Frequent Aquarium Questions

• I have a 72 gallon bow tank with the in-tank overflow system and a wet-dry system with a pump. I am getting a lot of annoying bubbles at the top 10% of my tank from the water return. What can I do to decrease the bubbles?
  
  
• I am setting up a new 180 gallon fish only aquarium. My local supplier recommended using two submersible pumps instead on one . Is there a pro/con to using a single pump instead of two pumps?
  
  
• On a Brackish tank is a protien skimmer effective? If so is it effective enough to justify the cost?
  
  
• My daughter has a newly set-up aquarium. It's been running 2 weeks, with just a few fish. Can you please tell me if the filter cartridge should be changed during this cycling period?
  
  
• I was planning on DIY a under gravel filter and in the process of price comparing I could only find fiberglass screening. I was wondering if this is Aquarium safe.
  
  
• I have had a 10-gal aquarium for a couple of years and it has been doing fine. I am now interested in purchasing a larger aquarium, perhaps 55-gal or 75-gal, and went out today looking at them. I went to one place and asked if I should use a canister filter and was told to get a power filter. Your opinion on that and what about an undergravel filter?
  
  
• My Tidepool SOS Overflow box loses prime when the pump is off. Every time I turn off my Wet-Dry pump, my overflow box siphon tube loses prime and I have to to re-start it. My old overflow box didn't have this problem. I bought the TIdepool because it was so inexpensive. What can I do?
  
  
• I want to set up either a 75gal (48 x 18) or a 120 (60 x 18) as a fish-only marine tank. All I want to keep are damsels and maybe a Clarkii or Tomato Clownfish.
  
  
• I have a 25-30 gallon long shaped tank. I currently have comet gold fish in a pond outside and I am going to use this tank for my fish in the winter. I need to purchase a filter and pump system and I am not sure how to determine the best strength of filter to use. I also need to know what air pump I should use or should I even use one?
  
  
• I read on your site that you suggest not using only a power filter on an aquarium. What is the best thing to use in addition to the power filter for a 20 gallon tank.
  
  

• I have a 72 gallon bow tank with the in-tank overflow system and a wet-dry system with a pump. I am getting a lot of annoying bubbles at the top 10% of my tank from the water return. What can I do to decrease the bubbles?
  
  Make sure your sump is filled properly and keep it topped off for evaporation. Your pump is drawing air from the surface of the water in the wet-dry filter. You should also make sure the protein skimmer (if you have one) is not dumping its output water near the intake of your main pump. Another trick is to equip the pump intake with a PVC elbow that points down, in order to draw water from near the bottom of the sump where there are few bubbles.
  
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• I am setting up a new 180 gallon fish only aquarium. My local supplier recommended using two submersible pumps instead on one . Is there a pro/con to using a single pump instead of two pumps?
  
  No there is no problem in using a single pump, provided it has enough power to do the job at the height to which it has to pump. A pump that will deliver about 1200 GPH at the tank should do the trick. That pump will probably be rated at about 1500 GPH at a zero head. The advantage to using two poumps is that if one pump goes out, the situation is not desperate. You can also set up a more versatile system using two pumps. Keep in mind that external pumps typically have more power than submersible models.
  
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• On a Brackish tank is a protien skimmer effective? If so is it effective enough to justify the cost?
  
  Yes, brackish water will allow a skimmer to operate to some degree, but only if the water is at the high end of the specific gravity scale of brackish water, say at about 1.011 to 1.012. In our opinion, it would not be effective enough to make it worth your while. Better to use a good over-sized canister filter, and do regular water changes.
  
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• My daughter has a newly set-up aquarium. It's been running 2 weeks, with just a few fish. Can you please tell me if the filter cartridge should be changed during this cycling period?
  
  Most power filter cartridges should be changed every two to three weeks. However in a new tank, it is best to wait four weeks, then do a 25% water change, change the cartridge, and only after this is done should more fish be added.
  
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• I was planning on DIY a under gravel filter and in the process of price comparing I could only find fiberglass screening. I was wondering if this is Aquarium safe.
  
  Considering that undergravel filters are very inexpensive and far superior in design to anything you could build yourself, building your own would only be applicable if you had a tank with a very odd shape that is not available from a manufacturer. Having said that, nylon screening works fine and is available at almost all large hardware stores. Fiberglass would be fine too.
  
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• I have had a 10-gal aquarium for a couple of years and it has been doing fine. I am now interested in purchasing a larger aquarium, perhaps 55-gal or 75-gal, and went out today looking at them. I went to one place and asked if I should use a canister filter and was told to get a power filter. Your opinion on that and what about an undergravel filter?
  
  I would recommend an undergravel filter AND a canister filter. Most power filters are too small for larger tanks. They don't hold as much filter media.
  
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• My Tidepool SOS Overflow box loses prime when the pump is off. Every time I turn off my Wet-Dry pump, my overflow box siphon tube loses prime and I have to to re-start it. My old overflow box didn't have this problem. I bought the TIdepool because it was so inexpensive. What can I do?
  
  The only reasons for losing prime in a pre-filter are: 1) A small hole or hair-line crack in the siphon tube. 2) Bad design. The side of the siphon tube that goes in the prefilter hanging on your tank needs to be submerged, and some designs do not have this feature. We hope that answers your question.
  
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• I want to set up either a 75gal (48 x 18) or a 120 (60 x 18) as a fish-only marine tank. All I want to keep are damsels and maybe a Clarkii or Tomato Clownfish.
  
  The rule for stocking a marine aquarium is three inches of fish per square foot of surface area, so as an example, a tank measuring 4 feet by 1-1/2 feet has six square feet of surface area and will support 18 inches of fish. As Damsels and Clownfish are very hardy, you might get away with over-stocking a little, but we would not recommend going too far over-board. As Damsels and Clownfish are extremely hardy fish, and with the condition that those will be the ONLY fish you'll keep, then no, you do not need a wet-dry filter, provided you don't over-stock the tank and provided you only keep the fish you said you would keep. More sensitive fish will need better filtration. We would recommend you consider adding a hang-on protein skimmer in addition to the undergravel filter. We would also recommend a canister filter instead of the power filter for those larger tanks. With all three of those filters on the tank, you should have success with such hardy fish.
  
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• I have a 25-30 gallon long shaped tank. I currently have comet gold fish in a pond outside and I am going to use this tank for my fish in the winter. I need to purchase a filter and pump system and I am not sure how to determine the best strength of filter to use. I also need to know what air pump I should use or should I even use one?
  
  The chances are very good that you will be massively over-stocking the tank when you bring those fish in for the winter. We're willing to bet you will far exceed the "one-inch-per-gallon" rule, so you are going to need some heavy-duty filtration. We would recommend an undergravel filter and a larger canister filter be used. An Eheim 2213 would work great for the canister filter. If you use powerheads for the undergravel, use only one smaller unit, such as a Hagen 301, as Goldfish do not like heavy water movement. For the bubbles, simply get a small air pump like the Rena 200, some airline, a check valve and your bubble wand.
  
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• I read on your site that you suggest not using only a power filter on an aquarium. What is the best thing to use in addition to the power filter for a 20 gallon tank.
  
  For that size tank for freshwater only, we recommend using an undergravel filter driven by a powerhead.
  
  This recommendation holds true for almost all freshwater tanks, though larger tanks would be better-served with a canister filter instead of a power filter.
  
  In some cases for larger freshwater tanks, we would recommend using a wet-dry filter instead of an undergravel filter, but never for a 20 gallon tank. We would make this recommendation if the aquarium was to house fish that dig such as cichlids for example. For freshwater live plant tanks, we recommend an over-sized canister filter and no undergravel or wet-dry filter.
  
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