It Is That Time Once Again....

[Kindredspirit]

Hey guys~


My question list is getting a little long so here I am~

1...Is it a good idea to feed right before lights out and they crash? I use to give them a little snack after the last water change and then I would turn off the lights....but now....I am not so sure if that is wise? Seems I am questioning the wisdom of things I always use to do .....

2...The other night while filling up my 55gal, I was checking out the Python and I noticed running thru it was all these bubbles! Lotz of them! Huge! I had never seen that before and so I tighten all the connecting parts and I was trippin thinking that I was putting in all this Co2? In the bubbles? I want to know why that happened and how to avoid it again~

3...more bubble issues....lol! All of a sudden all my Hydro Sponges in my tanks are putting out these huge bubbles! Im talking really big ones and they all go to the top and pop! And if I have any evaporation on top, it is very loud and I can hear it in the night~ I have my air line connected to the little thingy inside....( Barb, I so do not see where you put an airstone, cuz mine wont fit if I want to attach the airline?) I want my bubbles to come out of the sponges, not the long plastic tube...

4... What causes your filter to all of a sudden get really loud? I hate that! Last night I messed with the Top Fin ( which I am slowly beginning to hate) forever as it all of a sudden got really loud!! And it still is!

5...I am going to get white sand, Silica, for one of my tanks and was wondering how to clean it? Just like gravel?

6... When adding shrimp to your beefheart , do you leave the shells on? Or off? I so have forgotten, Sandeep, what you said! lol!! And....do you have to feed bh frozen? Like after I make it can I just plop some in? Im thinking yes, but....

7...Does anyone know what the little black rings that cover the connectors on the Python do?? Are they just to cover the connections? Or do they serve a purpose? I so lost my booklet~ I need to find a way to make the water pressure stronger when adding water to the 55gal in the family room, as I fill from the kitchen sink. It takes FOREVER to fill! You would think that would have more than just a trickle.... All the other tanks I fill from the bathroom and it is sooooooo fast! HELP!



Okay~

Thanks everyone!! The blonde has struck again, eh??


Marie~


Marie~http://smileys.smileycentral.com/cat/18/18_1_34.gif

[sidra]

Hi Marie,
The only one I can help you with is feeding. It's best to feed when you can keep the lights on (or enough daylight) for at least a half hour after feeding so they'll still be active for a little while. Helps digestion I think. Same thing before feeding, turn the lights on and give them time to wake up before you feed them. Mine don't wake up easy LOL...they like to "sleep in"
:sleep:

Kristen

[discusdave]

Hi Marie,
I can answer a couple. I'll do it by the Q number.

2. You are not adding CO2. If you can see bubbles in a python it is just air. If you don't see any water leaking out of the python or at the sink connection point, don't worry about it. It was either air already in the line or air from your pipes.

3. You filter is loud from either air in the impeller chamber, which should clear out, or maybe a small piece of something (carbon, floss,) that the impeller is hitting. If the Top Fin is a canister filter it is probably air.

6. Shells off the shrimp always.

7. The black covers on the python serve a purpose. Don't take them off. They lock the vinyl tubing into place. there is a plastic insert that goes into the tubing, then the black cover locks it into the plastic piece it screw down on.

Regarding your sink tap water pressure: Unscrew the end of the sink faucet. You may not know it, but there is a very fine screen the tap water goes thru when it comes out. You can feel it with you finger if you put your finger in the end of the faucet. These can get clogged and reduce your water flow. Unscrew the holder and clean or replace the screen. Putting the screen on your stove burner or holding it in in a gas flame will burn the debris off nicely.

[pcsb23]

Marie, blimey you and your questions!!. We have a show in the uk called Mastermind, are you auditioning to present it??

Answering what I can by Q number!

1) 30mins or so before lights out is ok.

2) mmm. probably air in the tubes.

3) If the hydro sponges are like the sponges I use (and loads of peep in the UK do) then I think the bubbles are meant o come out of the tube at the top.


4) ummmm...

5) keep the end of the siphon just above the surface of the sand, all the gunk will be lifted off.


6) Shells off.

7) dunno.

Paul.

[Jeckel]

1. I think I read something a while ago about discus fry dying if they are fed brine shrimp right before bedtime. Something about the salt content. For bigger fish...well, people get uncomfortable if they eat too much before sleeping, and I suppose fish might too. A snack might be okay, but I don't see any reason for doing it. The main thing is that the fish should clean up everything before lights out.
3. I'm not sure what you mean about wanting bubbles to come out through the sponge...I'm not sure how you might do that, and if you succeeded the filter wouldn't be working properly. Do you mean the airstone is too big to fit into the Hydro? Even with small Hydros, a regulation-size airstone fits IME. To hook the stone to the air supply, connect the stone to a short piece of tubing, then connect the other end of the tubing to the inner connector of the "little thingy."
4. Noises from a power filter can come directly from the impeller, or from the cover vibrating. The cover of my AquaClear rattled until I put something on top of it to weight it down. Some impellers just are noisy, probably because they don't fit quite right into the housing. I've never had a powerhead that didn't eventually drive me nuts with rattling. You might try cleaning the impeller and surrounding area (90% of life's problems can be solved by taking it apart and putting it together again).

[Shaun m]

Marie, blimey you and your questions!!. We have a show in the uk called Mastermind, are you auditioning to present it??

She's started so she'll finish!!

[hexed]

Marie,
Here's my answers to your questions:

1. If I feed before the lights go out, I usually wait 30 minutes to an hour before after feeding before turning them off.
2. Inside the part you screw onto the sink there should be somekind of rubber washer (ring) be sure that is in there to tighten the seal between the connecter and the faucet. This will stop the air from going in the hose. I do not have a python but all hose have this washer.
3. The bubbles are suppose to come out into the plastic tube. To add an airstone you need to add a small piece of airline to the "nipple" underneath where you connected the airhose. If you take the sponge filter apart like you are cleaning it you will see the "nipple" I am taking about just by looking at the other side of piece that your airhose is currently connected to. There is another one on the underside. Once you add that 1 inch piece of air hose then you just put the air stone on the end of it. Put your sponge filter back together and your good to go.
4. Unplug the filter and remove the impeller and rinse it off and reinstall it the noise should go away.
5. Just exactly what Paul said ;)
6. Sandeep needs to answer that one LOL!
7 They are there so the python does not leak or get air in the hose. The second part "discusdave" answered for me ;)

Hope this helps,
Frank

[Cosmo]

Marie,

If you are getting lots of little bubbles in your python while vacuuming the gravel... if you have gravel.. then I have a question? Have you been medicating at all lately? I ask because I've noticed in the past (when I had gravel) that after dosing with antibiotics I'd get bubbles out of the gravel.. not sure exactly why, just know there were pockets of air under the substrate after using meds.. particularly Mardel Maracyn 1 and 2. If that's not the case... dunno. If the bubbles are coming up the syphon tube though, it's not a loose connection.. you'd see that in the hoses.

If you use Hydro sponges, you'll find the little nipple described above. I add about 3 inches of air tube before I attach the airstone... figure the deeper the airstone the more the water will be pulled through the entire sponge. If you're using Azoo sponge filters... there is no place to attach an airstone... and they are LOUD because the bubbles are much larger.

lol.. remove the little black rings from the python and you'll discover real fast what they do .. lol when the water gushes all over when the tubing falls off... LOL BTW.. you can use python fittings with Eheim 16/22 hose that is roughly 5/8ths... just don't use the green compression fitting inside the little black rings - the size of the hose will cause it to lock when you tighten down the black (or sometimes green) rings.

One more thing.. if you use sand as a substrate... no more than 1 inch thick.. you can develop colonies of nasty bacteria in deep sand cause you don't have any water (oxygen) going through it and you never tumble it like you do gravel..

hth
Jim

[Kindredspirit]

Marie, blimey you and your questions!!. We have a show in the uk called Mastermind, are you auditioning to present it??



You are so mean to mehttp://smileys.smileycentral.com/cat/36/36_1_44.gif, Paul....geesh..........lol!! I just got home from work and I am very tired....And yeah... i just might audition for your blimey show!! I bet you have an accent yes??? How cool~


I will be back in the morning....which, in all actuality, ( is that a word?) is in 14 min....at least in Cali~


I have to read all this and reply~ Thanks guys!


(even you, Paul!!)


Cali~

[Kindredspirit]

Hi Marie,
I can answer a couple. I'll do it by the Q number. discusdave

2. You are not adding CO2. If you can see bubbles in a python it is just air. If you don't see any water leaking out of the python or at the sink connection point, don't worry about it. It was either air already in the line or air from your pipes.

I thought air bubbles contained CO2, that is why we were to make sure that they splashed a lot on top of the water when filling the tank? To release......never mind....! dont answer that! Thanks...

3. You filter is loud from either air in the impeller chamber, which should clear out, or maybe a small piece of something (carbon, floss,) that the impeller is hitting. If the Top Fin is a canister filter it is probably air.

Today I am taking it apart and fixing it one way or the other....

6. Shells off the shrimp always.

Thatz what I thought, but there are some who leave it on!

7. The black covers on the python serve a purpose. Don't take them off. They lock the vinyl tubing into place. there is a plastic insert that goes into the tubing, then the black cover locks it into the plastic piece it screw down on.
I wouldnt take them off, but I was wondering if they had anything to do with water pressure....




Regarding your sink tap water pressure: Unscrew the end of the sink faucet. You may not know it, but there is a very fine screen the tap water goes thru when it comes out. You can feel it with you finger if you put your finger in the end of the faucet. These can get clogged and reduce your water flow. Unscrew the holder and clean or replace the screen. Putting the screen on your stove burner or holding it in in a gas flame will burn the debris off nicely.


I did that Dave! Thanks! And it did helped....can't get it back on, but hey...

Thanks Dave for your time~http://smileys.smileycentral.com/cat/23/23_32_10.gif

Marie~

[Kindredspirit]

Marie,

If you are getting lots of little bubbles in your python while vacuuming the gravel... if you have gravel.. then I have a question? Have you been medicating at all lately? I ask because I've noticed in the past (when I had gravel) that after dosing with antibiotics I'd get bubbles out of the gravel.. not sure exactly why, just know there were pockets of air under the substrate after using meds.. particularly Mardel Maracyn 1 and 2. If that's not the case... dunno. If the bubbles are coming up the syphon tube though, it's not a loose connection.. you'd see that in the hoses.Jim


Jim~ I am not or haven't medicated at least not on that tank. And the bubbles have not been there since that one time....


If you use Hydro sponges, you'll find the little nipple described above. I add about 3 inches of air tube before I attach the airstone... figure the deeper the airstone the more the water will be pulled through the entire sponge. If you're using Azoo sponge filters... there is no place to attach an airstone... and they are LOUD because the bubbles are much larger.Jim


Okay....I must be a total idiot then,http://smileys.smileycentral.com/cat/10/10_12_9.gif cuz I do have Hydro Sponges and I have one end of the air tube in the pump that plugs in and the other end in the Hydro Sponge itself....Air stone?? I can put it on the end of the tube that goes into the sponge but then it wont fit on the sponge?? I am so missing something here?? lol!!


lol.. remove the little black rings from the python and you'll discover real fast what they do .. lol when the water gushes all over when the tubing falls off... LOL BTW.. you can use python fittings with Eheim 16/22 hose that is roughly 5/8ths... just don't use the green compression fitting inside the little black rings - the size of the hose will cause it to lock when you tighten down the black (or sometimes green) rings. Jim

I never removed them, but I can loosen them and once I did loosen the one closest to the kitchen faucet and I swear it gave me more water pressure??



One more thing.. if you use sand as a substrate... no more than 1 inch thick.. you can develop colonies of nasty bacteria in deep sand cause you don't have any water (oxygen) going through it and you never tumble it like you do gravel..Jim



That is good to know, and I thank you, Sir...1 inch thick....


I will look forever for this thread later ! lol!


Thanks Jim!!

Marie~

[Kindredspirit]

She's started so she'll finish!!



Yeah!! Thanks, Shaun....http://smileys.smileycentral.com/cat/23/23_32_3.gif


I think....



Marie~

[Kindredspirit]

Frank!!


Thank you!!! http://smileys.smileycentral.com/cat/36/36_1_27.gif ( I spoke with you on the phone...lol)




Marie~


ps..hmm........but I do not think we talked about any of this?? It was about the sick one?

[Doug A]

Here is a step by step pictorial on assembling the Hydro sponge filter with airstone. http://smileys.smileycentral.com/cat/36/36_13_13.gif

If you need helphttp://smileys.smileycentral.com/cat/36/36_13_1.gif Call me and I will walk you through it.

HTH,
Doug

[Kindredspirit]

Well that would be pretty sad, ya think? wow...I swear I ........




I am an idiot~http://smileys.smileycentral.com/cat/23/23_4_131.gif


Doug, thank you, for real~

[White Worm]

A picture says a thousand words.....thats the way I have all mine setup Marie.....especially the one in my bedroom because all those big bubbles can make alot of noise. Air stone shrinks the bubbles and walla.....not much noise. Plus, some say it gives more universal flow through sponge filter creating better filtration process.