a1foxes

My 100+ tanks runs about 3500 gallons, quite the swimming pool eh

I am considering adding a powerhead to my 55g tank. The inhabitants are rainbowfish (with more to come) and my understanding is that they enjoy highly oxygenated water. Additionally, the end of the tank opposite the AC70 doesn't get a lot of movement so I don't want the water there to become stagnant (that end is where I would put in the powerhead).

The Aquarium Systems Maxi-Jet 1200 Powerhead caught my eye because the description talks about being able to control air volume and water mixing so I thought it might be a good choice for oxygenation. The model I have linked to is the highest-rated for GPH (295). I'm not sure what GPH would be appropriate for my tank (they do have lower-rated models).

I've never used a powerhead before so I have no idea what I'm getting into here. Is this model a good choice? What do I need to know to set one up for my tank? I don't want to add a UGF, but can the powerhead be used in some way to add to the filtration in the tank, possibly with a cannister filter?

Anything else I should know?

Appreciate the help!

I've got a few of the maxijets, and I love them. 1200 might be a bit big for a 55 g, i use a 400 in mine and it works fine.

depends a bit on your fishs' preferences. I use them both with and without UG, my stingrays love swimming in the

current, and the extra oxygen helps keep fish happy and active. It actually helps filtration, by keeping the water

moving and circulating through your regular filtration system. If you have lots of 'furniture' in your tank, then having

that extra oomph with the larger model can be nice.

I've been told twice that prime does not remove ammonia.

It only alters the water so that test kits do not read it.

Any opinions?

I seldom believe everything I read. I've used the Prime for quite

some time, haven't had any problems, but, I tend to use it along

with other ammonia reducing measures. With fish that cost from

$100-$2000 apiece, I'm not willing to take chances. I use am-guard,

from Seachem as well, and things like zeolite in the filters, purigen,

etc. I over filter as well, use stability regularly, stability is more of

a preventative measure, adding ammonia eating bacteria on a

weekly basis. I use mostly seachem, even though I have access

to Kent, Coralife, API, etc, all at wholesale, I go with what works.

I use betta basics, and stressguard, among others.

I add my prime with water changes, and a dab with new fish,

but I use amguard from removing ammonia and stability for

keeping it low(really important for rays I find)

Um, if you don't mind me asking. Are you rich?

Nope, but I've been working my @$$ off the last 6 months or so,

extra hours etc, saving where I could, just for this move. Around

Christmas time I was so broke and not working, that I had to get

a hamper so my kids could get something for presents. I was

trying to sell fish like mad but no one would buy anything. THings

changed when I went back to work.

If you have GFCI at you box if one plug trips the GFCI do you loos all you power? I would not want that if I were importing fish. I would think that if it were to trip on a hot day that you could lose well over the price you would have paid for all the plugs in fish in one shot. Also if you are friends with a contractor you can get them to buy them for you and it will be cheaper.

Brad

funny, you were posting while i was so i didnt read this before. you are right by using gfi at the breaker, the whole circuit

blows, by doing it this way 1, plus the few more in the run will, but everything before would be ok. The plugs are so high

up the wall, like just over 4 feet, theres less likely to be trippage. Yep, my boyfriend is a contractor. He got a deal from

an electrician buddy, I bought most of the other goods but we managed to save 400-500.

I agree w. Trooper. I did individually protected plugs in my fishroom, but it's only 10x10 and has just 5 plugs. At over $10 ea, I'm already thinking that I should have just put the GFCI at the box.

WEll I got a great deal on about7 boxes with 3 GFI receptacles in each- I paid for only one the rest were

freebees. I some some normal receptables along the ceiling in the middle aisle, protected by only 1 GFI in

the circuit, but the total number of plugs stand at about 29, on 5- 15 am breakers. Only 7 plugs per breaker

cause we use power bars as well. We have the option to add 3 more 15 amp breakers to the sub panel,

so if I decide I need more, its not a problem. We ran extra strands for potential future use, even the

dehumidifier/ac will be on its own circuit. the individual price for the gfi receptables was $15 each, glad

I didnt pay for them, but the electrician that put in the sub panel thought it was a great idea given the

use of the room

the past few weekends, I've been at the new house building my fishroom from scratch. literally.

It was a carport, so the concrete pad was there, the roof etc, so all I had to put up were 3 non-

loadbearing walls, sheathing on the outside, and of course finish the inside with insulation,

drywall and ......its wired specifically for me and the needs of my tanks, so no more blown

breakers! yaaaayyyy! We're doing the work ourselves, which is slowing down the move cause

the room has to be ready for the fish, but we're talking 14x32 100% built for fishies, water

available, sealed from the rest of the house to prevent humidity damage, and even a commercial

grade airconditioner/dehumidifier is going in. very sweet set up . I'll try to take some pics and

post the progress....costs are working out to be several thousand so far not including labour, but,

its an investment, we plan on going bigger now so......we're just preparing for it. should be really

cool when its done. Theres a total of 30 or so plugins, all of the GFI because of the usage around

water, and NO cords on the floor this time, neat and tidy and well organized this time around, I

can hardly wait to get the fishies into their new home. I dont have to work right away so I'll get

some time to set them all up and spend some time making sureits done right. I hate moving, I

actually like Calgary, but I cant afford the rents here, to make it means working extra hard and

in that case both my fish and family suffer. Expect to hear ALOT more from me as things get

set up- I will be getting multiple shipments in from various places like Thailand, and south

america so I"ll have lots going on to sell. I hope to set up my own website as well, and supplies

for aquaria will be included in that. I will be making regular trips to Calgary, so doing biz here

isnt a problem.

I"ll post pics soon...

my collection is 2 striped rapheals , 1 spotted rapheal , 1 hoplo , 3 upside downs , 16 cories , 1 featherfin syno(very cool cat) , 2 farawellas , 3 sailfin plecos , 1 clown pleco. pics to come :thumbs:

hm well my signiature says alot of it, so I'll only list whats NOT down there, cant remember them

all anyway.... clown loach, yoyo, polkadot botia, red fin blue botia, green tiger botia,

berrramodi botia, big spot pleco, L273, L002, L177, Bruno pleco, albino BN, common

spotted BN(group), common plecs, adolphi cory cats, syno multipunctatus(group), upside down cats,

and still a few pictus hanging around. Most of my cats have been with me for quite a

while now, most listed below in my sig. are breeding groups. I cant get enough catfish.

Botia are great - my berramodi(clickers I call them cause they make clicky noises when

they get mad) love to hide UNDER the gravel, specially when I clean. I Empty the ornaments

out of the tank, plants too, so I can do a head count, and they all go missing, then the syphon

finds them. If you look real close you might find a little whisker above gravel its a real blast

to watch them. my blue botia like to get up into the hollow legs of ornaments but the little

buggers are getting to big to fit now HAH. fixed them:)

Our nicest plec is my L240 Galaxy type- tremendously beautiful and hardy. the L273 is just

a little fart compared to the rest of the tank but he kicked the bumblebee cat out of his house

and guards it as his now....He'll be needing a tank of his own when he grows up . I'm still

collecting when I can, but I have to move this summer so my priority is finding a house

big enough for us all. Dont suppose anyone knows of a large house to rent in Creston or

Cranbrook area ? Willing to pay well!

:boom:

Back at it again... We've been having an ongoing "discussion" :cuss: about our monthly power bill. I say my tanks can't be using THAT much power, other half claims it's my tanks :tongue: . Our monthly consumption is in the order of 3,000 kwh ($700.00+) :shock: .

So, pleeeeease, anyone with 20+ tanks, could you please let me know your monthly consumption - along with possibly size, number & water temp. of tanks, and set-up (i.e. fishroom, tanks spread over the house, ambient room temp. etc.), so I can judge for myself if just maybe, it is my tanks????? Sure would appreciate any input I can get!

Edited to add that we have had a parallel meter installed to check for acuracy; the meter readings were the same....

Wow I thought I had problems.... my bill averages $500 a month, sometimes a bit more. Its and older house,

2 levels, 5 bdrms and the fish are in the 'rec room' in the basement. We dont have electric heat, or anything, its

all gas even the dryer. My fish room is about 20x26, and crammed FULL - about 70 tanks in all. Theres everything

from 2 1/2 gal to 70 gall, lots of 20 and 33's. They all have heaters in them, and most have their own HOB. About

a dozen powerheads, and 2 large airpumps supply the small tanks with their mini filters, and the larger tanks use

undergravel as well. My water temps I keep around 80-86, house temp averages more like80. I have about 4 other

larger (55 gal) tanks scattered about the house as well, with HOB, UG, PH, Heaters, lights etc. I do pretty well

considering theres 4 kids and 2 adults in this house.

All I can suggest is making a list of your equipment, each should say on it how many watts it takes to run,

for example the average AC70 only uses about 5 watts, vs say a light bulb at 100 w. I did things like swap out

all light bulbs for the florescents, fish lights are all on timers, when I do water changes I use warm rather than

cold(keeps the heaters from coming on) and keeping the room temps up helps. Heaters use alot more energy

than anything else. Good luck

I have a pair of bookworm kids here, who some of you may already know to also be very much

into fish. They have asked me to find them some good fish books, particular interests are

Cichlids, catfish, plecos, guppies, bettas, and RAYS are at the top of the list. They like to

see pictures of different colors, ie different types of rays. They don't get much computer

time to go looking things up and alot of the books I've found are either super expensive

or just beginner grade info. My kids can read and understand college level, so alot of whats

out there just bores them. If anyone has any suggestions, send them this way!

Great feedback, thank you everyone. I like the idea of getting rid of the air pump in exchange for the power head. My tank isn't planted. strictly rocks and sand for them. I will also look around for the best price. the one at petsmart stated that it moved 380 g / hr so I thought that was pretty good for a 55 gal. But if you were able to pick one up for 10 bucks, I'm going to look around for sure.

Thanks again everyone.

~~Ray~~

I've used most types of powerheads in the last year, I like MaxiJet but they are not cheap. I've gone to

the Tom's brand DivePower, I think Riverfront sells them. Even an 85 is enough to move the water

around pretty good. I find them VERY reliable and every bit as good as the more expensive ones.

Hey all,

Just picked up a pair of young plecos from the local pet store, about 2". Anyway, they were sold under the name "Zebra Plecostomus L-104". After doing a little research, we discovered that L-104 is, in fact, Panaque maccus, a clown variety, that looks vaguely similar to my zebra, but not quite. I discovered that zebras are in fact L-046, and the zebras I saw are kind of similar, but not entirely. Anyway, I'm wondering if it could be a different subspecies or perhaps a regional color variation. I will post pictures. Please give me your thoughts.

Brad

There is a huge difference between the true L046 zebra plecos and any other pleco, especially L104clowns.

PlanetCatfish.com is best reference for pics. Real zebras are rare and you likely wont find one for sale for less

than $400 apiece these days. It seems alot of people refer to a fish with stripes as 'zebra', but the real ones

are absolutely unmistakable. There are no regional color variations with them, they only come from one place-

the Rio Xingu Brazil, and and export ban on them has been in place for a number of years, making them very

hard to come by. The L046 is a hypancistrus, the L104 is a panaque, very different species

I just recently had a brand new undergravel filter given to me, I have read an article that suggested they are not good to use. The article stated that tanks can crash very easily using an UGF. I was hoping to get some feedback from anyone that has used them, successfully or otherwise. My idea was to use the UGF on my 33 gal tank with a fluval 201 and an AG 20 Powerhead.

~~Ray~~

I like ug for the most part, a good portion of my 70+ tanks have it. Very useful for guppies, bettas and fry tanks.

For more heavily populated tanks I use HOB as well, and powerheads like maxi jet. I still give the gravel a

good syphoning every now and then. for the most part I use it in conjunction with/as a supplement to

HOB's etc, and its most of what I use with guppies or bettas(won't suck up babies).

Ok, for someone with the nickname "crazy pleco chick" you might get an idea this

could be a long list for me lol...

PLECOs: L260, L129, L240, L191, L002, LDA31, L204, L134, L66, LDA33, L271, L163,

L177, L013, L168, L264, commons in chocolate and albino, sailfin, bristlenose(spotted

and albino), a ranger, and my well kept secret (lol) is L046. Most of my plecs, with

a few exceptions, are in groups of 2-6 for obvious intentions(nature allowing).

For other cats, syno's in multipunctatus,

euperuptus, nigreventis, olliciefer, longistrus (sorry if the spelling is wrong), loaches

I keep clowns, polkadots, red fin blue botia, yoyo, green tiger and berramodi. I think

we got 1 cory cat left somewhere, but botia and plecos are my fav's. Needless to say,

tank cleaning around my place isnt an issue. My collection changes periodically when

I add or lose of course. I can't seem to get enough of them! I guess its a no brainer

where the 'crazy' part comes in

$400......f*ck people get the best looking marble motoro ever.

Best personality I have ever seen on a motoro ever!

I agree shes awesome but when you dont have the cash you

don't have it. I'd take her in a heartbeat if I could right now,

I have the tank space. But I'll talk to Dennis again tomorrow

and see if he can hold her a while

the price for her is $400. i was in yesterday considering her myself. I have the tank, but not the cash

Like Val said, you most likely won't get many fry surviving in the tank even without the cats. And the cats are great at getting into cracks and crevices after fry as well.

Not too sure what kind of 'cleaning' you're hoping to get out of the catfish; in all my tanks the only way to make sure my cats get fed is to either dump a bunch of food in at once, or feed them once the lights have been off for a while. And if you've got food that is already hitting the bottom, you're overfeeding. JMO

I ask because I keep corycats in with my guppies, bettas and their fry and they dont eat the offspring.

The BN plecos I keep in some tanks dont bother them either, but I wasnt sure if there is anything I can

keep with cichs that wont eat the young. I hardly have to clean some of my breeding tanks because

of my little 'cleanup' crews being so efficient. I havent tried with these syno's, but it sure as heck cant

hurt to ask right? I've got one electric yellow holding right now, and with any luck I"ll get some released

into the fry tank before they disappear. So, guess I got some big syno's I can get rid of after all.

Ok, question is, will these 5-6 in syn. euperuptus eat offspring from electric yellows, red

zebras, blue dolphins or polits? I could use some tank cleaners but I want to be sure they

dont eat fry as well. If not, well, looks like I"ve got about 6 for sale....

I've got a custom ray tank, 60x18x16, I use an AC110 and AC70, as well as a Hagen 802

powerhead with filter attachement. Needless to say the motoro are fairly happy with it. I

am getting some more ray tanks set up, fairly similar in size, and was wondering about

using canisters. I've never used one before so I don't know whats best either. I can get

Rena canisters fairly reasonably priced, XP3 and XP4's. I'm also one of those who would

rather over filter than not enough, but I dont want to get into the overkill zone cause not

all fish like that. I'm still in a major learning curve with the rays.

I have almost used my 2 liter container of Prime up in the last year or so (100+ gallons of water changes twice a week) and was thinking about ClorAm-X. Does anybody have any experience good or bad with ClorAm-X?

I used the ChlorAm-X for a while, but find I get better bang for my buck with the Prime. I'm

using pretty much all Seachem now, the Stability stuff is totally awesome.

I'm just digging for info on these things. I'm not a fan of canisters, but I've got someone else

curious so I thought I'd see if anyone here has any experience with this model?

very nice, related to the ones I got from you I hope? The guys are doing well, growing

slow but very healthy and active.

Thanks for the offer, but I really have room only for plakats right now.

It seems I"ve got more of my own plakats right now than anything else lol.

Nice metallic turquoise male :drool: fully masked too hehe

But... my gold copper female is NOT for sale..yet.. such a tease eh?

When my red copper BF female is done with the coming batch I'll let

you know. She's matched with hot white/black BF male... should be

an interesting brood

That copper female should be mine! Nice shots.

I have a copper half moon female....as for plakats, well, I've got some young blue females.

Giants there is a black orchid marble, a mustard gas female and a blue/mustard gas male....

Also got a really cool solid red/orange male

Bettas aren't my thing, but very nice fish. :thumbs: Hard to take shots on a curved glass surface, eh?

why thank you yes, it was one of those "take 200 pics, keep 12" kind of scenarios lol

I use these little betta jars, they are totally square and easy to photograph in. I wont let them

live in them, but nice pics.... they look great. Wish I got a nice pic of that spade tail plakat, hes

a total knockout! black copper mustard gas BF spadetail.... mouthful