To do a water change or not

[Alyxx]

You shouldn't replace the cartridges if they are the only media in your filter. Use them til they fall apart (you can remove the carbon) or add some sort of sponge media to your filter to house the beneficial bacteria. If all you use is the cartridge and you replace it every few weeks you are tossing all your bacteria and starting your cycle over every time.

 

[Kelly5978]

I am so confused. What else am I supposed to be using in the filter. I fought for hours with my bf about this. I said NO....I'm not supposed to change the filter!!!! He said, I couldn't clean the filter, but I have to replace the carbon insert every few weeks. I just did a water change and replaced the carbon filter insert. Are you telling me I have to cycle all over again? I just don't get it. Why does it say change every 3 weeks? And, now all the angels are acting funny! What do I do? Change the water again???? Poor sparkle is at the top of the tank, with clamped fins! And IT STINKS!!!!
I used prime to protect, and stress coat to condition. Did I put too much in? Should I change water again? What is wrong with me that I can't get this right?

 

[Alyxx]

I am so confused. What else am I supposed to be using in the filter. I fought for hours with my bf about this. I said NO....I'm not supposed to change the filter!!!! He said, I couldn't clean the filter, but I have to replace the carbon insert every few weeks. I just did a water change and replaced the carbon filter insert. Are you telling me I have to cycle all over again? I just don't get it. Why does it say change every 3 weeks? And, now all the angels are acting funny! What do I do? Change the water again???? Poor sparkle is at the top of the tank, with clamped fins! And IT STINKS!!!!
I used prime to protect, and stress coat to condition. Did I put too much in? Should I change water again? What is wrong with me that I can't get this right?

The cartridges say change every three weeks for two reasons - the carbon is exhausted by three weeks, and to make more money by selling people cartridges monthly. You don't need carbon, and in most cases leaving exhausted carbon in won't hurt anything. In rare cases it can release some of what it absorbed, but not often. If you are worried about the old carbon you can cut it out of the cartridge. Or if your filter is big enough to run two cartridges side by side, stick the new one in beside the old one a week or so before you throw out the old one (behind the old filter so water goes into the old one first) so the new one can be seeded before you toss the old one. Or put some sponge type media in next to the cartridge and just don't change it out til it is falling apart. You just want to be sure there is something with a colony of good bacteria in the filter at all times. If you want to run carbon, you don't have to rely on always having new cartridges either. You can buy a big box of carbon and just put some in a media bag or pantyhose and run it in your filter along with a cartridge you don't change out. Just rinse the cartridge in old tank water once every few weeks and replace the carbon you have in the media bag every two or three weeks so the carbon is fresh. If you worry about leaving old carbon in the cartridge, it is really easy to cut it open at the bottom and remove all the carbon that is inside.

If it makes you feel any better, I haven't changed the cartridges in my filters on my 56 since I set it up a year ago. I just rinse them out. Same with my 30 gallon, except it has been longer than a year. I change the polyfil that I have in addition to the cartridges but I leave the cartridges alone. And I haven't had any issues with either tank. I would do the same with all of my other tanks too, but they are filtered with sponge filters instead of HOBs.

Be sure to check all of your water parameters, as changing the cartridges may have started a mini cycle. It's possible you might get by without one if there was enough bacteria on your substrate and on the walls of your filter, but most of it lives in the filter media. And water changes are always a good idea, fresh clean water is very beneficial to the fish. I hope you get it figured out soon, having sick fish sucks. I love angelfish, too. I've had issues keeping them healthy myself in recent years. Seems like good healthy stock is hard to find and they get sick easier than they used to, and for reasons that are hard to determine.

 

[Kelly5978]

Thanks for the info. I should always listen to my gut. Okay, so to appease him, I could put 2 filters in and change ONE every month, but leave one in always. Okay, one of my fishes tails is actually clamped now (after water change and new filter). I tested. 0 ammonia and nitrites. Is there actually ammonia just not registering yet? Am I supposed to add stability or start Zyme again?

 

[dwayne.aycock]

you can find peat and indian almond leaves on ebay. Put the peat and Indian almond in a mesh bag and add to your tank. The tannins may turn your water a light tea color but it is harmless and your fish will love it. It lowers PH, softens water, adds a natural anti-biotic to help fish immune system, and encourages spawning as well. Good Luck!!! D

 

[Alyxx]

you can find peat and indian almond leaves on ebay. Put the peat and Indian almond in a mesh bag and add to your tank. The tannins may turn your water a light tea color but it is harmless and your fish will love it. It lowers PH, softens water, adds a natural anti-biotic to help fish immune system, and encourages spawning as well. Good Luck!!! D

If you add the almond leaves or peat you will want to remove your carbon. The tannic acids that tint your water and have all of the great effects on your water chemistry would get absorbed by the carbon. But I, too, recommend using them, at least the almond leaves. I've never tried peat, but I use the leaves in most of my tanks.

 

[dwayne.aycock]

by he way. you can put it in a canister filter as the final stage or just tie to a heavy rock and add directly into your tank ( good aquarium rocks are granite, quartz, slate).

 

[Alyxx]

I just drop leaves in so they sink to the bottom once they become waterlogged. I like the natural look of leaf litter at the bottom of the tank. Wouldn't work with peat, though.

 

[dwayne.aycock]

right..peat works better in the canister, but is equally good in your storage water. Peat comes in pellets. I use peat bags in the sumps of my wet / dry filter where is slowly decays over time and doesn't cloud the water. My PH in my Angel tank is 6.5 and my hardness is 3. Mt Angels are quite happy. Occasionally I have to use root tabs with my crypts and swords (usually every 45 days or so).

 

[Katiebug4lake]

I would wait for at least another 30 days befire adding anything else. Cycling has been known to stall at a certain point. Also keep a close eye on amonia. Overfrrding and fish waste can reak havoc on a normay cycle that can take from 6 weeks to 6 months. Live plants help in this area as they consume nitrates and supply oxygen. A PH under 7 is less toxic when it comes to amonia as opposed to a tank with a PH of 7.6. As I keep Discus my PH id 6.0-6.5 where amonia is not a real threat. From what I hear, your fish perfer a PH from 7.0 down to 6.5. If you lower the PH over time..amonia is less of a problem. A natiral way to do it is drift wood and indian almond leaves. A product called EPI 6.5 is a good off the shelf product that seems to work pretty well. Also the regular AmQuel (NOT THE AMQUEL+) is also another good choice. Keep up with your water changes and let your water age from 24-48 hours before adding to your tank in a good practice. Chlorine and amonia tend to vent out over this period, but chloramines are a different story. Since I use R/O water I have never had a problem and I have not spent any $$$ on water treatments in years. I pre-filter through charcoal and age for 1-2 days. It works for me, though some may have other methods. Time will tell which methid works best for you. Good Luck!!! Dwayne

I plan on waiting to add any more fish to make sure my tank is stable. As of today....I AM VERY HAPPY TO REPORT....ZERO nitrites "loved seeing blue test tube" and zero ammonia and 5 ppm nitrates....HAPPY HAPPY HAPPY!! Daily water changes adding salt and prime...saved all of my fish. Thank you ALL for the help.

 

[Kelly5978]

Congrats! And very good info on how to do the filtering! I made my eBay purchase today! Any recommendations on what to put the peat and almond leaves in? Like, what brand.

 

[Pearly]

Congrats! And very good info on how to do the filtering! I made my eBay purchase today! Any recommendations on what to put the peat and almond leaves in? Like, what brand.

I just tear piece of almond leaf and stick one end of it in sand or gravel to anchor it. My lfs sells them, no particular brand, that I've noticed. Never done peat. Will tell you tho between that and dw my ph came down very nicely and slowly

 

[dwayne.aycock]

No particular indian almond leaf to recommend, but the best ones I have seen have came from Maylaysia of Japan. The Peat pellets are sold by Fluval which can also be found on ebay. Glad to see your cycling levels drop. PH has to be reduced slowly and the white vinegar will do it....you just have to be patient... add to your daily water changes and you will get there in 7-10 days.. Good luck!
D.

 

[Kelly5978]

Wait,.,,I missed that. How do u do it with vinegar?

 

[dwayne.aycock]

Add a cap of white vinegar to a 5 gallon bucket. Lets say your current PH is 8.2 but your tap is 7.4. When the tap reads 7.0 add to the tank. The next day go for 6.8. the next day go for 6.6. The next day go for 6.4 and so on. Over time, you tank PH will go from 8-5 to 8.3 and 8.1 and so on and so on. eventually you will get to 6.8 where you want to be.
D

 

[Kelly5978]

But then you have to keep doing it right? Or it will crash? Is peat easier? Where I wouldn't have to worry bout a crash? How do u do peat? Boil it? How much for 20 gallon?

 

[Alyxx]

Personally I wouldn't mess with ph. Adding things like vinegar will work for a while but the ph will usually come back up. If you want to lower it use RO water or peat moss, not vinegar or other things you add to water change water. For most of the fish we keep today, stable ph is more important than having the ph they would have in the wild. Ph swings are deadly.

 

[Kelly5978]

How much peat? For 20 gallon tank with hard water?

 

[dwayne.aycock]

Complex questions for now....as I said before, the vinegar is a temporary measure...it is meant as an inexpensive way to lower your PH safely. There may be bounce back as was previously mentioned, but it gives you time to find out what is causing the rise in PH. I am sure something in your tank is causing it. R/O water to neutral to somewhat acidic based on your tank buffers. If you do a 100% W/C, your PH should be 7.4 as it comes from your tap, but since it is jumping a full point, something is causing it...I can't say just what...but it is in your tank. Snails can't do it so it has to be an object or rock etc. Easiest way is to get a cheap 10 gallon tank. Leave it bare. Add and treat tour tap water and measure PH. If it is 7.4 problem is solved. It it is 8.5, you have a bad PH test kit . If it still won't budge...African Cichlids become your new tank mates.
D