oscars.....

[Kevccoy]

i have a 75 gallon tank with an oscar and a jack dempsey(electric blue, beautiful fish) but my question is this. i have 2 emporer 400 filters on the tank, and the oscar feces gets sucked right up to the intake and sticks there, now I am sure this is probably better than going ahead into the filter and causing more frequent cartridge changes, but is it???? it is very unsitely and make the tank look dirty when actually it's not, i clean the tank once a week, and change the cartridges every other cleaning. wonder what some other oscar owners due in this situation? cut the slots bigger on the intake? some kind of intank filter?

 

[tyspot1000]

No, Dont ever change the filter cartridge. It is the thing that collects the most beneficial bacteria in the tank, by taking it out, you loose all of it (Sometimes resulting in a mini-cycle)

You might want to upgrade filtration. The 2 emperor 400's does provide 800 GPH, but since you have an oscar, you needing to upgrade filtration, such as a canister filter. Personally, I think A 55 is on the border of using them or not, but since it 2 larger cichlids, I would say you are in the canister zone.

 

[tmcgee]

+1 on leaving the cartridges. Rinse them out weekly with old tank water. How big are your two fish? I have 2 oscars in a 125 gallon with 2 Rena XP3's but my oscars are about 10" already. I opted to just take off the strainers and let it suck everything up. If you do this, you have to keep up the maintenance or the feces will accumulate in the enclosed environment of the filter and foul your water.

 

[Kevccoy]

i change my cartridges every other week and never results in a mini cycle, I have the media baskets filled 2 with eheim subtrate stuff(not sure actual name) for biological bacteria growth, and other 2 with carbon, so that is not an issue, I was just asking about changing the cartridges sooner, if i open up the strainers, like i stated they already get changed bi-weekly, i use the bio-3 replacements for them, so they are only like $$1.50 each in packs of 24. My only question is, should i take out the strainers or not, leave the cartridges out of the equation, I think you guys missed the actual question..... which would be better, just keep cleaning the strainers or open them up and change the cartridges more often, the tank has been established for a long time now.

 

[Tim Wheatley]

I'd love it if my oscar poop were all in the same place. I say just keep things as they are.

 

[tmcgee]

How big are your two fish? I have 2 oscars in a 125 gallon with 2 Rena XP3's but my oscars are about 10" already. I opted to just take off the strainers and let it suck everything up. If you do this, you have to keep up the maintenance or the feces will accumulate in the enclosed environment of the filter and foul your water.

What did I miss?