Arowana Tips - Aquatic Solution

1st : white & blue wool 2nd : Jap mat 3rd : black sponge 4th : bio ring 5th : pump

FILTER SYSTEM Lets talk about filter system shall we.? What are the two elements we w e must have in our filter.? 1st. Mechanical filter. Mechanical filter is used to filter out particles from the w ater like fine sands, mud, rust, dirt, undigested food etc etc. 2nd. Bio filter. Bio filter is used to break down dangerous gasses to not s o dangerous gasses called nitrogen cycle. Mechanical filter. The most basic mechanical filter media is, filter wool. Filter wool comes in a variety of colours and prices too depending on its quality. White ones, wide available in all LFS about RM1 - RM2. Technically not usable after 2 to 3 washes if you wash w ash it roughly and 3 to 5 if you wash w ash it gently. Either way, its not recommended. Green and blue ones, more expensive but more durable than those white ones. How many layers of this mechanical is recommended.? The answer to this question may varies depending on your tank setup. The higher the flow rate (L/H) the more layers, the better. Water will always find the easiest way to

escape so will the dirt in it. The faster the water moves, higher the chances t hey will bring the dirt as well. "Am using 12 layers of green filter wool for my 3000L/H pump". What will happen if you cant afford more layers (restricted ( restricted by the space etc etc).? To the owner, do not worries, all you got to do is wash more frequently and the clearness of your tank water might not be as good. As for the fish, not very good. The dirt might get stuck / build up in the gills which will caused a wide variety of sickness. And we are only referring to dirt. How about tiny organic material.? House for bacteria and fungus perhaps.? Some will be thinking right now, how long will it takes to wash so many layers of filter wool.? Our answer to that is "oh very fast 45 mins only (in a very sarcastic way)" Its a responsibility. Not a question of time. Here are some tips on how to maintain your mechanical filter. 1st. Although they are meant to be mechanical mec hanical filter, they will also act as a house for beneficial bacteria. So you are not suppose to wash them so frequently. That is why you need to put more layers so that t hat you can only wash the first few ones. In other words, you are not suppose to wash it if its not clogged. 2nd. Frequent water changes. Suck up all the dirt / poo that are lying around the base during WC helps a lot in maintaining the water quality. We do water changes twice every week and "I've not wash my filter wool for 10 months" @_@ Yes, Ye s, you read it right, 10 months. Just to satisfy your curiosity. "My water is crystal clear, ammonia reading is zero." 3rd. Select the right diet for your fish. Will this affect aff ect the filter.? Hell yes it does. Super worms and meal worms especially. They will clogged the filter wool 3 times faster. Reason being, their exoskeleton cannot be digested.

Here is one random information. Carnivores fishes has a very bad digestive system. These fishes can only digest 90% of the food they consume. And how do we know it.? We read a lot and we did a little experiment on our own and found some tiny undigested bones (of a feeder fish) in a custom made filter bag.

This time, we'll discuss about Bio filter system. Like we have mentioned before in Part III, Bio filter is used to turn toxic gasses into not so harmful gasses in a process being referred to as nitrogen cycle.So, what are these dangerous gasses we are talking about here.? Its called Ammonia. Ammonia is created by all sorts of rotting organic material. So we can imagine how easily and widely available can this be in an aquarium. If you still dont understand what we are saying, it is the uneaten food, the poop and pee of the fish(es) and etc etc. In this regards, ammonia present in the tank got to be absolutely ZERO. When we say ZERO, it doesnt matter if you ask us if its okay to have 0.1 ppm. Golden rule when it comes to ammonia is, Better Be Safe Than Sorry. And how do we make sure the ammonia present is zero.? Through the help of bacteria. Bacteria.? Yes, bacteria, but not those typical bad bacteria out there. We called it beneficial bacteria. Ammonia is kind of like their (beneficial bacteria or the s cientific name Aerobic bacteria) food. They convert ammonia into nitrite (not as lethal as ammonia) during the 1st stage of the cycle and subsequently into nitrate (not as lethal as nitrite) at the last stage. A brief explanation we came out with so to not confuse any new beginners. So, before we add out beloved fish into the tank, we must cycle the water

1st. To cycle the water;1st. We must have have ammonia in the tank. To do that, just throw in couple of Plecos, some bog wood with aquatic plants tied to it. Throw in some sinking pellets for them to eat. More they eat, faster they excrete and hence, faster will be for the ammonia to form, from the rotting of the organic material. 2nd. The beneficial bacteria. In the olden days, they run their tank for weeks before adding their fish in. But now, we have all kinda booster and bacteria for sale in both liquid and powder forms. Which makes the cycling part very much easier. Just pour them into the tank, and these bacteria will attached to any hard objects (bio filter media). 3rd. Keep the lights on, make sure the is plenty of oxygen in the tank and 1 week later, your fish is good to go. The best way to be sure is always to test the water. But is a hassle to test it everyday. So we recommend to check your tank for algae. Algae needs nitrate to flourish same goes to any aquatic plants. Refer back to 1st step, " bog wood with aquatic plants tied on them ". So with algae present, is more than enough prove that nitrate is present. So now we know briefly what and how this bio filter works. Only things left is their house in this case, its the bio filter media. Almost anything can be the " house " of the bacteria. Only question is, how they perform. When we say perform, its the amount of surface available in the objects and how well will the water flow through the surface. A very straight forward example, a rock and a coral stone of the same size. This beneficial bacteria can only cling onto the surface of the rock where as the coral stone, they (bacteria) can cling onto the tiny little gap within it (coral stone) and water can flow through easily. So, the more surface an object has, the better they work as the bio filter media. But do take note, we mentioned almost anything, not everything. Some objects may be harmful to aquatics animal when there are expose to water for a pro long period of time

Okay, we have covered the tank, water changing routine and its chemistry and filter system. Somehow we have covered most of the initial part to start an aquarium hobby. So in this part of the discussion we will go slightly in depth into the filter system. How is best to set up a mechanical filter.? Like we previously mentioned, its to filter out small particles from the water so that it will be clear to our naked eye. The question is, how to achieve the level of convenience and result that we desire.? There are various of ways to do that. One that we would like to share is actually very simple and it works well. Just put a layer or two of bio foam at the bottom or in other words, the last location the water will flow through to their next location. If you guys / girls out there remember us saying, the more the merrier. But at the end of the day, the one closest to the place where the water flow out, will eventually clot because that is where all the water has flow through in order to get out whether to the next compartment of a sump filter or back into the tank for an OHF (over head filter). Now, we also mention although its main purpose is for mechanical filtering, beneficial bacteria will also clung onto the filter wool. So is best not to wash them unless they are clot. But having say so, most of you will ask, how to maintain the water quality then.? Wont the water will be very dirty.? Our answer to the above question is no, the water will be just fine. Here is the brief cycle of the fish poop. When the fish excrete, the poop will break down into tiny particles in the water. And once they flow through the filter wool, they will get lodge into them. Over time, they will eventually break down into almost nothing and dissolved into water and turn into gasses. And hence, ammonia is created. But again, for carnivorous fishes, they wont be able to digest everything (what we have mentioned before), and little bone

and shells from insect is also almost indigestible. So in time, sooner if less wool or later if there is more wool, they will clog up. Let us share one of our personal filter set up.

Bio foam at the bottom. Attached is the pictures of what my personal filter look like at the 1st compartment. As you all can see, there are quite some amount of dirt collected by the glass. I havent wash this filter wools for 10 months. As for the clogging issue, refer to the next picture.

Water flowing level. As you can see, the water flowing is quite smooth although the filter as you all see is quite dirty. 1st sign to look for when you suspect your filter is clogged, is by looking at the highest water level of 1st and the point where it flow into 2nd compartment. If the difference is too great, then is time to wash it. If you guys are wondering about the blue tape I have there, Is actually for my own safety so I wont cut my hand when I need to do some cleaning. As for the media I'm using for the Bio system, is stainless steel pot scrubber. @_@!! haha, yes, I get the face. Here is a little picture to ease the worries.

Chemistry readings. My ammonia reading is zero and my PH is at 6.5. All these with a 22" Arowana, 6 Lampang all above 5" as tank mate and a 11" DBKL (pleco) as primary cleaner. Okay, done with the sharing and let us move back into setting up a filter properly. To set up a proper bio filter, there must be enough and constant supply of Oxygen for the BB (beneficial bacteria) to grow properly and strong. So we will advise you to put at least an air output at the bottom before the rest of the media. With this, even when you are doing water changes or the power is out, there will be sufficient Oxygen to keep the BB working. To set up a good and strong bio filter system is not as easy as some of you might think. Pour in the bacteria water and let it be. It is true to some extend and also depending on your filter system set up as well (type of filter and the amount of lights) Here is the brief explanation.

In order for the BB to grow, they need great amount of lights. But in order for them to work in their full potential, they got to be in dark environment. You all get the pictures.? Bright grows well but dark works better. Is easy to counter this with a sump filter, just put a couple of clip on light where the shine is not strong enough to penetrate all the way down, with a timer if you want. They get to grow and the water flow will bring them down and settle there for them to work. This is for cabinet sump. For steel rack, dont be bother because the will be natural lights and naturally dark during the night. By saying so, am not saying canister filter will be at a disadvantage. Most of them do allow a certain amount of light to penetrate especially good brand. Am going to stop here as this part has gone longer that we expected and we believe the readers will need time to digest as well. Next, we will go into the miscellaneous of filter media.

Okay, lets get this going to miscellaneous of filter material.. In order to not complicate things, we will only touch common filter media(s) that are easily available in most if not all LFS..

Image from www.bar-b-que.com 1. Lava Rock

These porous rocks are naturally formed / not man made. Big chunks are widely use in planted tank as a base for tying plants or simply as a decorative item. Smaller pieces are used as filter media for the biological system. And even smaller pieces are used as substrate. Could be very messy.

Image from jeboaquarium.com

Image from petcity2008.blogspot.com 2. Ceramic Ring

Man made. Mainly used in biological filter systems. Secondary usage as substrate. A few selection to chose from. Non porous are technically useless. Best choice is to pay more and get those with pores. User friendly.

Image from bulkheadbioball.com 3. Bio Ball

Man made. Have seen many types and each differ in price depending on materials and quality. Primary usage is for (Dripping Filter System) huge and generally harder to set up. Amateurs should not attempt.

Image from www.alibaba.com 4. Bio Foam

A must have in any sump filter. It's primary usage is for cultivation of beneficial bacteria. In a sump, we can use it to breakdown waste(s) to achieve better flow, to reduce noise, to prevent blockage. "What we have been doing". Very user friendly in all terms.

Here, as promised to one of our reader, the 1st part of the notes is dedicated toEn Hamizi Manap . There is no easy way or short cut in lowering down the PH level of our local tap water which may varies from place to place. In an aquarium, lower PH level is a natural occurrence if the tank is well maintained. Black water, is something we can get easily in any LFS and the uses is to lower down the PH instantly to the desired level. It is a good choice provided the fish you are keeping required low PH readings but, if it is not, there is really no point in it. Why do we say so.? It is because, most fishes we get from a LFS are are captive breed and most are being handled in tap water environment once they are ready for business transaction. It is different if you caught the fish from a river with acidic water environment, in this case, Black Water is a must. Now, back to maintaining the PH level. It is not an easy nor it is a hard task. Only thing we need to achieve this is, TIME. Like we previously mentioned, it is a natural occurrence in any aquarium. Only question is, how we maintained it that way. In our previous notes, we have stressed that, frequent water changes is technically one of the mandatory thing to do. In this PH matter, it is so that the PH wont spike upwards because of a larger volume of WC which many of us fish keeper ignored. So the first thing we need to do to keep the PH steady, is Frequent Water Changes. To select and chose the right media that will not altered the PH reading. Use the right amount of buffer(s) "coral chips"

As a kid myself when I 1st started this hobby, the LFS owner once told me, make sure you wash your filter frequently. Am very sure most of us have been told about this. Which as a matter of fact, not true. We are not suppose to wash frequently not to mentioned dont wash at all if its possible. So, filter system is the next in line to take note of. To go in depth in filter system is very long. So we will leave this for some other times. Next in line will be Ketapang Leaves "Indian Almond Tree Leaves" One of the best way to bring the PH down very slowly, safe and its free :) As for the preparations, will also be in a different notes. So conclusion; 1. Frequent Water Changes 2. Filter system 3. Water treatment with Ketapang Leaves Let us continue in miscellaneous of filter material.

Image from www.momotaro-koi.org Bio House

Technically bio ring in extra large size. Like the extra size, $$ also extra :) Aside from the size and the obvious price, the power also extra. Mainly used in big scale filtering system. So if you are worried about the power of your bio filter system, this is a very good choice. Some also use it for planted tank "decoration and tying plants" and shrimp tank "hiding place". If I'm not mistaken, it was designed for pond usage. Fairly simple to use, just align them nicely. Not suitable for canister filter.

Image from fwdmagazine.com

Image from www.chemistryland.com Activated Charcoal

This AC, in your filter, might have saved our fish(s) many times even without us knowing it. These small little pieces of burnt wood are fairly annoying to use at 1st because it needed to be wash so thoroughly it is basically a pain in the ass. But when I know for sure it saved my Aro life once "will share the experience in future notes", I wouldn't mind even if I have to wash them for one full week. In terms of benefit, its more to a supplement kinda thing than a bio filter media unless being prepare other wise. People uses it widely for adsorption purposes but I personally am using for both bio filtering and adsorption. P/S Many kinda different stories surrounding AC. PH spiking and de-sorp a.k.a leaching are the most commonly talked about. Will not discuss over here because it will defeat the purpose of introduction.

Thank you again for staying tune.. Please feel free to ask us question on our notes. But if you wish to know more about Activated Charcoal, please ask on our wall. Have a pleasant night. :)

Welcome back people. Today we will write about salt. Many of you might think salt has nothing much to be write about. But in the truth, it is not. It is not as simple as, ( add some salt during water change(s), or when setting up a tank or when your fish is sick ). Most people dont really understand what it does aside from what the owner of the LFS told them. Promote appetite, helps breathing and to cure sickness being the most common ones I believe. Salt in an aquarium can be extremely useful at the same time, can make matter worse if used wrongly. For example, when setting up a tank. Why we recommend to add some salt.? It is so because we can eliminate most if not all parasite / pathogen(s). Most will agree, it is good because they kill bad things. But after initial cycle, did the owner of the LFS tell you to do a partial water changes to reduce the amount of salt in your tank before adding in any fishes.? If they dont, they are wrong. Did they tell you not to add salt during normal water changes.? I bet most will say, " add some salt during water changes ". And again, it is not the right thing to do. Do not forget, like all living cell, parasite / pathogen too have different level of tolerance towards something in this case, Salt. If your very 1st dose of salt did not kill all of them, it is very likely they have build up a certain amount of tolerance towards it. So what happen if you add salt again during water changes and at a dose that did not kill again.? More tolerance. If this cycle goes on, the moment your fish gotten weaker, one way or the other, they will attack your fish immediately and the worse problems

is, to kill them off, you need a higher dose of salt to do the job and that is not good at all for the whole system. Salt is most useful when the concentration suddenly changes. In this case, a tank without any salt concentration or with the minimal concentration of salt, will have a better chances of curing most parasitic and bacteria infections with salt alone. So, we will advice our readers not to add any salt during normal water changes unless the occupant(s) of the tank specifically requires it. A very contradicting arguments of not using salt at all during water changes will be " with the uses of salt, we can prevent many unhappy outcome and not to mention good properties like increase appetite and heal better " So, can we conclude in the end that, using salt during routine water changes have more positive effect than negative.? The answer is still NO. No matter how many good points you can bring up, we can always counter the arguments with good filtering system and frequent water changes. None of the above will happen if your fish is living in a good environment and is as healthy as it can be. So again, we are stressing good filtering system and frequent water changes is the most important of all. Another issue, which many of us out there are not aware, using Zeolite in a tank with salt concentration are technically wasting money and time because instead of adsorbing ammonia, Zeolite prefer the salt and to make matter worse, they will release what ever ammonia they have adsorb in exchange of salt.

A random piece of information for our readers, Zeolite are reactivated / recharge through dipping in salt water. So, instead of throwing them away after use, dip them in salt water and rinse them clean, they are as good as new. Lastly, we can use salt to create a bath " longer duration, 10 days " for quarantine and healing of nitrite poisoning, or a dip " short duration 30 mins " to immediately treat severe parasitic infection ( only certain parasite ). Please take note, do not use household salt as there is added chemical in it. Very likely it will kill your fish rather than saving it.

Image from www.indiamart.com Rock salt from the Himalayas. High minerals traces. Recommendation of use - Once in a blue moon :)

Image from www.foreverlookingood.com Normal sea salt. Normal minerals traces. Recommendation of use - I wont, unless for treatment =)

Image from frugal-foodie-recipes.com Kitchen salt. Iodized and with additives. Recommendation of use - Dont waste the cooking salt, you might as well give me all your fish since you will be killing them :D :D

Good day all. That will be all for today. Next we will go a level deeper into Nitrogen Cycle.

Nitrogen Cycle, a process take place in the filter. A very important process that keep our fish alive by keeping the water condition / parameters in proper order. So to say, we decide the fate of our fishes. Well, maybe not wholly but it plays a big part. A simpler way to put it, Nitrogen Cycle is a process of breaking down toxic gasses to non so toxic gasses. And like we previously mentioned before, Ammonia is the major killer of our beloved water pets. Where do Ammonia comes from.?

Image from www.chemicals-technology.com This is how it is look like at molecular level 

In the tank environment, they come from all kinda organic material, to be more precise, decaying organic material which include fishes faeces / waste(s), which is the biggest contributor of them all. Unlike us, fishes have no choice but to excrete their waste in the water and unlike in the wild, aquarium / tank were not aided by the natures to neutralise it. Other factors that contribute to the increase of Ammonia will be uneaten food and also plants. This is how Ammonia comes by in our tank. And this is the 1st stage of the cycle that comes with the name Ammonification. Why is Ammonia bad for the fishes.?

Ammonia will disrupt the ability of fishes to regulate water and salts. Under these circumstances, damage to the fish(s) tissue will occur both externally and internally. The very 1st part of the fish that will get damage from Ammonia poisoning will be the gill. Fishes gill's has the most delicate tissue. And the 1st symptoms of Ammonia poisoning is the fish will be seen on the surface gasping for air. Lets move on to the cycle.. With the help of Nitrosomonas bacteria + Oxygen, Ammonia is then being converted / breakdown further into Nitrites that comes with the name Nitrification.

Image from Wikipedia Nitrite

Image from Wikioedia Nitrite

Although not as deadly as Ammonia, Nitrite should not be taken lightly. Nitrite are irritants for fish. So the 1st symptoms to look for if you suspect the concentration of Nitrite is too high is, the fish will rub themselves against objects or jumping or darting around for no apparent reason. Many hobbyist mistook this for parasitic diseases. Due to its properties of being able to bind themselves to red blood cells, under prolong exposure to Nitrite, fish(s) will develop Brown Blood Disease, " the colour of the blood turned brown " and this will seriously impaired the ability of the blood to carry oxygen. Immune system will become significantly lower. Lets move on to the cycle.. With the help of Nitrobacter bacteria + oxygen, Nitrites is then being breakdown into Nitrates that also comes with the name Nitrification.

Image from Wikipedia Nitrate

Image from Wikipedia Nitrate

Nitrates, the third stages of the Nitrogen Cycle. Nitrates do not harm our fishes directly. But prolong exposure to high concentration of Nitrates will also impaired the fish immune system and their ability to reproduce. When we say high, its 50ppm compare to 1ppm for Nitrites only.  Frequent water changes will keep the Nitrates level in check. Lets continue to the final stages.. The final stages of the Nitrogen Cycle breakdown involves bacteria from the family of Pseudomonas and Clostridium without the presence of oxygen " anaerobic " into harmless final product called, Nitrogen. The process is called Denitrification. Although anaerobic bacteria can survive in aerobic conditions, we were unable to confirm the existence of these bacteria in our filter system at the moment and whether they can breakdown Nitrates or not. We are still experimenting on it and hope to get an answer as soon as possible. Breaking of Nitrates absence oxygen will release Hydrogen Sulfide which are extremely toxic. This we can confirm. Under such circumstances, is denitrator filter still advisable.? Stay tune for our result..

Image from chemistry.wikia.com Nitrogen

P/S: Ammonia can be categorize into two different element under different environment. Environment being the PH level of our water. At PH above 7 ( neutral ) ammonia are highly toxic in any given amount. At PH below 7, they are not as toxic. But having said so, Ammonia should be kept at absolute ZERO ( 0 ) at all times. Prevention is better than cure. So unless the fish require absolute high PH water, try lowering it down to below 7.

K1 Media will be here this weekend. April 17, 2012 at 4:16am

Dear all, the long awaited K1 Media will be available from us from this weekend onwards. Feel free to place your bookings here at the comment(s) section so that we can avoid flooding the page. Thank you very much.

K1 Media

K1 Media close up Those tiny translucent thingy at the center are Beneficial Bacteria 100 grams RM19 1kg and above RM15/100 grams new price updated 22/8/2012 AQUATIC sOLUTION 42, Jalan Anggerik Vanilla AD, 31/AD Kota Kemuning, 40460 Shah Alam, Malaysia