new tank setup

[sony]

50 gallon tank
70 (oxy 4) sponge filter
300 watt heater
2 air stones

should add one more sponge filter (70 gallon) or will one be enough?
should the extending arm (90 degree arm on top) of the sponge filter be above or below water level?
is this enough air, im using a rena 400 to power filter and air stones?
do i need another heater for back up on the other side of the tank?


please comment and share your opinion. thanks

[acorn54]

hi sony
is the sponge seeded with bacteria from an aged tank?

[sony]

no, all new accessories, i will be adding proven water from my other tank and let it cycle for about 4-6 weeks.

one more question, would leaving the lights on help speed the cycle?

[acorn54]

sony
the ammonia and nitrite eating bacteria are not in the water of an aged tank they are on the substrate media
you will have to seed a sponge in an aged tank for a week or two and when you put your fish into your new tank put the seeded sponge in the new tank

[Carol_Roberts]

Hi Sony:
Adding water from an existing tank will not cycle the sponge. You have to use dither fish or preferrably ammonia to cycle (feed) a filter. Or start the filter in your existing fishtank - let it run for several weeks and it will be cycled. Add it to the new 50 gallon with the new fish.

I'd use two sponge filters and skip the airstones.

[Smokey]

Sony - Acorn54 is correct. Old wateris just that - old - contaminated water. Not bio-logicallly true water. The biological bacteria thrive in a sponge foam ; they colonize, they grow ..
If in doubt, test the water ... ammonia .. nitites .. must be ZERO!!! MPO
and never let the nitrates exceed - 5.0ppm. / 10 ppm cause extreme problems/ short life spans/health problems, etc, - ; if you like healthy discus. again - MPO./expierence.

What do you use for removing the solid debre?

HTH.

Smokey

[sony]

so how much ammonia per 10 gallons do i add?

what do you guys think of the components?

thanks for all your help, as usual.

[tony1313]

Sony,
I use 5 drops per 10 gallons of pure white ammonia(no additives) per day and also use TLC to jump start the cycle. Keep an eye on your ammonia levels, when they start to drop your nitrite level should start to go up. Once the ammonia and nitrite levels are zero do a 90 to 100% w/c of aged treated water and you should be ok for fish. This should take about 2-3 weeks.

HTH
Tony

[Jason]

squeeze a sponge from another tank into the tank if you have one and are not worried about desease, you can still add amonia.

crank the heater as high as it will go, higher temp will speed up the cycle, keep the airstones in there to get more 02 to the bacteria.