Partial Water & Filter Changes

[mgkaelen]

helloooooooooooooooooooo everyone .

i haven't done a partial water change or filter change in probably a month. i'm nervous to do it because i don't want to lose precious bacteria!

i purchased a "rock cleaner" which is one of those vacuum-esque things, so it gets all the grit and grime in the rocks up from the bottom of the tank, so i clean the tank qhile changing the water. but isn't all the good bacteria at the bottom of the tank? i don't want to suck up all the good stuff. is this a concern?

i have the same question about the filter. i know the grime on it is good, so i'm scared to just throw it out and replace it. is it too much to do the water change AND filter change on the same day ? or should i space them out a few weeks apart to make up for the bacteria?

and on a side note, does anyone buy their carbon in bulk? and just fill up their filter, as opposed to buying the carbon bags? it looks a lot more economically sound to buy the box of carbon, but i don't know if anyone has the experience with it. thanks in advance, guys, you never let me down!

k

 

[Allivymar]

I forget mgkaelen; has the tank cycled yet? And what sort of filter are you using; does it have a Bio-Wheel?

If the tank is cycled and you now have a mature Bio-Wheel, you could gravel vac to your hearts content and change the filter media and would prob notice not even a small spike in nitrogenous waste.

I'm going to assume you don't tho; here's my suggestion:
Gravel vac half the tank each time. This way you get the detritus up and out of the tank, but aren't messing with the entire colony in the substrate.
Rinse the media in the removed tank water; most of the good bacteria will remain, and you will have removed a lot of the debris blocking the spaces meant for catching em.
Continue to just rinse the media each time until it gets too nasty to bother (or starts falling apart). If you use a sponge type of filter media, it will likely last you years.

As for carbon, you'll find many of us here don't use it on a regular basis. I personally only use it for removing medication.

 

[mgkaelen]

hi alliv- thanks for the help!
yes, the tank IS cycled. i don't think i have a bio-wheel. the filter that came with my setup is a whisper-30 (i think i've heard on the board that it's not a very good filter)... so i dont think i have a bio-wheel...

can i add one to my current filter? should i?

just to make sure i understand what you're saying: you say to gravel vac only half the tank, like the left side the first time, and the right side the next time, so half of the culture isn't disturbed... is this correct?

and when you say rinse the MEDIA in the removed tank water, do you mean pull out my filter cartridge and rinse it off/ swish it around in the bucket that i put my partial water change/gravel vac water in?

...and then change the filter cartridge until it can stand it no more, is falling apart, is absolutely DISGUSTING... correct ?

that's funny that you guys don't use carbon! i just figured that was what was in my filter... what do you use in your cartridge? or do i have such a crappy filter that most GOOD filters aren't set up like mine. haha.

thanks for the help, though. now i'm not as nervous of hurting my tank with a water change .

 

[An t-iasg]

Hi mgkaelen,
Allivymar has given you excellent advice, as usual!

You can get a separate bio-wheel to add to your tank. You would want to keep your whisper filter, as it catches the debris, and the good bacteria would grow and establish themselves in the bio-wheel. Since your tank is cycled, that shouldn't take very long. It's not absolutely necessary to have a bio-wheel, but I had a tank with that type of filter once and I liked it. It is always a good thing to have a lot of places for the good bacteria to grow. They will also grow on any fake plants or decorations that you have in the tank.

Yes, you should just gravel vac half of the tank at a time. One week I do the left half of my tank. I remove the fake plants and sweep the gravel, getting in deep enough to remove waste and little pieces of food. The next week I do the right half the same way. I've never had an ammonia spike from doing it this way. I also rinse one or two of the fake plants off each week. Of course, like Alli said, if you have a bio-wheel, you can gravel vac the whole tank at once if you want.

I take my sponge filter out and pour the removed tank water over it and squeeze it a little. I have fake plants and only one betta, so it doesn't get a bunch of stuff clogging it. I do this every other week, but you have a much bigger tank than me, so you could rinse it once a week. The reason you rinse it in removed tank water is that chlorinated tap water will kill the good bacteria in your filter. As long as the filter is not too gross, or falling apart, it will be okay.

I don't use carbon all the time either -- just to remove meds. I just set my little carbon corner filter up the other day to remove meds, and it ran for about 30 hours, and the water was nice and clear again (the med made the water green). I removed the carbon tonight.

The filters that have carbon enclosed on one end, and the sponge filter or "trapping" media on the other end -- is this what you have? You could cut the carbon out and continue to use the other part. Carbon only lasts for a few weeks, I think. I wouldn't leave it in my tank for more than a few days. When the carbon absorbs meds and becomes saturated, it may then release the contaminants that it captured back into your tank. And changing that filter every few weeks just to change out the carbon will get expensive. So if you're satisfied that the sponge or floss media is trapping debris well, then just make a slit in the carbon portion and remove it. That way you can keep the other part until it gets too gross to keep.

Hope this helped some!

 

[mgkaelen]

thanks for the great advice guys. i'll definitely look into getting a bio wheel.

when i do water changes, do you guys ever take your fish out of the tank? when i was putting in my bubble strip/air pump, as well as a handful of new plants, i put some of my tetras in a bowl with water from the tank becuase ididn't want to freak them out. i don't think it was necessary, though... (?)

let me try to explain my filter. haha. i know is hould know more about it, but i just don't. i just fiddled with it.... i can pull out 2 t hings from the filter.. a black sponge thing (maybe it didn't start out black-ha!), and then the cartridge, which is what i have already bought cartridge replacements/BIO BAGS... is this what you mean? i'm not sure what i could cut out, but i know that the bio bag i can definitely take out whatever is inside of it, because the replacement is just the bag with the media in it, and then i connect it to the plastic frame that sticks back into the filts... does that make sense?? and i mean... if i were to cut the carbon out, i could probably just take the whole thing out all together? or just keep the bag without and media in it.......

on ANOTHER NOTE--------------- when i just went in to check on the filter, something is in my tank that looks like EGGS!)!& or something ?!????? i don't know ANYTHING about eggs or anything becuase i didnt' expect to see any sort of breeding in my tank, but i dont' know.. attacted to one of my plastic plants is a white, wispy thing that looks kind of like a translucent cotton ball.... it looks like it's opened up, so if it WAS eggs, i don't know if it's there anymore.. but there is NO way that that was attached to my hand and then i put my hand in the tank.. hahaha. i mean it can't just be debris that I brought into the tank... any ideas what this is? i'll start a new thread because i have no idea what is in my tank. it looks empty and nobody is guarding it... i have no idea. haha

THANKS AGAIN!!!!!!!!!

 

[An t-iasg]

Hi...I understand your filter now! It's been a few years since I had one like that. If you don't want to run the carbon all the time (and it's not necessary) just take out the bio bag and the media (carbon?) in it, and don't snap it back into the plastic frame. Just take the whole thing out; don't cut anything. I don't think it would be of any value to just run an empty media bag in the filter frame. But you can still use your cartridge replacements/bio bags that you have. I have seen that some people on here run their carbon only once a month for a day or two. That will "polish" up the water and keep it nice and clear. I do like the way carbon clears the water. I just took my carbon out last night and my water was so clear. It removed all the meds pretty quickly. I threw that carbon away, though. Once it is used, you should just throw it away and not try to save it. Another thing to think about...when you don't have any more carbon inserts, you could buy carbon in bulk (in a big jar instead of individual cartridges) if you want to use it once a month. You could fill your bio-bag, run it for a day or two, and then just empty your bio-bag and throw the carbon (not the bag!) away. I think that would be cheaper than buying replacement cartiridges. Get a pair of rubber gloves to wear when filling the bio-bag. I got some plastic gloves in the painting aisle at Home Depot and they were cheap. Handling carbon to fill your filter or biobag will get your hands very dirty!

I never took my betta out of the tank when I did water changes. He either hid in the other plants, on the other side of the tank that I was sweeping, or he tried to hang around the vac tube, or followed my hand! He liked the movement, I guess. But after awhile, he just ignored it. Your fish will get used to the vac tube and they will just ignore it too.

I don't know anything about eggs! Allivymar's fish laid eggs on the filter intake tube! Some fish, like platies and mollies, seem to have fry (baby fish) frequently. I don't know about the egg-laying tendencies of your fish. If you do have fry in your tank, they may be very small and are sometimes hard to see right away. They may hide in the plants or anywhere they feel safe. Some of the adult fish may try to eat them, so they often hide until they are bigger. That way, they are unlikely to be eaten by the other tankmates!