Moments before spontaneously combusting Jolly Fisherman at
was heard opining:
On Thu, 16 Mar 2006 15:06:18 -0600, "Koi-Lo"
wrote:
Sorry, I did go back and check after I hit the "send" button. You
would save more in the longrun and buy a 30Long to start with. You
can keep 3 adults in a 30L with plenty of partial water changes.
===========
AFAIK 29long is 30 x 12½ x 17 which is too tall for that space.
Frankly if I'm going to install a larger tank in a different place
I'll get a nice stand/cabinet and go for a 55-90 gal.
THAT would be the smartest move of all. :-)
I almost plunked down $80 for a drop dead gorgeous & massive oranda
the other day at my LFS. I almost slipped in my puddle of drool.
I'm not stupid though.
Wow! That must have been a real beauty! If you have a PetsMart
near you check them out. They get in really nice semi-adult
beauties for around $25. I'm talking nice QUALITY, not just size.
In the best Petco's Petsmarts near me $25 buys a so-so looking, iffy
health, & 3-4 inch body fancies. These were probably 10+ inches +
very long fins and very attractive & healthy.
Those are truly adult fish then. Probably retired breeders. Nothing wrong
with that.
Floss is dirt cheap when you buy Quilt Batting at Wal*Mart. Just
toss and
that's actually another question I had. That's good to know there is
no difference.
None but price from what I have seen.
This is true - I have them because they polish the water and remove
what goes right through a regular filter. I only use mine after a
water change.
I guess after a water change it's helpful because it removes what may
have been stirred up after a gravel vac & water change, in addition to
the finer suspended stuff that otherwise remains.
Exactly - plus I really run my fingers through the gravel to stir up as much
as possible before I refill the tank. Then the DE runs as I'm refilling it.
About 30 minutes after I finish refilling it the water is crystal clear. I
always do massive water changes also - about 80% at a time.
The bio-bugs are ATTACHED the things in the aquarium. Very few are
floating around free in the water. Look what the DE filter is
removing OTOH,... all that fine crapola that goes right through
sponges and floss. :-)
Well indeed they are both free floating and attached to things. I
didn't know how important the suspended biobugs were. I guess in that
case a DE filter will only help. But I wonder how much it really
alters fish health & life span.
I have no idea but it sure leaves them clean water! To make it even
cleaner you can add a Tbs. of fine activated charcoal the the Vortex bottle.
If they don't do the job you can always save it for a backup.
I'm not too excited about that. I already have a spare box filter and
soon to be retired Aquaclear. Both are only a few months old. If
another filter doesn't do the job, it wouldn't make for much of a
backup IMHO. But experimentation is probably what makes the most
makes right now.
--
Koi-Lo.... frugal ponding since 1995...
Aquariums since 1952
My Pond & Aquarium Pages:
http://tinyurl.com/9do58
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