. Would be cool to have nature for you light, heat and filtration.

 

[Parka]

Right after I posted that drawing I thought, "it would be a lot easier to just run foam all the way across the back, like a false back wall". Evidently, you had the same thought, much better idea. Just got to remember, although you can go quite a while between foam cleaning, eventually you'll have to pull it out and clean it. Probably could cover the back in sections small enough to be pulled out and cleaned. maybe some kind of a frame that would hold sections of foam? I don't have an in-tank Matten filter, but I do use the foam for filtration in my sumps. You've probably seen duanes setup down in Panama. He uses matten foam and plants in a separate sump to filter his tank. He has a post about it in the planted tank and aquascaping section. Would be cool to have nature for you light, heat and filtration.

Thanks again, Kind Frass, I have not seen duanes thread but I will be checking it soon. I did look at a couple different youtubes on the subject and wow, all it is, is a giant sponge filter, and yes, one guy built a nice rack system and another guy, wow, he showed how extremely versatile and customizable and especially simple a matten filter can be.

He also explained how the sponge material are not all the same. Many or most foam for the hobby he explains, "is polyester and polyester after a while becomes hydrolyzed," water-logged, and they will begin to crumble and he recommends a poly-eester based sponge, that's how he pronounced it, I am NOT familiar with that term but I AM familiar with sponge filters degrading especially if you have a cray fish, my cray tore that poor sponge into a scraggly mess, little bits of foam all over tank floor.

But when I watched, I already came up with a twist for the Matten Filter. Make tubes out of the sponge and put one in each back corner. I thought I could stitch the tube together with thread or fishing line. The flat Matten filters, some people in the hobby call them Hamburger Filters but my twist, it is more like a Meatloaf Filter,

The Meatloaf Matten Filter, Sing it with Me, (sung to Hillbilly Idol's 'Eyes Without a Face'.) This one guy I used to work with when that song was popular, he thought they were singing, "How's about a Date"... I snicker giggled for hours and days afterward, still am today a lil bit!

I got an afternoon chat coming so I shall be Self Reporting at the proper & appropriate time, Good Morning!

 

[Sassafras]

Was eclipsing all day yesterday and just now reading your post. Drove about 5 hours to a point on the centerline of totality. Awesome, but awful traffic coming back home, took me 9 hours on the return trip. I do think the type of foam is important. Here is where I got mine. Can't guarantee it will stand up to crayfish, but it shouldn't otherwise deteriorate.

Meatloaf Matten Filter, "You Took the Words Right Out of My Mouth". (get it?)

 

[Parka]

Meatloaf Matten Filter, "You Took the Words Right Out of My Mouth". (get it?)

(I got it!) "It Must Have Been While You Were Kissing Me" HAHAHAHAHA?
Sing it with me, Monsters! Sung to Meatloaf's, 'You Took the Words Right Out of My Mouth"

Super cool about the eclipse, my hometown of Akron was under the total eclipse and that sorta made it even more disappointing to me.

I'm starting to see some problems on a few of my smaller goldfish, they are growing like a bump or a lump on the side of their body. Here is what I think.

Until recently, I sorta believed that carp and goldfish could live and thrive in horrible conditions, stagnant water, industrial waste, but now I'm thinking my fish have been getting sick from too high of a nitrate load...? If I was a Scientist I'd Research the topic, but since I ain't no Scientist, I got me some reading to catch up on.

Good Day and thanks for the foam link.

 

[Parka]

Well I did some reading. At first I was super interested but the longer and more videos I watched, it got almost frustrating watching and listening to Dr. Novak talk in circles and just NOT proving much of anything!

I do understand the basics. I understand the aerobic and anaerobic difference in the breakdown of organic materials, from keeping compost piles for years on end.

I did NOT see one single proper experiment done by Dr. Novak, and after going down his rabbit hole, my mood soured greatly!

Thanks for almost nothing, Dr. Novak, you gots Kitty Litter on the brain! HARUMPHHH!

 

[Sassafras]

Is that the "anoxic filtration" guy who claims his filters denitrify, breaking down nitrate to nitrogen gas in addition to removing ammonia and nitrite? I've never seriously looked at his stuff, although it sounds interesting. I've run into him on reefkeeping forums.

 

[Parka]

Is that the "anoxic filtration" guy who claims his filters denitrify, breaking down nitrate to nitrogen gas in addition to removing ammonia and nitrite? I've never seriously looked at his stuff, although it sounds interesting. I've run into him on reefkeeping forums.

Yeah, that's him. Anoxic, a new term to me, it means Low Oxygen...

I wanted to see a black & white experiment, maybe the proper term is a Controlled Experiment.

I would liked to have seen two nearly identical tanks, NO PLANTS in either test tank and one tank with the BCB (bio-cenosis basket) and then after a certain length of time, show the results.

The tanks of his I saw were moderately to heavily planted anyway! And the fish load looked very small.

I'm going to stick with the tried and true way to remove nitrates, plants and perhaps, since my tanks are large, I could do large section of the bottom with a deep sand bed, even dirted and still have room for under gravel filters too.

Also, again because of large tanks, I also like the idea of a full under gravel filter with larger pots filled with soil and sand to grow plants from. I have a largish pot in the Akron with a lilly plant in it and I'm curious if that would hold anaerobic bacteria?

Anyway, to change the subject, The Cleveland cleared pretty good after 3 weeks and the algae, I like the way it looks! It is covering EVERYthing in a very pretty green blanket... Except the Gravel! The gravel is spotless! Why isn't the gravel all covered too? I'm super glad the gravel stayed clean but wow, very cool look, thank you, Aquarium Goddesses, Me and My Inner Junkie are very pleased with your wonderful influence!