Goal: to teach people how to master aquatic plants, have success with their fish and get the best product info.
Bentley is a Master Aquatic Horticulturalist, Rainbowfish enthusiast and breeder, owner of the Blue Hawaiian Moscow guppy mansion and all around tropical fish hobbyist. Bentley works as a Software and Hardware Test Engineer, applying his career skills and know-how to the fish hobby, rigorously testing the products he uses and bringing that information along with some tricks of the trade to fellow hobbyists.
When it comes to filter systems for aquariums I look at it differently than most hobbyists. I don't see my filter system so much as a filter but rather just a means to move water around. I see my filter system (sump) as an extension of my main tank, to provide added water volume to the system, some biological filtering and to move water around the system. If my sump were to go down for like 6 hours or something it would have zero negative effects on the system itself. 90% of my sump is in fact empty and is used to oxygenate the water by means of a couple of weirs and then return that oxygenated water back to the main tank. To tell ya the truth I probably don't even need the bio balls that are in the sump, but mind you the tank is very heavily planted. Now the plants in my system, there's the real filter system for my tank. The very very best filter you can ever put on an aquarium is plants, the more the better. I feel the industry has made fish keeping way way more complicated than it has to be with all these different products that quite frankly we as fish keepers just don't need, they depend on consumer ignorance so do your homework people it will save you a ton of money. Bentley is the only channel I watch that talks about products, not because of the product he's featuring but because of his knowledge when it comes to fish keeping in general, I actually don't pay much attention to the product. I'm looking for those little gold nuggets of information that come from his experience. You will find in this hobby that some of the most successful fish keepers use the least amount of new fangled equipment, their systems are usually pretty basic. P.S. Believe it or not my filter will take less time to service and is easier to service than that Aquaclear is to service and will absolutely be much much more quiet. In fact my sump makes no noise at all. The tank is in my Livingroom and I can hear the clock ticking on the wall. Actually that damn clock makes way more noise than my 90 gallon system, another bonus to running a sump. Happy fish keeping everyone, Cheers! Thanx for what you do Bentley!
The main issue I have with the AC110 is that the plastic for the outflow back into your tank is not low enough, so you end up with a couple inches of air before your water returns to your tank, unless you fill up your 75g or larger aquarium to the black rim. If you compare the side of the outflow with the smaller versions of the filters, you will notice the outflow lines us almost with the middle of the media basket. The AC110 does not. They need to fix this. Or they need to create an attachment people can buy to add to their filters to make the outflow lower so they don't have to keep the water in their tank so high and to also reduce the amount of splash and water sounds.
It looks like the mechanics of the filter is the same. So why mess with the classic design. Hopefully they will keep the classic and a "2.0"version available to consumers.
Sunday i was so close to bringing my 1st 110 home from the Bloomington PETSMART. I couldn't believe that they had the 110 on sale and I didn't memorize the price but I believe it was between $ 60 - $ 70 🙊 I have not even considered getting another filter because I finally decided to get my 1st OASE Bio Master for my 75 ( Unsure if I should start with the 850 ? Should I get the Thermo ? or just get it and be happy ? ) its a lighty stocked with 50 + black & green Neon Tetra's , Pygmy C ories , dwarf chains , Pygmy Hatchets , Otos a Bettta and the most peaceful Angel I have ever had and 1 Nerite who definitely is the Tank Boss . I will be getting it on the 31st ( B day ) If you have any time to set me straight. It would be replacing my 307 or my only TIDAL 75.Thank you Bentley
Hey bentley, this comment is a bit late but i dont think failing to complete a nitrogen cycle is at fault of the "anoxic" system. This is more likely a fault of something else here. Im more likely to think the safety is absorbing so many other nutrients that the bacteria itself is finding it hard to develope.
I do natural planted tanks & my best one is one I went all out for. I put a 1cm layer of clay on the bottom. Then I mixed some of my natural, garden compost with some random dirt from the yard & added a crushed multivitamin along with ash & carbon from my burn pile with epsom salt (magnesium) blood & bone meal to hit those macro nutrients. I only had 1 crypto die during its immersion leafing phase because 1 cory wouldn't leave it alone, otherwise the rest of the plants have been thriving for a year without adding anything. I got lazy with my newer tanks & just added compost + dirt & I have to add liquid fert. to those now. I'm close to breaking one down for a new scape & will go back to the supercharge method.
UGFs are great. My only hang up is the lack of access to the area under the gravel plate but aquariums have run on UGFs for thirty years without an issue so you can't argue with success.
My Bio Wheel 350's will re-prime themselves after a power outage but that's not the case with the 150's or 200's. I still prefer them to other HOB's. As I have stated before I am not a fan of any of the new Penguin Pro models at all even though they will all (except the 75 model) re-prime themselves after a power loss.
The Bio Wheel is not a gimmick IMO. Hands down my favorite HOB and I've been in the hobby 36 years and I have tried them all starting with an AquaClear back in 1988 when I first got into the hobby. I am not impressed with the new Penguin Pro and I prefer the old model the Penguin Pro replaced. The new Penguin Pro is noisy compared to the model it replaced and I don't like that you have to open it up to see the Bio Wheel. Luckily they are still making the old Bio Wheel models for sale on Amazon because they are not for sale in the stores anymore.
@@BentleyPascoe I thought it cool idea to try. Instead of an air pump to drive it, use a small hang on back filter to run it. Maybe try in on a 5-gallon tank. What do think? or will there be any draw backs from that setup?
@@carlosjperez3658 you just combine the effects. So if you have two outputs that function like a canister and they're both on the same side you just have extra flow on one side. If you have one on each side then you have this kind of cross flow going on.
I have a question for ya Bentley. What do you do when your fish are too happy and comfortable? I had setup a 90 gal tank, in that tank among a bunch of other fish I had two Hillstream Loaches and there were two Panda Corys. The two pandas are now 12 and I have no clue exactly how many hillstreams there are. The Pandas and the Hillstream **** like rabbits. Trying to get them out would be difficult task to say the least the tank is very heavily planted and has hard scape. I was thinking of getting a couple more of each of those to make up schools, not doing that now lol. They say hillstream loaches are hard to bread, I would beg to differ. My lighting on the tank is set for the plants and temp at constant 77 degrees. I gotta say though it is awesome when you notice fry in your tanks for the first time. I thought the other fish would eat all the fry and the eggs, I was apparently wrong about that. P.S. Oh and by the way Bentley your low and slow Texas BBQ method for Co2 works off the charts well. Running a 90 gal and only running Co2 at literally one bubble per sec and over past six to 8 months the results have been amazing. Plants not growing to fast or too slow. One of the very best pieces of advice I have ever gotten in this hobby. Thanx fort that one bud! When it comes to this hobby you are indeed a wealth of information.
@@kosys5338 so eventually a tank is going to get to a point of where either not enough food is coming in and they'll stop breeding as often, or you'll have some babies unable to get enough food and they just won't survive. Of course the goal would be to get some out and maybe sell them to a local fish store or relocate them to other tanks or friends. But I totally understand where it's difficult to get certain fish out of a tank. But you're doing something right? If you've got fish breeding constantly and you're always getting babies, you've got a great environment!
@@BentleyPascoe I was wondering about the feeding. I feed the tank once every other day and thought I might be pushing it to long but fish have always seemed perfectly fine so I never changed that. My local fish store has said they would give me 12 bucks each for the Hillstream loaches, I just haven't been enthusiastic enough to go after them lol. Thanks again Bentley much of my success has definitely come from your channel and I would encourage others to hear what you have to say in regards to this hobby. Thanx again!
I have been in the hobby for 40 + years and I was trying to explain to a guy who does aquascaping (he does these really pretty artsy looking tanks), why I don’t approach scaling my tanks like he does. He starts with an idea from nature and like a forest and then builds a scape around that concept. I told him I start with the fish, and read about where they come from and their environment and scape my tank around the fish that will inhabit that tank. As a result all my tanks look more like a river/pond/lake environment and not some artsy looking tank. He argued with me about a light I was using. I told him that light allowed me to get the right brightness for my fish. He was insistent that I should have chosen a Chihiros because it would have lit up my scape better. That wasn’t what I wanted. I wanted something that could grow the plants and would give me the lighting for my fish. I don’t think he ever got what I was saying. I like aquascaping, but I find so many of the scapes built are not necessarily the best environment for the inhabitants. Thank you for a great discussion. You were right on the money.
Just this morning, my Congo tetras were frantically glass surfing until I checked the Ph. It was over the roof! The reason: my usually acidic tap water suddenly became vary alkaline. Always test your tap water. The cities might be switching the supply source unexpevtedly.
@@lloyd011721 most rainbow fish come from areas where there are no submerged plants. Most of the foliage is around their water structures. Yet what a majority of rainbow fish keepers will tell you from their own experience. Is that rainbows? Absolutely love planted tanks! So there are lessons we can learn just by observing our fish in these contained environments.
@@BentleyPascoe interesting. have you ever made a tank that has no underwater plants, but some overhanging plants that obscure their view of "the sky" ? your rainbows certainly do seem extremely comfortable, possibly due to extremely frequent close proximity since your setup seems to be right next to them.
Part of the problem is that sometimes we are fed false information. Until fairly recently we were told repeatedly that Hillstream Loaches needed cooler water, high oxygen content and as much flow as we could muster. They need big water changes with cooler water as often as we could manage. This was considered the gospel truth because it was repeated so often it simply had to be true. Lucas Bretz then kept them at normal aquarium temperatures and not only did he not have very fact flow he had no flow at all, the tank didn't even have a filter. They thrived and bred for him totally contrary to what we had all been told.
EX: When I wake up in the middle of the night going to the bathroom. Boom, your light goes off, then you're blinded, and eyes have to adjust due to shock 😆
Thanks for the update Bentley. I was traveling during this update but looking forward to the results. I pretty much know what your results will be but I’m glad you’re documenting every step so everyone will see.
I've tried multiple types of fish foods for my chili rasboras, from crushed flake, crushed pellets, to repashy powder/gel. However, they do not go after any of it nearly as excited like they do for frozen foods such as cyclops, daphnia, and baby brine shrimp. The prepared foods either don't stay suspended long enough for them or they don't sink at all, when compared to frozen food. I find also that both my pygmy and habrosus corydoras have much more interesting behavior with frozen food. They are much more excited, sifting EVERYWHERE, and they body slam the substrate to knock more of it into the water column. I think that it provides that much more enrichment for everyone in my tank resulting in much better coloring and activity unlike when I was feeding prepared foods. Now balancing flow for them all on the other hand... I am still trying to figure that out 😅
You nailed it !!! Like a Hubert H Humphrey Metrodome homer from Ben Oglivy !!! I think when you have a topic like this you have a lot of good things to come ⚾
My fish would freak out when the lights came on with my T5's so I bought the Fluval LED with sunrise / sunset and it not only helped with the fish stress levels but also looks cool af
I remember when I was a kid in the 90s and wandered into an aquarium / fish shop and the old korean shop owner was preaching about how this is the right way to do it. Explained how the plants feed off the waste and in turn helps cleans the water. Saved up money and bought my first setup there.
These look a lot different than the ones I used back in the day, still suitable for crushed coral? About to set up a new 55 and would like to use one, thanks.
I just replaced my original aquasky with this one. I have a Juwel Rio 180, and used the aquasky to upgrade from Fluoro tubes. I am liking the increased control over the light level great and love the simulated day. I do find the light too bright at 100%. What light settings would you suggest for low light plants (just Java fern atm), clown loaches, boesmani rainbows and bristlenose?
Great video. And I agree with the buying a better quality product you'll spend more at the beginning of the process but will always be worth it in the long run.
I did see John's video and he came off to me as a whiner. I prefer to shop local but I often leave the store empty handed. It doesn't matter what I am looking for Amazon has it local stores often do not. I have Fluval 3.0 and aquasky lights. I have coop lights as well. The Fluval lights get the time from the app. When the power goes out those lights lose the correct time. If the lights are not synced with the app after the power returns the lights may be on during the night. The app is ok but a bit clunky IMO. The ramp up and down is a good feature. The coop lights are on a wifi timer. Those timers get the correct time after an outage and are fine.
On your light segment, to each thier own of course. I have a couple fluval plant 3.0 and I think they're great. When the power goes out is an issue for c02 users like myself. If you're not around and that happens the 3.0 won't come back on but your c02 will. It could gas your fish. The only workaround I came up with is searching reviews for a timer that had complaints about the same issue for the c02 to not come back on as well.
Perhaps an uninteruptable power supply for your air pump / light / carbon dioxide controls? Keep the heater and canister filter pumps on a separate circuit, and the load should be low enough for that to be viable.
For folks in the metro Washington DC area, NOVA Tropicals in Dale City, Virginia is great --a really good addition to the WDC area LFS assortment. Great care with the live stock, to include quarantining. The owner is really friendly and helpful.
