Midnight Scaries
Right after filling the tank with water I had a total mare!
I noticed that the filter was purging a lot of air loudly and periodically but I was hoping this was because it had just been filled and was getting rid of the air trapped inside. However, after that initial 24 hours, I wasn't happy with the volume of it so I reached out to a friend who works at a fish shop and he told me what they do. Drill more holes in the pre-filter tube (mine already has more holes), and remove a few of the pre-filter sponges or replace them with wider pore sponges. Apparently the purging is something to do with a blockage?
I removed two sponges and the purging stopped to my delight, only for it to start again during the night. I was worried about how much noise it was making so I got up at 3am and removed another sponge, and it went quiet again. Queue to 5am and I'm hearing a trickling noise. I don't think much of it because I've had Biomasters make this sound before - it almost sounds like running water inside the filter. But something said to me 'this sounds a little too off'. I got up and shone my torch on it and the filter was leaking profusely from all 4 sides, all over the floor and the around the electrics!!! FML. I don't know how but somehow it must have not been closed properly. A few towels, several buckets and a drip tray later and crisis is averted. I couldn't actually deal with the problem though because it was too early still so I just unplugged the filter and left it on the tray until a more sensible time. I also didn't sleep much after that because I was so paranoid. Even the next day whilst I was out, all I could think was 'what if my filter is leaking everywhere at home'. 😭 It triggered trauma of my first ever canister filter (Eheim 2217) 14 years ago that leaked everywhere on initial setup and made my cabinet swell. As a result I only stopped sitting my canister filters in plastic totes in the last few years lol.
But anyway, it's fine now! The purging has stopped completely and the filter is running super quiet. So much so that I wake up in the morning and look at the water rippling to see if the filter is actually on.
Within 24 hours of setup, the wood was pumping out tannins and making a cup of tea out of my tank! Another 24 hours, and the wood was already coated in that cotton-wool like stuff and diatoms were forming. I'm not sure why this setup in particular has got going so quickly but I'm happy about it!
I hadn't considered it before but I'm thinking of potentially adding botanicals to this setup. Nothing major, just some small leaves. I think it will benefit the inhabitants and I've always enjoyed that faint amber glow.
