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ok, so now everyone understands my filtration? i did get my set up from walmart. I do have 2 filters running each one having 2 blue activated carbon filter pads and 2 mesh white screen like things a piece. So i have a total of 4 blue and 4 white. WHEW! There is so much to know here! i will only clean one at a time from now on? is that correct? and by clean i mean rinse off in water from my tank while doing the water changes. Do i need to replace the carbon in my filters or can i just replace them, and how often should i do that? i bought a six pack replacement for 10 bucks. I have replaced them once already last week. Won't that remove the good bacteria? Does it not take long to replinish the carbon pad once it is replaced? it should still be on the mesh screen correct? I think I am going to just let my tank cycle a week or two more before i jump into getting more fish and killing them too. please let me know what you think. Thanks

chelle

no harm done stallion, i am here to learn. i have read the cycling stuff here on this site and have browsed to what seems like a hundred more. I am trying to be more informed this time. Yes, the last time we went to the lfs and just picked out what we liked. I had no idea there was so much more behind it. Actually my son chose the eel first then we chose all the other fish around him. "semi aggressive" is what the clerk told me i could buy. He told me NOTHING about top middle and bottom feeders, live bearers or anything of that sort. I am disappointed and i plan on being more conscious of my decisions this time, and for the lives of my fish.
I appreciate all comments, not just the atta girls!
thanks

chelle

How many depends on what kind of fish you want. Please research what kind of fish you want BEFORE going to the LFS to buy them. It's important to learn from your mistakes - last time (I assume) you went to the LFS and picked out the fish you thought looked nice, or what the store clerk told you to buy without researching them first, and you wound up with some that were inapporpriate for the aquarium you own.

If you want smaller schooling fish and your tank is cycled, there's no reason you can't add a school or two all at once. When I say a school, I mean 6-7 of each species. However, you should add them shortly after you take back the other fish in your tank.

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Back in the saddle!

GREAT questions. OK heres how it goes with a NEW tank. You put in some fish. Fish "create" ammonia from the excess food(not eaten) and the waste(poop). The waste and extra food is turned from ammonia to nitrites and then again to nitrates. The ammo and nitrItes are deadly to fish. Good bacteria change the ammo to nitrites and then to nitrates, NitrAtes are TOLERABLE to ur fish. The only way to have the Good bacteria is to have a tank run for a while. Before we said to add Cycle or Biospira(it adds GOOD bacteria to ur tank). Heres the deal: You get a fishtank and get it running(you Have enough filtration). You then add a couple of CYCLE ready fish(you have 3 now). Then the fish you have release ammonia(with extra food also produces ammo), then the ammonia is turned into NitrItes and then the NitrItes are turned to NitrAtes(which are least harmful keep under 40ppm). Its the bactyeria in the tank(you cannot see) that do these prosesses. So get a test kit and read about the cycle in the FAQS or FORUMS and U WILL be alitte more informed and we may be able to help with stock suggestions soon. Sorry to sound mean, as we are here to help. I'm guessin u are very close to a nice tank. U just need some insight and aqua tools(testkit).

thanks for all your info rich! it's nice to hear from someone who knows what he's doing!!

chelle

so weekly 25% water changes is the way to go? or is that too often? how many fish do u recommend getting at one time and at what time intervals?

chelle

Yes, you want to see nitrates show up, and you want nitrites to completely disappear. Keep in mind, nitrates are still toxic to fish, but much less so than ammonia and nitrite. You'll still need to do water changes to keep nitrates low.

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Back in the saddle!

i know all about infecting the other fish. When i bought the two plecos from walmart, i brought them home and everything seemed fine...about 4 days later they developed a white fungus looking substance on their tails. It was a mess. i lost 3 fish because of that!! as far as nitrates...i want to see nitrates show up on my test? last week i had a nitrite spike and decline and now i should be seeing nitrates? they have never registered on my test strip. so far i have had an ammonia spike, then nitrite and now i'm waiting on the nitrates to level off? i will go to walmart after work tonight and see what other kinds of tests they have. how will i know when it is safe for new fish? i'm in no hurry! i want to make sure i have them a good home first.

chelle

I know it's hard to wait and look at a half empty tank, but it's realyl in the best interest of your future fish to make sure the tank is cycled first. Do you have a nitrate test? If nitrates register and nitrites are zero, then you can safely add more fish... once you remove the others, of course. Did you decide on what you're going to do with the current inhabitants?

This may be jumping the gun a bit, but also when you go ahead to get new fish for your tank, make sure to inspect them first. Look for white spots before you buy. Look for listlessness, or marks or any other unusual aspects of a fish before you buy them. Remember, you can take out your entire fish stock by adding one diseased fish. With some patience and some forsight, there's no reason you can't have a beautiful and satisfying aquarium.

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Back in the saddle!

ok, so, now we have the filtration mystery solved! That was tough!!! Since I had the nitrite spike and then it leveled off, is my tank finished cycling? When would it be safe to get some more fish? and any more suggestions as far as stocking?

chelle

OHHH, BTW did u get your water perameters? Tank stocking may only be a week or 2 away from u? I find it helps to think of future critters in a crisis(as all the rest of ur fish will prolly survive).

OHHH. I see. The aquatech is like the NEW penguin. It can hold 2 filters deep. Not a bad idea. OK since u got 2 new 30/60 Aquatechs I would say leave all 4 (blue with black plastic filters) in there. That way u can change 1 at a time with a new 1 and rotate accordingly. Leave all 4 alone for awhile(maybe1.5 months). Then change 1 every water change and rotate so u know which 1 to change next. This will keep the bactertia strong and your tank clean. If you need to rinse a filter, do so in used(taken out) tank water so u will not lose the GOOD bacteria. 5gallon buckets are a good friend for fish keepers. GOOD LUCK>

ok, i guess i was kind of vague. I don't really know the terms or actual names or really much about this at all. I WANT TO LEARN! I have a 55 gallon tank. I have two filters running with a bio filter (white filter that slides in and out, and a blue filter with activated carbon inside it)? One filter came with my tank and i bought an extra because a friend of mine told me i would not have as much built up in my tank if i had double the filtering???
I have one tinfoil barb
one peacock eel
and two algae eaters (common plecos?)

i have been using the tetra test for ammonia levels
and a stick for nitrites, nitrates, ph, and hardness.
the ammonia level looked to me to be at the 0 level yesterday or maybe somewhere between the o and 25 color.
the stick test i did last weekend and it was high on nitrites so i have been doing 25% water changes every other day still. The water is still a bluish color from the ick clear tank buddies tablets i put in.
i have not treated with any substances since last weekend and i planned on doing a 30%water change today and vacuuming out the algae eaters POOP!!! it is terrible. where they lay the most is FULL of poop. Should i get rid of one of them? is two too many for my tank?
I forgot the other questions that were asked.
thank you for your responses all help is greatly appreciated.
as far as this being a family tank, it's not. No one feeds or works with the fish but me. The kids were excited at first but now they pop in every once in awhile just to look at them. You know how kids are.
My husband and I really got this for us. I am trying really hard to get this right and not kill any more helpless animals...
thanks all!

i tested the water conditions last night and did a 30% water change. Everything looks good, but i am still afraid to get new fish!

chelle

The Aqua-techs are the same as the Penguin biowheel filters but without the bio-wheels included. There is actually a space to add the bio-wheel mounts, but a different cover would also be needed. I don't like bio-wheels myself because they are noisy.

Some people say the Aqua-techs break alot, but I have had one on a 29 gallon for almost 10 years. The cartridges do clog very quickly though and are not cheap. I was able to find a refillable cartridge online that goes with it, so I can use it without carbon easily, and it is alot cheaper. Since each filter holds 2 cartridges I just never rinse both out at the same time and it works fine.

Yea for my first fish a couple years ago i got a combo set from walmart. I ended up starting with a 29 gallon, but to be honest the combo tanks with everything included in the box are not very good. I am familiar with this filter you are speaking of, if you have 2 of them running only change 1 filter pad at a time that way your not losing the bacteria on them both. They are kind of low-tech and aren't the best filter but if its all you could afford they should do fine as long as you keep up the regular maintenance and only change 1 filter at a time. Also make sure you change them on a rotation schedule monthly because if you let old carbon sit there it will just leak everything it sucked up back into the tank. Carbon is good to keep tank clear and odorless as long as you keep on changing it when its time I only use carbon on my non planted tanks nowadays. Well gl with your tank

Yeah. No sponge? No Wheel? I'm gonna return to Walmart and inspect. Kinda interested now. Let U folks Know my results. As I'm still not sure about the type, but Michelsa probably has plenty of filtration for the tank. She just needs time and patience. OH and KNOWLEDGE.

Ah yes, I forgot about Bio-spira... great product if you can find it.

Isn't it odd about that filter? It sounds like they combined the worst aspects of both models....

Last edited by NowherMan6 at 14-Mar-2005 14:22

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Back in the saddle!

once again Nowherman6 is right. Ive seen the filter you described but are not totally sure about it. That filter(in Walmart stores at present) does not have a bio-wheel. It seems to me to be a combo of Whisper/Aquaclear and Penguin/Emporer as it uses a blue penguin and a white whisper filter at the same time. I could be wrong about media. Nevertheless you are on the right track. The filters you keep "cleaning out",beitSponge or blue/white with plastic back filters are the carrying agents for your good bacteria(along with gravel and ornaments). Let the tank go for a while with 25% H2Ochanges a week with no gravel vacs.If you have availability to CYCLE or BIOSPIRA(ask salespeople), use as directed. This will help your tank. Sounds like you are going in the right direction,just be patient and stay tuned here cause we can help, even though long distance.

I looked online for aquatech filters but couldn't find anything. Perhaps you can describe it a bit better?

The reason it's important is this: your filter, along with gravel bed, is the main living grounds for beneficial bacteria. All the water in your tank eventually passes through your filter and touches all filter surfaces, and so a lot of the biological filtration takes place here. If you consistantly remove and wash off everything in the filter, you're in effect delaying the completion of the cycle, becuase bacterial colonies have to re-establish themselves in the filter over and over. However, filters also need to be cleaned every now and then because debris from your tank will build up and reduce the effectiveness of your mechanical filtration (the physical removal of debris from the water, as opposed to the removal of chemicals or toxic compounds). Sounds like a "damned if you do, damned if you dont" kind of situation, right?

Well, most filters these days are made to get around this by using 2 or 3 stages for the water to flow through. Check your filter to see what it looks like inside. In the case of normal hang-on filters, there will be a sponge, a packet of activated carbon and a some other "bio-material" as some companies call it (which is just material with lots of tiny holes and pores for bacteria to grow on). In this case, you can rinse off the sponge (the mechanical filtration) and just leave the "bio-material" as it is.

In BioWheel type filters there is a spinning wheel with ridges on it at the outflow of the filter. The force of the water coming out of the filter pushes the wheel around and around, thus allowing the bacteria on all sides of the wheel to come into contact with the water. Inside the filter there is a cartrige with blue mesh fiber holding in some activated carbon. You can replace these cartriges while leaving the bacterial colonies on the bio-wheel in tact. So take a look and see which catagory yours fits into.

Now, to bring all this back to your situation, you seem to be describing the cartrige of a bio-wheel type set up, but with out the bio-wheel, in which case, your good bacteria is growing on the blue-mesh of the cartrige itself. So you don't want to be washing that off all of the time. However, to clear up the blue water, you can cut the blue mesh off of the plastic cartrige on one corner - not completely off - and empty out the old activated carbon, and replace it with fresh stuff (the active life of this stuff is pretty short, so to be effective all the time you have to replace it every couple weeks).

As for the deep gravel vacs, I would hold off on doing them until after your cycle completes. Like I said, go over the surface with the gravel vac, just dont dig down too deep. Let your tank settle for a few weeks, then do a deep vac every once in a while.

It's tough with the Tinfoil barb. I wish chain LFSs would just stop selling them. What it comes down to, though, is unless you plan on getting a 180 gallon + tank in the next year or so, you really can't provide the best home for him.

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Back in the saddle!

ok, first of all i want to say how excited and appreciative i am to have someone to talk to and help me with this new hobby i've taken on. i never knew it was so much work, but it is also so rewarding.
my filtration is still a mystery to me. i have two aquatech 30-60 power filters. I don't know what a biowheel is. The box says advanced biological filtration bio fiber screens eliminate toxic ammonia and nitrite, mechanical blue polyfiber screens out dirt and debris, and chemical aquatech premium activated carbon removes dissolved waste.. does this help any? i am thinking that my tank is almost finished cycling. i am no longer washing the filter screens, just rinsing them in the bucket of water i dump during my 25% water changes. The water is beautiful and clear now. I did a deep gravel vacuum last night, but i had been doing them every 4 days(every other 25% water change) should i do deep gravel cleans once a week? or is that too much as well? I am finding out that 2 plecos are way too much, jeez what a mess they make. i will probably return both of them. are bristlenose common? how long til i can buy some new fish? MAN! i really hate to return my tinfoil barb (Greedy) i have grown so attached to him. He follows every move i make. What a personality, but if my home is not good for him, i will do what's best. Why wouldn't the "fish expert" at pet smart have told me my tank wasn't big enough??? That is upsetting!
thanks for your help, all comments and suggestions are GREATLY appreciated!
michelle

chelle