Struggling with tank

[tcmemphisbbq]

I setup a 125gallon tank about 2 months ago or so, used cycled water from my old 55gal which was setup for 7 years and had a couple discus in it with a few other community fish.

THus far Ive beed through hex and now wondering if they have flukes or other external parasite. I started out for filtration with a cascade canister 1000 (rated for 100gal) and added two sponge filters in the corners hooked to power heads, I never could get crystal clear water like I had in my 55 gal which had undergravel filter and two power heads -

In the 125 I now have 8 discus, 5 corys, couple shrimp and couple angels, its a planted tank with quite a bit of greenery that is just now taking off somewhat.
Here is a pic of the tank overall - my issue is that I have added yet another cascade 1000 and my water is still hazy with small particulate matter floating about - I even tried put a coffee filter in one to trap smaller particles but still no resolve - I believe that this is causing my fish to not be happy and thus more prone to illness (is my logic right) -

All my tank parameters are good, I do 2 or 3 30 gallong wc weekly, and if I cant do 3 then I will do 2 40gal wc -

Im seriously thinking about going back to/adding ug filters again as I used them for 20 years and had never a single issue and always sparkling clear water - I only went with these canisters this time around at the advice of a breeder who recommended them for discus rather then UG (thoughts on this??)

Its getting frustrating to not get the water quality I/they want even though I am busting my butt and had added more and more filters hehe - :-)

thanks for your feedback, i just want them to be happy - I cant wait for the plants to fill in, most are fairly new -
toM

[tcmemphisbbq]

Sorry posted pics wrong -

[DiscusChris]

1. Most people say UG filters are discus death traps, Id stay away from them at all cost. Others may contest this, but that is my .02

2. Your water isnt whats cycled, so using "cycled water" is doing nothing more than using aged, dechlorinated water. Nitrification takes place mostly in your previous filters, and a little bit in your old substrate. Did you transfer that same filter from your old tank to the new one?

3. What are your water parameters? Do you age your water before putting it in the tank, and treat it with something?(if its city water that is)

If your tank isnt finished cycling, it may be cloudy because of it. If it is cycled, meaning you show nitrates when you test, then you may want to check your filter. Does the canister have carbon in it? If its old carbon, its probably dumping whatever it once absorbed back into the water.

In my community tank, if I have trouble with cloudiness, I throw a hanging filter on the tank with fresh carbon for 1-2 days to make the water sparkle. This hanging filter of mine doesnt have any actual filter media in it, just a new biobag full of new carbon.

I am by no way an expert on any of these topics, these are just my personal experiences. Hope I helped you. Good luck

[DiscusChris]

ahh, youve posted pics since I typed that. What are you using for substrate?

[tcmemphisbbq]

I don't remember the exact name but it was given to me by a fish breeder/hobbyist, he said the plants and discus love it and its light so it wont compact -

its not rock or gravel though - the bag says soilmaster select, its used to improve the soil in sports fields, but its not like "dirt" - I put some gravel on top just add some color.

I use tap water that is primed and aged for an hour or so - im working on an RO setup for the sink so I can run a hose from it and it be heated to temp, the 5 gallon buckets from bathroom to tank can get old hehe -

My old tank was UG so there was no other filtration on it,

I cleaned my canister filters yesterday and replaced some (not the sponges) and when I opened one of them up it stunk something terrible. The other one didnt, I run fresh carbon through them that is replaced every couple weeks...
I even tried adding extra media to the canisters to try to get better filtration, but still see alot of small particulate floating around. Im gonna order a surface skimmer tommorrow to see if that will help, I was thinking about a HOT magnum but I dont have enough clearance for ANY kind of HOB filter -

Water parameters test out good, I get zero nitrates but am told that is normal for plants, ph is a bit high at 7 but stable due to the water I use.

Funny thing is I have a 55gal reef tank thats about 6 weeks old with a 20gal sump with NO MEDIA at all, just a protien skimmer in the sump and the water on it is incredibly clear :)


Tom

[judy]

I agree with staying away from UG filters. It may just be that you're finishing up a minor harmless bacterial bloom in the water and that's making it hazy. Or you could still be finishing a cycle.
It's gonna look really good when those plants fill out.
Using carbon as Discuschris suggests could well clear up your haze. I never use carbon with discus, becuase I think (possibly wrongly, but it works for me) carbon may remove some trace elements the fish utilize. What I have done when there's been a problem like you describe is put fine filter floss on an HOB filter for awhile to pull out any fine particles.
One thing: you say you have zero nitrates: that tells me your tank is not yet fully cycled. You
always see nitrates show up as the indicator the tank has finished cycling. And even heavily planted tanks always have some nitrates in them... in fact, even with heavily planted tnaks, WCs are necessary with discus to keep the nitrates low.

[DiscusChris]

Yeah, I just use my hanging "carbon filter" for a day or two, once the water gets where I want the filter is removed.

[rickztahone]

i agree with what's been said so far but i want to add that 30-40g WC in a 125 a week is really not helping you. i do a 80g WC everyday or every other day when i can't do it daily on my 125 and then i do a 100g change on the weekends. the haze is most likely due to you not transfering over your media from your old filter (you have not clarified this yet) to this new one. substrate does bring over some bacteria but maybe not enough and that is what you are experiencing currently.

HTH

[Patr1ck]

Your tank looks really cool. I would recommend not using UG's. They are like if you were to sweep the dirt in the kitchen under the rug. The dirt is still in the kitchen. Same as a filter of any sort but with canisters, sponges, HOBs, they can be cleaned easily. I would do more water changes or probably even more convenient, one big water change a week. 90% or so. Thats what I do. Since I started doing that my tank has become much more clear. Could also be your substrate still dissipating the tiny particles making your water hazy. Wc's will take care of that too.

You initially mentioned that you thought they had flukes or external parasites. What are their symptoms? The best med to use first is heavy water changes.

I believe it was Graham who said "Take care of your water and your fish will take care of themselves" Who ever it was, they got that part right.

Pat

[Eddie]

As already mentioned, no evidence of nitrates means your filters are not cycled. If you have small amounts of ammonia and or nitrite build up, it will stress your fish out. Stressed discus=diseased discus. Once your filters are fully cycled, your water will be clear. ;)

I'd be testing ammonia/nitrite often and performing WCs to keep the numbers low. This will extend the cycle process but it will save your fish.

And just a heads up, using water from an established tank will not speed anything up during the cycle process. You should have used the media from the existing filter on that established tank.

Eddie

[tcmemphisbbq]

I appriciate all the comments, I had no media, the 55 gal was strictly UG with two 1150 powerheads, tank was setup 7 years ago, but not for discus and never had any issues but yes I understand why UG arent good.

I plan on upping the water changes when I get an RO that will let me refill easier. Also to clarify Im not doing just ONE 30-40gal change per week but 2 and I do 3 if time permits (I own a bbq joint so time is tough sometimes hehe)

As far as illness, couple my fish were pooping white so I treated with metro for hex - now my blue diamonds are flashing and I caught one rubbing as well as his color was dark, I have them in QT right now, they are not happy about being in the qt tank - my qt tank is 10 gal and I do 2 50% wc everyday - thier poop is brown and looks normal, which is why I suspected flukes or external parasites.

SOOooo - with the 2 cascade 1000's and the spong filter ya'll kind of all seem to agree that that is enough filtratration? I run carbon in both, extra media as well as zeolite in one of them - was debating on adding another but if you think I just need to wait and let the cycle take its course then I will hold off :-)

Again I appriciate all the feedback, I know this tank will be awesome in a few months once the grass and plants spread and fill in and we sure do enjoy our discus, they are fun to interact with.

Tom

[Roxanne]

I cleaned my canister filters yesterday and replaced some (not the sponges) and when I opened one of them up it stunk something terrible. -

...ph is a bit high at 7 but stable due to the water I use.

Funny thing is I have a 55gal reef tank thats about 6 weeks old with a 20gal sump with NO MEDIA at all, just a protien skimmer in the sump and the water on it is incredibly clear :)


Tom

Hi Tom, can you check your stinky canister is flowing the right way/flowing at all...they shouldn't stink that bad...

ph of 7 isn't high, it's neutral...

When you got the canisters after using UG, I take it you had no media from the UG to use anyway...so , you have little if any bio filter at all then...

does your reef tank have live rock?

Roxanne

[Eddie]

I appriciate all the comments, I had no media, the 55 gal was strictly UG with two 1150 powerheads, tank was setup 7 years ago, but not for discus and never had any issues but yes I understand why UG arent good.

I plan on upping the water changes when I get an RO that will let me refill easier. Also to clarify Im not doing just ONE 30-40gal change per week but 2 and I do 3 if time permits (I own a bbq joint so time is tough sometimes hehe)

As far as illness, couple my fish were pooping white so I treated with metro for hex - now my blue diamonds are flashing and I caught one rubbing as well as his color was dark, I have them in QT right now, they are not happy about being in the qt tank - my qt tank is 10 gal and I do 2 50% wc everyday - thier poop is brown and looks normal, which is why I suspected flukes or external parasites.

SOOooo - with the 2 cascade 1000's and the spong filter ya'll kind of all seem to agree that that is enough filtratration? I run carbon in both, extra media as well as zeolite in one of them - was debating on adding another but if you think I just need to wait and let the cycle take its course then I will hold off :-)

Again I appriciate all the feedback, I know this tank will be awesome in a few months once the grass and plants spread and fill in and we sure do enjoy our discus, they are fun to interact with.

Tom

Your filtration is fine, just let it cycle but monitor ammonia/nitrite, change water as needed.

Good luck with the cycle and fish,

Eddie

[tcmemphisbbq]

Yeah they are flowing good now, it seems the one that was stinky was a bit slow - so I changed the media and rinsed ONLY the bio sponge in the canister with tank water but never touched it with tap -

Yes I have about 60lbs of live rock in the 55 and no there was no media, when I set the 125 up I filled it with about 60gal of tap and primed it then added the rest with water from the 55 and let is run for a week to age and "cycle" -

I guess I underestimated how long a true cycle takes :-) I will do more wc and let er run - cant wait to get the undersink RO installed so wc are easier hehe - right now I use 5 gal buckets -

I am wondering if I am over cleaning the filters as well, I rinse them media in tank water about once every two weeks or so, this time I changed the floss media (not the internal bio sponges though) because it stunk so badly.

Will stay away from UG, fish seem to like less current.

Tom

[calihawker]

Great looking tank Tom!
Stick with the advice being given here and you'll be fine. Sounds like you may need to treat for flukes at some point, over in the disease section is a vast amount of info for you on that as well.

Good luck and welcome to SD!


Steve

[YSS]

What media are you changing in your filter? Hope you are not changing the media where bacteria are supposed to grow. Just rinse the media as you rinse the sponge. If you keep changing the media, your tank will never cycle. Best of luck. By the way, your tank and fish look good.

[tcmemphisbbq]

Thanks - got alot of time invested in making it a nice tank and want our discus to be happy.

I only changed the biofloss material(the old was really nasty and was stinking plus hadnt been changed in over a month and the media/floss looked like it was falling apart),

There is a "biosponge" at the bottom of each canister, which I do not change, merely rinse. I also have a air stone driven bio spong IN the tank as well that I only rinse once every couple weeks in tank water, I KNOW it helps with filtration cause man is it ever dirty when I rinse it out -

[YSS]

Do you have any biological media in your filter other than the bio-sponge? Most filters have sponge and additional bio medias such as ceramic rings, bio balls, and other medias made of stone material.

[tcmemphisbbq]

They both came with sponges in the bottom then each of the three compartments is full of boi floss - this time around I added a bag of zeolite to each of them though in the hopes it would help.

Tom

[sp33dy25]

if all fails. try algaefix. i had a problem with unclear water.
tests showed nothing was wrong with my water.
tried everything. didnt know what it was and the last thing i tried was algaefix and now my water is crystal clear.
turned out i had some algae in the water. but it wasnt green. just a little foggy.
Hth.

[rickztahone]

...cant wait to get the undersink RO installed so wc are easier hehe - right now I use 5 gal buckets -


Tom

get a submersible pump. it will be the best aquarium related purchase you make besides buying your discus :D

[rickztahone]

They both came with sponges in the bottom then each of the three compartments is full of boi floss - this time around I added a bag of zeolite to each of them though in the hopes it would help.

Tom

there's your problem...you need some type of media like ceramic rings, bio balls etc. sponges and filter floss will hold some bacteria but not to the extent that you need it. and the filter floss needs to be replaced often, the sponges you can go with for a pretty long time though. get some media in there asap, ceramic rings IMO is the best.

[tcmemphisbbq]

in addition to the zeolite rubble bags I put in? Should I put them towards the bottom of the filters in the same container as the bio sponge?


How often should I average changing the media with this type of setup? I know if I do it too much it will kill the cycle but too little and the discus will suffer -

Thanks again everyone - this has been a VERY helpful thread for me

My only issue with a pump is heat control, I can get a 55gal plastic barrel (got a 20gal now) to hold water but heating it to put it in is my issue, wont it shock the fish to put water too cold in? That is why I was looking to install an undersink RO and put diverter valves on it so I can control the temp through the faucet when refilling after wc's

Tom

[Patr1ck]

You can put a heater in your holding tank.
I would stay away from carbon and zeolite and just run mechanical and bio filteration and change lots of water to keep the nasties low.
Im alittle confused on how your ro unit will make water changes easier? Are you using tap right now and a bucket to transfer the water to the tank? Have you tried a python?:confused:

Pat

[tcmemphisbbq]

Yes Im using tap, putting it in buckets and in the 20gal bucket and priming it, then hauling it across the house to the tank hehe -

With the RO setup, I plan on getting 2 and tapping in before it hits the sink and using valves to turn it off/bypass when Im dont need RO water - then I can get a hose adaptor and run it straight from tap to tank, just turn it on, adjust the hot and cold to get temp right and fill er up -

Ultimately Ide like to install a constant drip/overflow setup to allow always fresh water to drip through, but in my house that would be a major undertaking plumbing wise hehe :-)

Tom

[tcmemphisbbq]

The issue I see with the python is not being able to "prime" the water before it goes into the tank (Someone should invent a valve you can fill and it disperses it as needed hehe like the deals you hook to hose to fertilize the yard with hehe).

I've always heard/read it needed to be added to the water before it goes into the tank vs filling tank then adding the prime to it. Im saving for the RO systems which would make the python a great tool for me :-)

Tom

[Patr1ck]

The issue I see with the python is not being able to "prime" the water before it goes into the tank (Someone should invent a valve you can fill and it disperses it as needed hehe like the deals you hook to hose to fertilize the yard with hehe).

I've always heard/read it needed to be added to the water before it goes into the tank vs filling tank then adding the prime to it. Im saving for the RO systems which would make the python a great tool for me :-)

Tom

I add my dechlor in the tank just before I refill it during wc's, been doing that for 20 yrs no problems. Also Im still confused on how the ro water will be heated? Im also confused on where you are going to get enough ro water for a water change if you are coming from the faucet?:confused:

[sp33dy25]

Yes Im using tap, putting it in buckets and in the 20gal bucket and priming it, then hauling it across the house to the tank hehe -

With the RO setup, I plan on getting 2 and tapping in before it hits the sink and using valves to turn it off/bypass when Im dont need RO water - then I can get a hose adaptor and run it straight from tap to tank, just turn it on, adjust the hot and cold to get temp right and fill er up -

Ultimately Ide like to install a constant drip/overflow setup to allow always fresh water to drip through, but in my house that would be a major undertaking plumbing wise hehe :-)

Tom

if you want to prime:
i connect a hose to faucet that way i can run the line to the other
room without having to lug the 45 gallons of water
i use a big rubber trash can that i only use for water.
fill it up. add aquasafe
drop in a water pump
let it circulate , check the temp.
then pump it into my tank

[Eddie]

I rinse my filter media in used tank water every 2 weeks. One filter one week and the second filter on the next week, alternating filters each week. My filters are super cycled so no worries in disrupting the bacteria colony.

Eddie

[h20delta]

I am not an expert, so you can take my thoughts for what they are worth; maybe very little. I agree with the advice to add bioballs or ceramic rings. You need this for large amounts of surface area for the bacteria to grow. I used to have a wet/dry filter and used floss media in it with carbon and bioballs. I changed that out for the Fluval FX5 canister, in which there is a large amount of filtering foam and the trays are filled with bioballs in two trays and ceramic rings in the other. No carbon, no floss and it is the cleanest my water has ever been. I do rinse the sponges each week. I do 4-5 (usually 5) water changes of about 50 gallons each week. I handle this by simply using a dedicated garden hose to syphon off the water and than I bought a 1/2 inch to 3/4 inch adaptor to put on the shower head to attach the same hose for refill. No buckets. I put in my water treatment at the same time as it is filling and have done this for years with zero problems. By the way, your tank looks great and so do your fish.

[tcmemphisbbq]

OV10PAT: My plan was to RO both the hot in and cold in or via the main house line with a diverter for when I needed it so the temp could be adjusted via the faucet -

Ok ok ok - soooo all this time I coulda been refilling the tank and priming it instead of doing each bucket - wow - now Im excited hehe :-) Well that is sure gonna make life alot easier -

Onto the filtration - I have a ton of bioballs that I took out of my sump on my reef tank, they are bad news for SW tanks as they hold nitrates which in the long term is a problem with corals...soooo...

The cascade pennplax filters I have has three compartments, when I bought it new it had
Biosponge/floss in layer 1
Floss/carbon bag in layer 2
Floss only in layer 3

I would figure each compartment would hold 5-10 bioballs -

What if I go this config:

layer 1 - biosponge/carbon
Layer 2 - floss/bioballs
layer 3 - floss/bioballs

Sorry to keep asking, but as ive said Ive never used the canisters in the past on tanks, ive had tanks all my life and always had hob or ug filters. I just want to optimize the filtering power of these things so the fish are as happy and healthy as can be.

Thanks
Tom

[tcmemphisbbq]

Ive also got a bunch of crushed coral from when I took it out and replaced it with live sand in my reef tank, would that work better then bio balls since it would be a tighter filtration as well as a ton of surface are? -

Tom

[Eddie]

Ive also got a bunch of crushed coral from when I took it out and replaced it with live sand in my reef tank, would that work better then bio balls since it would be a tighter filtration as well as a ton of surface are? -

Tom

Crushed coral will increase your waters alkalinity and may raise your PH.

Eddie

[tcmemphisbbq]

Noted - bioballs would do ok though eh?
Tom

[Eddie]

Noted - bioballs would do ok though eh?
Tom

Bio balls are fine, I prefer to use plain coarse sponge pads and rings.

http://www.petsolutions.com/default.aspx?ItemId=30102122&EID=30102122&SID=FROOGLE

Eddie

[discussmith]

If it were me I would grab some of the gravel from your UG and put it in one or more of the trays of your canister. It will help establish the bacteria colony for nitrification and as you have already seen it does a great job of fine particle filtering. You can avoid the problem of UG filters because you can rinse out the gravel as often as you want. Not so with the gravel sitting on a UG filter plate. Once your cycle is working you can replace the gravel with whatever other biofilter material you desire. Sorry someone didn't let you know this right from the start. You would have at least avoided the recycling problem and possibly disease due to the stress of having to wait for that cycling to re-establish. Good luck and keep doing the wc. They will save your fish.

[tcmemphisbbq]

Ok after reading all of this here is what im gonna do -

Canister ONE:
Layer one biosponge/floss
Layer two bioballs
Layer three Gravel from old tank and nothing else

Canister TWO:
Layer one biosponge/carbon
Layer two floss/bioballs
Layer three Gravel from old tank

I like the idea of the gravel from the old tank and see no reason to replace it, its irregular with plenty of surface area, in the trays it can easily be dipped in tank water to remove particulate matter.

I think gives me the best of all worlds and should still have good flow through it all.

I really appriciate it - I will keep ya posted and post more pics as the tank progresses.

Tom

[Patr1ck]

Good idea on not using any carbon. The simpler the better.
As far as your RO, hot water cant be run through an RO unit, it will destroy the membrane. Also the output of an ro system is really really slow, it just dribbles out. So, using it to fill your tank would not work unless you had a large storage barrel that you could fill with RO and a heater to warm it to the right temp and an electric pump to pump it to the tank. My RO system takes @12 hrs to fill 25 gallons. Some are alittle faster some are alittle slower. The ones that you can buy at Home Depot for drinking water come with a small reservoir for storing water @ 11 gallons. I assume that there is a spring loaded diaphram to create pressure out of the RO faucet on the sink. Im not positive on that part. I bought mine from Dr Fosters and Smith. I have it run to a big plastic barrel for storage.
I wouldnt use RO if your tap water has been working fine. If you wanted to try breeding them then I would suggest RO and to do that in a seperate smaller tank.

Pat

[tcmemphisbbq]

I see what your saying on the RO - I didnt realize they worked that slow.

Quick question, why not use carbon? I thought it was beneficial for ammonia and other things?
thanks
Tom

[Patr1ck]

I see what your saying on the RO - I didnt realize they worked that slow.

Quick question, why not use carbon? I thought it was beneficial for ammonia and other things?
thanks
Tom

Ro also wastes 3 to 4 gallons (even more sometimes) for every 1 gallon that it makes too.

Carbon removes good elements as well as bad. Ive read arguments about it leaching the things that it traps back into the water. Do a search on this forum on "carbon". As far as carbon and zeolite usage, you dont want something that is going to mess with the natural cycling of the tank because if you do there will always be fluctuating levels. Just let the bio take care of the ammonia. Once your aquarium stabilizes there wont be any ammonia or nitrite issues. Use carbon if you are trying to remove meds, odors, or dyes and only for long enough until what you want to remove is gone then remove the carbon. If you aren't trying to do that it is not needed. An even better solution is water changes to remove those things. Stick with sponges or floss etc... and bio balls or rings thats it, and change lots of water. Your fish and tank will apreciate it. So will your wallet.hth

Pat

[Roxanne]

..Layer three Gravel from old tank and nothing else

...

Tom

Hi Tom...make sure you put the gravel into a filter bag first won't you?

Roxanne

[sp33dy25]

bio balls really work in canisters?
and how many would you need to house the good bacteria for 125 gallons?

[Eddie]

bio balls really work in canisters?
and how many would you need to house the good bacteria for 125 gallons?

Really depends on what other media is in the canister and what size the canister is rated for. I have one canister that has pourus rings, bio-balls and 2 sponge blocks. So the combination of everything makes a good bed for the bacteria. I wouldn't fill my any of my canisters with just bio-balls, as there are better types of media IMO. Even very pourus sponge blocks are excellent. ;)

Eddie

[Roxanne]

the combination of everything makes a good bed for the bacteria. I wouldn't fill my any of my canisters with just bio-balls,..

Eddie

Yeah, I cram as much different stuff in as I can too...bio balls, sponge, crushed coral(in a mesh bag)...just don't be heavy handed with the crushed coral or you'll end up with too high ph...

Rox;)

[sp33dy25]

Really depends on what other media is in the canister and what size the canister is rated for. I have one canister that has pourus rings, bio-balls and 2 sponge blocks. So the combination of everything makes a good bed for the bacteria. I wouldn't fill my any of my canisters with just bio-balls, as there are better types of media IMO. Even very pourus sponge blocks are excellent. ;)

Eddie



i spoke with my LFS guy. asked him bout bio balls . he said they work.
he also said "you ever see a wet dry filter? thats how many bioballs u would need for them to work". so i asked if i can put some in my canister. he just gave me a look and shook his head..
plus. he said " its made of plastic. your better off with rings or stars" ( the more pourous is better especially when space is limited!."

[Eddie]

i spoke with my LFS guy. asked him bout bio balls . he said they work.
he also said "you ever see a wet dry filter? thats how many bioballs u would need for them to work". so i asked if i can put some in my canister. he just gave me a look and shook his head..
plus. he said " its made of plastic. your better off with rings or stars" ( the more pourous is better especially when space is limited!."

You are gonna have the same effect from bio balls in a canister than you would have in a wet dry. The surface area isnt getting smaller in a canister. LOL You just can't put as many. Using pourus rings or something similar to Eheim Substrate Pro will provide a better bed for something such as a canister filter IMO.

Eddie

[Roxanne]

...have them both:)

[tcmemphisbbq]

After running with filter media - gravel - bioballs for the past few days since I started this thread my water is clearer then ever, less is more when it comes to bio floss, all im running is a sponge and one layer of floss on the bottom, then gravel in the next chamber then bioballs - Im getting good flow and the water is very clear......

When it comes to building that initial bacteria build up for biological filtration am i better to not change/rinse the filters initially for a few weeks to let it build or should I stick to my once per week rinse?? I just dont wanna cause recycling as I suspect is the case in the past -

Thanks
Tom

[Patr1ck]

After running with filter media - gravel - bioballs for the past few days since I started this thread my water is clearer then ever, less is more when it comes to bio floss, all im running is a sponge and one layer of floss on the bottom, then gravel in the next chamber then bioballs - Im getting good flow and the water is very clear......

When it comes to building that initial bacteria build up for biological filtration am i better to not change/rinse the filters initially for a few weeks to let it build or should I stick to my once per week rinse?? I just dont wanna cause recycling as I suspect is the case in the past -

Thanks
Tom

Only rinse it if it looks dirty. Im glad to hear that your tank is doing better.

Pat

[tcmemphisbbq]

Tank is doing better, but two of my fish's eyes look like they are getting cloudy, one is a blood and the other is a BD - the BD is dark also, I QT'd him for 4 days and treated for flukes - but now he an another looks like the eyes are getting cloudy and the BD looks like his lips are swolen, almost thinking fungal? Any thoughts off hand.

Water parameters all are good - gonna do another wc tonite, did a 50% 2 days ago.

:|

Tom

[Eddie]

Tank is doing better, but two of my fish's eyes look like they are getting cloudy, one is a blood and the other is a BD - the BD is dark also, I QT'd him for 4 days and treated for flukes - but now he an another looks like the eyes are getting cloudy and the BD looks like his lips are swolen, almost thinking fungal? Any thoughts off hand.

Water parameters all are good - gonna do another wc tonite, did a 50% 2 days ago.

:|

Tom

I'd up the water changes. I've had success with cloudy eyes by doing daily 20 min salt baths for 3 days on affected fish. 1 tbsp per gallon and Et viola!


Eddie

[Patr1ck]

Tank is doing better, but two of my fish's eyes look like they are getting cloudy, one is a blood and the other is a BD - the BD is dark also, I QT'd him for 4 days and treated for flukes - but now he an another looks like the eyes are getting cloudy and the BD looks like his lips are swolen, almost thinking fungal? Any thoughts off hand.

Water parameters all are good - gonna do another wc tonite, did a 50% 2 days ago.

:|

Tom

Got pics. Sometimes stress makes their eyes seem cloudy and dark compared to normal. I agree with Eddie definetly change the water, doing that is the best medicine.

Pat

[Patr1ck]

bio balls really work in canisters?
and how many would you need to house the good bacteria for 125 gallons?

I havent used them but Ive seen really small nano balls for sale.
http://www.current-usa.com/nanoballs.html

Pat