Frequent Aquarium Questions

• I'm setting up a 29 gallon rectangular (30" x 12") freshwater tank with layered Estes gravel sizes. About how many pounds of gravel are needed for three inches of gravel depth?
  
  
• I recently set up a 55gal freshwater tank. Is it normal for the water to be cloudy. How long should i wait for it to clear.
  
  
• I have a ten gallon freshwater tank with a fake plastic plant and a large rock. Do you recommend live plants or does it matter?
  
  
• I have an Oceanic 55 gallon "reef ready" tank. Will the return from the sump provide enough water movement for the tank?
  
  
• I got a used fish tank with all the equipment. It was being used for marine fish. How do I clean the tank and equipment? Do I have to change filter media or can I just rinse it out?
  
  
• I want to make a tank of dimensions 6 feet x 3 feet x 3.5 feet. What thickness acrylic should I use?
  
  
• I have a 20 gal fresh water aquarium w/various community type fish. The air pump for my undergravel filter is noisy and annoying. Is an undergravel filter neccessary?
  
  
• I have a Profile powerhead 600 for my water turtle tank. I am not sure I have it set up right. Is the hose that gets attached to the top just supposed to lay in the water on the top surface or down at the bottom of the aquarium?
  
  
• Can I use ocean water if I monitor the salt content? I have used ocean water for fish that are indigenous to my area, what about for more exotic fish. (I live in the southeast,US)
  
  
• I recently put 100lbs of what was called aragonite sand in my 75g and it is no bigger than 2mm. Is this small enough to complete the nitrogen process or is it to coarse and cause me to have high nitrates?
  
  

• I'm setting up a 29 gallon rectangular (30" x 12") freshwater tank with layered Estes gravel sizes. About how many pounds of gravel are needed for three inches of gravel depth?
  
  In a standard rectangular aquarium, one pound of gravel per gallon of tank volume will give you roughly an inch of substrate. This is just a rough guideline, but should give you a pretty good idea of what you'll need (a bit shy of 90 pounds in this case). Just make sure you really need that much gravel in your tank. There aren't too many freshwater systems that require a three inch substrate, as this can become a sediment trap and affect your water quality over time if done for the wrong reasons.
  
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• I recently set up a 55gal freshwater tank. Is it normal for the water to be cloudy. How long should i wait for it to clear.
  
  Cloudiness is normal for the first few days, and again about a week later for a few days. Usually, the first haze is due to gasses and metals in the tap water (not present if you ise Reverse Osmosis water), as well as suspended particulates from your sand or gravel. The second haze is usually from a sudden bacterial bloom. With an Ultraviolet Sterilizer, this bloom goes away, if it even presents itself at all. Without the UV, the bloom still goes away within a few days, but you risk it coming back periodically.
  
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• I have a ten gallon freshwater tank with a fake plastic plant and a large rock. Do you recommend live plants or does it matter?
  
  Live plants do help to develop a thriving ecology but it is easy to keep an aquarium without them. If you want to do live plants you will probably need to add another fluorescent lamp across the top of the tank as standard hoods sold with small tanks do not provide enough light.
  
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• I have an Oceanic 55 gallon "reef ready" tank. Will the return from the sump provide enough water movement for the tank?
  
  We would recommend supplementing the return from your pump with one powerhead near the bottom of the tank for added flow if you are doing a fish-only tank, and three to four powerheads in the tank at different levels if you are doing a reef tank.
  
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• I got a used fish tank with all the equipment. It was being used for marine fish. How do I clean the tank and equipment? Do I have to change filter media or can I just rinse it out?
  
  Rinse everything thoroughly in warm water and scrub off any white minerals with a NEW stiff bristle brush. Do not re-use gravel. Plastic or ceramic filter media is OK to re-use after rinsing well but any other media such as carbon or fine floss should be thrown away.
  
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• I want to make a tank of dimensions 6 feet x 3 feet x 3.5 feet. What thickness acrylic should I use?
  
  Height and width determine the thickness of material used in any tank up to eight feet in length. If height or width will not exceed 30", 1/2" or 5/8" acrylic is used. If either height or width are up to 36", 3/4" acrylic is used. If either of those dimensions exceed 36", one inch acrylic should be used.
  
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• I have a 20 gal fresh water aquarium w/various community type fish. The air pump for my undergravel filter is noisy and annoying. Is an undergravel filter neccessary?
  
  The undergravel filter is very good to have. Don't use an air pump if it bothers you. Switch to powerheads which are submersiblepumps that will take the place of the air pump and make no noise.
  
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• I have a Profile powerhead 600 for my water turtle tank. I am not sure I have it set up right. Is the hose that gets attached to the top just supposed to lay in the water on the top surface or down at the bottom of the aquarium?
  
  That hose adds aeration to the water current coming out of the powerhead. If you want aeration, the airline should stick out of the water. There may be a clip or some other method of attachment. If you don't want aeration, don't attach the hose to the powerhead.
  
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• Can I use ocean water if I monitor the salt content? I have used ocean water for fish that are indigenous to my area, what about for more exotic fish. (I live in the southeast,US)
  
  If the local fish you've been keeping did well in the water you colected, other species should do well. The things you have to worry about with natural seawater are more related to pollutants which collect in inland waters. Filter the wtaer through carbon first.
  
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• I recently put 100lbs of what was called aragonite sand in my 75g and it is no bigger than 2mm. Is this small enough to complete the nitrogen process or is it to coarse and cause me to have high nitrates?
  
  Yes, any aquarium aragonite will work fine.
  
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