HOB filter on 55 gal

[Sambo7475]

Hello everyone, good morning.
I have a question, and hope this is the right area to pose it.
My 55gal fw tank has a Penguin 350 filter on it, which I have on the far left side of the tank. It seems to do pretty well keeping the water clear, but today, my son overfed the fish a little bit, and on the far right side of the tank, the food is still just floating on the top of the water. I can't move the filter more centrally because of the crossmember support in the middle of the tank. The filter won't sit level because of the rounded support, and the width of the filter in relation to the cover of the aquarium.
All of this background to ask, is it advisable to add a 90 degree bend on the bottom of the intake, and an extra length of tubing to basically "move" the intake to the right of the tank? Or am I just being obsessive compulsive?
By the way, my tank is in cycle, 0.25 amm, 0.5 nitrites, 0 nitrates, lost my pH test bottle (new one on the way from amazon), water temp is 76-78F cycling fish in with serpae tetra.
Thanks in advance for your input.

 

[Rivercats]

If the food is floating just net the excess out. I am not familiar with that filter but I have a couple 55's and I run two filters on them. You can just add another filter of the same kind on the other side to give better filtration or what I do is run a large HOB filter and a cansiter filter along with it. You can't have too much filtration and by running two your getting better all over coverage for your tank.

 

[BBradbury]

HOB Filter

Hello Sam...

The extra food in the tank will dissolve in the water, so simply do a normal water change and leave everything as is. There's no need to move your filter or anything else.

pH, hardness and all the rest are unimportant. Just test daily for ammonia and nitrite. If you have a positive test for either then remove and replace a minimum of 25 percent of the tank water. This will return the water chemistry to a safe level for your fish.

Just a couple of thoughts.

B

 

[Cichlid Kid]

I agree a second filter on the right would help with circulation and filtration. I disagree that ph and water hardness are "unimportant"
Even though your in cycle and ammo, nitrites and nitrates are your focal points it's wise to also monitor the ph as well. Ammonia is more toxic to fish at higher ph levels. So if your source water is on the high side ph wise this would directly affect your pwc schedule.

 

[ktulu909]

I have two Emperor 400s on my 55.One on each side,but then again,I have been known to over do everything.

 

[Sambo7475]

thanks for the input everyone, I think I am going to leave well enough alone for the moment, esp since I can't swing the price of another filter.

 

[Sambo7475]

Thanks for all the advice so far, I don't know if I should post a new thread or just add to this one, so I'll add to this one I guess.
Got my new pH bottle in a master test kit, and my pH jumped from 7.0-7.2 a week ago, to 8.2 today. Other params are good now, cycle is finished (0 amm, 0 nitrites, 40 nitrates) temp is still holding 76-78F.
Did a 50% water change today, cleaned off all the algae that had formed, and refilled with seachem prime treated tap water (pH at the tap is 7.0). After the water change, everything's the same, pH is still 8.2, nitrates dropped as expected to 10-20.
What's making my pH jump so much? substrate is gravel, 5 plastic plants, 3 resin structures.
Any ideas? Thanks in advance for the help.

 

[mikem691]

I see you are in michigan Im in the chicago area and have lake mich water. Never tested the tap but my tank is always 8 - 8.2 PH Ive never had a problem it stays stable and that is more inportant. As to why it changes Im not realy sure unless you have coral or crushed shells witch will raise it. I should test my tap also just to see.

 

[Sambo7475]

thanks Mike, I'm in SE Michigan, about 20 miles north of toledo. I LOVE Lake Michigan though, one of my favorite places to be in the world!
I've been looking around online a lot, and can't find any reasons that really suit what I'm seeing. I don't have any coral or shells that would leech calcium into the water, I'm going to get the KH/GH test kits too I guess.
FWIW, my 20 gal is also at 8.0, although to be honest I haven't checked the pH of that tank in nearly 3 years. Probably should have.