Fantastic aquarium beautiful selection of fish, thanks for sharing your system for water changes. What size is the tank in litres and what is the the type and number of fish housed.
I thought it was funny that you had a charles darwin t shirt on with a dish full of bananas in the background! Such beautiful discuss. I think the wild ones are the most beautiful type. I heard that they are more difficult to keep.
Quelle chance d'avoir une eau avec ces caracteristique là !!! moi je me bat avec une eau au robinet a 7.3 PH et 380 ppm ^^mais bon quand on aime .... merci pour tes video !
I also use a HMA filter for my water changes using very much the same method you employ. My tap water however is not as good as yours so I slow down the return flow rate. I also bend the end of the return pipe into the shape of a hook / hockey stick. This hook is held in shape using wire from a metal coat hangar that I firstly wrap around a pencil and then slip the wire over the return tube that allows me to bend the pipe into a hook. This method firmly holds the return tube in the tank - I don’t trust rubber stickers lol. Thanks again for the video 🤓✌️
Thank you! That's an innovative way of creating a water change hook! I will try making something like that for my return hose as I'm constantly worried that it will slip off the suction cup when I'm not around.
@@tropicalfishhub it’s a pity I can’t post a pic here as I’ve also fitted a quarter inch ball valve on the hooked end also. It’s a real time saver for me doing water partial changes in my fish room every morning.
@@PaulsFishroom oh, I have seen this method in fish rooms, it may not work on my display tank though because the water goes down to the sump, so I have to make sure the sump doesn't overflow
@@tropicalfishhub it would work on your display tank. I think you are looking on another method. If you look on my CZcams channel (Paul’s Fishroom) it is shown at the start of the video “Pauls Fish Room Jan 2019”…
@@PaulsFishroom I saw it now! Its a great idea; I'll try it as well. You had some absolutely gorgeous Montezuma swords! It is certainly a dream fish for me, but I guess they'll suffer in my soft water. I also noticed that your Manacapuru females hardly have any red colour on them. That's interesting because my females were always similarly coloured to males.
Cool tank man. Those are beautiful fish. Does the pathos plant reduce nitrates significantly. I plan to get a pathos plant as well. Greetings from TX USA.
@@tropicalfishhub I still can't get nitrates under control. I have no idea why. I don't over feed, tank is understocked and I see no mulm buildup, do big weekly water changes, ugh. For the HMA filter, I don't want "alkaline remineralization" on this filter, correct, because it doesn't strip it completely like RO does. (Some setups offer that ). And, is my assumption that ph would be lower as well, correct?
@@missmermaid6249 How high are your nitrates? May be your tap water already has high nitrates, so its not a problem of your tank? HMA filter certainly doesn't remove minerals, and it also doesn't affect the pH. It just removes chlorine/chloramine and sediments/metals, but it doesn't alter water chemistry.
@@tropicalfishhub My nitrates got as high as the chart would go, deep red 160ppm (when I'd fertilized). I've gotten it down over the months to 5.ppm but then it rises to between 20-40ppm, then I do another water change. You know I'm under stocked, I don't over feed, I have no decaying plant matter, plants all healthy . I did put catapa leaves in, but the geophagus bury them with their sand sifting and I noticed they were breaking down, so I've removed them. Today, looks like it's at 30ppm and it's only been 3 days since I've done a water change. Thanks for the HMA advice. I've looked at them and will get one. I believe the HMA would give me peace of mind.
@@missmermaid6249 That is so strange! Nitrates usually spike due to overstocking and/or overfeeding. Have you tried testing your tap water? Sometimes nitrates increase in tap water. Altums should be fine with up to 20ppm, but higher nitrates might stress them out. Are you using any nutritious soil for plants? Some soils can raise nitrates as well, especially garden mixes. One way to add catapa leaves is to keep them in your canister in a mesh bag. I am doing that in tanks with strong flow, but catapa will not solve the nitrate problem
Nice and informative video !! Can you explain how the sump works in your tank and the reason for not aging your new water before filling it back in the tank ? Also the name of the cat fish you have there as I have the same set up with Altums and Heckels and needed a scavenger fish like that. Thank you :-)
Thank you:) Here is the video about my sump set up: czcams.com/video/kL7CeKij8sU/video.html. I used to age and carbon filter the water before I installed the HMA filter to remove/reduce chlorine, but now the filter does it for me and as my tap water is already soft enough there is no need to age it. This is a Hoplo catfish (Megalechis thoracata), it can easily handle temperatures up to 31-32C, and it doesn't grow large.
Hi, I have a discus tank with a ph of 6,5. but my kh is 0, because I use RO water with Preis discus minerals to get approx 250 qs conductivity. Should I worry of my KH and use my regular tap water kh 11 and 550 qs instead ? With a bit of a carbon filter like you to remove chlorine and hevay metals / pesticides
I think you can remineralize with your tap water, KH 11 sounds reasonable. Wild fish should handle low pH well as long as it goes down steadily. If you have captive bred fish, they most likely won't need RO at all.
@@tropicalfishhubthank you for the reply, I really enjoy your videos. I am thinking of using my tap water with only the carbon and residue filter part of my RO unit. I have stendker discus, so they should be fine. I wanted them to enjoy perfect water but I forgot about the KH being drained by the nitrification process in my calculations. Having some KH gives me some peace of mind, I will only have the nitrate to care about as I have auto ph controler with CO2 injection... Or maybe no CO2 and keep the 0 kh with my PH dropping. Would it drops that much? I have no idea how far the nitrite and nitrate change from the bacteria can lower the pH .... I have 0 experience at 0 Kh. I am making it super complexe while it seems it could be easy. I guess the 100% tap water at 11kh would still get lower kh in the tank pretty fast I don't know. Omg ^^'
@@cdave2006 Thanks, I'm glad you are liking the videos! I have a feeling that CO2 affects your pH, making it lower. Discus also seem to dislike it. So perhaps unless you have a high-tech planted aquascape with delicate plants, the sheer bioload of discus should keep the plants happy. To be honest, Stendkers would rather prefer pH7-7,5 and KH around 7-8, and they might get stressed out permanently living in soft water. My tap water pH also drops once in the tank. I would not make drastic changes immediately, but slowly you can reduce RO percentage in water changes to completely transition them to tap. I've seen people keeping Stendkers successfully in pH close to 8 and KH around 10, they are well adapted to thrive in hardwater.
Beautiful setup and your livestock looks super healthy like you
Fantastic aquarium beautiful selection of fish, thanks for sharing your system for water changes. What size is the tank in litres and what is the the type and number of fish housed.
Thank you! This was a 450 litre system, but since this is an old video I don't remember the exact stocking numbers
I thought it was funny that you had a charles darwin t shirt on with a dish full of bananas in the background! Such beautiful discuss. I think the wild ones are the most beautiful type. I heard that they are more difficult to keep.
Quelle chance d'avoir une eau avec ces caracteristique là !!! moi je me bat avec une eau au robinet a 7.3 PH et 380 ppm ^^mais bon quand on aime .... merci pour tes video !
I also use a HMA filter for my water changes using very much the same method you employ. My tap water however is not as good as yours so I slow down the return flow rate. I also bend the end of the return pipe into the shape of a hook / hockey stick. This hook is held in shape using wire from a metal coat hangar that I firstly wrap around a pencil and then slip the wire over the return tube that allows me to bend the pipe into a hook. This method firmly holds the return tube in the tank - I don’t trust rubber stickers lol. Thanks again for the video 🤓✌️
Thank you! That's an innovative way of creating a water change hook! I will try making something like that for my return hose as I'm constantly worried that it will slip off the suction cup when I'm not around.
@@tropicalfishhub it’s a pity I can’t post a pic here as I’ve also fitted a quarter inch ball valve on the hooked end also. It’s a real time saver for me doing water partial changes in my fish room every morning.
@@PaulsFishroom oh, I have seen this method in fish rooms, it may not work on my display tank though because the water goes down to the sump, so I have to make sure the sump doesn't overflow
@@tropicalfishhub it would work on your display tank. I think you are looking on another method. If you look on my CZcams channel (Paul’s Fishroom) it is shown at the start of the video “Pauls Fish Room Jan 2019”…
@@PaulsFishroom I saw it now! Its a great idea; I'll try it as well. You had some absolutely gorgeous Montezuma swords! It is certainly a dream fish for me, but I guess they'll suffer in my soft water. I also noticed that your Manacapuru females hardly have any red colour on them. That's interesting because my females were always similarly coloured to males.
Cool tank man. Those are beautiful fish. Does the pathos plant reduce nitrates significantly. I plan to get a pathos plant as well. Greetings from TX USA.
Thank you:) Pothos help with nitrates but they will not significantly reduce them particularly on a densely stocked tank
great video.....👍pls make a detailed video on your tank filteration and sump system, tnx in advance
I already have 2 videos on my sump:)
Nice
Great video! Could you show us in future videos the overflow for the sump? Thanks!
Thank you! I will certainly talk about the overflow weir when doing an overview of that tank next time!
Hi there !
All of your videos are great. Hi do you maintain PH that low ?
Thank you 🙏
Thank you:) Our tap water is very soft so there is no need for me to do anything else with it
Thank you 😉 that was so helpful for me! Now I can get my neighbor to install it 😂
Hopefully, installing the filter can solve your water problems!
@@tropicalfishhub I still can't get nitrates under control. I have no idea why. I don't over feed, tank is understocked and I see no mulm buildup, do big weekly water changes, ugh.
For the HMA filter, I don't want "alkaline remineralization" on this filter, correct, because it doesn't strip it completely like RO does. (Some setups offer that ). And, is my assumption that ph would be lower as well, correct?
@@missmermaid6249 How high are your nitrates? May be your tap water already has high nitrates, so its not a problem of your tank?
HMA filter certainly doesn't remove minerals, and it also doesn't affect the pH. It just removes chlorine/chloramine and sediments/metals, but it doesn't alter water chemistry.
@@tropicalfishhub My nitrates got as high as the chart would go, deep red 160ppm (when I'd fertilized). I've gotten it down over the months to 5.ppm but then it rises to between 20-40ppm, then I do another water change. You know I'm under stocked, I don't over feed, I have no decaying plant matter, plants all healthy . I did put catapa leaves in, but the geophagus bury them with their sand sifting and I noticed they were breaking down, so I've removed them. Today, looks like it's at 30ppm and it's only been 3 days since I've done a water change.
Thanks for the HMA advice. I've looked at them and will get one. I believe the HMA would give me peace of mind.
@@missmermaid6249 That is so strange! Nitrates usually spike due to overstocking and/or overfeeding. Have you tried testing your tap water? Sometimes nitrates increase in tap water. Altums should be fine with up to 20ppm, but higher nitrates might stress them out. Are you using any nutritious soil for plants? Some soils can raise nitrates as well, especially garden mixes.
One way to add catapa leaves is to keep them in your canister in a mesh bag. I am doing that in tanks with strong flow, but catapa will not solve the nitrate problem
Nice and informative video !! Can you explain how the sump works in your tank and the reason for not aging your new water before filling it back in the tank ? Also the name of the cat fish you have there as I have the same set up with Altums and Heckels and needed a scavenger fish like that. Thank you :-)
Thank you:) Here is the video about my sump set up: czcams.com/video/kL7CeKij8sU/video.html. I used to age and carbon filter the water before I installed the HMA filter to remove/reduce chlorine, but now the filter does it for me and as my tap water is already soft enough there is no need to age it. This is a Hoplo catfish (Megalechis thoracata), it can easily handle temperatures up to 31-32C, and it doesn't grow large.
Im always wunder if its ok to having altums and discus fish together🤔
Yes certainly they live together with no issues:)
Nice fish,there is 2 location for altum.do you have only orinoco altum
Thanks. yes, these are Orinoco
@@tropicalfishhub is there a reason why the Orinoco are cheaper than the abatapo?.great video though.
@@andrewrodriguez7706 Thank you! Atabapo are more rare, they also have more red on their backs.
please help me with the pumps size (external chamber filter ) as my aquarium is 1500 liter (200x70x80 cm). thx.
I'd say you need something around 6000-7000L/H because a stronger pump will cause too much flow which your Altums will not appreciate.
Hi, I have a discus tank with a ph of 6,5. but my kh is 0, because I use RO water with Preis discus minerals to get approx 250 qs conductivity. Should I worry of my KH and use my regular tap water kh 11 and 550 qs instead ? With a bit of a carbon filter like you to remove chlorine and hevay metals / pesticides
I am afraid of acidosis, the pH might drop super fast. pH 5.5 like yours seems very scary
I think you can remineralize with your tap water, KH 11 sounds reasonable. Wild fish should handle low pH well as long as it goes down steadily. If you have captive bred fish, they most likely won't need RO at all.
@@tropicalfishhubthank you for the reply, I really enjoy your videos. I am thinking of using my tap water with only the carbon and residue filter part of my RO unit. I have stendker discus, so they should be fine. I wanted them to enjoy perfect water but I forgot about the KH being drained by the nitrification process in my calculations. Having some KH gives me some peace of mind, I will only have the nitrate to care about as I have auto ph controler with CO2 injection... Or maybe no CO2 and keep the 0 kh with my PH dropping. Would it drops that much? I have no idea how far the nitrite and nitrate change from the bacteria can lower the pH .... I have 0 experience at 0 Kh. I am making it super complexe while it seems it could be easy. I guess the 100% tap water at 11kh would still get lower kh in the tank pretty fast I don't know. Omg ^^'
I bought the RO units seeing my ph at 8.5 with no fish, and now with the new 7 discus I have everything is different with loads of feedings....
@@cdave2006 Thanks, I'm glad you are liking the videos! I have a feeling that CO2 affects your pH, making it lower. Discus also seem to dislike it. So perhaps unless you have a high-tech planted aquascape with delicate plants, the sheer bioload of discus should keep the plants happy. To be honest, Stendkers would rather prefer pH7-7,5 and KH around 7-8, and they might get stressed out permanently living in soft water. My tap water pH also drops once in the tank. I would not make drastic changes immediately, but slowly you can reduce RO percentage in water changes to completely transition them to tap. I've seen people keeping Stendkers successfully in pH close to 8 and KH around 10, they are well adapted to thrive in hardwater.
Any plan on expanding ?
Thanks
No, not yet, I don't think I can fit in a bigger tank:)
@@tropicalfishhub all good ,
Hopefully one day, you can start building a fish room
Can discus go in high ph line 7.2or higher?
If acclimated, wild discus can handle pH 7.0 to 7.5-ish, but pH 8.0 will make them uncomfortable. Tank bred discus are far more adaptable.
@@tropicalfishhub thanks