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Just purchased a 90 gallon with a Cascade 1200 canister filter. I have only used power filters in the past. It has a long spray bar attachment. Here are a few questions. How often do you need to change out the charcoal or the other filter materials? Do I need more aeration than the spray bar (like an air stone). How soon after cycling can I put a pleco in? Will tank water and substrate from a well established tank help speed up cycle? How many medium sized cichlids will do? (I have many babies)
Thanks for any assistance...

Mys

Hi,
extra air is always beneficial to fish.I would add an air stone.
I clean my canisters 2 times a month, alternating canisters. I have 2 on my 75g, a fluval 204 and a eheim 2217. Do not clean all the media entirely or your tank will go through a mini cycle.
Now, what fish and how many depends on what type of fish you have. What kind of pleco as well.
By medium size cichlid I have no idea what type of fish you have, you could have hundreds of different species by that ID.




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Thanks for the reply. Right now i have a mated pair of severums(a green & a gold) in their own tank. They had 16 babies, 8 I gave away. As soon as I finish the cycling of the 90 gallon, I plan to put the remaining babies in that tank. I may give more away to friends but I do wish to keep a few babies since it was my first successful breeders. I have 2 clown loaches also that will go in the 90.

I will get an airstone. The spray bar, is this supposed to be above the waterline? Just curious, it tends to keep my glass top wet this way. Is there much difference when using spray bar vs. a head? I appreciate all input...
Mys

How often you change out the media in your filter of course would depend on loading. In an overstocked tank it could be as often as weekly, and by the inverse an understocked tank could last months. As to the spraybar, if you place it above the waterline it will provide surface agitation and thereby increase your oxygen content, if you place it below the waterline, the agitation will vary by depth. Personally I remove the spraybar or head and simply run an elbow into the tank in an effort to reduce my head pressure as much as possible, thereby increasing my flow rate. As far as stocking goes, this is a slow steady process of course. You ask 10 people you get 20 different answers. If all you are going to place in this tank for the time being is growout fry from your sev's then you should be able to safely put all of them in the tank and still have room to grow. Now, with that said, as your fish mature you will need to decide how many to keep and what kind of bio load you are placing on your tank. It's not always just about the number of fish, but also by the ammount of waste they produce, their territory demands, and of course their suitability towards the other inhabitants of the tank.
Ok, now, as to how soon you can stock your tank, once again, ask 10 get 20. If you go slow, and by slow I mean 1 or 2 fish per week, you should have no problems in stocking your tank immediately. For cycling the tank put in your initial fish and wait 4 weeks for the cycle to complete. Even if you get readings that the cycle has run it's course, wait the 4 weeks in case of a rebound effect. The longer you wait for the new additions after the initial cycle, the stronger your bacterial colony will be and therefor be able to react much more quickly to new additions.
Also, when doing your initial cycle I would place no more than 1 fish per 10 gallons of water. The reasoning behind this is to allow for poor water conditions, even with the water changes the water will be below optimal standards at all times. By allowing so much water per fish you are assuring that these levels stay low enough not to stress the fish and still high enough to start your bacterial colony.
Hope this helps, this is how I do it in all my tanks with few to no losses.

Mys,

I have a 125G aquarium. On that aquarium I use an Eheim canister with an AquaClear HOB for filtration. The filtration may be a little bit of overkill but I like redundancy in my equipment. If one unit fails, the other can maintain the set-up. I also use two heaters for the same reason.

The Eheim canister is arranged without the carbon element as I clean the unit every three months. My experience has been that carbon has a useful life of two weeks before it requires replacement. I have not found it necessary to use carbon except to remove medications.

It may seem that three months is an extended period of time between canister maintenance periods. I am comfortable with that period as I use a sponge pre-filter on the intake tube for the canister. The sponge collects the mulm and large debris that would otherwise clog your canister media. I highly recommend a pre-filter.

The spray bar for the unit has been arranged to spray across the water surface and to discharge below the water surface. I currently have the spray bar perpendicular to the surface of the water to provide surface and below surface water circulation. Please note that oxygen exchange between water and the atmosphere occurs at the water surface. Water movement promotes the gas exchange. The larger the area of water surface to the volume of the aquarium together with the level of surface water agitation then the greater the volume of dissolved oxygen.

Generally, additional aeration is used to break surface water tension and promote water circulation for gas exchange between the water surface and the atmosphere. Finer bubbles create more disturbance but the amount of gas exchange that occurs between the air bubbles and water is insignificant. The greatest effect will be the surface water exchange created by your filter discharge. Basically, you have no need for supplemental aeration unless you like the effect of the bubbles and the auditory disturbance of the additional air pump.

You would receive a greater value for the electricity usage by adding a supplementary filter.


Last edited by bob wesolowski at 18-Jun-2005 09:55

__________
"To steal ideas from one person is plagiarism; to steal from many is research."
researched from Steven Wright

You would receive a greater value for the electricity usage by adding a supplementary filter

Bob - I couldnt agree with you more!
Overfiltration is always better than underfiltration.
Exactly why I run 2 canisters on my 75g tank.
A prefilter? Is this just a heavy coarse sponge you pop on overtop your intake?
I have a problem with plant debris in my tank clogging my filter intake - i have to clean it every few days. Perhaps a pre-filter could solve my problems Bob! Tell me more about it.

Mys- 8 Severums at maturity with be a bit much for a 90g tank. You know how big they get.
I would say keep 4 of your babies, and then stock the rest of the tank with smaller, low waste fish, such as some cory cats, some medium size tetras or other carachines, or perhaps go with some cool cyprinids, like Denisoni Barbs, or Pentazona Barbs, etc.
Silver Hatchetfish would also do well in that tank, as they are larger, and top swimming.


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Thanks for all the great advice & knowledge. Yes, 8 is a few too many I'm just happy they have made it! It's a great feeling to know they are healthy & breeding well, therefore happy LOL. The Sevs are pretty fiesty though. Not certain they'd allow smaller fish to just be. They pick on each other at ½ inch! Gotta love cichlids...

I use the "Penguin Reverse Flow Filter Kit" for my Eheim as a pre-filter. The kit comes with a long debris basket that is perfect for the large coarse sponge. The sponge is rinsed every week. Keeps the macro garbage from inside the cannister and keeps me from cleaning the cannister every couple of weeks.

http://www.drsfostersmith.com/product/prod_display.cfm?pcatid=4635&OVMKT=K3QPUMA15VGJPI32VHS07EP4RS&ref=3312&subref=AA&GCID=C12188x003&ctt=60

__________
"To steal ideas from one person is plagiarism; to steal from many is research."
researched from Steven Wright