Fluval 304 & Urchins??

[ReNNie]

Hi,
I have a fluval 304 and have had it for about 2 years. I change the foam inserts every month or two, and the same for the carbon. However I have never changed the bio-mass ?? is this something I should do every once and a while?? What is the best way to clean and keep this filter working the best. Any suggestions will be alot of help. And also I was thinking of getting a black-long spined urchin, is this a good idea?

 

[tecwzrd]

I’d never keep ac for more than 3 weeks in your filter. The Black Longspine Urchin would be ok to keep but just read up on their requirements well and be aware that they are venomous.

How are your water parameters? How much base/lr do you have? Do you have problems keeping your no3 less than 10 ppm? If so you may want to get rid of your bio-mass over time and add more lr to your tank as this will act as your main biological filtration. You could still use the canister solely for adding ac or other chemical filtration and for circulation though.

 

[ReNNie]

As you most likely know the fluval has 3 levels. I keep carbon on the bottom and middle and bio mass on the top and middle. Is this good or should I put LR in one basket? I have 30 LBS of Rock and will be adding more soon. I haven't had any problems yet with NO3 It is around 5 PPM. They only thing that I am having trouble with is the PH. But I recently bought a Buffer so it seems to be getting better. What other chemical filtration do you mean?? thanks for the post

 

[tecwzrd]

As you are aware (since you are getting more) 30 lbs of lr in a 55 gal is a little on the low side in order to provide 100% biological filtration depending on how many fish you have. With only 2 clowns you probably have enough to do away with the bio-mass and I would replace with lr rubble personally. No3 is fine, troubles with your ph usually are due to low sg levels or CO2 build up caused by covering your tank with a glass top and not having enough circulation. I’d go topless or at least half topless and keep your sg around 1.022-1.025 and you should see your ph balance out to around 8.0-8.4. Buffers help but you shouldn’t have to use them as long as you do weekly or every other week pwc.

 

[ReNNie]

Right on, What is live rock rubble? As far as the top goes I do have it closed up pretty good with glass. I quess I could cut down the width to half. My sg is around 1.024. How many lbs of rock should I have? 70 - 80? thanks alot

 

[tecwzrd]

Lr rubble is just small pieces of lr that fit in the canister. Your lfs should have it fairly cheap but you can get it online as well if they don’t. For lr in the tank 1+ lbs per gal but not more than 1.75 lbs per gal. 70 lbs is a good amount and probably all you will need. I have 90 which is on the high side in my 55 gal and it’s quite crowded. I’m thinking of taking out 20 of it to give my fish some more room to swim.

Clowns usually don’t carpet surf so reducing the top glass by half (preferably if your lights are not protected) should get your ph levels straight.

 

[ReNNie]

awesome thanks alot !!! you have been a great help