Cycling... huh? (medium long)

Hi yet again fair group,

My old 55 is lookin' pretty nice for a $50 (+$100 for more stuff) find
and my reseal is not leaking as of 2 hours now...Yeehaa!! Few
questions please:

Q: May I get a Aqua Clear 500 along with the Whisper 60 I already have?
Would AQ 300 with Whisper 60 be better as not to "over filter"? I am
not running a unergravel system as I consider them dirt collectors and
I'd rather just vacuum the gravel regularly. (I was told as LFS I need
two filters due to 4' long tank needing circulation and I tend to
agree)

I consider the Whisper 60 more designed for convenient than efficient
so I don't mind adding another big filter to the tank.

Q: What is all this cycling talk? I used to set up a tank, run it for
almost a week, add only two fish, run it a few weeks, add a few more
fish, etc... Very gradual changes... I don't feel like getting into all
that testing "mumbo jumbo" and is this a safe strategy? I used to
vacuum monthly and filter/carbon change monthly or so. Now every thing
was cleaned very thoroughly so there is no good bacteria to speak of.
I'm in no rush to "do it right".

Q: Can/should I hang one of my 55 set up filters onto my 29 set up (but
not remove the 29 tanks AQ 200) for a couple week to "seed" the filter
then add it to the 55? Would the "over filtering" harm the 29 gal?

Q: My fish guy seems to love "bio stars" and they seem very impressive
as they are pricey. Should I go with these in the over hang filters to
drasticly boost their surface area? He says you never have to (nor
should) change them like ceramic stuff. I only remember using
floss/carbon back in the day and now we have all this fancy new stuff!
;\

Q: The Fish guy also recommended "Amazon Rain" so I got some and use it
in my 29 for 6 Clown Loaches. Is it as good as it is pricey like the
biostars? He said Amazon rain with the pureified water and aquarium
salt will be the closest I can get to real Clown Loach river habitat
water, yes? It sure *sounds* great!

What I've done so far: I filled the tank with (water store RO
purified) drinking water, added 11 tsp aquaruim salt, added washed
gravel and plants, installed and runnin whisper 60 with fresh "bio
bags", installed heater, covers and lamps. All seems well so far thanks
in part to advise from this group, thank you all...

(Now ready to get another AQ hang on filter) Also not yet decided what
to put into the tank, I really like silly Clown Loaches but some of the
long whiskered cat fish critters cought my eye too (not like the now
famous 12 cat fish).

Thanks all for the help in the past, present and future.
Cheers, Karl.

On 21 Feb 2006 21:55:16 -0800, hondaruehs.DeleteThis@aol.com wrote:

>Hi yet again fair group,
>
>My old 55 is lookin' pretty nice for a $50 (+$100 for more stuff) find
>and my reseal is not leaking as of 2 hours now...Yeehaa!! Few
>questions please:

Congrats on the successful reseal - you make it sound easy.
>
>Q: May I get a Aqua Clear 500 along with the Whisper 60 I already have?
>Would AQ 300 with Whisper 60 be better as not to "over filter"? I am
>not running a unergravel system as I consider them dirt collectors and
>I'd rather just vacuum the gravel regularly. (I was told as LFS I need
>two filters due to 4' long tank needing circulation and I tend to
>agree)
>
Some of my best friends are lfs owners, but God/dess there are a lot
of them out there giving my friends a bad name.

I'll address only the points with which I have useful knowledge. I
have very recently, like 6 weeks ago, filtered my 55 with a Whisper 60
without problems. It created good circulation throughout the tank,
hung on the back at one end, water moving well at the opposite end. I
think the fish appreciate the option to choose between a quieter
region and a "fast action" region. However, I felt that I was pushing
the Whisper to its max, I don't know why, but I felt a need for a
safety net, so I hung an Aquaclear at the opposite end. It was a 500,
but I would have felt fine with a 300, I just didn't happen to have an
extra one at the moment. If the water level is kept close to full in
the tank, both of these filters discharge their waterfalls just under
the surface, providing very quiet, but strong circulation. Without a
lot of splashing, which makes me have to get up and go to the bathroom
because I take "water pills" for my high blood pressure. They make a
nice combo, and each fills in for the other's weak spots, as was so
eloquently outlined in a recent post from NetMax. I wouldn't worry
about over-filtering, the more bio filtration the better, and the
extra mechanical filtration will be a plus, located at either end of
the tank. Surface turbulence is the only reason I can think of that
would be a nuisance, and that can be controlled by keeping your water
levels up. The AquaClear also provides a more convenient method to add
extra stuff in your filter, whether that be carbon, Ammo chips,
ceramic rings, Honey Nut Cheerios, or whatever. Whisper has an
adjustable outlet flow controller, which can help you balance your
circulation if you find a need to.

>I consider the Whisper 60 more designed for convenient than efficient
>so I don't mind adding another big filter to the tank.

If by convenience you mean ease of use, I think the Aquaclear beats
the Whisper in this category. But that doesn't mean that one filter is
better or worse, it means they're different. They handle similar tasks
in different manners. The two filters complement each other nicely. I
have since replaced the Whisper 60 with a Tetratec, not because I felt
the 60 was inadequate as I told my wife so she would loan me her
credit card, but because I wanted a new toy.The Whisper 60 is
presently doing a beautiful job on my old 29.

I'll leave your remaining questions to the others.

Mr Gardener

>
>Q: What is all this cycling talk? I used to set up a tank, run it for
>almost a week, add only two fish, run it a few weeks, add a few more
>fish, etc... Very gradual changes... I don't feel like getting into all
>that testing "mumbo jumbo" and is this a safe strategy? I used to
>vacuum monthly and filter/carbon change monthly or so. Now every thing
>was cleaned very thoroughly so there is no good bacteria to speak of.
>I'm in no rush to "do it right".
>
>Q: Can/should I hang one of my 55 set up filters onto my 29 set up (but
>not remove the 29 tanks AQ 200) for a couple week to "seed" the filter
>then add it to the 55? Would the "over filtering" harm the 29 gal?
>
>Q: My fish guy seems to love "bio stars" and they seem very impressive
>as they are pricey. Should I go with these in the over hang filters to
>drasticly boost their surface area? He says you never have to (nor
>should) change them like ceramic stuff. I only remember using
>floss/carbon back in the day and now we have all this fancy new stuff!
>;\
>
>Q: The Fish guy also recommended "Amazon Rain" so I got some and use it
>in my 29 for 6 Clown Loaches. Is it as good as it is pricey like the
>biostars? He said Amazon rain with the pureified water and aquarium
>salt will be the closest I can get to real Clown Loach river habitat
>water, yes? It sure *sounds* great!
>
>What I've done so far: I filled the tank with (water store RO
>purified) drinking water, added 11 tsp aquaruim salt, added washed
>gravel and plants, installed and runnin whisper 60 with fresh "bio
>bags", installed heater, covers and lamps. All seems well so far thanks
>in part to advise from this group, thank you all...
>
>(Now ready to get another AQ hang on filter) Also not yet decided what
>to put into the tank, I really like silly Clown Loaches but some of the
>long whiskered cat fish critters cought my eye too (not like the now
>famous 12 cat fish).
>
>Thanks all for the help in the past, present and future.
>Cheers, Karl.