Ms. Behavin's Blood Parrot Cichild tank

Rhodes19

Rhodes19

Active Member
Ok,

Ms Behavin is my wife's trucker handle (long story and longer drive). Several years ago she brought home some blood parrots and put them into my 45 g wf tank. The swordtails, platties and tetras weren't to happy but they got along. Now there are 5 blood parrots in there and the water quality has dropped. To help fix this (along with water changes) I got a wet/dry tank but needed some bio balls. Eric sent me 6g of bio balls and I just got them. :woohoo: When I get home tonight I'll get them in and start the wet/dry. I'll post some pics of the tank after I clean it up a bit.

Thanks Eric, I really appreciate your help. You're awesome. :thumbup:

bioballsEric1.jpg


bioballsEric2.jpg


bioballsEric3.jpg


bioballsEric4.jpg
 
Rhodes19

Rhodes19

Active Member
Well, I got the bioballs into the wet/dry, put filter floss in it, made all the plumbing connections with 1" tubing, barbs and clamps, placed it under the tank, filled it with water, turned it on and FLOOD!!!!!

Hmm, 45 gallon tank, check, over flow box rated at 600 gph, check, submersible pump pushing 4100 liters per hour (1025 gph) causing flood in front of wife, priceless! I guess I should have looked at the pumps rating first. Oh well, lesson learned. I'll have to see if I can find a pump that can push 225 gph (5x turnover) to 450 gph (10x turnover). I don't think I've seen my wife move that fast in a while. The dog wasn't happy though, it was her blanket that got used to catch the water.


wetdry1.jpg


wetdry2.jpg


wetdry3.jpg
 
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DaveK

Well-Known Member
I'm not sure if the last picture is with the system running or not. If the system is running, you have too much water in the sump. Bio-balls should not be kept immersed under water.

When kept under water, you still get the bacteria growing on them, but because there is no air the becteria don't get the gas exchange. This turns them into a big oxygen consumer.

BTW, you may also get some advantage by using an air pump to inject air into the bio-ball area.
 
Eric

Eric

Google Warrior
PREMIUM
Dave those bio balls will be all over the country till I'm done :)

Just passing it on :)
 
Frankie

Frankie

Well-Known Member
RS STAFF
LOL! To funny :D
Chris, I would also check to make sure that ball valve is in good. CHeck the teflon tape and make sure it is tight. I think it was loose when I last saw it :(
Dave is right, the balls need to be out of the water. Pull that pre-filter pad out of there and it will work better.
As far as the pump go's, It would need to have a ball valve on the output side dialed back to work right. Looks like you got a pump for it though so good job. Sorry I missed the show :D
 
Rhodes19

Rhodes19

Active Member
DaveK said:
I'm not sure if the last picture is with the system running or not. If the system is running, you have too much water in the sump. Bio-balls should not be kept immersed under water.

When kept under water, you still get the bacteria growing on them, but because there is no air the becteria don't get the gas exchange. This turns them into a big oxygen consumer.

BTW, you may also get some advantage by using an air pump to inject air into the bio-ball area.
Click to expand...

Hi Dave,

Thanks. No the system is off and the water back filled. Will the air pump/stone act kind of like a counter current? I can see how that would be beneficial. More O2 for the bacteria. I'll give it a try once I get a smaller pump. :)
 
Rhodes19

Rhodes19

Active Member
Frankie said:
LOL! To funny :D
Chris, I would also check to make sure that ball valve is in good. CHeck the teflon tape and make sure it is tight. I think it was loose when I last saw it :(
Dave is right, the balls need to be out of the water. Pull that pre-filter pad out of there and it will work better.
As far as the pump go's, It would need to have a ball valve on the output side dialed back to work right. Looks like you got a pump for it though so good job. Sorry I missed the show :D
Click to expand...

Hi Frankie,

Thanks. I don't have a ball valve on it but that would throttle the pump down. Would the back pressure put an undue stress on the pump? The teflon tape is good. I added new tape to every thread and doubled checked. If I pull the prefilter out will that cause the bioballs to clog up? I was hoping to get some mechanical filtration in there.

Don't worry about missing the show. I'm sure I will be putting on some more water works show in the future. :D

Sorry I didn't get back with you on Sunday. It was a very off day. I had a wicked sinus headache all day and couldn't do much. Definitely not fit company. :( Doing better now. Its amazing what a saline solution and a big syringe can do. :explode:
 
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DaveK

Well-Known Member
Eric said:
Dave those bio balls will be all over the country till I'm done :)

Just passing it on :)
Click to expand...

Actually, I'm delighted to see this happen, especially when they will do a lot of good, especially in a system like this, which is fw and has large fish.

I still hate to think what those things cost when they were new and all the rage for reef systems.
 
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DaveK

Well-Known Member
Rhodes19 said:
... Will the air pump/stone act kind of like a counter current? ...
Click to expand...

I'm sorry, I didn't make this clear.

You want blow the air directly into the bioball tower. Don't use an airstone at all, you just want the max amount of air. You can use almost any air pump, but since there is no back pressure, a large, cheep air pump will do just fine.

One easy way to ge the air in is to use some rigid plastic tubing, and sneak it around the drip tray, and then into the lower middle part of the bio-balls. You can bend rigid tubing by placeing it in very hot water.
 
Rhodes19

Rhodes19

Active Member
DaveK said:
I still hate to think what those things cost when they were new and all the rage for reef systems.
Click to expand...

No lie. I can only imagine what the dyed ones go for. I haven't seen them at any of the lfs but have found info on them. I don't know why but dying/tattooing fish just don't sit well with me.
 
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DaveK

Well-Known Member
Frankie said:
... Pull that pre-filter pad out of there and it will work better.
...
Click to expand...

I have mixed feelings about recommending this. Yes, you will get better flow through the bioballs. OTOH, you have a large FW tank with big fish that produce a lot of waste.

It is often desirable to filter out as much initial glop as possible. If your going to use a pad clean it often.
 
Rhodes19

Rhodes19

Active Member
DaveK said:
I'm sorry, I didn't make this clear.

You want blow the air directly into the bioball tower. Don't use an airstone at all, you just want the max amount of air. You can use almost any air pump, but since there is no back pressure, a large, cheep air pump will do just fine.

One easy way to ge the air in is to use some rigid plastic tubing, and sneak it around the drip tray, and then into the lower middle part of the bio-balls. You can bend rigid tubing by placeing it in very hot water.
Click to expand...

Cool, I'll have to give that a try. Thanks Dave. :)
 
Rhodes19

Rhodes19

Active Member
DaveK said:
I have mixed feelings about recommending this. Yes, you will get better flow through the bioballs. OTOH, you have a large FW tank with big fish that produce a lot of waste.

It is often desirable to filter out as much initial glop as possible. If your going to use a pad clean it often.
Click to expand...

Yeah, thats what I was thinking. Lots of poop. :) I picked up that blue/white filter floss at a lfs but I'm sure I can find something similar at Walmart crafts department.
 
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