Filtering thoughts on filters

[broncosfan9798]

New to aquariums as well as forums. For starters, Hi all!

My family came out of the gates swinging with a 60 gallon tank about 2 months ago. Being rookies, we opted for freshwater and went with community tropicals (after cycling, of course). Our current population is:
5 glofish
1 Dalmatian Molly
2 Mickey mouse platys
1 pleco
1 blue dwarf gourami
1 black skirt tetra
1 red minor tetra
1 blueberry tetra
1 aquatic frog (wife insisted)

We have successfully battled ick drug free (bumped up the temp for 2 weeks, added salt, frequent water changes), but since that time have settled into a steady state ammonia between 0.5-1 per the test strips. We have a Tetra Whisper EX 70 filter, and have changed out one of the filter packs: held the other so as not to crash our bio-filter. I have read conflicting topics over how often to change the filters, ranging from 'never! Just rinse them once in a while' to 'the company knows what they are talking about. If the time strip says change, change.'. Would love to hear thoughts on filter maintenance, changes, etc. Also, any bright theories on why the ammonia won't go down despite large volume changes would be great. The fish seem to be tolerating it fine for the time being, but all the same i like seeing the test strip read 0. All the fish are new and still small - cant imagine it's overcrowded, but I'm green so who knows. And we have gotten better at not over feeding.
Thanks

 

[HeatherW]

New to aquariums as well as forums. For starters, Hi all!

My family came out of the gates swinging with a 60 gallon tank about 2 months ago. Being rookies, we opted for freshwater and went with community tropicals (after cycling, of course). Our current population is:
5 glofish
1 Dalmatian Molly
2 Mickey mouse platys
1 pleco
1 blue dwarf gourami
1 black skirt tetra
1 red minor tetra
1 blueberry tetra
1 aquatic frog (wife insisted)

We have successfully battled ick drug free (bumped up the temp for 2 weeks, added salt, frequent water changes), but since that time have settled into a steady state ammonia between 0.5-1 per the test strips. We have a Tetra Whisper EX 70 filter, and have changed out one of the filter packs: held the other so as not to crash our bio-filter. I have read conflicting topics over how often to change the filters, ranging from 'never! Just rinse them once in a while' to 'the company knows what they are talking about. If the time strip says change, change.'. Would love to hear thoughts on filter maintenance, changes, etc. Also, any bright theories on why the ammonia won't go down despite large volume changes would be great. The fish seem to be tolerating it fine for the time being, but all the same i like seeing the test strip read 0. All the fish are new and still small - cant imagine it's overcrowded, but I'm green so who knows. And we have gotten better at not over feeding.
Thanks

so let me get this straight? you started out 2 months ago and did a fishless cycle? or did a fish in cycle? how long have you had your fish in there?
here is what I have heard about filters - don't change them! don't change them until they are falling apart. if you were reading 0 ammonia, did a filter change and now you are not that would be my guess right there - you started yourself a mini cycle. if not... if your tank was not cycled in the first place, then I would ask - how large and how often are you doing water changes?

also, I feel I should mention that your tetras are schooling and would be happier in a group of their own kind

 

[boadams87]

so let me get this straight? you started out 2 months ago and did a fishless cycle? or did a fish in cycle? how long have you had your fish in there?
here is what I have heard about filters - don't change them! don't change them until they are falling apart. if you were reading 0 ammonia, did a filter change and now you are not that would be my guess right there - you started yourself a mini cycle. if not... if your tank was not cycled in the first place, then I would ask - how large and how often are you doing water changes?

also, I feel I should mention that your tetras are schooling and would be happier in a group of their own kind

What is that filter rated for? It sounds to small for that tank and all those fish. NEVER THROW the media away! !!!!! Throw those test strips away get an API FRESHWATER TEST KIT!!! You need to be doing 75% water change 2x a week to get that amm down to a safe level.

 

[blert]

Don't change the filter media until its falling apart or so mucked up that a good rinse in old tank water still leaves it clogged. Yes, the manufactures know what they are talking about but, what they are talking about is their profits.

Ammonia issue: How did you cycle the tank? Is there ammonia in your tap water?

 

[broncosfan9798]

Well, re: cycling, I went by what the guy at the fish store (i.e. Petsmart) told me, which was a week or so fish less, then slowly adding fish every week or so. The more I have read since the more I think I was just being sold fish faster, but so far we have had very limited casualties, and everyone seems happy and healthy at the moment.
The filter is rated for 70 gallons. I have come across threads advocating running two filters, each rated to cover the stated capacity. I was also considering just getting a air drive sponge filter that can be removed to a quarantine/hospital tank in times of need. Any thoughts on either filter strategy would be welcome.
re: the tetras, we admittedly fell
into the trap of "that one's pretty" as we were selecting new additions, and, of course, Joe Petsmart said no worries. at the en of the day we are happy with what we have and the fish seem alright with the world, at least from what they tell me.

 

[HooKooDooKu]

You don't cycle a tank in one week. It takes about a month to cycle a tank and that's why you have ammonia in your tank (it's still un-cycled).

As for filters, I like multi-stage filters. Specifically a setup where you have at least two filters for physical filtration followed by biological filtration. The biofilter is NEVER changed, while the physical filters are replaced a half at a time.

Otherwise, if you have a filter with only one stage, then you need to only rinse the filter out from time to time WITH FISH TANK WATER or pre-treated water... NEVER rinse with tap water as the chlorine in the tap water will kill the bacteria that you want on the filter.

I also like to set up a filter such that I make my own physical filters from the massive cut-to-fit filter sheets.

 

[MandyINCo]

well, i stumbled across the right thread... i was having the same problem with my 4 month old setup a few weeks back, and im willing to put money on your reason being the same as mine. Changing the filter. what you should do IMO is head to petco or petsmart, and pick up either Nutrafin Instant Cycle (what i used) or Special Blend (only sold at petco. pour the dose (and even go a little heavy on the dose) directly onto your filter media. I had changed my carbon filters also, like the package said, and my tank could never finish the cycle. those products will help cycle your tank rapidly. took mine 2 or 3 days. they introduce super beneficial bacteria to your filter. hope it helps

 

[broncosfan9798]

only rinse the filter out from time to time WITH FISH TANK WATER or pre-treated water... NEVER rinse with tap water as the chlorine in the tap water will kill the bacteria that you want on the filter.

As my palm hits my forehead, we rinsed the filters in tap before placing them back in the tank. Ah so. Everything is so clear to me now ...except maybe my water. Thanks all for your suggestions.

Would still love to hear thoughts on the back up sponge filter...simple yea or nay, unless your passion gets the better of you and you must expand.

 

[MandyINCo]

I stand by those two products. the Special Blend stuff "smells like butthole" but works. lol. it wont be instantaneous, but will surely help. and they are harmless to your fish. good luck, keep us posted on here!

 

[blert]

Sponge filters are crazy good bio filters but lack in the mechanical side of the equation. They also take up space inside your tank that you may not want to give up and are ugly unless you can hide it well. You can drive them by air or power head. If you have any plans on planting with CO2 then air driven is out as you will waste CO2. Using a power head means another large bit in the tank that is not easily hidden. IMO, get a canister filter and get the best of all three filtration aspects.

A properly cycled and maintained setup has no need for bottled bacteria.

 

[HooKooDooKu]

d

well, i stumbled across the right thread... i was having the same problem with my 4 month old setup a few weeks back, and im willing to put money on your reason being the same as mine. Changing the filter. what you should do IMO is head to petco or petsmart, and pick up either Nutrafin Instant Cycle (what i used) or Special Blend (only sold at petco. pour the dose (and even go a little heavy on the dose) directly onto your filter media. I had changed my carbon filters also, like the package said, and my tank could never finish the cycle. those products will help cycle your tank rapidly. took mine 2 or 3 days. they introduce super beneficial bacteria to your filter. hope it helps

I'm not personally familiar with this product. But a few years ago, when I was researching how to keep fish, the general word was that things like this were just about useless. You can't buy the bacteria you need in your tank from a bottle... at least not a room temperature bottle. This bacteria is a living organism and needs food to live. Place it in a bottle at room temperature and the bacteria dies of starvation pretty soon.

There used to be a product that was actual live bacteria for your tank. The stuff had to be kept refrigerated to slow the metabolism of the bacteria and keep it alive until you out it in your tank. But the problem was that no fish store stocked the stuff because it had a shelf life of about a month or so and there just wasn't enough of a demand for the product to risk stocking it and then throwing it away when it expired.

Now I don't know if this product has over come these problems or not... so until it becomes a proven product... I'd take it's claims with a grain of salt.

 

[Bottomfeeder88]

I concur with Blert about canisters and if you plan on a planted, maybe a fluidized bed filter as supplemental bio filtration.