New Tanga tank filtration advice please

[Young Man]

Originally Posted by zonkkie

thanks bro... look forward to your advice. My OHF currently only 3 tray (not 3 layer)... so not enough and need canister. Will see if can add on more trays after moving out the existing inhabitants.



I no farm leh... only got one tank to play.... no choice.

Any idea if can just use coral chips and baking soda? Or need to add salt.

baking soda is to bring up the pH to about 8-9. which is good enough.some dont even bother about pH.
as for stabilising the pH, some use epsom, some use marine salt, some use coral chips, some dont use anything..
read up more on the water chemistry and come up with a mixture and routine that suits your fishkeeping style the best.
different people keep different fish, different tank setups and different water supply.

filtration wise if i would suggest, then just load the IOS with biomedia and use the OHF for mechanical filtration, should be enough. more layers and you can add biomedia on the OHF too.

[amiidae]

Originally Posted by zonkkie

thanks bro! Yup, got this running in one of my tanks but a eheim compact (not the plus model) and stuck to the side using suckers. The eheim suckers appear pretty good and the compact pump is pretty light - should be fine and doesnt slide down.

Originally Posted by Brichardi

This look good bud....solve the weight problem and the sand problem as well. Thanks for sharing.
BTW Zonkkie I think you may wanna buy extra suckers to replace them regularly...imo.

You dont use the suction cups if you plan to fix the pump at high level. So there is no slipping issue.

Originally Posted by zonkkie

Actually the only problem will be most big tanks have bracing... So not sure if this will still work? Or only on braceless tanks.

No issue.

See the bracket arrangement of that extreme left of 767510.


All my 422 with bracing are installed that way.

btw, using coral sand as substrates will limit your Tanga fish selection.

[johannes]

Using bracket definitely help.
I am using bracket for my eheim power line as well.

[zonkkie]

Originally Posted by wildbear

Wow... 7ft! Imagine a big school of utintas in open water Nice....can't wait to see your set-up.
Welcome to tanga community bro

Thanks for the welcome bro. Its a 7ft narrow tank. Only 1.5ft - in terms of capacity same as a 422 only.

Originally Posted by canopy

bro... depends on which river. Baking soda i think cannot hit so high

Thanks for advice bro. Will try and see how high it goes up to.

Originally Posted by wildbear

Bro, i'm also a tanga beginner offering what I have learn from all the tanga dragons...

basically coral chips/coral sand is used to maintain/stable PH.....around 8.0 -9.0 should be fine (mine at around 8+/-). You can visit lfs to get ready mix tanganyika buffer & tanganyika salt to get the required hardness & PH to replicate the natural environment of tanga fishes. Or to save on the high cost of buying ready mix (wow...7ft), most bros here do their own diy buffer...I'm sure bros here is more then ready to share their formula with you.
Of cos they are other tanga keeper who prefer to use different parameter for their fishes.
With the advise from all the above tanga shifu...and more visit to see their collections, you will get more knowledgeable and more poison

Enjoy!

Originally Posted by Young Man

baking soda is to bring up the pH to about 8-9. which is good enough.some dont even bother about pH.
as for stabilising the pH, some use epsom, some use marine salt, some use coral chips, some dont use anything..
read up more on the water chemistry and come up with a mixture and routine that suits your fishkeeping style the best.
different people keep different fish, different tank setups and different water supply.

filtration wise if i would suggest, then just load the IOS with biomedia and use the OHF for mechanical filtration, should be enough. more layers and you can add biomedia on the OHF too.

much appreciated advice! Ok - looks like i have my filtration sorted. Will play around with the mixes. Other than PH - is there a need to watch for hardness?

Originally Posted by amiidae

No issue.

See the bracket arrangement of that extreme left of 767510.


All my 422 with bracing are installed that way.

btw, using coral sand as substrates will limit your Tanga fish selection.

Originally Posted by johannes

Using bracket definitely help.
I am using bracket for my eheim power line as well.

Thanks bros - will check out the bracket - hope they sell it separately and can be used with compact series!

Ben - can help to enlighten this newbie on the limitations of coral sand? i.e. which species cannot be kept? I already have neutral sand in the tank so if no need to scoop that out will save me a lot of backache!

[leisuretron]

hi zonkkie,

welcome to the poison world, we look forward to see your big tank setup.
For me, i use baking soda and epson salt for ph and stabilising. running on sump tank, cheers!

[Young Man]

watch for pH, hardness and nitrate. that's my own practice. read up on high pH setups and see which are the ones you would like to place emphasis on.

[amiidae]

Originally Posted by zonkkie

Ben - can help to enlighten this newbie on the limitations of coral sand? i.e. which species cannot be kept? I already have neutral sand in the tank so if no need to scoop that out will save me a lot of backache!

Generally, you may have to avoid keeping Tanganyika sand-shifters if the sand is too coarse.

[zonkkie]

Originally Posted by leisuretron

hi zonkkie,

welcome to the poison world, we look forward to see your big tank setup.
For me, i use baking soda and epson salt for ph and stabilising. running on sump tank, cheers!

Saw your post on your very impressive big tank! Amazing! Ok - so the more economical option is still baking soda and epson salt. Do you do anything to prevent the sand going down to your sump?

Originally Posted by Young Man

watch for pH, hardness and nitrate. that's my own practice. read up on high pH setups and see which are the ones you would like to place emphasis on.

Will do bro!

Originally Posted by amiidae

Generally, you may have to avoid keeping Tanganyika sand-shifters if the sand is too coarse.

Ok - shall decide on the inhabitants first before even deciding on the substrate. I was thinking coral sand is the standard for african cichlids tanks but looks like there are other options and can just use coral chips to buffer instead of coral sand. Seems like most people are still using white/off white substrates though.

[Young Man]

Originally Posted by zonkkie

Ok - shall decide on the inhabitants first before even deciding on the substrate. I was thinking coral sand is the standard for african cichlids tanks but looks like there are other options and can just use coral chips to buffer instead of coral sand. Seems like most people are still using white/off white substrates though.

easiest is either use C0 coral sand for white colour or cory sand for more brownish colour.

[Brichardi]

IMHO C0 coral sand would be ideal (though Amid may disagree on this ) as its fine enough for sandshifters even as well as clean look and good buffer. Also, can use that tray/s (OHF) supposingly use for coral chips to put bio-media instead.

Note: Diff sources has diff grades of C0...some would be finer than others...from my experiences of purchasing 20~30 packets of 10kg of C0 in the last 24 months.