Remove the carbon from my UGF?

[jakeandwendy]

read that the carbon cartridges on ugf's are inadequate and possibly dangerous(saturation issues). i have a ugf with a tetra whisper 20i air pump. i know i should switch to a powerhead but budgets tight. also have an aqua-tech 5-15 hob. should i take the carbon off of the ugf? i'm cycling with fish and doing 25-45% pwcs daily.

 

[Crepe]

Don't worry about it. Leaving the carbon underneath isn't going to hurt. Carbon cannot release sequestered waste in normal tank conditions.

 

[toddnbecka]

How big is the tank? The aqua-tech filter is suitable for a 5 gallon tank but I wouldn't use it on anything larger. In any case, carbon isn't necessary for normal maintenance. It is useful for removing meds from the water after treating for something, or for clearing up tannins released from driftwood.

 

[jakeandwendy]

its a twenty gallon fresh water. i put the smaller hob on it to increase mechanical filtration while it cycles. got some bad lfs advice(go figure!), overstocked, dealing with the cycling with fish drama, and thought it'd be okay to add the smaller hob till i can get a poerhead for the ugf. thanks for the replies!

 

[toddnbecka]

Personally, I'd hook up an aquaclear 50 to the uplift tube of the UG filter. That would prevent debris from collecting under the plate, and trap it in the sponges (stack 2 or 3) to be cleaned out with partial water changes. I've used a similar arrangement on a 38 and a 75 with AC 70 and 110 hob filters, and it works very well.

 

[jakeandwendy]

aquaclear 50? is that a powerhead or airpump or something? i'm a complete neophyte to all the equipment involved in aquarium keeping but i'm trying to learn as quickly and thoroughly as possible. already lost two dwarf gouramis and am determined to do what it takes to prevent that from happening again.

 

[toddnbecka]

An aquaclear 50 is a mid-size hob filter. Max flow rate is 200 gph, adjustable down to about half that much. Just google aquaclear 50 to check it out. You might be able to find a good deal on a used filter on e-bay.

 

[jakeandwendy]

in addition to the ugf?

 

[toddnbecka]

Use the aquaclear to draw water through the substrate, and collect the debris in the sponge blocks for easier cleaning. Better than a powerhead or an air-driven UGF that way.

 

[jakeandwendy]

i'll check into that. dumb question but can i have too much filtration? i understand about different flowrates vs. different fish (sorta) but can you actually filter the water to a degree its harmful or has a negative effect on its chemistry?

 

[Crepe]

No you can't. Here is an example: My 20 long has functionally ~15 gallons of water. I run a fluval 305 on it (for 60 gallon tanks) I run it at 75%- 100% flow. It puts out ~180-200gph. I still sometimes have a need for a 120gph power head in addition to it(flow reasons). And my water is crystal clear and my plants do great.

Although you can have too much flow (hard to do with correct outlet positions) you can't have too much filtration....ever.

 

[jakeandwendy]

make sense. thank you. so running the hob with my ugf may not be helping me much but its not hurting me either. i 'm also runnin it because i'm cycling with fish(nevermore quothe the raven)and it seems like a good idea to have some spare biological stuff built up in a filter somewhere in case anything happens and i have to replace/upgrade immediately

 

[Crepe]

I would personally pick one or the other. I really hate tubes in my tank...They take up prime plant real estate lol. But anyways, I think you'd be happier with an HOB. I used a UGF for a few years. I could never get my water to the same clarity as with a HOB. Additionally, UGF do require maintenance eventually which is a PITA.

 

[toddnbecka]

Unless there's too much water flow and nowhere the fish can rest or get away from it (or you see them shooting past the front glass every few seconds) you can't overfilter a tank. Not enough filtration can be a real problem, particularly if the tank is heavily stocked, but more is almost always better.
Some fish do prefer little or no water movement, but most are collected from streams or rivers in the wild. Regardless of where they come from all but a few oddball swamp species much prefer fresh, clean water.

 

[jakeandwendy]

our angelfish have a blast in it! and i've noticed that the top of my water isn't completely covered in bubbles my sister has malawi cichlids and has a bubble bar that they love. thinking about adding one but not sure. i don't want to bother my raphaels down there. the angels seem to have no problem stopping and floating wherever they see a particularly taste of algae!

 

[jakeandwendy]

meant to say tasty piece of algae! srry!!

 

[jakeandwendy]

the website aqadvisor.com says i have like 398% filtration and that my tank is 34% stocked. all my guys are juvies too so that helps. gonna move em to a 55 gal. in about 6mos...if all cycles well!!!

 

[Crepe]

I don't like aqadvisor. In my 20g it says I can keep 36 white cloud mountain minnows....You know there's something wrong there....At best it's a shoddy estimate. At worst it'll cause you horrific temperament issues between fish and water quality problems.

I would just go by logic. For example: A 10" fish will need a lot of space to turn. A 24" wide tank will barely give it room to turn. Thus you are looking for at least a 120gallon for it...

 

[jakeandwendy]

yeah i noticed they were fairly generous on some species. i agree with using logic though. i've also learned to do my own independent research, not just one or two sites. learned that when i found out that angels were cichlids too, just from south america, not africa!!! my gouramis were already sick and stressed from ammonia poisoning and both were in pretty ragged condition when they died(i suspect some foul play). now i guess i'm doing a s. american cichlid tank...!thanks for all your help.