Videos: My Fat Lazy Clowns

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Dav101
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Joined: Fri Feb 05, 2010 1:37 pm

Videos: My Fat Lazy Clowns

Post by Dav101 » Fri Feb 05, 2010 1:56 pm

See my video "Clown Loaches in 200 Gallon Aquarium" for tank and filtration details. Click (more info) when video runs.

I know my tank may seem barren but that is how I like it. It truly is set up to be a low maintenance tank and has been since I set it up.

Comments are welcome. This is the first time I have ever uploaded a video! I don't have a real video camera. I just have a point and shoot camera that took the videos. And it was set 6 ft from the tank with the zoom on.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BEocgVMuPls
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d0UOwBSE ... re=channel
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zY60Bwlm ... re=channel
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j361-Iqm ... re=channel
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MXn9WODS ... re=channel
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n_M1TfkP ... re=channel
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KY_jijhL ... re=channel

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JonasBygdemo
Posts: 290
Joined: Sun Nov 15, 2009 8:28 am
Location: Skellefteå, Sweden

Post by JonasBygdemo » Fri Feb 05, 2010 4:46 pm

Beautiful tank and fishes! I like the markings on the clown on the center of the screen right at the beginning. Looks a bit unusual. It's like it has 3½ bands instead of 3. My girlfriend says that she agree with me ;)

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FishyLady
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Location: Hay on Wye, Hereford

Post by FishyLady » Fri Feb 05, 2010 5:27 pm

Your tank is no way barren!! it is stunning!! The fish look wonderful!!
What filtration are you using?

Val

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chefkeith
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Joined: Tue Jan 03, 2006 9:37 pm
Location: Detroit

Post by chefkeith » Fri Feb 05, 2010 6:32 pm

Awesome. How long have you had the clown loaches? What do you feed them?

salva
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Joined: Fri Nov 09, 2007 6:20 am
Location: Barcelona (Spain)
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Post by salva » Fri Feb 05, 2010 7:23 pm

Hi,

All these fish are impressive, very nice group!!

Thank you for sharing them.

I hope you could show some pictures of the aquarium and their system.

See you

Salva

Dav101
Posts: 3
Joined: Fri Feb 05, 2010 1:37 pm

Post by Dav101 » Fri Feb 05, 2010 9:28 pm

Thank you all for your comments. Above I posted links to 7 very short youtube videos. The first one titled "Clown Loaches in 200 Gallon Aquarium" has a description conscerning details of tank and filtration and much more. When you watch that particular video you must click on the words in parenthesies (more info) and you can read the details.

I will just copy that below so you dont have to go back. And I will try to be more specific about the filtration. Sorry the youtube detail is not in a pretty format.

"Oceanic Reef Ready Tank. Oceanic Wet/Dry filtration under tank. Service Cart with 1/2 hp Jacuzzi motor located in next room (garage) with 4 19" LifeGuard stacks for mechanical filtration. Chiller in garage. Heater in trickle filter. 2 Quiet One 6000 pumps located in garage. Hoses ran through wall behind tank to keep heat and noise out of theater room. Lights shoved back and kept to rear of tank to keep loaches toward front glass with several layers of car window tint to dim. Ends of tank kept dark with middle brightest. Hidden understair lighted utility room 2 feet from tank houses 2 50 gallon plastic trash cans each with power head, heater, adjusted PH, for quick 80 gallon water changes twice a week with incoming and out going water quick connects and shut off. Takes 15 minutes to complete 80 gallon water change by just flipping a few water valve levers. Actually takes longer to refill plastic cans with 40 gallons each from faucet in hidden utility room. Hydro vac monthly. Never used chemical filtration (carbon). Loaches were purchased and added all same size 2 inches 7 years ago. All grew to different sizes. The other fish are inconsequential dither fish. Algea on lower glass is courtesy for larger fish to recognize boundries. Plants - never. This tank was set up for low maintenance and riduclous filtration and biological load capability in mind from the beginning. Noise in video mostly fans in light housing. Glass Canopy tank lids are temporarily open for prefilter water noises for this video. Never fed live or frozen foods. Sinking tablet foods always. Water values kept constant: Ph 6.8, Am 0, Nitrite 0, Nitrate 0. Discovered Massivore Delite by Hikari 1 year ago. Loaches can't get enough. Each tablet has calories of 1.8 goldfish. Does not cloud water. Have only used 2 chemicals since setting up tank 7 years ago. I buy Pond Amquel + by the gallon and Pond Acid Buffer by SeaChem in powdered form via 5 gallon bucket. Very hard water in the Mid West U.S. Installed whole house soft water system for the house 6 months ago. Fish seem oblivious. Never added salt to aquarium directly. This tank remains a low maintenance pleasure to maintain and enjoy."

The biological filtration is a Oceanic Plus Series Trickle Filter Model 250. I doubt it is made anymore. It is like another aquarium all to itself under the stand. It measures 30" (inches) wide x 20" high x 18" deep and has its' own glass canopy. It is packed with bio ball media and has a heater in the sump as well as the titanium coils of a cyclone 1/2 hp chiller.

Driving each of the prefilter returns is a couple of quiet 1 model 6000 1506 gph pumps. Of course the pumps don't really move that much in practice. I used 1 inch flexible water line through out. The prefilter outputs that dump in the tank on each side are plumbed into 4 outputs spaced equally apart along the back glass about 4" above the gravel line facing the front glass to drive currents. No bubble wands or surface disturbances. The tank is a picture of peacefulness. Oxygenating the water is all done undeneath the tank. If I ever saw a fish gasping at the surface I would have changed things a long time ago.

Mechanical filtration is a petstore service cart from life guard with a 1/2 hp motor and 4 19" mechanical media stacks. The cart has little air filled tires so you can wheel it around easily. Comes in handy when I change the filters about every three months. I just wheel it to the other side of the garage and out the door for internal hose down maintenance. I doubt these are made anymore but I bought it online from Petware House before they became Dr Foster & Smith. It runs 24/7 on the tank.

With all these pumps making noise and heat I neatly cut holes through the bottom of the wall behind the tank and ran 1" hoses to the units from the tank into the garage (on the other side of aqurium wall). Result is a noisy garage but a very silent Aquarium. Only noise I hear is the stupid fans in the light. Yes I hate those fans but they are quiet enough not to interfere with movie enjoyment.

The chiller is set to keep the temperature from rising above 81 degrees F and the heater keeps temps from dropping below 77 in the winter. The chiller never runs in the winter but stays busy in the summers. The aquarium sits in a down stairs theater room with a fire place opposite the room so room temperatures fluctuate but the water volume keeps the tank temps from moving up or down quickly. It pretty much takes care of itself. I have a large LCD display on one of the front doors of the stand that alerts me if temperatures get out of whack. I actually love the excitement when the power goes out house wide because I bought a good generator I hardly ever get to use. The aquarium and its accessories are all on their own seperate breaker. A Voltage regulator and high end surge suppression system keep the noise out of the tv and audio equipment.

Finally chemical filtration. (Black carbon chips) Never used the stuff on this tank in the 7 years it has been running since I do 80 gallon water changes at least twice a week. Conveniently I have a small lighted hidden under stair utility room 2 ft from the tank along the wall it's on. In there I have water and public sewer hookups because on the otherside of the utility room is a bathroom where I went through another wall and cheated off the lines. I keep 2 50 gallon plastic drums churning with powerheads and heaters. 1 tablespoon and a half of SeaChem Pond Acid Buffer (miracle stuff) in each barrel filled with 40 gallons of water and the water hardness buffer is broken and I end up with a ph of 6.8. Yes it took months of trial and error before I got it down to a science and sometimes the water company gets "creative" so I always check the PH when I check temp before pumping the contents into the aquarium.

It takes about 15 minutes to do an 80 gallon water change. Pump the water out - pump pre-treated water in. It takes another 10 minutes on top of that to fill the plastic drums though. But usually I can be done before a 30 minute show is through. It's all about flipping switches and levers. If I did not take the time and get things set up so easy my Clown loaches would be a lot smaller because I would procastinate. As things are, I rarely ever have a measurable nitrate level. Keeping that at zero lets the fishies grow quick in my opinion.

I use multiple sheets of car window tint on the underside of my light fixture to control light and dark areas. And I keep the light pushed all the way to the back of the glass canopy so the loaches spend their days lounging at the front glass where I can enjoy them. I put milk caps on the four corners of the light fixture to keep a 1/4" air space to cut down on heat transfer from the lights. When I turn the lights off at night I flip on the blue LED "moon lights." Generally I like to keep the tank dim but green algea still grows on the front glass. And that works out pretty good as it acts as a stop sign when the larger fish get a head of steam built up.

I have a beautiful pleco that spends his time aggravating the clown loaches that will find himself living in the bottom of a prefilter until I find him a new home if the behavior doesn't change. This pleco loves Massivore Delite as much as the loaches and I find that very odd. Wondering if that food can make it such an agitator?

Well I have enjoyed the past hour or so because I just installed a new keyboard and found it quite delightful. Sorry for the long on and on about everything but this keyboard Kicks Butt!!!!

Please feel free to comment or question. Advice or tips on making maintenance easier is always most welcome.

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chefkeith
Posts: 2646
Joined: Tue Jan 03, 2006 9:37 pm
Location: Detroit

Post by chefkeith » Sat Feb 06, 2010 2:37 pm

Excellent set-up. That's is some mega good filtration and a great water change system. I wasn't familiar with the Pond Acid Buffer stuff before, but it sounds like a very good solution to reduce the KH and pH.

You are the 1st person I know of to use a chiller on a clown loach tank also.

Great idea with the window tint to reduce the bright lighting in the front areas. Clowns definitely appreciate that.
Red carpet treatment through and through.

Bravo.

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Keith Wolcott
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Joined: Sun Mar 04, 2007 1:49 pm
Location: Charleston, Illinois USA

Post by Keith Wolcott » Sun Feb 07, 2010 7:52 am

Excellent! Thank you for all of the details. You have quite a nice setup.

Dav101
Posts: 3
Joined: Fri Feb 05, 2010 1:37 pm

Post by Dav101 » Sun Feb 07, 2010 12:27 pm

Thanks! I get the Seachem Pond Acid Buffer in the powdered form via a 20kg 5 gallon container to save on costs. The powdered form of this chemical is the most concentrated commercially available stuff out there I have found to reduce PH and it effortlessly bust through the water carbonate hardness buffer to allow you to control your PH.

I would never add this caustic chemical directly to my aquarium though. Always to the pre-treatment drums. Even being a tiny bit overzealous with this stuff can make the ph drop to like 5. It has happened to me before lots of times in my pre-treatment drums. Or sometimes I have to add a little more. It all depends on whats going into my local public water supply which I can't control. But the amounts I need to use do seem to correlate with the seasons.

I mistakenly said I use a table spoon and a half per 40 gallon drum but more accurately: about 2 teaspoons per drum for my needs.

My tap water PH is so high it is off the alklinity chart and my water is very very hard.

Because my water change regimen is so great, buying little 8oz liquid bottles (less potent) of the Seachem acid buffer from the local pet stores would financially prevent me from doing water changes so freely and would be laughable.

I find the best price from a supplier online and they have it drop shipped directly from Seachem. No one stocks the stuff in a 20kg amount.

A SeaChem rep told me you can get it in a 55 gallon drum! A little much for my needs. :wink:

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