Pawfly Help Desk: Air Pumps, Sponge Filters, Water Tests and Heaters

Setting up a Pawfly air pump

Set the pump on a shelf or bracket above the water line whenever the room allows. Run the airline from the pump to the tank and fit a check valve into it, close to the tank. The valve passes air one way only, so when the power drops, tank water cannot siphon back down the line into the pump. Blow through the valve before you fit it: the end you can blow through faces the pump.

Our airline tubing, valves and fittings are sized for standard tubing with a 3/16 inch inner diameter, so parts from different packs fit together. A control valve on each line lets you balance several stones on one manifold. Clip the tubing to the glass with suction cups so it stays put, and replace any length that turns stiff or cracks before it starts leaking air.

Cords, outlets and water

Water and household current meet at every tank stand, so give each cord a drip loop. Let the cord fall below the outlet and rise back up to it in a low U. A drop running down the cord then falls off at the bottom of the loop instead of reaching the socket. Keep power strips off the floor and away from the spot where you fill buckets.

Plug aquarium, pond and bird bath gear into an outlet protected by a ground-fault circuit interrupter, or GFCI. The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission explains that a GFCI shuts the power down in milliseconds when current leaks to ground, as when an appliance falls into a sink of water. Older homes can add GFCI breakers in the panel or GFCI receptacles at the outlet. Follow your product's instructions and local electrical code.

Cleaning a Pawfly sponge filter

A sponge filter does two jobs. It traps debris, and its foam holds the bacteria that break down fish waste once the tank is cycled. Cleaning should remove the first and keep the second. Every 2 to 4 weeks, or sooner when the bubbles slow, lift the sponge out, squeeze it a few times in a bucket of water taken from the tank, and put it back.

Skip the faucet. UF/IFAS Extension notes that almost all city water in the US is treated with chlorine, that many systems add ammonia to form chloramine, very toxic to fish, and that chlorine is an effective sanitizer against bacteria. Those bacteria are what the foam is for. A new biofilter needs six to eight weeks to build up enough of them, the same extension service says, so a sponge scrubbed under the tap can set your filter back weeks.

Cycling a new tank and testing the water

Fish give off ammonia all day. UF/IFAS Extension points out that it is colorless and odorless even at levels toxic to fish, so a test is the only way to know it is there. In a filtered tank, bacteria turn ammonia into nitrite and then into nitrate, which is much less toxic. A new biofilter takes six to eight weeks to grow enough of them, and weekly testing shows where your tank stands.

Once a tank has settled, ammonia should read zero, and nitrite is toxic at levels as low as 0.10 mg/L. If ammonia shows up, the same fact sheet advises cutting back or stopping feeding for 1 to 3 days and changing 25 to 50 percent of the water with dechlorinated water. Our 5-in-1 Water Master Test Kit reads pH, ammonia, nitrite, nitrate and phosphate with liquid reagents.

Power cuts, bait buckets and the wild

When the power goes out, the air pump stops, and so does the oxygen it was adding. UF/IFAS Extension notes that warm water holds less oxygen than cool water: about 7.4 mg/L at 90°F against 11.9 mg/L at 45°F. Our battery air pumps cover the gap. The D-Battery 40 GPH pump runs on two D cells you supply, and the Rechargeable Live Bait Aerator switches to its built-in 2200 mAh battery when mains power drops.

Nothing from a bait bucket or a home tank belongs in a lake or creek. Michigan law, for one, says unused baitfish go on land or in the trash, never in the water, and that bait you collect is used only in the water where you caught it. Rules differ by state, so read yours. The Habitattitude campaign names release by well-meaning pet owners as an important route for invasive species. Find your fish, turtles and plants a new home instead.

Heat pads and lamps for reptiles

Most reptiles warm themselves by moving between warm and cool spots, so the enclosure needs both. The Merck Veterinary Manual recommends that an under-tank heater cover no more than 30 percent of the cage, that heat sources run through a programmable thermostat, and that you keep two thermometers, one at each end. Read the temperature just above the substrate, where your animal actually rests.

Lamps need distance. The manual advises shielding them from direct contact and placing them more than 18 inches above the ground cover, and it warns that just 10°F over a species' upper limit can kill some reptiles. Our Reptile Heat Pad comes in 5, 14, 28 and 40 W sizes, several with a controller, and works with a thermostat you add. Follow your product's instructions.

Bird bath heaters and feeders

Feeders and baths collect droppings and spoiled seed. The Cornell Lab of Ornithology advises cleaning seed feeders about every two weeks, more often in wet weather or heavy use, with soap and boiling water or a bleach solution no stronger than 1 part bleach to 9 parts water. Rinse, let the feeder dry, then refill. Hummingbird sugar water needs changing at least every 3 to 5 days.

The National Audubon Society passes on the National Wildlife Health Center's advice to clean bird baths with the same mix, nine parts water to one part bleach, after scrubbing off debris. Our 60 W bath heater switches on when the water drops to 41°F, the 50 W outdoor heater at 39°F. Plug either one into a GFCI-protected outdoor outlet and keep the cord connection out of puddles.

Orders, delivery and returns

Every buy button on pawfly.org takes you to our retail partner, where you pay, choose delivery and see the final price. Order status, tracking, returns and refunds are handled there, from the account you ordered with, so the partner's order page is the fastest place to start with any of those.

We still help before and after you order. Write to us through our contact page if you are unsure which pump, filter or light suits your tank, or if a part arrived and you cannot work out where it goes. Give us the product name and your tank size in gallons, and we will answer from our catalog.