First of all, jlk, let me say thank you very, very much for your ongoing assistance -- it is greatly appreciated as I try and figure all this out.
Sounds like it's gotta be better than what we're doing now! I will definitely look into the Aqueon changer at Petsmart...thanks.
Which Aqueons do you have? Mine is a QuietFlow 55, which was the largest one they made at the time (they more recently launced a "55/75" model that is supposed to be more powerful). Why do you say the Aqueon's cartridges are "garbage" though? What don't you like about them?
I have two of the 55/75 quietflow models and another 50 & 10 quietflow models. I do like them as filters- dont get me wrong! But the cartridges are very flimsy, fall apart very quickly and do not hold up well to weekly rinses in tank water. They contain almost no carbon (when compared to other filters) and trying to remove the carbon from the flimsy filter material is an effort in futility. What is nice is theres ample 'empty space' in the filter housing- plenty of room to stuff full of sponge/filter foam! Leave your cartridges in place until they fall apart & use the empty space to add additional media in the meantime.
Also, when you say "it's simply not necessary" to throw away the old cartridges and change them out (which I assume is what you meant), what do you mean by that specifically? In other words, the carbon/floss cartridges can simply fill up to where they're disgustingly brown and loaded with junk and then rinsed out in a bucket of old tank water in a later water change?
Yes! Just rinse them once a week in some used tank water. They will never be white again! If they are becoming overwhelmed with debris every week, then this indicates you need to step up your water change schedule, consider adding more filtration and/or possibly address your stocking situation. Goldies are messy, messy fish- having ample amounts of water per fish (10-30g) and limiting stocking will also limit the waste and help keep healthy water parameters. For a 60g, four-five goldies is fully stocked.
This can continue to be done routinely -- without buying new cartridges?
Yep!!
I understand that BB colonies are growing on the floss and in the cartridge, but Aqueon claims that the bio grid plastic blue things the cartridges slip into are the areas in which this bacteria live, and that it's okay to throw away the cartridges so long as the bio grids aren't rinsed or disturbed -- I totally get the theory that these filter manufacturers are trying to make money by getting people to buy the floss cartridges all the time, but isn't there something to be said about the fact that these cartridges get really, really nasty with tank debris and would be better off just being changed before the water in the filter overruns the return because the cartridges are so stuffed up?
See my comment above.
I suppose, in essence, what I'm asking is, isn't there enough BB on all the other surfaces of my tank -- the gravel substrate, the decor, the other filter parts plus all the materials inside my second AquaClear filter -- that I don't have to worry about throwing away colonies residing on the Aqueon filter cartridges? Now, with regard to the AquaClear 110 filter -- in
that case, I do not throw away the sponge block at the bottom of the media basket every time it gets dirty...
that I always rinse out with tank water from a water change or fill a bucket with dechlorinated tap water and rinse (same with the BioMax rings)...are you saying I should be treating the Aqueon filter cartridges the same way?
A tank has a delicate balance and it does not take much to upset it. An overzealous gravel cleaning or filter swishing or even overcleaning the glass can upset the balance. Replacing the filter media where the largest portion of bacteria lives really can upset things and it can take awhile for the balance to be restored. With your tank stocked on the heavy side, changing the filters has resulted in ammonia now being present- you really need to preserve as much of your good bacteria as possible in the future to try to keep the status qu
Thank you.
Well, those results are what I got
before we did the 40% water change; we did a 40 or so percent change after I took those readings, and I have since added three new packs of Purigen to the two filters (one in the Aqueon and two in the AquaClear just above the sponge media); I am hoping this gets my water looking, smelling and behaving better. I definitely follow the directions for the API tests, especially the nitrate test, and shake well for the 30 or 60 seconds, whatever it may be...
Yes, I'm beginning to suspect that with a lot of the goldies we have lost -- six in total now; we just lost the comet/koi-looking one, "Cosmo," last night -- the issue has been their body designs; however, they receive a daily diet of Aqueon flakes with occasional Tetra Goldfish Crisps...I was feeding the Tetra Sinking Goldfish Pellets, but they don't seem to do well with those...there's almost a state of shock the fish go into as if they can't digest these things, so I stopped feeding those and keep them pretty much strictly on flakes. The thing is, when they appear to exhibit digestion problems, we immediately begin feeding the cooked frozen peas, yet this hasn't seemed to be able to save any of the previous goldies we have lost. I am beginning to suspect the stock of fantails my local Petsmart is getting in and how healthy/hearty they really are. The problem is, there is
nowhere else to buy goldfish in my area, and what's even more head-scratching is the fact that two of the fancies we bought at Petsmart some two and a half years ago after we first set up the tank -- a Red Cap Oranda and chocolate brown/gold forktail -- are doing extremely well and growing seemingly every day, boasting great tail definition and healthy looking colors and scales. Meanwhile, other goldies we introduce to the tank -- mainly young, small ones -- die within a month's time.
I've heard of dropsy; I don't actually think that's what our fish incurred...but I'm not 100 percent sure.
That's what I would have thought, without a doubt in my mind -- but I have to tell you, the local Petsmart we shop at has a variety of fancy goldies like I haven't seen anywhere else in my immediate surrounding area. They normally get very nice sized, beautifully colored and tailed fancies that are sometimes downright stunning to look at with their unique color blendings and jaw-dropping wen. Of course, looks can be deceiving when it comes to health -- but I have been very surprised with Petsmart's selection of these creatures every time I walk in there. The problem has been whenever we purchase small, young varieties, they die within about a month's time -- we have even suspected that perhaps these young fish haven't had a chance to properly develop their immune systems or something along those lines, and from the stress of going from the shipping to the store to the removal out of the store into our tank, the end result is simply disastrous. However, I can't explain, then, why it takes so long for them to die or why my other two that we've had for two and a half years don't die.
I would definitely be interested in purchasing good quality fancy goldfish -- is this possible to actually receive a shipment directly to someone's home from a breeder or farm? If you could point me in the right direction with that, I would definitely be interested because as I said, there are really no stores around here that sell the fancy/fantail goldfish and if they do, they're nearly feeder-size.
Thank you for everything, and I look forward to hearing back from you!!
