Seachem Tidal 35 questions

I have this guy on a 29gal 17"tall tank. I'm having a variety of issues, and some have nothing to do with the filter. I'm curious to see if anyone else has this on a tank that's on the deep side and think that there may not be enough circulation to do its job. It seems pretty powerful and I do have movement throughout the tank. But since I added the 'Tidal 35' 2 or so weeks ago I have had green, powdery water. Since there hasn't been a single problem with this tank before my filter crapped out on me I'm inclined to blame filter. My cycle has been steady since all this started. It's been amm0, Nitrite 0, 20 nitrate until yesterday I got .25 amm, 0 nitrite, 20 nitrate.
Here's a photo from yesterday. Any insight will be appreciated.

 

Well I guess the first question is what was the old filter? Did you transfer all the media from the old to the new?
Did you rinse the media before adding it to the filter? Next right above the blue pad in the media tray add a layer of polyfill/floss. This will pull out a lot of the green algae. Replace the floss as needed. Once water is clear and floss isn’t green you can rinse the floss on weekly water changes and put it back in.

 

Well I guess the first question is what was the old filter? Did you transfer all the media from the old to the new?
Did you rinse the media before adding it to the filter? Next right above the blue pad in the media tray add a layer of polyfill/floss. This will pull out a lot of the green algae. Replace the floss as needed. Once water is clear and floss isn’t green you can rinse the floss on weekly water changes and put it back in.

So I added media from the other filter for a couple days. The cycle was stable so I wasn't too worried at the time. Also using stability, I didn't mention that before. The water initially
was just powdery. Which I figured that was because of the srachrm matrix, it turned two five gallon buckets of tank water nearly opaque when I rinsed it during the setup. I just thought that I probably should have rinsed it more but my tank was without a filter for about 12-15 hrs so I was trying to get it going. And I thought it would clear up after running for a day or two. Water stayed cloudy, but the cycle was good everyone was fine and my plants looked fine. This was for about 2 weeks when I finally managed to get some fluval water scrubbing sponge and cut it to fit. Right after that it turned green. It occured to me later I could have a bacterial bloom and an algae bloom. I was doing water changes, adding stability, not turning the light on. The end of last week was when the ammonia went up. As of yesterday ammonia is back at zero and I haven't registered any nitrites the entire time. This morning the green is almost entirely gone but it's still cloudy but alot better. Maybe I just should have waited for the water scrubber to do its job. But this brings me back to should I worry about the the filter, since it only sits 3.5 inches deep in the water. I'm on the verge of buying a sponge or corner filter for the opposite bottom corner of the tank to ensure the water is being filtered properly. Or would that be overkill?

 

So I added media from the other filter for a couple days.

did you keep the old media in the Tidal 35? what's the stocking of the tank? I can only see a few small fish and a cory in the pic.

But this brings me back to should I worry about the the filter, since it only sits 3.5 inches deep in the water. I'm on the verge of buying a sponge or corner filter for the opposite bottom corner of the tank to ensure the water is being filtered properly. Or would that be overkill?

i only have the Tidal 110, and the intake tube goes about 2/3 down into the tank. i had to watch a couple of youtube videos, but the Tidal 35 does not have an intake tube...wow, wonder whey Seachem designed it like that.... yes, you should add another filter. without the intake tube doing down into the tank, its not really providing enough water circulation.

and looking at the specs of the Tidal 35, it's only 130 gph flow rate, which when placed on a 29g tank (130/29) is only 4.5 turnover rate. generally you want around 8 or more turnover rate.

 

did you keep the old media in the Tidal 35? what's the stocking of the tank? I can only see a few small fish and a cory in the pic.



i only have the Tidal 110, and the intake tube goes about 2/3 down into the tank. i had to watch a couple of youtube videos, but the Tidal 35 does not have an intake tube...wow, wonder whey Seachem designed it like that.... yes, you should add another filter. without the intake tube doing down into the tank, its not really providing enough water circulation.

and looking at the specs of the Tidal 35, it's only 130 gph flow rate, which when placed on a 29g tank (130/29) is only 4.5 turnover rate. generally you want around 8 or more turnover rate.

Ok. I've been considering trying to put together a DIY extension on it from some parts from other filters. There is an intake on the bottom, but I couldn't figure out a good way to seal it without the risk of ruining it. But I didn't really know what the desired turnover should be. Thanks for the info. I have my eye on a corner air-driven filter for like 10 bucks. It will be a simple fix. Thanks again.

 

Here’s a filter I use in a lot of my tanks. Odyssea 250. It moves 250gph and costs about $20 delivered from eBay or Amazon. It’s come with 2 sponges. This does make it easy to start up a new tank. Buy another one of these and add an old sponge and your good to go .

 

did you keep the old media in the Tidal 35? what's the stocking of the tank? I can only see a few small fish and a cory in the pic.



i only have the Tidal 110, and the intake tube goes about 2/3 down into the tank. i had to watch a couple of youtube videos, but the Tidal 35 does not have an intake tube...wow, wonder whey Seachem designed it like that.... yes, you should add another filter. without the intake tube doing down into the tank, its not really providing enough water circulation.

and looking at the specs of the Tidal 35, it's only 130 gph flow rate, which when placed on a 29g tank (130/29) is only 4.5 turnover rate. generally you want around 8 or more turnover rate.

And to answer your first question... 8 harlequin rasbora, 7 Zebra danio, 2 bronze cories(yeah I know, they're old and the last of the group), olive nerite, blue mystery snail(although I'm pretty sure he is missing). Plants
I took the old media out probably a week later and kept just in case. The basket is so tiny, I needed room to add charcoal in case the cloudy water was a bacterial bloom.

Here’s a filter I use in a lot of my tanks. Odyssea 250. It moves 250gph and costs about $20 delivered from eBay or Amazon. It’s come with 2 sponges. This does make it easy to start up a new tank. Buy another one of these and add an old sponge and your good to go .

Thanks I will check it out. I'm pretty relieved, I'm leaving town on Friday and was really hoping to be able to sort it out before I go.

 

its most likely the new media isn't fully colonized by the bacteria. if you place the old media back in, it might help.

 

its most likely the new media isn't fully colonized by the bacteria. if you place the old media back in, it might help.

I'm probably going to place it in the second filter when it gets here tomorrow. Just to cover all my bases.
The first picture is today, the second July 29. It's slowly improving.

 

I realized I never posted an update. After the power head was added two days later it was almost crystal clear. I had the left off the lights for these two days and then reduced photoperiods to the week after. It's running great now. Thanks for all the help

 

looks good


glad it cleared up

 

i know the issue is settled, but can anyone share why the added power head can clear up the greenish water?

 

more water circulation and more filtration. more free floating particles are removed.

 

I know the issue is settled, but can anyone share why the added power head can clear up the greenish water?

Along with the power head the tank went two days with no photoperiod. I'm sure the lack of light was what took care of the green water.