I'm stumped... :(

[wrmiller]

OK, things are still looking good. Ammonia and Nitrites are good. I have done a few small PWCs though to keep the nitrates down.

One thing I have noticed though is like dust floaters in and on top of the water. Does this mean my filter isn't doing it's job very well? I just have the TopFin 40 that came with my aquarium kit. It says it's for up to a 40 gallon aquarium and me having a 37 gallon I woud say it's probably pushing it. What do you think? I know you are going to tell me to get a canister but I really don't have that much to put out right now. I could probably swing a bigger HOB filter though. Should I stick with the same brand and just get the next step up since I already have my media broken in? Or is there a better HOB brand to get? I keep seeing people saying they have these BioWheel things. Are those a lot better or something?

Would it hurt my bacteria in my filter if when I do my next water change I really give the thing a shaking out in one of the buckets of water I remove? I don't want to shake all of the bacteria out.

Let me know what you think.

Thanks!

 

[eco23]

OK, things are still looking good. Ammonia and Nitrites are good. I have done a few small PWCs though to keep the nitrates down.

One thing I have noticed though is like dust floaters in and on top of the water. Does this mean my filter isn't doing it's job very well? I just have the TopFin 40 that came with my aquarium kit. It says it's for up to a 40 gallon aquarium and me having a 37 gallon I woud say it's probably pushing it. What do you think? I know you are going to tell me to get a canister but I really don't have that much to put out right now. I could probably swing a bigger HOB filter though. Should I stick with the same brand and just get the next step up since I already have my media broken in? Or is there a better HOB brand to get? I keep seeing people saying they have these BioWheel things. Are those a lot better or something?

Would it hurt my bacteria in my filter if when I do my next water change I really give the thing a shaking out in one of the buckets of water I remove? I don't want to shake all of the bacteria out.

Let me know what you think.

Thanks!

The HOB filters almost everyone recommends are AquaClears. A good rule of thumb is to have double the filtration rated for your tank. The brand shouldn't matter, you should be able to fit the media from one into another. I believe one of the reasons people like AQ's is because they have large filter media space to fit lots of stuff in.

A nice swishing around in tank or dechlorinated water to remove debris would be fine. It's actually beneficial to remove organic debris like poo and fish food so it doesn't begin to decay and release ammonia.

If you're interested in a canister, I wouldn't give up yet. You can normally find really, really good deals on CL and places like Amazon or EBay. I see people selling filters here on the AA classifieds section of the site as well. A Fluval 305 would be perfect for your setup

 

[wrmiller]

About where should my intake be for my filter? I had all of the extensions that came with it on and it was probably about 3 inches below center of the tank. The last extension itself was about 3 inches so I removed it to see if that will give me any better performance. Where normally in the tank level would the filter intake be located at though?

It is so awesome to have this place to ask such important questions. LOL!!!

 

[eco23]

If I remember, the intakes should be 3-4" above the substrate. I'm not sure the exact placement right to left matters. I normally have my HOB's about a quarter of the way out from either side.

What type of filter did you get?

 

[wrmiller]

If I remember, the intakes should be 3-4" above the substrate. I'm not sure the exact placement right to left matters. I normally have my HOB's about a quarter of the way out from either side.

What type of filter did you get?

No, same filter. I was just trying some adjustments on the TopFin one. So, you think I should put the extension tube back on then to move it farther back down in the water? Right now it is still at about dead center of the hight of the tank.

 

[eco23]

No, same filter. I was just trying some adjustments on the TopFin one. So, you think I should put the extension tube back on then to move it farther back down in the water? Right now it is still at about dead center of the hight of the tank.

You can double check for yours (I don't have your brand), but both my canister and HOB's just say to have it no closer than 3" from the aquarium bottom. I'm not sure if 3" from the substrate or dead center will have much impact. My only concern would be that if the intake is to close to the output...it's basically just going to be recycling the same water instead of turning over the full tank.

 

[wrmiller]

You can double check for yours (I don't have your brand), but both my canister and HOB's just say to have it no closer than 3" from the aquarium bottom. I'm not sure if 3" from the substrate or dead center will have much impact. My only concern would be that if the intake is to close to the output...it's basically just going to be recycling the same water instead of turning over the full tank.

Update:
I dug out the instructions for my HOB filter and it says to position the intake at least 1" above the gravel. Right now I still have it at exactly half mass in the tank hight wise and probably about 1/3 from the left side. It looks cleaner this morning so maybe it helped moving it up in the tank hight wise a little.(?) Anyway, I'm going to leave it there for the time being.

I looked at the AquaClear HOBs and they look nice. However, I think they are larger than the HOB I have now which means I would have to move my tank since I only have the necessary space behind the tank now for the HOB I have. I would have to get someone to help me pull it out a bit from the wall. I guess I could do that in the middle of a water change as long as someone was here to help.

For now I will leave things as they are and see if the performance improvement continues with the intake raised to half way.

Thanks!

 

[wrmiller]

eco:
Question for you. It's regarding reading the API Master Kit chart when reviewing your results. Do you place your test tube directly against the white of the comparison chart or do you sort of hold it out a little bit. I'm comparing it with the white behind the chart but I have been holding the tube out a bit and not laying it directly against the chart. I'm asking because when I'm looking at my Nitrates, if I hold it out from the chart a little it looks like 10 ppm but if I place the tube against the white part of the chart it really darkens up and then it looks more like 40+ ppm. I was just wondering how folks do their readings. For the Ammonia and Nitrite reading it doesn't make much of a difference but I noticed with the Nitrates when comparing it makes a pretty big difference if you hold it out or not.

Bill

 

[eco23]

eco:
Question for you. It's regarding reading the API Master Kit chart when reviewing your results. Do you place your test tube directly against the white of the comparison chart or do you sort of hold it out a little bit. I'm comparing it with the white behind the chart but I have been holding the tube out a bit and not laying it directly against the chart. I'm asking because when I'm looking at my Nitrates, if I hold it out from the chart a little it looks like 10 ppm but if I place the tube against the white part of the chart it really darkens up and then it looks more like 40+ ppm. I was just wondering how folks do their readings. For the Ammonia and Nitrite reading it doesn't make much of a difference but I noticed with the Nitrates when comparing it makes a pretty big difference if you hold it out or not.

Bill

It depends if you WANT it to look lighter or darker, haha! If you hope it's lighter, hold it to a window...if you want it dark, hold it to the card, lol. I think the proper way actually is to hold it to the card...but I'm not 100% certain. Once everything is cycled, the only things that matter are yellow, baby blue and somewhere below 20.

 

[wrmiller]

It depends if you WANT it to look lighter or darker, haha! If you hope it's lighter, hold it to a window...if you want it dark, hold it to the card, lol. I think the proper way actually is to hold it to the card...but I'm not 100% certain. Once everything is cycled, the only things that matter are yellow, baby blue and somewhere below 20.

Well, that's exactly why i was asking. I have yellow. I have baby blue. Now I want to know what color I really have for Nitrates because like I said it makes a big difference. I think you are right though that you are to hold it against the card I guess. I assumed the worse and did a PWC anyway.

 

[wrmiller]

Can someone please calm my nerves? Our power has been out for the last 2 hours and the power company says it will be till midnight or tomorrow morning before it is restored. Will my fish have enough air to live until then? . Will they be okay?

 

[eco23]

Can someone please calm my nerves? Our power has been out for the last 2 hours and the power company says it will be till midnight or tomorrow morning before it is restored. Will my fish have enough air to live until then? . Will they be okay?

The main focus is keeping the water oxygenated and the filter media wet.

Make sure the media is under water in the tank, and maybe take a glass of water out of the tank every once in a while and pour it into the tank from up high so it splashes down into the tank and gives your fish some o2 exchange.

There's all sorts of fancy DIY ways (that involve a few $'s) to get enough power to run an air stone, but I'm not familiar with how to do it.

Type "power out aquarium advice" into google and see if you can find some ok'd threads about it.

I hope you're not cooking too bad yourself

 

[wrmiller]

The main focus is keeping the water oxygenated and the filter media wet.

Make sure the media is under water in the tank, and maybe take a glass of water out of the tank every once in a while and pour it into the tank from up high so it splashes down into the tank and gives your fish some o2 exchange.

There's all sorts of fancy DIY ways (that involve a few $'s) to get enough power to run an air stone, but I'm not familiar with how to do it.

Type "power out aquarium advice" into google and see if you can find some ok'd threads about it.

I hope you're not cooking too bad yourself

Heat index is 115 degrees. Almost 80 in here right now. Expecting to get higher though...

I have to leave house for a few hours but I will do the pouring trip first. Hope they survive.

 

[wrmiller]

Well, the good news is that the power came on sooner than expected. Everything is back up and running. Hopefully no damage done. I will check levels in a bit and make sure that nothing is severely out of normal. I hope not because I really don't feel like doing a PWC tonight. It might throw me over the edge after this day I have had. LOL!!!

Stupid question. Can I put a common small crayfish in my freshwater aquarium? There are some in the stream close to my place. Really small ones. I'm talking less than an inch. I thought one might be cool.

 

[eco23]

I don't know about Crayfish. I have heard other people mention that even if not aggressive...they are extremely "opportunistic" feeders. I personally wouldn't do it for a few reasons. I'd be worried about compatibility issues, parasites / disease they could introduce as well as the actual legality of it.

I'm glad your power is back on. It must've been torture. I'm sitting here complaining that my AC is only cooling to 76 even though I have it set on 73, haha! We had a heat index of 123 here...insanity.

 

[wrmiller]

Well, now it looks like my 3 clown barbs have ick pretty bad. I didn't notice it until after the power came back on yesterday. Could the power outage have caused the outbreak in some way?

Now what to do? The barbs are only a week old so I'm thinking they go back to PetSmart.(?). Now, what to do with the rest of the fish that aren't showing symptoms yet? I have read about the heat and salting the tank method but because I have my pleco and corys I don't think I can do that, right?

Are there any commercially available treatments that work that will be safe for all of my fish and will not stain the silicon or things in the aquarium?

 

[librarygirl]

Sorry about your fish You could try posting a separate thread in the Freshwater Unhealthy Fish section, you'll probably get more help there from members who are experienced in treating ich.

I would leave the crayfish where it is, it's better to leave it in its natural environment than stick it in a tank where it will be unhappy, unhealthy and a potential danger to your other fish. Plus it might be illegal. If you like to look at it, go outside

 

[jetajockey]

salt/heat to treat ich, and crayfish are a bad idea for a community tank.

 

[wrmiller]

salt/heat to treat ich, and crayfish are a bad idea for a community tank.

I have remove my corys and plecos to do the salt and heat?

 

[librarygirl]

Hm, I wonder if cory's and pleco's can get ich? If they can, then they might already have it and if you move them to another thank you could just be spreading the ich to the other tank as well.

If they are sensitive to salt you could just try the heat method. Here's a link on ways to treat ich.

To be safe I'd ask in the unhealthy section, add the types of fish you have and the best method to treat and that you've moved the potentially infected corys and pleco to another thank (which also might need to be treated now too).