Getting back in.

[tsoperator]

Hey guys, been away from this site for quite awhile. Decided to start up an african cichlid tank again after years away. I guess magnum canister filters are kind of scarce now(they were the best 12 years ago) and I guess UG filters are a thing of the past also.

Couple questions:

Is tap water still cool, or is it all about ro/di now?

If I use tap water, can I still just treat it with chlorine remover and stress coat?

It always worked before, but I figured maybe some of my casualties could have been prevented if I had known better.

Thanks!

[jenglish]

I ran a 75 gallon cichlid tank for years with a magnum 350 and UG. I think they still do a fine job for a cichlid tank. You wouldn't catch me using them for a reef tank though

[OneDummHikk]

Tap water is all I have ever used on my FW tanks. Treat it with water treatment, stress coat, and go with it.

As for UG, my 90 had an UG filter in it until I emptied the FW out of it a year ago. The only reason I didn't put an UG filter in my 55 was because it was planted. And any FW Tank I set up in the future that isn't planted will also have an UG filter in it. They have drawbacks but the benefits - for me - outweigh the drawbacks in a FW tank.

[tsoperator]

Cool, thanks guys...I'm surprised at the quick response is this section!

Another question...I picked up a fluval 305, what do you think about the ceramic rings?
It was always just carbon before. Are there any hanging filters that are any good to use these days?

[jenglish]

Randy and I are just up late and bored

I wouldn't worry much about a HOB filter. I have enough emperor 400s and aquaclears in my garage to last until the apocalypse so I haven't looked at HOB in years.

I haven't tried a fluval or the rings so I can't comment much on them. If you use a UG filter w/ enough flow and gravel I would think it would take care of biofiltration and I would focus on chemical and physical for the cannister. Maybe thats just me.

[OneDummHikk]

Throw the rings away, run carbon in it, or don't run it at all. I have never run canisters but from what I have read about them, and what my brain reckons about them, they are good for extra flow and carbon, and thats about it. Leave the filtration to the tank itself.

What size tank are you going to be using? And, is planting it a possibility? If you can plant it, or will plant it, it solves a LOT of issues with trying to filter it.

I want to set up my 125 as a FW planted tank but I have to wait and see if the person who is "borrowing" the empty tank is going to give it back to me or not. If he keeps it, I will get another long tank for a FW planted tank.

The only major thing you do different in a planted tank is run CO2 for the plants unless and until the fish population provides enough CO2 for the plants. Mine never did in my 55 and it was extremely over stocked so I have never been able to figure out how people kept planted tanks without using CO2 on them.

Build a 1" PVC "frame" for the UG filter to sit on. Have one of the standpipes from the UG connected to that frame. Put T'es in it, open, under the UG. When its time to do a water change, you pump water into the UG through one standpipe, suck it out through the other. All the water for the WC comes out from under the UG, pulling the mulm with it.

I actually want a lagoonal type setup where about half the tank is planted to simulate the bank of the water, and then a river stone bottom in part of it. Mix it up. The things I want to do/try in a FW tank would boggle the mind. And coming from the Tim Taylor of DIY Reefing, that is SCARY. Even to me.

[tsoperator]

Well, my fishless cycling finally finished on my 60g. My nitrates are somewhere between 80 and 160.

I'm gonna do a big water change today.

I have 24 african cichlids due to show up at my door on April 1st...can't wait!

[icebear]

yay! good luck and post pics!