# Its about time, right?



## Nova_C (Nov 8, 2004)

Okay, so I'm almost not a poser on this site anymore









I bought an aquarium today and spent a goodly chunk of time building a stand for it (Hella sturdy - I impressed myself). Anyway, it was a 55g starter kit ($250 CDN - awesome price) from Tetra and I figure most of the equipment it came with will be fine. I wonder about the filter, though. Its a Tetra Whisper 60 and I assume that I'll need to upgrade eventually for my Rhom. Anyway, the nice thing about this tank is it has two separate covers each half the length (The tank is 4x1x1), which means the light that is above the piranhas hiding place can stay off while the other light can be put on a timer. I replaced the one it came with with a light that has some blue spectrum but a LOT of red spectrum light. Good for my effort with live plants, I think.

I'll have pics once I start cycling, then I plan to document the Rhom's growth, so I'll have lots of pics then. Anyway, any thoughts on my setup? This is my first aquarium, so any info is welcome.

PS Its so exciting getting into a new hobby - especially this one.


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## 33truballa33 (Oct 18, 2004)

im not sure how much filtration u want but most people reccomend 10 times the gallonage of the tank so something that filters 550.. on my 75 i have an emp 400 and a ac 300 so thats pretty close. uhm good idea with the lights and good luck on this whole set up look foward to seeing pics


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## 0123 (May 18, 2004)

maybe instead of having the other light off you could do alot of floating plants or something really reall maybe? it would probly look a little bit nicer and since your allready doing plants


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## Nova_C (Nov 8, 2004)

I thought about floating plants and really don't like the idea. I'll keep an open mind, though.

10x Filtration seems like overkill. I remember reading something about 50% increase in capacity. What about piranhas in 200g tanks? Are you supposed to outfit that with 2000g filtration capacity? Especially considering I'm only going to have the one piranha.


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## Fresh (Feb 8, 2004)

yes, 10x the size of the tank, any tank size


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## SpAzZy (Mar 30, 2004)

personally, i don't have 10x filtration in my rbp tank. he is a solitary pygo and the actual filtration does not turn the tank 10x. combined with my powerhead, yes, it turns 10x, but the powerhead doesn't filter any water, it just adds current. my powerfilter (hob) probably turns the tank 3 times an hour, i'm not quite sure on the gph, it was given to me with that particular tank and my water parameters have always been good, never any spikes. my serra tank on the other hand is definitly turned 10x. there really isn't any difference between the two, the water is just as clear in either, and the params can't get any better than zero. just make sure you feed foods that don't break apart in your tank and that you clean up all the scraps or uneaten pieces. i feed shrimp and it doesn't break apart when my p's eat it. i stopped with beefheart because it breaks into pieces as soon as it gets biten.


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## Guest (Nov 21, 2004)

I would have said for a single P 10x is a bit much. Maybe a shoal of Pygo's it is about right. Regular water changes (weekly at least) and around 4x I would have though was ok for a single P. Mind you, you cannot overkill filtration, the more the better. And just keep up to mess and don't allow a reason to need a lot of filtration. If your ammonia stays zilch and the water looks clear you are alright. If not add other forms of filtration as the P grows. It is surprising how much an aged tank will filter itself. When bacteria has established everywhere, decor etc..

Don't overfeed and leave scraps everywhere!


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## elTwitcho (Jun 22, 2004)

For most setups that aren't overstocked I would aim more for around 5 times turnover. The more the better but you really don't need 10 times turnover except in a very few exceptional cases, and I'd say never with a solitary fish.


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## Nova_C (Nov 8, 2004)

Hmm, so if I get another filter, I should _add_ it to my existing one, instead of replacing it. Doh! I wanted to use it on a smaller tank for non-carnivorous fish. Oh well.

I just remembered:

I wanted to ask you guys about my proposed setup. The current filter just pours the water back into the tank, which takes care of gas exchange (right?), but I bought a powerhead to go in. The powerhead is 1??-290 GPH. I was thinking that I would put the powerhead in the upper right rear side of the tank, beside where the filtered water is introduced back into the tank (It'll be right above where I plan on building the 'hiding' area for my piranha). So far as I understand currents, the water should circle left at the top, go down the left side and go back right at the bottom. The filter intake will be at the bottom right of the tank. I'm thinking of placing my heater at the far left hand side of the tank. Sound good?

And if you guys are wondering why I haven't filled it yet, I didn't get NEARLY enough substrate. My friend has a 60g and I was going off how much he used, but didn't take into account his is much taller than my tank. Mine has a way larger footprint. I still haven't decided if I'm getting flourite for plants anyway.


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