Scared and needing advice

[Crowsmuse]

Aww darn ok... The amazon one will be here Thurs.
So much to learn lol.
Thank you

 

[tlindsey]

What ever you do keep sponge in your filter , if it is clogging simply gather water from your aquarium, put aquarium water in freezer bag, or bucket and just shake sponge until most debris is off. Place sponge back in filter, your sponge has beneficial bacteria on it, and if you replace it with a new one, you are starting the cycle over again!!!

 

[Crowsmuse]

Ack, we'll I don't want to do that.

But I do want to replace the white things, right?

 

[tlindsey]

Please describe white things, were are they placed in the filter? Are they ceramic rings?

 

[Crowsmuse]

More like nuggets. I have an aquaclear filter

 

[calfishguy]

More like nuggets. I have an aquaclear filter

Bio max???

 

[Jmunroe]

Don't replace the biomax that has most of your bacteria on it. Do you have a gravel vac? If not get one. You need to vac your gravel when you do water changes to keep the tank clean. Also 20% twice a month is not enough water changing. 50% a week will keep your fish a lot happier. And vac that detritus out of there when you do it.

 

[Crowsmuse]

Ok I can do that, yes I have a vacuum
Would 20% a week be acceptable ?


One confusing thing however, The filter box says I should change all three elements regularly, just at different times so that I'm never replacing more than one at a time.. Are you saying that I'm only supposed to change the carbon?
It's all I have ver changed, but I recently bought replacement sponge and nuggets because I thought I was bring remiss.
And never the sponge or bio nuggets?

 

[Crowsmuse]

I should add that in my 80 gallon, I only have 2 koi angels, one betta, 7 rummy nose tetras, 6 zebra danios and 2 otocinclus

 

[calfishguy]

Ok I can do that, yes I have a vacuum
Would 20% a week be acceptable ?

One confusing thing however, The filter box says I should change all three elements regularly, just at different times so that I'm never replacing more than one at a time.. Are you saying that I'm only supposed to change the carbon?
It's all I have ver changed, but I recently bought replacement sponge and nuggets because I thought I was bring remiss.
And never the sponge or bio nuggets?

There is no need to change filter media until its literally falling apart. The companies just tell you to change it to make money. As for the carbon it's really unnecessary unless you're removing meds.

Also a 30-50% pwc would be better. Than a 20%.

 

[MyanRan]

I second calfishguy, you do not need to be changing the filter media at all, you can clean it out using old tank water to swish it around in, but do not replace it, and do not clean with tap water. The activated carbon is also useless unless removing meds from the water. Might as well take it out.

 

[jbueno]

What I do is rinse the filter while doing the water change bc my gravel vacuum collects the waste then puts the water back in the tank so thats why I rinse the filter. I drain enough to rinse the filter vacuum the gravel then do a 50% water change once a month and every week do a 30%...my biggest problem is a high ph but I'm not about to buffer my tanks just taylor my selection of fish...

 

[Crowsmuse]

OK i tested my ph.
its a clear 7.6 on both PH and High PH
i also tested my tap water, same reading.

since my fish have been in this ph since october, is it safe to keep it here?
should i try to SLOWLY lower it?

 

[Earlybird]

OK i tested my ph.
its a clear 7.6 on both PH and High PH
i also tested my tap water, same reading.

since my fish have been in this ph since october, is it safe to keep it here?
should i try to SLOWLY lower it?

I would leave the pH alone.

 

[MyanRan]

That's a good pH level in my mind.

 

[Crowsmuse]

Everything I read says its way too high, I just want to make sure I'm not causing them stress

 

[MyanRan]

IME most fish can adapt to whatever pH you have. And IMO that pH is very reasonable for your fish to adapt to. Should be fine!

 

[Rivercats]

Everything I read says its way too high, I just want to make sure I'm not causing them stress

When people start messing with their tanks ph is when fish can get stressed. The most import thing is having a stable ph.

 

[jbueno]

My ph is somewhere arround 7.4-7.8. Only thing I'll suggest is that do your research on ur fish on the higher ph like what we have. fish that are breed in captivity, like panda corys for example are kinda use to a lil higher and more polluted water but the adolfo corys for the most part are found only in the wild with low around 6-6.5 ph and always having fresh clean water so thats a big adjustment for them

Just a thought.