No pole came up, BUT I think a great topic would be treating disease in the fish tank. Yes, there are a number of treatments, but also what causes disease, poor water conditions, stress, adding new fish etc., salt in the fishtank again maybe for treating diseases and the importance of again a water change after treatment. Also when you go to Chicago, you should have either the Chicago Style Hotdog or Chicago Style Pizza, NOT Tacos😒.
The poll came up for me after I closed the video completely, opened a different video, then opened this video again. Select the "I" in the little white circle, top right corner.
Koi come from the Common Carp, not the Grass Carp. The Grass Carp is still considered an invasive species. The Common Carp is considered naturalized, as most of the environments in the US where it has been introduced have reached a point of equilibrium with them in the ecosystem.
I’ve been trying to explain this to people for sooo long.. so glad someone finally addresses this. This is one of those things that is wide known in saltwater but not in freshwater. The single most important part of fish keeping is water circulation. My freshwater systems are setup similar to salt with 30-40x circulated flow and 4-6x filtration flow which is mostly mechanical filtration just to keep the water clear. However I also run fine sand bottoms in most of my tanks which adds tons of surface area. The only bio I run is super heavy stocked tanks and a little in other systems just to season the media for larger more heavily stock tanks. Even when pulling all media from a tank To place in another I’ve seen no crash or mini cycling As for eliminating dead spots.. its best to use wave makers near top of tank pointed upwards. One each side opposing up to 6’ then you need some on the back wall facing forward. Cycle them off and one one at a time. I like the jeabo that come with controllers as they will slave and master each other and cycle each other off and on every 30seconds. In a 6ft tank it takes about 20seconds to get a full gyre from my experience. That leaves really only 10seconds of full circulation before flow changes directions. I stop cleaning my substrate a long time ago once I started doing this. Looks as good as if I just added the sand today. The key to eliminating dead spots is constant changing flow patterns. One speed constant on pumps do nothing but create dead spots.
Do I need a filter? Cory and other fish people: Here are all the different types of filter media you can use. Cory: you don't need one if you have flow and lots of surface area and low stocking. Looks at the snail tank, and adjusts the air stone to be in the middle of the lava rock pile. Perfect all done! Hopefully this is what he's talking about!
Woohoo, thanks for the last minute tip on cyanobacteria! I was trying another method using a blackout period and more aeration, but if it comes back, I'm gonna try erythromycin for 7 days. Thanks so much!
In my nano tanks I only use a small internal filters that I mainly use for water disturbance/ top water movement and sifting out the bigger particles floating around in the tank, like bits and pieces of dead plant material and some of the fish poop (the ones that don't get eaten by my cleanup crew). In these filters I only put a piece of course sponge, some of that white fluff stuff and a few small pebble sized lava rock. No air pump, no heating (room temperature), ... but plenty of small leaf plants and a lot of floating plants. Every week I do a small 10% water change, just to make myself feel better, and just top off the water when needed. The inhabitants in one of those nano tanks are 5 young guppies and 3 Helena snails (cleanup crew that also takes care of pest snails), in the other one I recently put in 10 neocaridina shrimp with one Helena snail (will remove him today since I noticed some shrimp disappeared, and I have a gut feeling he's the culprit since these are hunting snails that feed on anything that passes their path, including molting shrimp). Nothing more, nothing less. And the water parameters are perfect and constant. The bigger tank (180L) does have a canister filter (Eheim 250), but then again it's heavier stocked and does require a bit more attention. The 280L one that I bought recently for $15 of someone, and who needs a complete redo (re-sealing it, repairing corners, etc) will only have a big sponge filter driven by air. Simply because this will be my shrimp breeding tank, and only for shrimp. And shrimp do not like a strong water flow at all. In that one I'll be putting in lots of driftwood, big rocks and lots of small leaf plants (as I do with all my other tanks). I do have a small canister filter ready, too small for the 280L tank, but that's just a backup in case my air pump would fail at a bad timing (local fish supplies store closed, knowing my luck). This one won't be needing a heater either, since it will be setup in a small room that has a constant 20 degrees Celsius all seasons. :) In short: when you have plenty of biological bacteria in your tank by creating lots of surface for it to settle on, expensive filtration is not needed. Making sure you have lots of plants that provide oxygen is recommended too, as well as surface movement of the water. And regular waterchanges, specially when the tank is heavily stocked. Cheers.
If you have a healthy planted tank and stock with low density you don't need a filter. You do however need water movement, which can be accomplished with a powerhead. A sponge filter or airstone should also be run at night when the light goes off.
i run a powerpump conected to a gatorade bottle with media inside. The idea of not using no pump at all makes my bank account happier...But i didnt tried it yet. Im doing weekly water changes
Turn off air pumps if you ever do some painting in your house or a lady of the night comes in reeking of perfume. The air stone will pile those fumes into the water.
so basically, you do need a filter, just at night time, if you purposefully fill your tank with less fish so there is less waste. lol not a surprise, if you have half the waste, you can have half the filtration
Can we talk about natural aquariums, with their own food sources, deep sand beds and plants and how we can get worms and such in the substrate??? I’ve seen your old stream but we can get some new questions and ideas
The key to a natural aquarium is patience and planning. You need to establish the micro life way before adding plants or fish. One example is in dsb saltwater tanks. You will run the tank with just the dsb adding the life to the tank for months and months sometimes up t 6 months. There are many worms and micro organisms you can use in freshwater just like salt water. You need a healthy sand bed full of life first. Then you’re fish selection needs to be carefully selected. You don’t want fish that are going to dig through the sand eating everything. You then need lots of rock to provide for lots of small crevices for water based microbes to hide and spawn. This can tank a few months as well to get a good establishment going. While this is going on you need food mostly algae. The problem with this is your tank will need to be filthy and untouched for the better part of a year. Slowly over time long term the Life in the tank will balance and the tank and water will clear. If you don’t get a healthy establishment with good hiding spots fish will feast on everything and eat microbes faster the they can reproduce.
Fish R Relaxing and that’s what I’m looking for. It’d be great to have all these little organisms running around and making food for the bigger organisms and then the fish, worms in the substrate and such just like salt water would be amazing
Perhaps talk about "Selecting your fish". Thing's to look for when picking ones fish. Understanding what healthy fish look like and how to pass on the dicey ones.
I have never changed my pads or sponges on my filter. Just rinse with old water rarely. I also leave the back side of the back of my tank alone most of the time. I also always put my heater next to my filter intake.
I had an aquarium for many years, my fish lived many years. I had to return them to the store when they were too big or too numerous (like guppies, they breed a lot). And I didn't have a filter, only a cascade and a bubble thingy, I changed the water maybe 4 times a year (it was bottled water, and refilling due evaporation was also bottled water) and that's all (I never could get good light for living plants). So I'm one of those that think filters are not indispensable.
Cory your information is so valuable. Like your video about heaters, there’s no information to find about running without a filter. In fact most people talk about having too much filtration.
Maybe, I’m weird but love the “angel hair algae in my tank.” I trim it back occasionally but love the look. It reminds me of a reef tank, especially in conjunction with my live plants. Great point Corey about not cleaning or over clean algae on aquarium walls. I’ve always lived by this practice, and personally done as a beneficial bacteria component as well. Never new it was in fact a good practice within limits of course...
Hi Cory I would suggest a topic on Automatic Water Change System, would love to set one up and another topic on CO 2 and why i would need it or not. You touched on that a little. Thanks
I have a few tanks outta my 50+ that only have an air stone. They're pretty heavily stocked with live bearers, but they're also fairly thick jungles... I use plants primarily for my filtration. Second would be sponge filters... I do have, I think, all kinds of filters running, HOB's, canister, sumps, sponge, internal, box & buckets for ponds(basically above-tank sumps)... Plants are and always will be my go-to filters...! Thanks for more free brain-learnin...! Keep it up and go enjoy some nature...!!!
By far the most informative videos online .Also a big plus an american who does not need a personal volume control.Keep up the good work ,thanks again .
One of your best so far!!! I've said it a bazillion times......Beneficial Bacteria is grown in the tank!!!! Not in the filter!!!! The filter is simply used for mechanical filtration and you should empty your "TRASH CAN" as needed. So many fish keepers wonder why their tanks are so unstable....go figure!!! LOL!!!!
I suggest a video about planted tanks, nitrates, evaporation with no lid, just top offs, no water changes. Pros and cons. (You’re awesome, very informative!) thanks!
Great video. Reminds me of how many saltwater/reef tanks rely more on water movement to "feed" all the biofilm on their aquascapes, as opposed to filtration packed with bio-media.
This is a great video. Love learning these in depth details about the aquarium ecosystem that you don’t learn about unless you have years of experience in the hobby. I’m slowly getting there, but your vids help the learning curve! Great stuff, keep it up! Love these videos!
Thank you for constantly trying to improve the content (not just the software/hardware) of your channel. There are others that insist on their users liking what they do or "too bad" and then they complain that their channel isn't growing. It must drive you crazy when you hang out with those folks :-)
Whoo Hoo! Cory's got his livestreaming MoJo back!! I'm excited to see (or hear) about the Peru fish unboxing - Get well soon prayers for Dean. Story time? I love story time 😎 When I found your channel, through KG Tropical, you had the goldfish tank behind you facing the window with the curtains that always seemed to not quite close all the way...Great Stream, Tuesday chat sounds fun...💕👍👍
I got a 125g tank with a sump and I couldn’t understand why my water was still floating debris.. I had pretty decent media and it was new but it just seemed like the water could be clearer. Wavemaker fan really helped a lot. 👌
Bacteria grows on ideal place, if you have inadequate filtration bacteria will grow on aquarium surface and the substrate. Otherwise it wont contain any bacteria significant enough for the nitrifying process. Flowrate is important as it provides constant food to the bacteria.
Catching up on a lot of your videos. i think you're amazing! i just purchased 3 sponge filters from your website and i'm loving your site and prices! i got 2 medium filters and 1 small for my 5.5 gal ramshorn snail tank. love your videos!!! soooo helpful!!!!! 🙏🏻 excited to get your sponge filters in the mail and i plan on purchasing more things from your site soon!
This an excellent video . Do you thing that dumping a bag of bio balls or ceramic rings on top of the gravel will make sense? Also when it comes to power head or air pumps what do you thing will be ideal if under gravel filter is not in use? I personally always put a air stone under a funnel deep in the gravel to get water circulation trough the gravel around the funnel. This is not really an under gravel filter but it provides flow trough the gravel. I use this always as a back up.
Great livestream, can't wait to experience the new tech. The more excited/happy you are to do the stream the better it is. Always. Quick recovery to Dean!
I left mine off for 3-4 months, had no problems water crystal clear, but i have a bubble thing running the entire center of the tank. If your tank is healthy it should survive without a filter
I've always gotten away with having an oversized canister filter with nothing but coarse sponge, and ceramic rings. Water is always perfectly clear, it's easy to clean, and I essentially never have to buy new filter media. Never thought about not having a filter, and just using using a powerhead, but may try it if I start a second tank someday
Kaleb Logsdon but do you still (and how often) have to rinse/clean your canister filter? I’ve used it for 10 year - same way, just rings, rinsed monthly, but no replacements) when I had a saltwater tank; but not with a freshwater fish since I switched. Will it work with freshwater set-up.... hmmmmm....the same way?
I have an undergravel system with a power head running on it on my 50 gallon community tank. It is the only thing I have used for the past 3 years. The only thing I do is vacuum the gravel about every 2-3 months and I haven't had any problems
great educational presentation. there is much talk about stuffing filters to the max with bio balls, scrubby, k1 ...but if i understand correctly, there is a limit to bacteria growth, and more bio media may not be better. therefore, my question is: would sponges in the filter not be sufficient to house the necessary bacteria to maintain balance in aquarium. thank you, i like all your videos.
The coolest thing I've done filtration-wise was set up a no filter aquarium for a 4 gallon. Basically, 1.5" of potting soil, and 2" of normal rocks as a substrate. It did have low flow, but that's fine for a betta tank that was kept only 2degrees above room temp. Coolest part: I moved, and had to drain the tank for the 3 weeks of shipping. The moist soil/gravel that acted as the bio filtration actually stayed cycled (produces nitrates, keeps ammonia and nitrites low, unlike my new aquarium).
The Dr. Jaubert method for salt water reefs has no actual filter. It is just a huge amount of substrate over a space of water (a use for that useless undergravel filter). So long as air is keeping the water flowing evenly from bottom to top, bacteria in the gravel does the job. One doesn't even need to change water. Just keep it topped off.
I like this except at the end. Are HOB really the worst for gas exchange? That happens most when the surface is disturbed. So then air stones that many the smallest bubbles are better because many small bubbles disturbs the surface more than 1 large bubble. The HOB filter is supposed to make ripples like waves doesn't that make the most surface area for the gas exchange to take place and isn't that the purpose?
I saw this video after breaking open my power head filters motor.Thanks for this video I ll manage now the carbon filter and the air pump for filtration thanks for this video
I put my heater right next to my filter so it will push warm water around the aquarium and my bubbler is on the other side. I have a 30 gallon with 3 Mollys, 3 Platys, 7 Zebrafish, and 1 Otocinclus who will be getting 3 or 4 friends soon.
I've had AQUACLEAR filters for years, and with these 2 new ones, Aquaclear 110's, the baskets rise, even after only a few days being cleaned. I don't know why they rise, but I do know, that even with the intakes cleaned off regularly, from blockage, they still rise up. I have to use paper clips to prevent it. I'm sick of it!! . I used to love AQUACLEAR, but now, not so much.
I have the same problem. I take care of my stepdads tank and I go over there to check on and clean it, but when I come back the lid is popped back up. I’m considering putting a sponge filter on the intake tube, because i think it might be excess gunk getting in. No clue yet though. it’s annoying. I put a heavy brass duck on the lid to keep it down.
Make sure you are putting in it's holder right. There are two little corners that hold it in on either side. I've been using aquaclear filters for 7+ years with no issues except occasional noise.
Carbon does not remove Ammonia, you also can't use it as biological media the pores are too small to support anaerobic bacteria something you need if you don't want sky high nitrates.
carbon removes chemicals such as medications and tannins from driftwood. It should be thought of as a treatment unless your water has things that need to be removed.
You could definitely use carbon as biological media. It’s not a great idea, but you could do it. Bacteria can grow on anything in your tank, including carbon
When i was a kid i had a 2.5 gallon tank with a betta and 3 tetras. Air stone but no filter. It was a budget set up my parents got me. Fake plant and blue gravel. Anyway the fish lived together in there for 5 years, I think that's roughly their lifespan. It was a long time ago so I dont remember exactly - but I think I was doing 50% water changes once a month
I'm a patrion. I don't ever see membership info. I also can't join the promotion give away because it shows I have no entry's. Love you guys so much much very disappointed in this.
I have run my 63 gallon tank without artificial water movement for over a year without problems. My yellow slider turtle moves the water, my monstera plant removes the ammonia and my guppies and shrimp eat waste. Barely any algae.
I would really like to see an updated version of improving the performance of filters. I hated to find out you no longer sell the intake kit from the old video about maximizing the performance of HOB filters.
That specific intake was being manufacturered with stress fractures in the elbow. For many many years this was never an issue. I had to stop carrying them when they didn't care that there was a problem.
Thanks for the reply! I have 1 that works really well and was wanting to setup another Aquaclear in the same way. I s there a product you can recommend that lowers the intake point and has a similar intake sponge design?
360 View Me too. I can't imagine not having mechanical filtration with goldfish. The filter collects quite a bit of waste even with vacuuming the gravel.
got double Eheim Classic 600 on my 145 gallon. 30 neon tetras, 7 Angelfish. 15 corydoras, 1 L-66, 1 L200, 1 L-445, 3 roseline sharks, 2 SAE, 1 bolivian ram male and one Ellioti cichlid. works absolutley fantastic. i do 30-50% waterchange a week. i think i could run it with just one but the extra flow is really nice
Any tips on completely cleaning out a sponge filter and yes I mean bacteria and all because I had to tear down one of my tanks but now I want to use the sponge filter but I want to make sure I sterilize the sponge with out leaving any harmful stuff in the sponge
The slime inside the filter doesn’t see the light and is in an anaerobic environment, this means that denitrifying bacteria that you need to deal with fish waste outcompetes algae because algae needs light and oxygen.
plants are helpful to complete the ecosystem, as they absorb the final, most dialed-down waste chemicals that the bacteria process results in. I have a ten gallon with a heater, but no filter and actually no water flow either. it's just the Walstad method, so the substrate is stratified and there are layers of different bacteria species that you can see in the 3 inches f dirt and gravel. and it's chock-full of live plants, shrimp, and fish, -tap water parameters and its been here around a year. what's more, it's stable enough (and the light is on a timer) that I can just leave it, and it'll be fine. water changes are non-existent. some cool examples of this style of an aquarium are on MD fishtanks, Foo the Flowerhorn, and other' channels. :)
I just received my order with the square sponge pads... it is working great..waitting for the round sponge filters ...thanks for your information..I love the different places you travel to always great TOO..
(50 Gallon Natural Tank, no filter) Welp.. I always have excellent water tests but this video made me realize that I need to fix my other water pump or buy another. I have circulation on one side flowing over the heater but not on the other side. This could be killing my bacteria on the far side of my tank.
Lol Corey, It made me unreasonably happy scrolling over the thumbnail of the timeline watching you wave your hands above your head because you're a hand talker and the camera's framed high. XD I'd say to zoom out but... is so entertaining. I'm curious to hear your thoughts on overclocking sponge filters with aquarium pumps. I have a couple hundred gallon pond on my back porch, currently with a sponge filter advertised for about half the water volume I have, but I have it on a pump that cycles my pond water about 20 times an hour (Yes, I know that's excessive, but my fish don't know that and seem to heavily disagree) So far after a few months the only downside I've encountered is I have to clean my filter every 3 days because it's clogged entirely after 4.
Hopefully this will be my last question for a bit, sorry... In a planted 10gal tank with a betta and some easy plants, what type of filter would you recommend, if any? I know bettas don't like much if any water flow, and since I can't afford to buy CO2, I'm worried about off-gassing from surface agitation. I have to start with only four or five plants, but I'm hoping to add more as time goes on until it's fairly heavily planted.
I dont know much about gopro but Mark's shrimp uses gopro a lot. Also I have the gopro hero 4+. Mine has a setting to pick a narrow medium or wide. It's pretty good on narrow and medium
Could putting a heater on the bottom of the tank give adequate circulation in a 10 gallon tank through the convection currents? Also are there any fish that can thrive in a tank with no heater or filter? What adjustments to the tank would I need to make in that case
I have 2 off the side filters and a bottom aerator which creates lots of bubbles in a 20 gallon. A few real plants and 2 artificial plants it's working well
Hello, I needed your advice. I am based in New Delhi, India. I have a rather large aquarium. Dimensions: Length = 96 inches, Height = 48 inches Width = 12 inches. Total water filled around 700-850L. I have always been confused about the filter. Could you guide me as to which filter would be best? I have hard water. 4-5 Goldfishes (2 of them are very big and 4-5 years old), 10-12 black skirt tetras, 4 widow tetras, 1 pleco, 1 gourami and 1 black Moor for now. I'm also starting on live plants on gravel soon. My goldfish often get red spots on them. I usually treat them with water changes and general aid but it keeps returning in 3-4 weeks time. I also tested the TDS and it's was 784! So I cleaned the gravel and it went to 903. Please help me out I really love my fish and want to help it as much as possible. This tank was previously handled by since else and I've been taking care of it past few months.
I wonder why someone doesn't make a filter that combines the best of all the filter options and adds a bacifalls as part of the HOB that goes all the way down to a sump or canister. We also need algae scrubber, it grows algae with air bubbles, water flow and LED lights inside a sump or whatever and the algae eats nitrates. Then you just clean out the algae when it grows too much.
Tom brand made a hang on back filter into a sump. And algae scrubbers are a tool, but still way over priced by the companies. This is why I refuse to show off their products.
Good idea but i think it would be size that makes that tricky. That is basically a below sump that you would plumb into the display tank, just with less space. A HOB version of this probably would be super complicated to make small, efficient and easy to disassemble to clean. For now a sump with a refugium/algae scrubber works if you can build it.
Make sure you vote in the Poll. You can use code Heat10 to save 10% on the website this week.
I don’t see a link to vote.
No pole came up, BUT I think a great topic would be treating disease in the fish tank. Yes, there are a number of treatments, but also what causes disease, poor water conditions, stress, adding new fish etc., salt in the fishtank again maybe for treating diseases and the importance of again a water change after treatment. Also when you go to Chicago, you should have either the Chicago Style Hotdog or Chicago Style Pizza, NOT Tacos😒.
The poll came up for me after I closed the video completely, opened a different video, then opened this video again. Select the "I" in the little white circle, top right corner.
Koi come from the Common Carp, not the Grass Carp. The Grass Carp is still considered an invasive species. The Common Carp is considered naturalized, as most of the environments in the US where it has been introduced have reached a point of equilibrium with them in the ecosystem.
Don't see where I can vote
So am I the only one who things that Corey should try replacing the foam on that mike with a sponge filter?
That might be a fun DIY project.
Lololol
hahahhaa
Fricking hilarious!!
YES PLZ DO IT
For a few seconds i tought my phone is Not working
Gotcha ;P
Me too 😂😂🤣
I had to check my wifi
I’ve been trying to explain this to people for sooo long.. so glad someone finally addresses this. This is one of those things that is wide known in saltwater but not in freshwater. The single most important part of fish keeping is water circulation. My freshwater systems are setup similar to salt with 30-40x circulated flow and 4-6x filtration flow which is mostly mechanical filtration just to keep the water clear. However I also run fine sand bottoms in most of my tanks which adds tons of surface area. The only bio I run is super heavy stocked tanks and a little in other systems just to season the media for larger more heavily stock tanks. Even when pulling all media from a tank To place in another I’ve seen no crash or mini cycling
As for eliminating dead spots.. its best to use wave makers near top of tank pointed upwards. One each side opposing up to 6’ then you need some on the back wall facing forward. Cycle them off and one one at a time. I like the jeabo that come with controllers as they will slave and master each other and cycle each other off and on every 30seconds. In a 6ft tank it takes about 20seconds to get a full gyre from my experience. That leaves really only 10seconds of full circulation before flow changes directions. I stop cleaning my substrate a long time ago once I started doing this. Looks as good as if I just added the sand today. The key to eliminating dead spots is constant changing flow patterns. One speed constant on pumps do nothing but create dead spots.
You just changed my cleaning process, no more wiping down the back walls. Thanks.
Do I need a filter?
Cory and other fish people: Here are all the different types of filter media you can use.
Cory: you don't need one if you have flow and lots of surface area and low stocking.
Looks at the snail tank, and adjusts the air stone to be in the middle of the lava rock pile.
Perfect all done! Hopefully this is what he's talking about!
Woohoo, thanks for the last minute tip on cyanobacteria! I was trying another method using a blackout period and more aeration, but if it comes back, I'm gonna try erythromycin for 7 days. Thanks so much!
In my nano tanks I only use a small internal filters that I mainly use for water disturbance/ top water movement and sifting out the bigger particles floating around in the tank, like bits and pieces of dead plant material and some of the fish poop (the ones that don't get eaten by my cleanup crew). In these filters I only put a piece of course sponge, some of that white fluff stuff and a few small pebble sized lava rock. No air pump, no heating (room temperature), ... but plenty of small leaf plants and a lot of floating plants. Every week I do a small 10% water change, just to make myself feel better, and just top off the water when needed. The inhabitants in one of those nano tanks are 5 young guppies and 3 Helena snails (cleanup crew that also takes care of pest snails), in the other one I recently put in 10 neocaridina shrimp with one Helena snail (will remove him today since I noticed some shrimp disappeared, and I have a gut feeling he's the culprit since these are hunting snails that feed on anything that passes their path, including molting shrimp). Nothing more, nothing less. And the water parameters are perfect and constant. The bigger tank (180L) does have a canister filter (Eheim 250), but then again it's heavier stocked and does require a bit more attention. The 280L one that I bought recently for $15 of someone, and who needs a complete redo (re-sealing it, repairing corners, etc) will only have a big sponge filter driven by air. Simply because this will be my shrimp breeding tank, and only for shrimp. And shrimp do not like a strong water flow at all. In that one I'll be putting in lots of driftwood, big rocks and lots of small leaf plants (as I do with all my other tanks). I do have a small canister filter ready, too small for the 280L tank, but that's just a backup in case my air pump would fail at a bad timing (local fish supplies store closed, knowing my luck). This one won't be needing a heater either, since it will be setup in a small room that has a constant 20 degrees Celsius all seasons. :)
In short: when you have plenty of biological bacteria in your tank by creating lots of surface for it to settle on, expensive filtration is not needed. Making sure you have lots of plants that provide oxygen is recommended too, as well as surface movement of the water. And regular waterchanges, specially when the tank is heavily stocked.
Cheers.
People always tilt their head like a dog whenever i talk about benificial bacteria
The most important thing... few drops and water doesn't stink
If you have a healthy planted tank and stock with low density you don't need a filter. You do however need water movement, which can be accomplished with a powerhead. A sponge filter or airstone should also be run at night when the light goes off.
sedghammer That’s basically what Cory said..
i run a powerpump conected to a gatorade bottle with media inside. The idea of not using no pump at all makes my bank account happier...But i didnt tried it yet. Im doing weekly water changes
Turn off air pumps if you ever do some painting in your house or a lady of the night comes in reeking of perfume. The air stone will pile those fumes into the water.
so basically, you do need a filter, just at night time, if you purposefully fill your tank with less fish so there is less waste. lol not a surprise, if you have half the waste, you can have half the filtration
Can we talk about natural aquariums, with their own food sources, deep sand beds and plants and how we can get worms and such in the substrate??? I’ve seen your old stream but we can get some new questions and ideas
I could try and get it as a topic idea in the poll. Would you prefer me to make a video or a live stream?
Aquarium Co-Op a live stream would be nice but what ever is easier for you tbh, I don’t want to ruin your schedule or what ever
The key to a natural aquarium is patience and planning. You need to establish the micro life way before adding plants or fish. One example is in dsb saltwater tanks. You will run the tank with just the dsb adding the life to the tank for months and months sometimes up t 6 months. There are many worms and micro organisms you can use in freshwater just like salt water. You need a healthy sand bed full of life first. Then you’re fish selection needs to be carefully selected. You don’t want fish that are going to dig through the sand eating everything. You then need lots of rock to provide for lots of small crevices for water based microbes to hide and spawn. This can tank a few months as well to get a good establishment going. While this is going on you need food mostly algae.
The problem with this is your tank will need to be filthy and untouched for the better part of a year. Slowly over time long term the Life in the tank will balance and the tank and water will clear. If you don’t get a healthy establishment with good hiding spots fish will feast on everything and eat microbes faster the they can reproduce.
Fish R Relaxing and that’s what I’m looking for. It’d be great to have all these little organisms running around and making food for the bigger organisms and then the fish, worms in the substrate and such just like salt water would be amazing
I agree plus I would like to know if these people don't gravel vac. Seemstome it takes the good bacteria out.
Perhaps talk about "Selecting your fish". Thing's to look for when picking ones fish. Understanding what healthy fish look like and how to pass on the dicey ones.
It's only been shaved off one time since Nov-1980
I really like this idea. I'm new to the hobby and could use all the help I can get.
Definitely made me feel better about my lack of filtration since I only have the one betta in my tank
Yes a betta prefers low/still water
I have never changed my pads or sponges on my filter. Just rinse with old water rarely. I also leave the back side of the back of my tank alone most of the time. I also always put my heater next to my filter intake.
I had an aquarium for many years, my fish lived many years. I had to return them to the store when they were too big or too numerous (like guppies, they breed a lot). And I didn't have a filter, only a cascade and a bubble thingy, I changed the water maybe 4 times a year (it was bottled water, and refilling due evaporation was also bottled water) and that's all (I never could get good light for living plants). So I'm one of those that think filters are not indispensable.
You should start every video like that.
Thanks, what do you think the right length for the beginning portion is?
3 percent of the length of each video.
@@AquariumCoop Til you pass out.
@@tranman920 doing that for 4 mins for a 2hr podcast 🤣🤣🤣
Cory your information is so valuable. Like your video about heaters, there’s no information to find about running without a filter. In fact most people talk about having too much filtration.
This format is awesome, I had stopped watching, this has brought me back. Appreciate your effort and knowledge. Great job!!
What is it about this live stream you liked the most? Always looking to improve.
Missed the stream but enjoyed the replay. Great discussion. 100% spot on with the Co2/O2 comment. 👍
Maybe, I’m weird but love the “angel hair algae in my tank.” I trim it back occasionally but love the look. It reminds me of a reef tank, especially in conjunction with my live plants. Great point Corey about not cleaning or over clean algae on aquarium walls. I’ve always lived by this practice, and personally done as a beneficial bacteria component as well. Never new it was in fact a good practice within limits of course...
Michael Whitwell I agree!
Hey Cory, I will always vote for Guppies. Love to hear about the different varietys and the history of them.
Well, you just answered that question... it all depends on how well the ecosystem within the tank is working! Thank you, Corey!
I wish you could come to my house and optimize my tank. I feel stupid. HAHAHAHA
Hi Cory
I would suggest a topic on Automatic Water Change System, would love to set one up and another topic on CO 2 and why i would need it or not. You touched on that a little.
Thanks
I have a few tanks outta my 50+ that only have an air stone. They're pretty heavily stocked with live bearers, but they're also fairly thick jungles... I use plants primarily for my filtration. Second would be sponge filters... I do have, I think, all kinds of filters running, HOB's, canister, sumps, sponge, internal, box & buckets for ponds(basically above-tank sumps)... Plants are and always will be my go-to filters...! Thanks for more free brain-learnin...! Keep it up and go enjoy some nature...!!!
Me: *Talks to self*
Everyone in class: 0:01
LMAO at the look on your face when you started your video!
Re algae I always left the back glass for algae looks good and does a job !
By far the most informative videos online .Also a big plus an american who does not need a personal volume control.Keep up the good work ,thanks again .
One of your best so far!!!
I've said it a bazillion times......Beneficial Bacteria is grown in the tank!!!! Not in the filter!!!!
The filter is simply used for mechanical filtration and you should empty your "TRASH CAN" as needed.
So many fish keepers wonder why their tanks are so unstable....go figure!!! LOL!!!!
It grows in the filter as well 🤦♀️🤦♀️ it grows anywhere there is surface area
Ciclid Breeding Tip : PUT A COFFEE MUG ON IT'S SIDE IN A CORNER OR UNDER PLANTS, Makes the perfect cave for egg laying 😀😀😀
I suggest a video about planted tanks, nitrates, evaporation with no lid, just top offs, no water changes. Pros and cons. (You’re awesome, very informative!) thanks!
Great video. Reminds me of how many saltwater/reef tanks rely more on water movement to "feed" all the biofilm on their aquascapes, as opposed to filtration packed with bio-media.
I have a hang on the back. One of the cartridges gets changed every few months but the other never does so it has a nice bacteria colony on it.
If I’m switching from an hob to a sponge filter, how long should I run both before switching to just the sponge filter?
This is a great video. Love learning these in depth details about the aquarium ecosystem that you don’t learn about unless you have years of experience in the hobby. I’m slowly getting there, but your vids help the learning curve! Great stuff, keep it up! Love these videos!
Glad you enjoyed. Thanks for watching.
Thank you for constantly trying to improve the content (not just the software/hardware) of your channel. There are others that insist on their users liking what they do or "too bad" and then they complain that their channel isn't growing. It must drive you crazy when you hang out with those folks :-)
Whoo Hoo! Cory's got his livestreaming MoJo back!! I'm excited to see (or hear) about the Peru fish unboxing - Get well soon prayers for Dean. Story time? I love story time 😎 When I found your channel, through KG Tropical, you had the goldfish tank behind you facing the window with the curtains that always seemed to not quite close all the way...Great Stream, Tuesday chat sounds fun...💕👍👍
I got a 125g tank with a sump and I couldn’t understand why my water was still floating debris.. I had pretty decent media and it was new but it just seemed like the water could be clearer. Wavemaker fan really helped a lot. 👌
I think this is one of Corey's greatest videos. Very helpful information.
True. Beautiful cockatiel
Bacteria grows on ideal place, if you have inadequate filtration bacteria will grow on aquarium surface and the substrate. Otherwise it wont contain any bacteria significant enough for the nitrifying process. Flowrate is important as it provides constant food to the bacteria.
Catching up on a lot of your videos. i think you're amazing! i just purchased 3 sponge filters from your website and i'm loving your site and prices! i got 2 medium filters and 1 small for my 5.5 gal ramshorn snail tank. love your videos!!! soooo helpful!!!!! 🙏🏻 excited to get your sponge filters in the mail and i plan on purchasing more things from your site soon!
I'm one of the five people. I do use a pothos plant to help filter the water.
AQUA REGION , I just recommend the pothos, to a lady at the fish store, who said her friends tank is high in nitrogen
This an excellent video . Do you thing that dumping a bag of bio balls or ceramic rings on top of the gravel will make sense? Also when it comes to power head or air pumps what do you thing will be ideal if under gravel filter is not in use? I personally always put a air stone under a funnel deep in the gravel to get water circulation trough the gravel around the funnel. This is not really an under gravel filter but it provides flow trough the gravel. I use this always as a back up.
Great livestream, can't wait to experience the new tech. The more excited/happy you are to do the stream the better it is. Always. Quick recovery to Dean!
I thought the video froze at the beginning there
hang on back filter? not without understanding fluid dynamics lol
I left mine off for 3-4 months, had no problems water crystal clear, but i have a bubble thing running the entire center of the tank. If your tank is healthy it should survive without a filter
I've always gotten away with having an oversized canister filter with nothing but coarse sponge, and ceramic rings. Water is always perfectly clear, it's easy to clean, and I essentially never have to buy new filter media. Never thought about not having a filter, and just using using a powerhead, but may try it if I start a second tank someday
Kaleb Logsdon but do you still (and how often) have to rinse/clean your canister filter?
I’ve used it for 10 year - same way, just rings, rinsed monthly, but no replacements) when I had a saltwater tank; but not with a freshwater fish since I switched. Will it work with freshwater set-up.... hmmmmm....the same way?
I have an undergravel system with a power head running on it on my 50 gallon community tank. It is the only thing I have used for the past 3 years. The only thing I do is vacuum the gravel about every 2-3 months and I haven't had any problems
great educational presentation. there is much talk about stuffing filters to the max with bio balls, scrubby, k1 ...but if i understand correctly, there is a limit to bacteria growth, and more bio media may not be better. therefore, my question is: would sponges in the filter not be sufficient to house the necessary bacteria to maintain balance in aquarium. thank you, i like all your videos.
The coolest thing I've done filtration-wise was set up a no filter aquarium for a 4 gallon. Basically, 1.5" of potting soil, and 2" of normal rocks as a substrate. It did have low flow, but that's fine for a betta tank that was kept only 2degrees above room temp.
Coolest part: I moved, and had to drain the tank for the 3 weeks of shipping. The moist soil/gravel that acted as the bio filtration actually stayed cycled (produces nitrates, keeps ammonia and nitrites low, unlike my new aquarium).
The Dr. Jaubert method for salt water reefs has no actual filter. It is just a huge amount of substrate over a space of water (a use for that useless undergravel filter). So long as air is keeping the water flowing evenly from bottom to top, bacteria in the gravel does the job. One doesn't even need to change water. Just keep it topped off.
Not trashing your knowledge or anything, love the channel but water temp and density will make the water naturally circulate with the heater
I like this except at the end. Are HOB really the worst for gas exchange? That happens most when the surface is disturbed. So then air stones that many the smallest bubbles are better because many small bubbles disturbs the surface more than 1 large bubble. The HOB filter is supposed to make ripples like waves doesn't that make the most surface area for the gas exchange to take place and isn't that the purpose?
I saw this video after breaking open my power head filters motor.Thanks for this video I ll manage now the carbon filter and the air pump for filtration thanks for this video
I put my heater right next to my filter so it will push warm water around the aquarium and my bubbler is on the other side. I have a 30 gallon with 3 Mollys, 3 Platys, 7 Zebrafish, and 1 Otocinclus who will be getting 3 or 4 friends soon.
I've had AQUACLEAR filters for years, and with these 2 new ones, Aquaclear 110's, the baskets rise, even after only a few days being cleaned. I don't know why they rise, but I do know, that even with the intakes cleaned off regularly, from blockage, they still rise up. I have to use paper clips to prevent it. I'm sick of it!! . I used to love AQUACLEAR, but now, not so much.
I have the same problem. I take care of my stepdads tank and I go over there to check on and clean it, but when I come back the lid is popped back up.
I’m considering putting a sponge filter on the intake tube, because i think it might be excess gunk getting in.
No clue yet though. it’s annoying. I put a heavy brass duck on the lid to keep it down.
Make sure you are putting in it's holder right. There are two little corners that hold it in on either side. I've been using aquaclear filters for 7+ years with no issues except occasional noise.
Carbon does not remove Ammonia, you also can't use it as biological media the pores are too small to support anaerobic bacteria something you need if you don't want sky high nitrates.
carbon removes chemicals such as medications and tannins from driftwood. It should be thought of as a treatment unless your water has things that need to be removed.
You could definitely use carbon as biological media. It’s not a great idea, but you could do it. Bacteria can grow on anything in your tank, including carbon
When i was a kid i had a 2.5 gallon tank with a betta and 3 tetras. Air stone but no filter. It was a budget set up my parents got me. Fake plant and blue gravel. Anyway the fish lived together in there for 5 years, I think that's roughly their lifespan. It was a long time ago so I dont remember exactly - but I think I was doing 50% water changes once a month
I'm a patrion. I don't ever see membership info. I also can't join the promotion give away because it shows I have no entry's. Love you guys so much much very disappointed in this.
I have run my 63 gallon tank without artificial water movement for over a year without problems. My yellow slider turtle moves the water, my monstera plant removes the ammonia and my guppies and shrimp eat waste. Barely any algae.
Really good points. I'm a little surprised that plants weren't mentioned as a critical item for keeping the water clean.
Not everyone likes or wants plants. However, the information in this video works for everyone whether they want plants or not.
I would really like to see an updated version of improving the performance of filters. I hated to find out you no longer sell the intake kit from the old video about maximizing the performance of HOB filters.
That specific intake was being manufacturered with stress fractures in the elbow. For many many years this was never an issue. I had to stop carrying them when they didn't care that there was a problem.
Thanks for the reply! I have 1 that works really well and was wanting to setup another Aquaclear in the same way. I
s there a product you can recommend that lowers the intake point and has a similar intake sponge design?
Yeahhhh... I’m still keeping my filter on my goldfish tank lol. I think that is a necessity with goldfish
360 View Me too. I can't imagine not having mechanical filtration with goldfish. The filter collects quite a bit of waste even with vacuuming the gravel.
Bingo Jamas you would probably need like 50+ gallons per fish to go without filtration with weekly water changes to be healthy
360 View Me also, tried without but even one goldfish makes to much poo not to use a filter!
Jane Metzger it’s like keeping a elephant with constant diarrhea in a bioactive enclosure lol
I’ve got two in my goldfish tank and I can’t imagine not having both let alone none
got double Eheim Classic 600 on my 145 gallon. 30 neon tetras, 7 Angelfish. 15 corydoras, 1 L-66, 1 L200, 1 L-445, 3 roseline sharks, 2 SAE, 1 bolivian ram male and one Ellioti cichlid. works absolutley fantastic. i do 30-50% waterchange a week. i think i could run it with just one but the extra flow is really nice
I think this makes a GREAT case for undergravel filters. Powered by a power head or air pump and this checks off all the boxes.
Any tips on completely cleaning out a sponge filter and yes I mean bacteria and all because I had to tear down one of my tanks but now I want to use the sponge filter but I want to make sure I sterilize the sponge with out leaving any harmful stuff in the sponge
I believe u are right. My nano saltwater has no filter ONLY a Pump to circulate Walter.
He’s not talking about saltwater 🤦♀️🤦♀️
The slime inside the filter doesn’t see the light and is in an anaerobic environment, this means that denitrifying bacteria that you need to deal with fish waste outcompetes algae because algae needs light and oxygen.
hahaha that opening was creepy. LOL
plants are helpful to complete the ecosystem, as they absorb the final, most dialed-down waste chemicals that the bacteria process results in. I have a ten gallon with a heater, but no filter and actually no water flow either. it's just the Walstad method, so the substrate is stratified and there are layers of different bacteria species that you can see in the 3 inches f dirt and gravel. and it's chock-full of live plants, shrimp, and fish, -tap water parameters and its been here around a year. what's more, it's stable enough (and the light is on a timer) that I can just leave it, and it'll be fine. water changes are non-existent. some cool examples of this style of an aquarium are on MD fishtanks, Foo the Flowerhorn, and other' channels. :)
I just received my order with the square sponge pads... it is working great..waitting for the round sponge filters ...thanks for your information..I love the different places you travel to always great TOO..
(50 Gallon Natural Tank, no filter) Welp.. I always have excellent water tests but this video made me realize that I need to fix my other water pump or buy another. I have circulation on one side flowing over the heater but not on the other side. This could be killing my bacteria on the far side of my tank.
Lol Corey, It made me unreasonably happy scrolling over the thumbnail of the timeline watching you wave your hands above your head because you're a hand talker and the camera's framed high. XD I'd say to zoom out but... is so entertaining.
I'm curious to hear your thoughts on overclocking sponge filters with aquarium pumps. I have a couple hundred gallon pond on my back porch, currently with a sponge filter advertised for about half the water volume I have, but I have it on a pump that cycles my pond water about 20 times an hour (Yes, I know that's excessive, but my fish don't know that and seem to heavily disagree) So far after a few months the only downside I've encountered is I have to clean my filter every 3 days because it's clogged entirely after 4.
With good water flow , a jungle of plastic plants covered in benificial can be all you need
I would love to see anything on apistogramma cacatuoides, uncommon plants, Rock varieties. What kind of wood makes what color tannin water.
Mopani wood not yet boiled go to petstore get wood used for reptiles that will give you tannins mopani wood is great for that.
Hi, out of curiosity I'm wondering can filter media used as aquarium substrate? Ceramic bio ring for example.
Hopefully this will be my last question for a bit, sorry... In a planted 10gal tank with a betta and some easy plants, what type of filter would you recommend, if any? I know bettas don't like much if any water flow, and since I can't afford to buy CO2, I'm worried about off-gassing from surface agitation. I have to start with only four or five plants, but I'm hoping to add more as time goes on until it's fairly heavily planted.
I thought my phone froze up at the beginning 😂😂
Could you talk about how to keep a tank cool over the summer? Thanks for all the great info you share with us!
Evaporative cooking. A fan across the top of the water is one of the best ways.
Wow, I love the new studio... lights look great and the personal items on the shelves look great too.
I dont know much about gopro but Mark's shrimp uses gopro a lot. Also I have the gopro hero 4+. Mine has a setting to pick a narrow medium or wide. It's pretty good on narrow and medium
HI Corey, have you tested your theory? Were the nitrite levels acceptable and did the water keep clear without a filter? Were the fish as vigorous?
Yes, I’ve run filterless tanks many times. Or Bretz aquatics runs a hole fish room that way.
I really appreciate this clear explanation about flow.
Great to see you so invigorated and excited about what you have planned for the livestream and the #fishfam 🤙
Is it possible to have a small fry aquarium with about 30 fry without filter? Just want to make sure that it isn't to much fish without filtration.
Can you do Fluval stratum with an undergravel filter?
Could putting a heater on the bottom of the tank give adequate circulation in a 10 gallon tank through the convection currents? Also are there any fish that can thrive in a tank with no heater or filter? What adjustments to the tank would I need to make in that case
For the art use 1/8" P99 instead of glass. It is a non glare plastic that will never break.
I’ll look into that, thanks.
I have 2 off the side filters and a bottom aerator which creates lots of bubbles in a 20 gallon. A few real plants and 2 artificial plants it's working well
Hello, I needed your advice. I am based in New Delhi, India. I have a rather large aquarium. Dimensions:
Length = 96 inches, Height = 48 inches Width = 12 inches. Total water filled around 700-850L. I have always been confused about the filter. Could you guide me as to which filter would be best?
I have hard water. 4-5 Goldfishes (2 of them are very big and 4-5 years old), 10-12 black skirt tetras, 4 widow tetras, 1 pleco, 1 gourami and 1 black Moor for now.
I'm also starting on live plants on gravel soon. My goldfish often get red spots on them. I usually treat them with water changes and general aid but it keeps returning in 3-4 weeks time. I also tested the TDS and it's was 784! So I cleaned the gravel and it went to 903. Please help me out I really love my fish and want to help it as much as possible. This tank was previously handled by since else and I've been taking care of it past few months.
I wonder why someone doesn't make a filter that combines the best of all the filter options and adds a bacifalls as part of the HOB that goes all the way down to a sump or canister. We also need algae scrubber, it grows algae with air bubbles, water flow and LED lights inside a sump or whatever and the algae eats nitrates. Then you just clean out the algae when it grows too much.
Tom brand made a hang on back filter into a sump. And algae scrubbers are a tool, but still way over priced by the companies. This is why I refuse to show off their products.
Good idea but i think it would be size that makes that tricky. That is basically a below sump that you would plumb into the display tank, just with less space. A HOB version of this probably would be super complicated to make small, efficient and easy to disassemble to clean. For now a sump with a refugium/algae scrubber works if you can build it.
Thank you for the video! A sponge air flow is all you need
Nice format and cool polling system ;) Topic: Cold water fish and plant, diseases to look out for, lighting?
Beavis - "He got a loose date, hurr, hurr hurr, hurr"
agree 100percent on aquaclear h.o.b.filters being the bestt.Running 2 50series on my 40 long,along with a sponge filter.super clear water.
Cory, what MIC are you using? It sounds GREAT! I'm saving up for a Shure SM-7. PS: Guppies + Sponge Filter FTW!
I think Corey was raised by a mountain man who only spoke in analogies
Lol
Could you have an aquarium with only a power head with eco complete heavily planted tank?