Restarting my 40g (LT's place rebuild)

[gonzoid]

I recently sterilized my 40g after losing both goldfish that were in it in early January.  Details are in my intro thread.  I was hoping to just keep the biofilter fed & wait out any remaining ich.  After contemplating the possible infection and loss of any new fish, I decided to go with the nuclear option and used bleach at 20:1.  I let it run for nearly 72 hours due to some unplanned overtime that ate my days away.  This caused all the foam filtration media to melt.  When the info says to run for 24-48 hours, that what it means...I''ll get the tank outside for a thorough cleaning while I'm on vacation next week.

What it looked like:


What I'd like is some input from you fine folks as I get it set back up.  I initially set it up before discovering AAP or this forum.  Purchases were made based on the "wisdom of the interwebs" so I'm not married to anything I have past the $$ I have in it.  

Currently on hand I have:
Aqueon 75 HOB that I had removed the cartridges from and replaced with a mechanical filtration set (caorse, medium, fine).  The remaining space is filled with BioHome Ultimate in a mesh bag.  It had a Filter Max 3 pre filter on it.    I've still got quite a bit of BioHome Ultimate if I've managed to trash what was in the HOB during bleaching.  Also have new mechanical filtration media remaining.  I've got a Hydro Sponge Filter 5 that I was planning on using for redundancy still in a box.

150 Watt Finnex w/controller external to tank.  Not an additional controller, just the control box for the heater is outside the tank.  Should have gone larger, but was not thinking about the need to raise above 78° (the highest it will hold overnight in a 66° room) in the event of disease.

Tetra Whisper 40-60 gallon air pump to drive sponge filter and bubble bar.

Marineland LED Strip Light 36".  This is barely as bright as the setup on the Fluval Spec V I have and covers 8x the water volume.  Not averse to upgrading later.

3 medium pieces of Mopani wood that were in the tank during bleaching.  They have all softened on the surface.  I took them out of the bucket they were soaking in and scrubbed most of the bleached surface soft "goo" off.  Will probably use a stiffer brush to see if I can get the color exposed again.  Would like to use again if they don't need to be trashed.

I'd like some input on the rebuild.  It will hold 3 goldfish at some point.  I'm leaning toward keeping it bare bottomed and tying some plants to the wood.  I've only got $20 in the HOB, so tossing it wouldn't be out of the question.  I was thinking about going with one of the AQUARIUM UV KITS from AAP in conjunction with the Hydro Sponge Filter 5.  The only downside I see (past additional $$ investment) is the loss of water volume in the tank vs the HOB.  I'm also not sure what to do, if anything, with the remaining BioHome Ultimate I have on hand if I went this route.

Past this, I plan on using Wonder Shells (will 1 large be sufficient?) and aquarium salt at 1T/5gallons.  My brain is swimming with information from AAP.  I just want to ask if I'm I on track so far.

[Carl]

If I am following correctly.

I see no major issues, I like your filter plan.
I would change any melted sponge material

As for lighting, while the Marineland and even Finnex are not the best lights, if all you are keeping are goldfish and some low to medium light plants, these should work.
My complaint with the Finnex is not that these cannot keep a nice planted aquarium, assuming proper size is utilized, rather the very poor efficiency as per energy used for useful energy generated as well as quality of build, warranty, and low water resistance.
Further Reading:
aquarium-digest.com/2010/06/30/led-light-review-tmc-xg-1500-maxspect-more/#Ray

One Medium Wonder Shell should be fine for this tank

Carl

[gonzoid]

On the multi-stage sponge in the 952, are they of differing pore structure, or just doubling up of the same sponge type? Would it be worth the extra $13 for the 9 watt UV kit in this setup or is it overkill? Was hoping for some more sunshine on my weekend (Mon/Tues) to get this thing outside for a good rinsing. The Oregon winter rains don't want to play nice, though. So the planning continues with little else happening.

As for substrate, I'm on the fence with the ease of cleaning by keeping it bare bottomed vs the possible environmental enrichment the future goldfish inhabitants would get from properly sized gravel. If they root around in the substrate as a natural behavior, I kind of feel like I should provide them the opportunity to do so.

[childofiam]

Mar 13, 2017 13:43:29 GMT -5 gonzoid said:

On the multi-stage sponge in the 952, are they of differing pore structure, or just doubling up of the same sponge type? Would it be worth the extra $13 for the 9 watt UV kit in this setup or is it overkill? Was hoping for some more sunshine on my weekend (Mon/Tues) to get this thing outside for a good rinsing. The Oregon winter rains don't want to play nice, though. So the planning continues with little else happening.

As for substrate, I'm on the fence with the ease of cleaning by keeping it bare bottomed vs the possible environmental enrichment the future goldfish inhabitants would get from properly sized gravel. If they root around in the substrate as a natural behavior, I kind of feel like I should provide them the opportunity to do so.

The multi-stage sponge is two different sponges. One is a course and the other is a fine sponge that has a great bio-filter capacity. I would stick to a single sponge on your HOB. I use the course sponge on my HOB because of better water flow. The fine sponge will require cleaning more often. Your main bio-field should be in your HOB but pre filtering with a sponge is better plus you will retain some bio-field in the sponge that will replenish your internal field after cleaning. Never clean both filters at the same time.
The 7 watt UV will give your 40 gallon tank level one sterilization so IMO it would be a waste to step up to the 9 watt. You won't gain anything.

I would give them 1/2 inch of gravel to mull around in or 1/2 in of course sand. You can clean this amount very easy and not worry about bio-mass build up. I say this because it is in their nature to nose around in the substrate. 

Richard

[gonzoid]

I'm likely going to drop the HoB. I've actually rather enjoyed the quieter living room without it running. Some days I found it peaceful to have the sound of running water but after turning it off pending tank rinsing, I don't think I noticed how loud it was as constant background noise.

Ditching the HoB would get me down to just the sound of the air pump running the Hydro Sponge and the resulting bubbles. Unless the the flow through the UV setup is audible from 8 feet away. I initially went with this HoB because it purported to have a 400gph turnover which would give me the 10x tank volume per hour turnover suggested (I accept this may be incorrect) by the interwebs for goldfish. The 752 is rated at 160gph (minus whatever drop there is from the UV setup) plus whatever the Hydro Sponge 5 flows running the Whisper60. Is the Fusion line of pumps noticeably quieter than the Whisper? This could be another option to reduce sound if they are.

I'm assuming the 752 in the 7 watt kit paired with the Hydro Sponge Filter 5 would provide adequate water turnover/bio-filter capacity/mechanical filtering if I ditch the HoB?

[Carl]

The Fusion is slightly quieter than the Whisper, but no vibration air pump is perfectly quiet. This said, placing an air pump in a shoe-box or similar with some insulation will dampen all noise.

The 752 Internal filter will have an approximate flow of 150 gph while with a good air pump, your AAP Hydro Sponge #5 should also have a flow of AT LEAST 150 gph.
So this is a combined 300 gph for a 40 gallon aquarium or 7.5 turns per hour (which should be more than adequate)

Reference:
www.americanaquariumproducts.com/Basic_Aquarium_Principles.html#filters

Regards;
Carl

[gonzoid]

Finally made it back around to doing something with this tank. Amazing how Spring rains and overtime put things on pause sometimes. Just ordered my 7 watt kit, some Enhance to combat the algae in Loki's tank, a boatload of WS (thanks for the sale!) and some other goodies. Time to grab a fresh blade for the scraper & get the melted sponge material out of this thing & get it rinsed out. Hope I can get it cleaned up/rinsed out & ready for setup this week while I'm off work. I'll start a new tank blog soon I hope.