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  • Great work Sinead!

    The first of many we hope! Share it around and get your Fishy friends involved!

    Don’t forget to join our weekly newsletter and sign up to access the forums!

    For anyone else with lots of Fishy knowledge, submit us an article and we’ll publish it. If you have a good how-to video send it in to info@seriouslyfishy.club

    • Hi! We appreciate that, there is an option to email, rather than share on social media. Emailing the link to your fish keeping friends also counts as a share. So not having social media doesn’t mean that you can’t enter. Hope this helps. James.

  • I’m very disappointed with my Cristal Profi e1502 filter. I have it just over a year and now it’s leaking. I previously had a Cristal Profi e1501 and that leaked as well. So i would advise to stay away from this product as I contacted the company in Germany and they told me that they couldn’t help me over the phone that I would have to go online to tell them my problem. That was a waste of time as they never got back to me. Total waste of my hard earned money.

    • Hi Maurice!

      That’s not good to hear! Silly question, but have you tried to change any of the seals on the filter?

      If so, I would recommend trying to contact JBL again. Their warranty covers up to 4 years in some cases, so after only a year I would expect that your product is covered if it is faulty.

    • That is common, i have 3 JBL filters (2×901 and 1×902), they al leak. Mostly in the connection above but you wont notice until you have a wet floor.
      The water leaks slowly in the black underside of the pumphead, once that is full it wil get over the edge. ALWAYS PUT THE FILTER IN A BUCKET AND KEEP AN EYE ON IT FOR LEAKS

  • Great I have been wondering how much change in PH and nobody even mentions it, every body just says “sudden Ph change” but you did explain it so I am grateful.
    Than you.

    • We’re glad you found this useful! Fish suffering from pH shock is fairly rare, most fish will cope with larger swings. This is demonstrated in planted aquariums with CO2 injection which change a lot between day and night.

      However, it does happen so the slower you adjust the pH the better.

  • Hi James,
    I had a pair of these many years ago and as you say rarely seen nowadays so well done on finding these. If possible I would love to have some again and hope that you may be able to sell me some if you are able to post as I am in Somerset. My intention would be to breed them and put them back out into the hobby as not only are they rare but striking fish to keep, particularly the females when coloured up.
    Here’s hoping.
    Pete Singleton

      • Absolutely James,
        so I would be most grateful if you would consider my request to buy some from you. I had viewed a video on YouTube about these rare cichlids which happened to be myrnae so I did a search on FaceBook and found your posts and was chuffed to find someone in this country with these lovely fish.
        Cheers again,
        Pete

        • Hi!

          The fry are not ready for their forever homes yet but once they are large enough they will be passed on to reputable, licensed shops who can then distribute them appropriately.

  • A very clear and brilliant review
    I wondered what made this filter so appealing and the answer came to mind ..its uncomplicated build
    It’s the simplicity which drew my eye to explore it more.
    Do you know the exact year the Pickup was released into the market?

    • Hi Steve! Thank you!

      It is incredibly simple and very easy to maintain! It’s also well powered for its size and efficiency.

      I believe the first models were released in 2010.

  • Where do you put the biomedia exactly – on top of the sponge? I’ve heard of a few hacks of people putting it in the centre sponge cavity so the water hits it after it goes through the sponge.

      • Hey again James – one last question. I’ve just put in the PickUp 200 into a 250 litre – replacing a Fluval U4 internal filter which I found dumped too much waste back into the tank when cleaning. I’m using the Pickup as a supplementary filter for my canister filter.

        The PickUp seems a louder than the U4 not heaps but enough for me to notice- Ive checked there is no air trapped etc – do you find the impellers on these internal filters settle in after a few weeks of use in terms of noise?

        • Hi Ed! I’ve always found them to be very quiet but it is a while since I’ve used a Fluval internal so it would be hard for me to make the same comparison.

          It may be worth double checking that the impeller is seated correctly and is not damaged. If not then yes it may just be that it is brand new and it may ‘bed in’ over a couple of weeks.

  • I’m a DEMOCRAT🔘 love love love lovelove pet hybrid fish alot I’m getting a pair of Hybrid democrat🔵 jag cichlids 3 pumpkinseed sunfish and 1 single male white conservative 👎🔴 white crappie sunfish. he will be forever single 😆😆😆😆😆😆😆😆😆😆😆😆😆😆😆😆😆😆😆😆😆😆😆😆😆😆😆😆😆😆😆😆😆😆👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏

  • The single white conservative crappie sunfish will be named {western tx} he will be single while my beautiful hybrid democrat jag cichlids are happily married.😆😆😆😆😆😆😆😆😆😆😆😆😆😆😆😆😆😆😆😆😆😆👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏

  • Tannins cause the brownish or yellowish tint of aquarium water. The discoloration of water is not a significant problem – it will not harm the fish. However, tannins are usually acidic. They will slowly lower the pH of the water, which can ultimately harm the fish.

  • Hi James, nice things you are doing here on the website, congratulations !!!
    I just gave a comment to Maurice below, great filters but keep an eye on them.
    Very good and low noise, although they mostly leak.

    Keep up the good work,
    nice website
    Regards Johnny

    • Thanks Johnny!

      We’ve been running ours for over a year now with not a single drop spilt. So far it’s been great and no issues. Hopefully it continues that way 🤞

  • Wow, great analysis! I just ordered a 250ml for my 100L marine tank. Though this is double the amount recommended by Seachem.

  • Hi James,
    Thank you for this article about EPISTYLIS fish illness. I have a Betta that is very sick and it seems that is Epistylis.
    I started with the salt bath (3rd bath today) but he seems to be very weak and the golden looked like strings on his fins doesn’t look any better.
    I’m desperately looking for a treatment.
    What do you recommend, which antibiotic should I buy to solve the problem?
    Please let me know asap to save JAWZY my grandson’s fish.
    Thank you for your help!
    Blessings, Dora

    • Hi Dora. There is an antibiotic called Marycin (hopefully I’ve spelled that correctly) that is ideal for adding to fish food to treat epistylis. Keep the salt baths up and I’ll cross my fingers that your Betta makes a full recovery! 🤞

  • Hey! This article was helpful.. however.. I’m in a predicament and need advice. There is between 0.25-1ppm of ammonia in my tap according to my freshwater test kit. I own axolotls and they cannot tolerate ammonia well at all. I have been cycling my tank for 3 months and it keeps seeming to be cycled… and then I do a water change and it no longer processes. It’s like the ammonia in my tap is different than the ammonia I bought from Dr.Timms.

    Another problem… I started buying RO water from primo. And I even purchased my own RO buddy. With both my own filter and the store filter it does not take the ammonia out of my city’s water 🙁 I have doing a fishless cycle but in the meantime I’m rubbing my axolotls and doing daily water changes. But I’m so stressed because until I buy bottled water I cannot avoid the cities ammonia. Any ideas?

    • Hi Coral. Sounds like a nightmare! As far as the ammonia goes, it comes in many different forms. The ammonia in tap water is usually in the form of chloramine (Ammonia + Chlorine). Your dechlorinator should remove the chlorine from it which would then be ‘removed’ by your cycled filter.

      If this isn’t happening then it may be that your filter isn’t quite cycled to deal with the level present in your tap water. How long has the tank been running?

      If ammonia is still showing after using only RO water then the issue may well be that the filter just hasn’t cycled yet.

      The other option of course is that your test kit is not giving a correct reading, it could be out of date etc.

  • Please help! My BP cichlid has been sick for about a week. He was laying at the bottom of his tank for a day or two, then we saw white dots and began treatment for ick. 50% water change, raised temp, salt bath for 15 min, on 3rd day of Paraguard. He swam up to the top of his tank after first treatment but stays in on spot, not swimming really but leans on wall over bubble stone. Occasionally flashes then returns to his same spot. Not eating at all. Yesterday just spots but today looks different- more like epistylis photos.
    Tank is 55 gal, only Jimmy and 3 tiger otos to help keep it clean. Water parameters are good, 0 nitrates, 0 nitrites, ph 7.4, current temp at 84 (usually about 79, have been warming it up per ick treatment instructions). This morning water had copper at 1ppm, I do have some Cuprasorb but not sure about multiple treatments at once?

    • Just to add – tank and cichlid are 2 yrs old. Ottos were added about 2 weeks ago. No live plants because Jimmy tears them up, rock and sand substrate.

    • Hi Emily! I’ve seen below that your tank has been running for two years and isn’t planted, if that’s the case there should be some nitrate in the water so it may be worth checking your test kit Is in date and testing for ammonia too.

      With regards to the spots, it’d be hard to say which they are without some more description or a photo. Tag us in a photo of the fish on Instagram and I’ll have a look.

      Raising the temp isn’t always the best idea. It doesn’t really help for Ich and, as mentioned in this article, there is anecdotal evidence that it can make epistylis much worse.