filtration for my substrate

[sayan]

Previously I had a 20 gallon tank with gravel.I used under gravel filter and a power filter.bt recently I upgrade my tank to a 78 gallon with white sand as my tank substrate.undergarvel filter is useless in dis sand.need to know
A) what kind of filter I can install in my sandy tank so dat I can get a nice water quality?
B)will power filter do good here?

suggestions r most welcome.

 

[Discusapisto]

Power filter will be great in your situation. Only thing I have to ask will this be a planted tank with live plants if so I personally would suggest a canister filter, if not a planted tank as long as the power filter can turn over your tank volume 3-5 times total volume an hour you'll be ok. Preferably shoot for the higher turnover rate nothing wrong with good filtration.

 

[didysis]

You could do a HOB filter, canister filter, for sand you dont have a filter for it, nice thing about sand is that all the crud stays on top and you can see it to clean it easy, bad thing is you can see it Gravel cleaners still work alright, take a little getting use to but you can just suck the stuff off the top and your good for cleaning it. I mix mine around a bit and the fish move it allot. Allot of the time for cleaning it well I just stir it up allot and make sure I have good water flow to push any crud to the filter intake. I would recommend a power head to help move water and crud off the sand.

 

[sayan]

@ discusapisto,thanx for d suggestion no its not a planted tank as I keep oscars.just hav sand and a piece of driftwood and some terracota pot inside it.canister filter is grt though a expensive one. Compared to dat if power filter is less expensive & if do well I'll choose this one.

 

[Malawi Freak]

Those oscars need a bigger tank. They are messy fish as they mature so I recommend looking into a canister filter.

 

[sayan]

@didysis, thanx for d suggestion. Yes I heard bout hang on back filter. its work well in a large tank.I choose sand as substrate as it gives a much natural look to any tank and heard dat sand helps to keep d ph of water in grt level.just worried bout dis filtration as I'm using sand 1st time. If hob filter wil do grt in sand I'll go for dat.

 

[Discusapisto]

I have a cousin who has an Oscar in a 75 gallon with river sand and dw. He runs the fluval fx5 canister and he has great water quality he does 50% pwc a week and doesn't feed nasty feeder fish to him. He has been raised on krill, gut loaded worms, silver sides occasionally the frozen kind, and clams and shrimp from the grocery store. Plus hikari jumbo pellets and he looks amazing! Which ever way you go enjoy him I love oscars!

 

[sayan]

@ Malawi Freak, thanx for ur suggestion. I just have 2 albino oscar. Heard dat 75 gallon is good for 2. Is dat good or do I need really lager than 78 gallon. My tank's dimension is 42"x18"x24"

 

[sayan]

@ discusapisto, thanx. Even I love oscars too. They amazing creatures.communicate so well. Just in love wid dem.wat kind of food help increase d color brighter? Or should I jst stick on natural one like blood worms earthworms. I fed my oscar ghost shrimps.and dey just love to eat it.

 

[Discusapisto]

@ discusapisto, thanx. Even I love oscars too. They amazing creatures.communicate so well. Just in love wid dem.wat kind of food help increase d color brighter? Or should I jst stick on natural one like blood worms earthworms. I fed my oscar ghost shrimps.and dey just love to eat it.

Yeah take earthworms or your ghost shrimp and gut load them with color flakes/pellets or veggie flakes/pellets. For this to happen of course you'd have to keep your worms in a box or tote with damp pamper(don't use dirt)and put the food on the surface for them to eat it than they will be ready to be fed to your fish. I say no dirt because depending on the source of dirt they have been eating it may have chemicals in the dirt that can hurt your oscars once digested. So in damp paper it gives the worms time to expel any dirt they ate and can eat the food you are including. As far as the shrimp go put them in a small tank feed them the same foods I mentioned for the worms once you see the bellies full of the food drop them in. The gut loaded food will pass to the oscars during digestion helping improve colors of our south American cichlid friend the Oscar also hikari makes big pellets for color enhancement in large fish a quick trip to your fish store or Internet search you'll be able to find these pellets. Good luck and enjoy. Don't forget oscars need large weekly water changes for optimum health I can't stress that enough and a well balanced diet high in vitamins.

 

[sayan]

@ discusapisto, thank u so much for all dis valueable information. Oscars need a warm temperature too. Wanna ask u something in winter its fine to keep d temperature around 26 degree centigrate bt during summer wil I keep the thermostat in d same temp level or shud I reduce it?

 

[Discusapisto]

@ discusapisto, thank u so much for all dis valueable information. Oscars need a warm temperature too. Wanna ask u something in winter its fine to keep d temperature around 26 degree centigrate bt during summer wil I keep the thermostat in d same temp level or shud I reduce it?

That should be good they like it between 77-82F. And your very welcome glad to help.