# Ac 30 media question



## ShrimpieLove (Apr 26, 2010)

Hi everyone! 
I currently have an Aquaclear 30 filter on my 15 gallon tank... It has the ac sponge media, the ac carbon media and the ac bio-max media in it. I noticed that theres also additional media available for it such as Ac ammonia remover media and Ac zero-carb media... I am wondering if any of the additional media would be better in my filter? Its a newer tank and I have quite a few fish in it so maybe some of those media i dont have might be better than just a plain ac carbon to remove ammonia or whatever? 
Does anyone know about them and which combination would be the best in my filter? 
Thanks!!


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## AquariAM (Jan 28, 2010)

Look up Kytacin/ammonia remover, activated carbon, and biological media, and see what they each do and decide what you want based on your particular setup.

I can give you a brief description but it will not be as detailed.

Basically- various media exist for people who 
-want to remove specific products from the water
-have differing levels of bio-load
-maybe are a bit lazy and want to space out tank maintenance.

You only NEED a mechanical and biological filter. That's it. Especially if you have plants-- you don't want to steal their nitrogen products (with ammonia remover/kytacin) and you don't want to steal their trace elements, with carbon, so for you I would suggest three pieces of foam, or two pieces of foam and biomax rings, or some other kind of media.

In my 15 gallon I have just sponge. In my 38 I have 2 AC70, one is sponge sponge sponge the other is sponge sponge tetra floss bag full of gravel as biomedia. Why gravel? Because it is self cleaning. I can rub it together in the bag then swish the bag around in tank water, done. The tank has a very light load. If the load were heavier, both aquaclears would be something like sponge sponge EHFISUBSTRAT or similar high capacity biomedia.

Aquaclear straight media is:
Phenol free sponge
carbon
zeocarb (zeolite/kytacin/ammonia remover and carbon, together-- which is idiotic as kytacin can be recharged in brine and carbon can not)
Ammonia remover
ceramic rings

I checked out your youtube channel. The fish look relatively good. Watch those panda corys as they are highly sensitive and fragile. They're one of the more boring lethargic species and if they dont work out I suggest you check out a different one like sterbai, which are much more fun in my opinion as well as hardier. They're also very cheap now whereas they were $20+ at one point.

You should turn off your air pump. You have a relatively high number of plants in there and using an air pump further reduces the available Co2 to almost nothing from close to nothing.

Also, anubias does better if tied to a rock or wood, but if you want to keep it in the sand make sure at least the main root (rhyzome) is exposed and part of the roots that come from it are exposed. Otherwise the plant can't feed well.

You cycled this tank right? Because you don't have enough vigorous plant growth for a silent cycle. If you need biomedia somebody can help you out. I'm in the East end and can spare some and tonnes of other people too. Try to keep your light level the same-- those LED's WILL help, you should leave them on there.

Also, you need not spend so much on bulbs, you can get a 20W+ 6500K light for less than $10. I don't personally find specific light temperature that important. Zellers has a 25W CFL for $7 but it's about 4000K

Make sure you turn ALL lights off at night. They need as close to complete darkness to sleep as possible. Your plants also need a dark cycle. For tanks in bright places I put a sheet or something over them every night.

Put a sponge over your filter intake any time you have small fish that frequently produce more small fish or shrimp

http://rexgrigg.com/prefilter.JPG

Stab a hole halfway down with a knife, bore it out a bit, then snug it on to the filter intake. It will bite in and never come off.


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## ShrimpieLove (Apr 26, 2010)

Well the tank would probably still be cycling... Im gonna go get my water tested on the weekend so ill know where its at.... 
I didnt know that i could put marineland media into an ac filter ? I also have been using seachem stability too...
One of my fish was acting funny last night and today he is just sitting at the top of the water well looking like he isnt gonna make it, so i thought maybe i needed the ammonia remover bag in my filter cause I have quite a few fish? And also realised it was time to change my carbon too so i changed it today... Now that i read your post back to me im realising maybe im not setup correctly, i thought the fish/plants needed a bubbler in my tank, and also didnt realise that a high amount of plants would make a difference, im learning as I go I guess! Could that be why my guppy looks like he is gonna die... Too much plants? 
Plants are sort of new to me so im learing bit by bit on how to care for them. Thanks for the explanations though, it really helps 
good to know about my anubias too- i should lift him up a bit out of the gravel


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## AquariAM (Jan 28, 2010)

GuppyLove said:


> Well the tank would probably still be cycling... Im gonna go get my water tested on the weekend so ill know where its at....
> I didnt know that i could put marineland media into an ac filter ? I also have been using seachem stability too...
> One of my fish was acting funny last night and today he is just sitting at the top of the water well looking like he isnt gonna make it, so i thought maybe i needed the ammonia remover bag in my filter cause I have quite a few fish? And also realised it was time to change my carbon too so i changed it today... Now that i read your post back to me im realising maybe im not setup correctly, i thought the fish/plants needed a bubbler in my tank, and also didnt realise that a high amount of plants would make a difference, im learning as I go I guess! Could that be why my guppy looks like he is gonna die... Too much plants?
> Plants are sort of new to me so im learing bit by bit on how to care for them. Thanks for the explanations though, it really helps
> good to know about my anubias too- i should lift him up a bit out of the gravel


I strongly suggest you get yourself some cycled media. Running a tank through a cycle with fish just makes for crapped out fish that are more susceptible to disease and will ruin your experience later. You also may end up killing fish which would have been fine with a cycled tank, which is less than totally ethical.

You can use anybody's media in anybody's filter provided you can get it in there and use it correctly. Im not talking about filter pad inserts, I mean a big jar of loose biomedia or carbon or what have you. You can get aquaclear or off brand media bags that tie with a string.

You dont have too many fish.

Get the airpump and carbon out. Not helping your plants.


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## ShrimpieLove (Apr 26, 2010)

Could you explain why remove the air pump? I thought i needed an air pump to agitate the water surface and put oxygen into the water? I dont know alot about co2 so maybe you could explain what the air pump is for and why i dont need it please


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## AquariAM (Jan 28, 2010)

GuppyLove said:


> Could you explain why remove the air pump? I thought i needed an air pump to agitate the water surface and put oxygen into the water? I dont know alot about co2 so maybe you could explain what the air pump is for and why i dont need it please


The air pump doesn't incease oxygen much. Having the filter turning the water over and moving the surface does more.

Actual bubbles poppping on the surface and pumping oxygen through the water will expel what little co2 you have.

You have fish with a fairly low oxygen usage and requirement by the way, which further reduces the need for an airpump. You can leave it if you want to. Slightly more comfortable for your fish in terms of oxygen levels, by maybe 10%. Not better for plants though
Please get some cycled media off someone.


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## ShrimpieLove (Apr 26, 2010)

Thanks for the air pump explanation!! now i understand that more... 

So ill make a post- should i be asking for a cycled sponge AND some cycled rings/gravel that will git in an ac30? 
Should I mention it needs to be in someones tank and delivered in water so the good bacteria dont die? 
Thanks for all your help!!


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## AquariAM (Jan 28, 2010)

GuppyLove said:


> Thanks for the air pump explanation!! now i understand that more...
> 
> So ill make a post- should i be asking for a cycled sponge AND some cycled rings/gravel that will git in an ac30?
> Should I mention it needs to be in someones tank and delivered in water so the good bacteria dont die?
> Thanks for all your help!!


It doesnt need to be delivered in water. That's what you don't want. You can get any media doesnt matter. Cut it to size and jam it in your filter. Ideally you should transport biomedia with a tiny bit of water and a lot of air under as much pressure as possible in a big bag. Just like plants.


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## ShrimpieLove (Apr 26, 2010)

I made a cover for My tank at night so the plants get total darkness, 
i also exposed some of my anubias- take a look at the photo and let me know if it is exposed enough...I have another anubias in there too that i will expose the same way


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## AquariAM (Jan 28, 2010)

GuppyLove said:


> I made a cover for My tank at night so the plants get total darkness,
> i also exposed some of my anubias- take a look at the photo and let me know if it is exposed enough...I have another anubias in there too that i will expose the same way


That should be ok. You could also, if you wanted, grab a $1-2 little piece of malaysian driftwood and tie it to it with fishing line. The plant will actually grab on to the piece of wood and eventually you can cut the fishing line away. Wood makes the tank look cool too.


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