@@Kaityscichlids I was thinking more about the water column, which is a sign of 'too much' light. You could still have algae growing on surfaces with less light.
Looks so crystal clear! I bought the same uvc and wondered if I should install it or not. I have a little brown algae on the rocks but no green water. But looks like it helped you regardless so maybe I'll go ahead and throw it in.
It has helped heaps! I kind of didn't realise how green my water actually was until it wasn't green anymore 🤣 even though it won't do anything for algae on rocks you might find it still makes a difference
UVC is very great to use so this video I hope will give your follower a good input to start use it , your informaion was very good . Kaity you are a great profet for our hobby and hopefully you gives a good insperation to your watcher to get good results with their own aquarium.👌
Excellent, glad you had some positive results.......tank looks great! I run both UV and Purigen on my Cichlid tank also and it helps a lot. I've had Cichlids for over 5-years and they are so beautiful and much less work than going to salt water fish. Haven't setup my WB 100.3 yet as we are waiting to replace the flooring in that area first........the wait is killing me! Great video and very informative.......you're a natural at providing great content and excellent presentation.
Thank you!! I'm loving the results, now it'll just come down to how good I am at maintaining it I think. I don't know how I'll go with ordering replacement bulbs and regenerating the Purigen. I'm not the best with keeping up with that type of stuff, but we'll see. The wait would be killing me too haha!
Looks beautiful! Water is crystal clear. I used Purigen for years but I stopped a few years ago. It does clear your water but the idea of cleaning it with bleach always made me nervous. When I need something to clear the water I use old fashion activated carbon. I think it’s safer.
Thank you Brian! Yes the idea of using bleach to regenerate it scares me a bit too. A few people have mentioned Chemi Pure Blue as a good carbon option
It's so beautiful, most of all ur presentation is wonderful.. I loved it and I susceptibled ur channel. It's so helpful for me. I was tired about cloudy water of my aquarium. Thanks again from bottom of my heart.
Hi kaity, excellent video and beautiful tank. I wonder which type of lids you have it and how to fix it. I have a similar tank, but I need to add some lids. Thanks
Great update. The tank looks fantastic. I’ve used purigen in the past. It works great, but I’ve never tried the cleaning process on it. Perhaps I’ll look into it again.
Why not just get an Unscripted Aquarium Clarifier (UAC)? Much safer for fish and no UVC bulb to replace. Works just as good as hydrogen peroxide weekly doses and it can handle up to 300-gallon tanks easily. Hope this helps! 😊
I have a 60g Fluval, drilled. I’ve been watching “A-LOT” of videos on African Cichlids. I have crushed coral as a substrate. My question is: If I get my PH up to 8-8.2, when I do water changes, how do I ensure I’m not throwing the PH off by doing the water change? I know people use buffers. Do they add them to the water before adding back the new water? Most videos I watch show people adding the de-chlorinator after they fill the tank….. I actually do everything before adding water back… I find just leaving everything alone works best. The more I try to create a natural habitat, the more problems I may face in the future. I have a community tank with everything in it! 🤣 1 - Black Convict (male) 2 - Female Pink Convict’s 1 - Dwarf Polar Blue Parrot 3 - Yellow Lab (Mbuna) 1 - Powder Blue / socolofi / Pindani 2 - Albino Peacock 2 - OB Peacock 1 - Lemon Jake Peacock 2 - Kenyi 3 - Rainbow Sharks 1 - Kribensis Cichlid 1 - Bristle Nose Pleco
Yep you're spot on, it's the buffer that you want to add during a water change so you don't get a pH swing. It'll neutralise the lower pH of the tap water. I normally add my dechlorinater first, then add the tap water, then as the tap water is filling up I add the buffer in. I've found that to work pretty well! I agree that sometimes less is more, I always aim for stability over matching parameters
You can safely add dechlorinator to the remaining water in the tank when doing a water change, then top the tank back up with chlorinated water. This is possible because you can 'overdose' dechlorinator around 5 times the required amount without harming any fish and also chlorine wouldn't immediately start to effect your fish or even bacteria, as it takes time, but if you add dechlorinator to the remaining tank water first, rather than adding it after refilling, there'll be no risk of taking too much time to refill the tank anyway.
You are walking a tightrope with the mix of fish in your community. The Africans like 8-8.2 but the South Americans you have (and the Krib) prefer much lower, 6.5-7.5. The easiest way to maintain pH for African Cichlids is with crushed coral substrate and/or holy rock like Kaity has. If you keep your water changes to 15-20% these will keep your pH at around 8 without adding an adjuster. With the South Americans in there, I would shoot for the low side at 7.5-8. As long as your changes are 20% or less, you can add the dechlorinator to the tank during the change. The diets of Peacocks, Mbuna, Kribensis and South Americans are completely different so you'll need to feed differently for each and watch that they are getting enough but not wasting - which would mess with your water. Finally, as your Convicts mature they may start to shred the Peacocks so be on the look out for chasing and fin nipping. You will need to separate them if you notice that. Best of luck.
@@brianmoore3294 , I don’t mess with my ph other than crushed coral. I’m aware of the differences I have, I had to move a few fish from this tank. I do watch my fish, probably too much 🤣. So far so good. These were all 1” fish that are about 3” so far. There is some chasing, however I have a lot of bigger river rock piles, clay pots, and some big slate rock. Everyone seems to have a spot. My Pink convict laid eggs last night and the black convict is the poppa. So today I’m on “MP” duty! As for food, I feed heavy. I do cichlid pellets, mixed with veggie pellets, and three-four Algae wafers. I also feed frozen brine with spirulina, and live black worms. I do 60-80% water changes once a week. I always add my chems before I add the water to the tank. The thing I found out the most about watching videos. Everyone does everything there way, and hope for the best! Honestly, I’m more concerned about the equipment (heater) more than anything! In the end you can be “on point” with everything, and a faulty heater can wipe it all out in a night! 😭😭😭 I love watching my fish! It’s my happy place. The personalities of fish are so funny! Thank you for the tips! Think I’ll just keep the ph where it is out of the tap. 6.8-7.2. 🤞🤞
It cost $91.85 USD about a month ago it’s $103.74 USD right now. I bought an FX6 on Black Friday because it was 50% less than what it normally cost and the GKM in December before Christmas so it cost less do to the seasonal sales as well
Hi, really cool to see you give a try and get good result to share! Only one critic here: you changed 2 params, adding UV sterilizer and Purigen chemical absorber.. so you can't really tell precisely what did what.. if you see what I mean. But the result is nice to look at, congrats! Now, may I really insist in suggesting you test a black background? A film you put on the glass can be tricky to install with tank already running, but I think a wood panel painted in black can already give an idea. It will hide a bit all the black equipment in your tank and definitely pop up the fishes coloration! Regarding the NO3, it is bit more complicated than just adding Purigen.. Give a try with PO4 and SiO2 absorber, they do exist, cheap and efficient. It help on water quality. For NO3, you're also mentioned what can help: water change, plants and clean sand. I would definitely add clean your filter. On your video I can see the FX6 are not as clean as they could be. Give a try: alternate deep clean one filter each 2 weeks and check out NO3 evolution. If you're resourceful, you can test the Oase Biomaster Thermo 850: heater are integrated (less stuff in your tank) and especially prefilter can be cleaned each WE in 10min, very efficient. You can even change the pre-filter pads for black ones, 60ppi will do great mechanical filtration (then really have to clean each WE). But even with the most efficient mechanical filter, aka role paper filter (Google "charleslales diyaquariumfilter" to get more info and pictures), you only reduce the NO3 production.. and life stock still pollutes the water directly with liquid form... If Purigen absorb organic material (in theory) before starting nitrogen cycle, you may find other absorber working this time directly on NO3. You can Google special macroporous structure Lewatit MonoPlus MP 800 and maybe even find a way to get some in Australia. The regeneration here is done with simple salt NaCl at maximum solubility; it is less risky for clothes compared to Purigen bleach bath. Another method can be aquaponic system: since plant fast growing emerged have better access to CO2, they can (in theory) fix more NO3 from tank water through roots. Finally there is also a complicated method based on anaerobic bacteria, where NO3 can be consumed in this case. As in salt water aquarium a calcium reactor needs to slowly exchange water with the tank, in this case you need a bypass to really slow down the water flow (oxygenated) through the anaerobic compartiment. Here in Germany, I met some breeders quite advanced in water treatment testing this method.. but not getting at the end the expected performance. So.. until now, it is mostly water change the basic efficient technic. If you find smthg else, feel free to share!
Wow!! Thank you again for taking your time to share your knowledge and so much helpful information. I really, really appreciate it :) I'll have a look into these things you mentioned, it'll be fun trying out some other things to see what happens. In particular I'm looking forward to experimenting with the sump on my new tank to try some of these things
My tank is almost identical to yours in size and filtration. I put an AquaClear 110 HOB filter on it to house my Purigen and filter floss. It's very easy to change my filter floss bi-weekly and my Purigen every few month now without having do deal with my canister filters. I don't use my UV sterilizer any more.
That's a great idea! It's a pain in the backside to open the canister filters to change it. My lids on this tank don't allow space for a HOB but I would definitely incorporate that in the future
Love your set up Kaity. 👍🙏 On the API test kit, hold it slightly away from the card, it needs light to pass through the tube. Your nitrates are around 20 ppm.
6:12 could it be that the green water is absorbing some of the nutrients, so after adding the UV you'd expect higher nitrates, at least until bacteria can caught up?
It's possible it might impact it a bit, but I don't think it would too much. I could maybe test this by turning the UVC's off at some point and seeing if it makes a difference
Very nice video, with no question yr clear aquarium look's much more beautiful then before with all the improvement's that you made, but with no doubt at all, yr energy bill must be rocketing in the sky, but everything has a price, thanks for the video ( from Portugal).
I personally haven't had any issues in my tank since using it but I think it would depend on the minerals it's removing/how much of an impact it's having
I was going to say you might have had so much water clarity issues or with polishing the water that you need more purigen just to do the nitrates I would add even more
@@Kaityscichlids I don't know if my discus tank I had two breeding pairs in there and it was a 75 gallon tank and I had a sump of course and all my stuff went through my biological before it went to the Puritan but I had 4000 gallons worth of biological and then in a thousand gallons worth of Puritan and they were breeding like crazy and it's on a 75 gallon tank I know it's overkill but with new baby and kid I had to do it and they're breeding like crazy and I've been running it for years about 7 years
@@Kaityscichlids but I have to say it does help because the Puritan only picks up with the beneficial doesn't get so it passes through again so that's like the last thing I do have other fish in there too with the discus
@@Kaityscichlids I was also going to say too I know your sand substrate in the tank is really thick if you took them a little more sand out you might have not have so much sand it might help with the levels too or you know I don't know if you gravel back it or not or if you stir it up over the sand to clean out some of the stuff underneath it but it can slowly release the stuff back into the water if you have a lot of sand it can make your levels go up crazy and I can trap more stuff in it
If you don't want to keep taking the canister apart everytime you change the purigen just buy an internal filter like an ocean free filter, take out the carbon that they come with, cut the sponge down its side like a hot dog bun and place a bag of purigen or macropore in between the filter like a sandwich and insert it back in. It will polish the water no problem. It's purely a supplementary filter for polishing water nothing else. Doesn't have to be a big output filter.just enough to do the job. To help with algae and discoloured water try running a prefilter like a Sera prefix filter reactor in one of the fx6 canisters.that will make a big difference too as you will spend less time pulling canisters apart, instead you just need to pull the prefilter apart to clean. They are decent sized as well.
That's a great idea!! I definitely think an internal filter for the Purigen is the way to go instead of in the canister filter. Thank you so much for sharing :)
👏 Another informative and professional video Kaity ... Your water is looking super clear ... For your next tank, maybe you could look into having plants in the sump and avoid the chemical expense ... Thank you for your continued work making videos.
@@Kaityscichlids With a sump you will more then double the size of media ... You can make 3 or 4 videos on your choice of sump media alone ... Check out how the Dutch fish keepers have their tank media set up... Its very interesting ... Have a good day ❗
@@dinodinosaur2930 Would love to know what channels I would find the sump setups that you have referred to and I am always looking for more information on sump filters. Thank you
Hello, congratulations, amazing tank!! Do you know if when you use Purigen removes salts too? I use cichild lake salt in my tank and I do not know if is dangerous about this. Thank you!
Great video! I have just added purigen to my canister filter and can't wait to see how it looks over the next couple days. Did you add it to both your filters or just one?
Thank you! I bet you're going to love it 😊 I just added it into one of them mainly because the bag was so expensive 🤣 but also so when I have to replace it/remove it I only have to open one
@@Kaityscichlids Makes sense nothing in this hobby is cheap 🤣 wonder if you did run a bag in each filter if it would help lower your nitrate level at the end of 6 days.. 🤔
@@Bigofft I know you are meant to stick to the recommended dosage so you'd have to halve it between the two. But I wondered too if it might make a difference in terms of the amount of litres being turned over per hour 🤔
Wouldve been mice if you didd uv first. Then tsee the results and if still.needed , the purigen, or vice versa. I hate wen i try 2 - 3 things and find solution but nvr know what actually fixed also i love the way you algae. Its so cute
Thank you 😊 it says on the bottle it lasts "up to 6 months" but this is probably for a very lightly stocked tank. I checked mine and after a week and a half it was looking pretty brown, so I think it'll probably last me 1-2 months before I need to regenerate it
Activated carbon. After a Fortnightly water change. Wash it, stick it in the oven for an hour or so use it again. Purigen is okay but costly even if you bleach it a few times
The tank was long looks awesome 👍 n with clear water looks wonderful 👍 n with your clear n good explanation that's great 👍. If u would gold fishes of RANZHU N ORANDA gold fish n that's would be wonderful 🤷♂️. Hope to see u have Gold fishes in your next beautiful tank.
The fish are really lucky to be with you... I mean look at the clarity you are maintaining them in, really mind blowing.... Literally I dnt mind drinking water from your fish tank. Must say this is heights of keeping the water clean. Also I always wanted to ask you one thing, why have you left the background clear without applying any kind of vinyl sticker or a background?
Thank you!! Yes it's definitely excessively clean 🤣 I was thinking the same, that the water looks drinkable now. I originally left the background clear because I spent a lot on the tank to enjoy the low iron glass so I wanted to be able to see straight through it. But I'm considering trying a background at some point to see how it looks
Its a pity cichlids rip up plants, maybe think about getting some live in and out of the water type of plants to suck up some of the nitrates, do a bit of an Aqua Scape on it, with some bigger tougher plants, that can just have the roots in the water and plant outside the tank, any nice fish 🐠👍🏻🐟
Thank you!! 😊 I did have some pothos for a while on either end but I wasn't a big fan of it because it was getting in the way of the lids and I didn't like the look of the roots hanging down on the ends. I really like it in some tanks though
Rather than spending so much on it just thrown in some plants and and algae eaters plants helps break down fish poop and also help keep the eater conditions in control.
This video is more about alternative options (in part 1 I explain why). Malawi cichlids eat most plants, and I didn't want anubias on the rocks. I have bristlenose plecos that eat the algae off the rocks but the UVC is to remove green algae in the water
I did notice another thing tho there was some kind of plan or roots floating over the water in the before and after footage maybe that could be causing the water to turn green?
@@GangsterWiz those were the remnants of the jungle Val that I added 🤣 they just happened to be floating there in the shot, but the water was always going green before adding that in
Do you know if the UV’s will work to sterilise the water as well as remove the algae Kaitie? I need to sterilise my water more so than clarify it and Id love it to be as simple as buying a couple of these!
Hi Ashley! I think there are two different types, these are UV clarifiers but you can also buy UV sterilizers. I think the sterilisers are a bit stronger, but the UV clarifiers like what I have are sufficient to kill some bad bacteria in the water along with the algae
Thanks Kaity. I’ve ordered 2 x 24W versions like you and I’m going to use them in my 450 ltr tank and I’ll hope that by doubling up, they might do a better job of sterilisation 🤞 Meanwhile, I’ll keep saving for my Waterbox!
Thanks I agree totally I want to show you the results in my 180 gallon aquarium currently I have a beautiful Dorado and somewhere in there tire track year or Burma I think the matrix did it internal filters have four instead of flu valve I'm trying CJ will you spell it Sicce and I really do recommend it
Hi Tom! Yes I remembered you asking and made sure I checked so I could let you know. The pH stayed at 8.2 so far, but I'm going to keep measuring it each week to see if anything changes over time
Hi Kaity Thank you for that and a nice set of PH numbers. It will be interesting to see if there are any PH changes over the next few weeks. Your tank looks great. With my 50% water changes of my 500ltr Hap and Peacock tank I found that if I premixed the conditioner in a bucket and slowly add it to the tank over the period it took to refill via hose from kitchen tap the Cichlids never got distressed. I stopped using Prime when I checked my tap water REDOX at 480 and it dropped sometimes to around 80 to 90 when using Prime. It would slowly be built up to 220 just before the next water change. I am working to see if I can get my REDOX a lot higher.
@@tomcrossan8263 thank you 😊 I have never measured REDOX, but I looked into a bit because the Purigen said that it increases it. Then I also read that a higher REDOX is associated with a lower pH which I'm guessing is why you wondered if it might lower the pH
Hi Kaity Yes that is why I would appreciate it if you could advise if the tank PH actually lowers and by how much over the coming weeks. I have found at my expense and time that in this hobby we try to "fix" one problem with an additive only to find that it causes another problem (cane toads eh!) and we are advised now to add another to fix this problem. Before we know it we have gone down the rabbit hole. I have found that in most situations the original problem can be solved or lessened by going back to the basics of aquarium keeping of lighting, feeding and water quality. When I started I tended to set up my tanks to meet my requirements and not what the fish actually required. Big mistake in time, money and dead fish.
Not currently - I broke my pumps and tried to order new ones but there was an issue ordering them. The lights are easy to get replacements for but not the pumps unfortunately
Did you have any problems setting up your GKM? I purchased it, so excited when it arrived and boom, the control box has no power. :( literally the box was brand new and unopened...
What’s up kaity🙂 great looking tank! I’m dying to find out what’s going in your new tank. How about a huge predator tank or maybe the ever popular arowana, or maybe you could get started with a cichlid breeding project 😋. Well gotta go I have some steaks on the grill. Till next time 👍🏻🌹
Hey Mike!! Thank you :D That would be really cool, I love arowanas. I still haven't decided yet. I'd definitely love to try breeding African Cichlids one day
Have you thought about using bio home biological media? It’s amazing stuff it’s the best media out there in my opinion. Look up “pimp my fx6 filter” on TH-cam from an Australian mate his channel is named pondguru
As I said in another post, it would be much cheaper if you had tried a fluidized bed with K1. Also a fine filter material before returning to the tank would help to polish the water. But, it is easier to do in a sump filter instead of those canister filters.
I use pillow filling in the top tray, with fine foam pads beneath that, and a coarse spong in red basket above the filling. This polishes the water before it hits my bio media in the fx filters. I am going to add purigen this week because I really want my water to be next level, great video Kaity!
@@cohazard I've seen myself buying a duvet and stripping it for that very purpose. Super fine filter media that will polish water that you could consume. No need for anything else unless you require carbon if your water has discoloration. Old skool fishkeeping without all the modern $hite
You must put in a Jack Dempsey in with them guys He's no really at some color and they're beautiful fish Put in one smaller dumpster and let him grow out with those He'll be just fine with them
Why didn't you use african cichlid sand? You did use sand. So why not the mix made for cichlids? It keeps the ph just for cichids. Its more healthy then all the chemicals you add.
All the money you have spent on your equipment and you use a a crappy color test kit lol. Buy a hanna digital ph meter. Its instant and way more precise then matching colors.
As you have no plants, I would just lessen the intensity or reduce the time the lights are on when the tank isn't being viewed.
I really like growing the green algae on the rocks which is why I'm reluctant to lessen their time/intensity
@@Kaityscichlids I was thinking more about the water column, which is a sign of 'too much' light. You could still have algae growing on surfaces with less light.
Cichlids will demolish plants
That looks amazing. I am so in love with your aquarium
Thank you!! 😊
Looks so crystal clear! I bought the same uvc and wondered if I should install it or not. I have a little brown algae on the rocks but no green water. But looks like it helped you regardless so maybe I'll go ahead and throw it in.
It has helped heaps! I kind of didn't realise how green my water actually was until it wasn't green anymore 🤣 even though it won't do anything for algae on rocks you might find it still makes a difference
Nice video I like before and after pretty Aftrican Cichlid fish water so clear
Thank you James!!
UVC is very great to use so this video I hope will give your follower a good input to start use it , your informaion was very good . Kaity you are a great profet for our hobby and hopefully you gives a good insperation to your watcher to get good results with their own aquarium.👌
Thank you so much ❤️
Good job. Keep pushing
Thank you so much!!! 🙌🙌🙌 It means a lot to me that you checked out my channel! Your content is awesome 👌
Excellent, glad you had some positive results.......tank looks great! I run both UV and Purigen on my Cichlid tank also and it helps a lot. I've had Cichlids for over 5-years and they are so beautiful and much less work than going to salt water fish.
Haven't setup my WB 100.3 yet as we are waiting to replace the flooring in that area first........the wait is killing me!
Great video and very informative.......you're a natural at providing great content and excellent presentation.
Thank you!! I'm loving the results, now it'll just come down to how good I am at maintaining it I think. I don't know how I'll go with ordering replacement bulbs and regenerating the Purigen. I'm not the best with keeping up with that type of stuff, but we'll see. The wait would be killing me too haha!
That's very beautiful. I do 2 50% water changes every week with uv and it works great with me.
Tip :Don't waste your money on products that make your water clear if you can't have clear water your doing something wrong
Thank you 😊
Looks beautiful! Water is crystal clear. I used Purigen for years but I stopped a few years ago. It does clear your water but the idea of cleaning it with bleach always made me nervous. When I need something to clear the water I use old fashion activated carbon. I think it’s safer.
Thank you Brian! Yes the idea of using bleach to regenerate it scares me a bit too. A few people have mentioned Chemi Pure Blue as a good carbon option
I have tried that too. It works pretty well
It's so beautiful, most of all ur presentation is wonderful.. I loved it and I susceptibled ur channel. It's so helpful for me. I was tired about cloudy water of my aquarium. Thanks again from bottom of my heart.
Thank you!! That is fantastic to hear 😊
Light makes the water green.. if on for a long time..hello kaity..
Hi kaity, excellent video and beautiful tank. I wonder which type of lids you have it and how to fix it. I have a similar tank, but I need to add some lids. Thanks
Great update. The tank looks fantastic. I’ve used purigen in the past. It works great, but I’ve never tried the cleaning process on it. Perhaps I’ll look into it again.
Thank you! :) Yes, I'm wondering how I'll go with regenerating it. I can see it already me procrastinating on changing it haha
Why not just get an Unscripted Aquarium Clarifier (UAC)? Much safer for fish and no UVC bulb to replace. Works just as good as hydrogen peroxide weekly doses and it can handle up to 300-gallon tanks easily. Hope this helps! 😊
The tank looks fantastic😍😍 The water also looks so clear and algae freee
Thank you so much!! Yes it's great 😍
I have a 60g Fluval, drilled. I’ve been watching “A-LOT” of videos on African Cichlids.
I have crushed coral as a substrate.
My question is:
If I get my PH up to 8-8.2, when I do water changes, how do I ensure I’m not throwing the PH off by doing the water change?
I know people use buffers. Do they add them to the water before adding back the new water?
Most videos I watch show people adding the de-chlorinator after they fill the tank…..
I actually do everything before adding water back…
I find just leaving everything alone works best.
The more I try to create a natural habitat, the more problems I may face in the future.
I have a community tank with everything in it!
🤣
1 - Black Convict (male)
2 - Female Pink Convict’s
1 - Dwarf Polar Blue Parrot
3 - Yellow Lab (Mbuna)
1 - Powder Blue / socolofi / Pindani
2 - Albino Peacock
2 - OB Peacock
1 - Lemon Jake Peacock
2 - Kenyi
3 - Rainbow Sharks
1 - Kribensis Cichlid
1 - Bristle Nose Pleco
Yep you're spot on, it's the buffer that you want to add during a water change so you don't get a pH swing. It'll neutralise the lower pH of the tap water. I normally add my dechlorinater first, then add the tap water, then as the tap water is filling up I add the buffer in. I've found that to work pretty well! I agree that sometimes less is more, I always aim for stability over matching parameters
You can safely add dechlorinator to the remaining water in the tank when doing a water change, then top the tank back up with chlorinated water. This is possible because you can 'overdose' dechlorinator around 5 times the required amount without harming any fish and also chlorine wouldn't immediately start to effect your fish or even bacteria, as it takes time, but if you add dechlorinator to the remaining tank water first, rather than adding it after refilling, there'll be no risk of taking too much time to refill the tank anyway.
@@Kaityscichlids Thank you so much! I’m looking forward to your new water box set up!
Cheers!
You are walking a tightrope with the mix of fish in your community. The Africans like 8-8.2 but the South Americans you have (and the Krib) prefer much lower, 6.5-7.5. The easiest way to maintain pH for African Cichlids is with crushed coral substrate and/or holy rock like Kaity has. If you keep your water changes to 15-20% these will keep your pH at around 8 without adding an adjuster. With the South Americans in there, I would shoot for the low side at 7.5-8. As long as your changes are 20% or less, you can add the dechlorinator to the tank during the change. The diets of Peacocks, Mbuna, Kribensis and South Americans are completely different so you'll need to feed differently for each and watch that they are getting enough but not wasting - which would mess with your water. Finally, as your Convicts mature they may start to shred the Peacocks so be on the look out for chasing and fin nipping. You will need to separate them if you notice that. Best of luck.
@@brianmoore3294 , I don’t mess with my ph other than crushed coral.
I’m aware of the differences I have, I had to move a few fish from this tank.
I do watch my fish, probably too much 🤣. So far so good. These were all 1” fish that are about 3” so far. There is some chasing, however I have a lot of bigger river rock piles, clay pots, and some big slate rock. Everyone seems to have a spot.
My Pink convict laid eggs last night and the black convict is the poppa. So today I’m on “MP” duty!
As for food, I feed heavy. I do cichlid pellets, mixed with veggie pellets, and three-four Algae wafers. I also feed frozen brine with spirulina, and live black worms.
I do 60-80% water changes once a week. I always add my chems before I add the water to the tank.
The thing I found out the most about watching videos. Everyone does everything there way, and hope for the best! Honestly, I’m more concerned about the equipment (heater) more than anything! In the end you can be “on point” with everything, and a faulty heater can wipe it all out in a night! 😭😭😭
I love watching my fish! It’s my happy place. The personalities of fish are so funny!
Thank you for the tips! Think I’ll just keep the ph where it is out of the tap. 6.8-7.2. 🤞🤞
It cost $91.85 USD about a month ago it’s $103.74 USD right now. I bought an FX6 on Black Friday because it was 50% less than what it normally cost and the GKM in December before Christmas so it cost less do to the seasonal sales as well
Amazing work kaity. Great info. Love it
Thank you!! 😄
Hi, really cool to see you give a try and get good result to share! Only one critic here: you changed 2 params, adding UV sterilizer and Purigen chemical absorber.. so you can't really tell precisely what did what.. if you see what I mean. But the result is nice to look at, congrats!
Now, may I really insist in suggesting you test a black background? A film you put on the glass can be tricky to install with tank already running, but I think a wood panel painted in black can already give an idea. It will hide a bit all the black equipment in your tank and definitely pop up the fishes coloration!
Regarding the NO3, it is bit more complicated than just adding Purigen.. Give a try with PO4 and SiO2 absorber, they do exist, cheap and efficient. It help on water quality. For NO3, you're also mentioned what can help: water change, plants and clean sand. I would definitely add clean your filter. On your video I can see the FX6 are not as clean as they could be. Give a try: alternate deep clean one filter each 2 weeks and check out NO3 evolution. If you're resourceful, you can test the Oase Biomaster Thermo 850: heater are integrated (less stuff in your tank) and especially prefilter can be cleaned each WE in 10min, very efficient. You can even change the pre-filter pads for black ones, 60ppi will do great mechanical filtration (then really have to clean each WE). But even with the most efficient mechanical filter, aka role paper filter (Google "charleslales diyaquariumfilter" to get more info and pictures), you only reduce the NO3 production.. and life stock still pollutes the water directly with liquid form...
If Purigen absorb organic material (in theory) before starting nitrogen cycle, you may find other absorber working this time directly on NO3. You can Google special macroporous structure Lewatit MonoPlus MP 800 and maybe even find a way to get some in Australia. The regeneration here is done with simple salt NaCl at maximum solubility; it is less risky for clothes compared to Purigen bleach bath. Another method can be aquaponic system: since plant fast growing emerged have better access to CO2, they can (in theory) fix more NO3 from tank water through roots. Finally there is also a complicated method based on anaerobic bacteria, where NO3 can be consumed in this case. As in salt water aquarium a calcium reactor needs to slowly exchange water with the tank, in this case you need a bypass to really slow down the water flow (oxygenated) through the anaerobic compartiment. Here in Germany, I met some breeders quite advanced in water treatment testing this method.. but not getting at the end the expected performance.
So.. until now, it is mostly water change the basic efficient technic. If you find smthg else, feel free to share!
Wow!! Thank you again for taking your time to share your knowledge and so much helpful information. I really, really appreciate it :) I'll have a look into these things you mentioned, it'll be fun trying out some other things to see what happens. In particular I'm looking forward to experimenting with the sump on my new tank to try some of these things
My tank is almost identical to yours in size and filtration. I put an AquaClear 110 HOB filter on it to house my Purigen and filter floss. It's very easy to change my filter floss bi-weekly and my Purigen every few month now without having do deal with my canister filters. I don't use my UV sterilizer any more.
That's a great idea! It's a pain in the backside to open the canister filters to change it. My lids on this tank don't allow space for a HOB but I would definitely incorporate that in the future
Love your set up Kaity. 👍🙏
On the API test kit, hold it slightly away from the card, it needs light to pass through the tube. Your nitrates are around 20 ppm.
Thank you!!
Excellent video Ms. Kaity !!! I think you are spot on about everything you put out there. Thank you for sharing 😉👌
Thank you!! :D
Love the tank 🤟🤟🤟⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️💥💯💪👊❤️🌺⭐️
Nice tank! Helpful video.
Thank you 😊
When you set up your sump you can use moving media like k1 micro. And in one compartment full it with Biohome
Hi Kaity another great video & the tank also looks amazing .😀😀
Thank you so much Pascoe 😊
Good video. The UVC appears to be a winner, something I'll keep in mind for future tanks (larger tanks). 😀
You tank looks beautiful and clear. Informative vedio 💯💯👌👌👍👏.
Thank you so much 😊
If you can afford it I highly recommend Biohome media to help with nitrates.
6:12 could it be that the green water is absorbing some of the nutrients, so after adding the UV you'd expect higher nitrates, at least until bacteria can caught up?
It's possible it might impact it a bit, but I don't think it would too much. I could maybe test this by turning the UVC's off at some point and seeing if it makes a difference
Looks awesome 👍
Thank you!! 😄
Great information with before and after examples thank you
Thank you so much 😊
Hai kaity..nice vedieo can we over size UVC for tank water ...ur water looks crystal clear now.
Thank you so much 😊 There's no problems with over sizing UVC
Very nice video, with no question yr clear aquarium look's much more beautiful then before with all the improvement's that you made, but with no doubt at all, yr energy bill must be rocketing in the sky, but everything has a price, thanks for the video ( from Portugal).
Thank you!! And very true!!
Beautiful tank. Is that dead coral or...?
Beautiful tank
I emailed Seachem and asked them if their Purigen removes beneficial minerals from the water and they said yes. Is it worth it?
I personally haven't had any issues in my tank since using it but I think it would depend on the minerals it's removing/how much of an impact it's having
Water changes put back more than enough “beneficial minerals.” Her tank is absolutely gorgeous and the fish are thriving, so maybe don’t second guess.
@@bguen1234 Yeah, and then the Purigen will consistently take out those beneficial minerals, so maybe don't add your 2 cents.
I was going to say you might have had so much water clarity issues or with polishing the water that you need more purigen just to do the nitrates I would add even more
I think the only thing with the Purigen is you are only meant to add the recommended amount
@@Kaityscichlids I don't know if my discus tank I had two breeding pairs in there and it was a 75 gallon tank and I had a sump of course and all my stuff went through my biological before it went to the Puritan but I had 4000 gallons worth of biological and then in a thousand gallons worth of Puritan and they were breeding like crazy and it's on a 75 gallon tank I know it's overkill but with new baby and kid I had to do it and they're breeding like crazy and I've been running it for years about 7 years
@@Kaityscichlids but I have to say it does help because the Puritan only picks up with the beneficial doesn't get so it passes through again so that's like the last thing I do have other fish in there too with the discus
@@Kaityscichlids I was also going to say too I know your sand substrate in the tank is really thick if you took them a little more sand out you might have not have so much sand it might help with the levels too or you know I don't know if you gravel back it or not or if you stir it up over the sand to clean out some of the stuff underneath it but it can slowly release the stuff back into the water if you have a lot of sand it can make your levels go up crazy and I can trap more stuff in it
@@Kaityscichlids also I was going to say is that pool filter sand or regular sand
Use api bio chemzorb for excellent clarity and prodibio bio digest .
Thank you!
Hi, beautiful tank!!!!
what lights are you using for this tank, the 3 on the top?
They are Freshwater AI Prime lights :D
My nitrate level of my tank is 5 to 10 parts but I do small multi water changes a week and I have zero from the tap
Wow, that is awesome!! I would love mine to be that low
If you don't want to keep taking the canister apart everytime you change the purigen just buy an internal filter like an ocean free filter, take out the carbon that they come with, cut the sponge down its side like a hot dog bun and place a bag of purigen or macropore in between the filter like a sandwich and insert it back in. It will polish the water no problem. It's purely a supplementary filter for polishing water nothing else. Doesn't have to be a big output filter.just enough to do the job.
To help with algae and discoloured water try running a prefilter like a Sera prefix filter reactor in one of the fx6 canisters.that will make a big difference too as you will spend less time pulling canisters apart, instead you just need to pull the prefilter apart to clean. They are decent sized as well.
That's a great idea!! I definitely think an internal filter for the Purigen is the way to go instead of in the canister filter. Thank you so much for sharing :)
@@Kaityscichlids your welcome 🙂
Kaity great video i like it.
Thank you 😊🙌
@@Kaityscichlids Hi Kaity I've got 6 peacock bass full time job looking after them and i love it take care Gordon.
@@gordonbowen2970 wow, that is so cool!! They are big beautiful fish
@@Kaityscichlids They take a lot of maintenance very messy they grow very quickly as well.
👏 Another informative and professional video Kaity ... Your water is looking super clear ... For your next tank, maybe you could look into having plants in the sump and avoid the chemical expense ... Thank you for your continued work making videos.
Thank you!! That's what I'm thinking also, I'd love to try get the same results using natural methods/balancing the tank in other ways
@@Kaityscichlids With a sump you will more then double the size of media ... You can make 3 or 4 videos on your choice of sump media alone ... Check out how the Dutch fish keepers have their tank media set up... Its very interesting ... Have a good day ❗
@@dinodinosaur2930 Would love to know what channels I would find the sump setups that you have referred to and I am always looking for more information on sump filters. Thank you
Hello, congratulations, amazing tank!! Do you know if when you use Purigen removes salts too? I use cichild lake salt in my tank and I do not know if is dangerous about this. Thank you!
Thank you! No, I don't believe that it removes salt 😊
Just love your vids sista the tank looks awesome keep up your good work Brendan Rodgers 😊👍👍
Thank you so much!! :D
Great video! I have just added purigen to my canister filter and can't wait to see how it looks over the next couple days. Did you add it to both your filters or just one?
Thank you! I bet you're going to love it 😊 I just added it into one of them mainly because the bag was so expensive 🤣 but also so when I have to replace it/remove it I only have to open one
@@Kaityscichlids Makes sense nothing in this hobby is cheap 🤣 wonder if you did run a bag in each filter if it would help lower your nitrate level at the end of 6 days.. 🤔
@@Bigofft I know you are meant to stick to the recommended dosage so you'd have to halve it between the two. But I wondered too if it might make a difference in terms of the amount of litres being turned over per hour 🤔
@@Kaityscichlids would make for a good test! If you ever try it out please make a video about it would love to know the results. 😊
Have you ever tried Chemi pure blue? I've used both and I noticed that Chemi pure worked much better in my tank set up.
I haven't! A few people have mentioned Chemi pure works well. I'll have to try it at some point
Wouldve been mice if you didd uv first. Then tsee the results and if still.needed , the purigen, or vice versa. I hate wen i try 2 - 3 things and find solution but nvr know what actually fixed also i love the way you algae. Its so cute
Hi Katie - I have 100l biorb I used one 100m sachet of purigen in filter now the water very cloudy - can you advise please? Thanks
Lovely tank and fish. How long does your Purigen last before you have to regenerate it?
Thank you 😊 it says on the bottle it lasts "up to 6 months" but this is probably for a very lightly stocked tank. I checked mine and after a week and a half it was looking pretty brown, so I think it'll probably last me 1-2 months before I need to regenerate it
Activated carbon. After a Fortnightly water change. Wash it, stick it in the oven for an hour or so use it again. Purigen is okay but costly even if you bleach it a few times
Hi. Were you able to check the PH readings after the first week. I would be interested to find out if there was any
The tank was long looks awesome 👍 n with clear water looks wonderful 👍 n with your clear n good explanation that's great 👍. If u would gold fishes of RANZHU N ORANDA gold fish n that's would be wonderful 🤷♂️. Hope to see u have Gold fishes in your next beautiful tank.
Yes I was thinking the same! They would look absolutely beautiful in a tank like this with the clear water
hi,, have you ever tried chemi pure blue?
The fish are really lucky to be with you... I mean look at the clarity you are maintaining them in, really mind blowing.... Literally I dnt mind drinking water from your fish tank.
Must say this is heights of keeping the water clean.
Also I always wanted to ask you one thing, why have you left the background clear without applying any kind of vinyl sticker or a background?
Thank you!! Yes it's definitely excessively clean 🤣 I was thinking the same, that the water looks drinkable now. I originally left the background clear because I spent a lot on the tank to enjoy the low iron glass so I wanted to be able to see straight through it. But I'm considering trying a background at some point to see how it looks
Its a pity cichlids rip up plants, maybe think about getting some live in and out of the water type of plants to suck up some of the nitrates, do a bit of an Aqua Scape on it, with some bigger tougher plants, that can just have the roots in the water and plant outside the tank, any nice fish 🐠👍🏻🐟
Thank you!! 😊 I did have some pothos for a while on either end but I wasn't a big fan of it because it was getting in the way of the lids and I didn't like the look of the roots hanging down on the ends. I really like it in some tanks though
Rather than spending so much on it just thrown in some plants and and algae eaters plants helps break down fish poop and also help keep the eater conditions in control.
This video is more about alternative options (in part 1 I explain why). Malawi cichlids eat most plants, and I didn't want anubias on the rocks. I have bristlenose plecos that eat the algae off the rocks but the UVC is to remove green algae in the water
I did notice another thing tho there was some kind of plan or roots floating over the water in the before and after footage maybe that could be causing the water to turn green?
@@GangsterWiz those were the remnants of the jungle Val that I added 🤣 they just happened to be floating there in the shot, but the water was always going green before adding that in
Do you know if the UV’s will work to sterilise the water as well as remove the algae Kaitie?
I need to sterilise my water more so than clarify it and Id love it to be as simple as buying a couple of these!
Hi Ashley! I think there are two different types, these are UV clarifiers but you can also buy UV sterilizers. I think the sterilisers are a bit stronger, but the UV clarifiers like what I have are sufficient to kill some bad bacteria in the water along with the algae
Thanks Kaity.
I’ve ordered 2 x 24W versions like you and I’m going to use them in my 450 ltr tank and I’ll hope that by doubling up, they might do a better job of sterilisation 🤞
Meanwhile, I’ll keep saving for my Waterbox!
@@ashleybennallack5194 that's awesome!! Let me know how it goes 😊
Beautiful beautiful setup. If I may recommend a excellent product to u! Boyd’s Chemipure Elite it will do wonders for ur setup.
Thank you so much Rick! I will check it out 😊
Have you ever used matrix he can I have two flu valve fx6s as well on a 250 would you recommend matrix I don't know if you used it?
I have matrix in one of my filters and I think it has been good! It's meant to be great biological filtration
Thanks I agree totally I want to show you the results in my 180 gallon aquarium currently I have a beautiful Dorado and somewhere in there tire track year or Burma I think the matrix did it internal filters have four instead of flu valve I'm trying CJ will you spell it Sicce and I really do recommend it
How often do you recharge seachem purigen?
Mine was pretty dark after about a month! I left it for 3 months though
Sorry thick fingers. I would be interested to find out if there were any significant changes in the tank PH.
Hi Tom! Yes I remembered you asking and made sure I checked so I could let you know. The pH stayed at 8.2 so far, but I'm going to keep measuring it each week to see if anything changes over time
Hi Kaity Thank you for that and a nice set of PH numbers. It will be interesting to see if there are any PH changes over the next few weeks. Your tank looks great. With my 50% water changes of my 500ltr Hap and Peacock tank I found that if I premixed the conditioner in a bucket and slowly add it to the tank over the period it took to refill via hose from kitchen tap the Cichlids never got distressed. I stopped using Prime when I checked my tap water REDOX at 480 and it dropped sometimes to around 80 to 90 when using Prime. It would slowly be built up to 220 just before the next water change. I am working to see if I can get my REDOX a lot higher.
@@tomcrossan8263 thank you 😊 I have never measured REDOX, but I looked into a bit because the Purigen said that it increases it. Then I also read that a higher REDOX is associated with a lower pH which I'm guessing is why you wondered if it might lower the pH
Hi Kaity
Yes that is why I would appreciate it if you could advise if the tank PH actually lowers and by how much over the coming weeks.
I have found at my expense and time that in this hobby we try to "fix" one problem with an additive only to find that it causes another problem (cane toads eh!) and we are advised now to add another to fix this problem. Before we know it we have gone down the rabbit hole.
I have found that in most situations the original problem can be solved or lessened by going back to the basics of aquarium keeping of lighting, feeding and water quality. When I started I tended to set up my tanks to meet my requirements and not what the fish actually required. Big mistake in time, money and dead fish.
Do you still use the green killing machine?
Not currently - I broke my pumps and tried to order new ones but there was an issue ordering them. The lights are easy to get replacements for but not the pumps unfortunately
Did you say 80% water change 🤔
Yes, 80%!
Also you are throwing out a challenge to all the experienced fish keepers to maintain water as clear as yours.
Did you have any problems setting up your GKM? I purchased it, so excited when it arrived and boom, the control box has no power. :( literally the box was brand new and unopened...
Oh no!! I had no issues with either of them. I just attached the control box, turned it on and they worked
Very nice top job😊
Thank you 😊
Este aquário está cada dia mais bonito
Merhaba arkadaşlar çok güzel olmuş ellerine sağlık bereket versin
what lights do u have
They are freshwater AI Primes 😊
i think you must setup another tank kaity...🤔🤔😅
🤣🤣🤣
What’s up kaity🙂 great looking tank! I’m dying to find out what’s going in your new tank. How about a huge predator tank or maybe the ever popular arowana, or maybe you could get started with a cichlid breeding project 😋. Well gotta go I have some steaks on the grill. Till next time 👍🏻🌹
Hey Mike!! Thank you :D That would be really cool, I love arowanas. I still haven't decided yet. I'd definitely love to try breeding African Cichlids one day
@@Kaityscichlids ❤️
What tank is that?
It's a Waterbox Clearpro 7225 :)
Have you thought about using bio home biological media? It’s amazing stuff it’s the best media out there in my opinion. Look up “pimp my fx6 filter” on TH-cam from an Australian mate his channel is named pondguru
Thank you! I'll check it out 😊 I've had a little look at that media and it looks good
As I said in another post, it would be much cheaper if you had tried a fluidized bed with K1. Also a fine filter material before returning to the tank would help to polish the water. But, it is easier to do in a sump filter instead of those canister filters.
Thank you! I appreciate the tips 🙏
I use pillow filling in the top tray, with fine foam pads beneath that, and a coarse spong in red basket above the filling. This polishes the water before it hits my bio media in the fx filters. I am going to add purigen this week because I really want my water to be next level, great video Kaity!
@@cohazard I've seen myself buying a duvet and stripping it for that very purpose. Super fine filter media that will polish water that you could consume.
No need for anything else unless you require carbon if your water has discoloration. Old skool fishkeeping without all the modern $hite
U are beautiful and love your voice
Thank you 😊
You must put in a Jack Dempsey in with them guys He's no really at some color and they're beautiful fish Put in one smaller dumpster and let him grow out with those He'll be just fine with them
Cut the amount of time your lights are on. I have mine on for 6 hours
Your from
Australia :)
@@Kaityscichlids if you have a time search my channel. I am from Sri Lanka
We do it Sea water fish
好吃
Very nice. Very expensive hobby.
It sure is!
Why didn't you use african cichlid sand? You did use sand. So why not the mix made for cichlids? It keeps the ph just for cichids. Its more healthy then all the chemicals you add.
All the money you have spent on your equipment and you use a a crappy color test kit lol. Buy a hanna digital ph meter. Its instant and way more precise then matching colors.