Bad water test results . . .

[rockhoe14er]

I don't think adding salt is a horrible idea because it helps increase the fish immune system and can help their slim coat. The only problem is that pleco's don't like salt and that at higher concentrations it can burn their skin.

 

[tayhudson]

What happened to the Sev's scales? No, I still wouldn't add salt to the tank.

Can you list everything in the tank? Start with the glass box, end with the fish..

The yoyo loach I had in with her was I guess picking on her and making her scales come off, I took it out of that tank (which is probably another reason my tests were off) and added the salt 4 days ago and her scales are all better.


Tank and equipment

- Glass Aqueon 40 gallon breeder (36 x 18 x 16)
- Marineland Penguin Bio-wheel filter model 200
- Marineland Visi-Therm heater 150W
- Aqueon Glass Canopy for 40 gallon breeder
- Aqueon Fluorescent Single Tube Strip Light (36")
- 1 bubble strip

Substrate & decorations

- 25 1/2 lbs of beach pebble gravel (small and medium mixed)
- 1 piece of Mopani driftwood
- 4 silk plants
- 4 plastic plants
- 14 small/med pieces of rock
- 1 medium terocatta pot
- 1 small terocatta pot

Fish

- 1 green severum (female)
- 2 german blue rams ( male & female)
- 1 BN pleco (female as I've been told)
- 3 pygmy cories

I feed them a variety of foods

- New Life Spectrum Cichlid Formula 1mm sinking pellets
- TetraColor tropical granules
- TetraMin tropical flakes
- TetraVeggie algae waffers for the pleco
- Frozen bloodworms
- Frozen brine shrimp
- The occasional cucumber

Full shot of my tank right now :

Sorry for the reflection of my 10 gallon

 

[tayhudson]

I don't think adding salt is a horrible idea because it helps increase the fish immune system and can help their slim coat. The only problem is that pleco's don't like salt and that at higher concentrations it can burn their skin.

I only added what the box said to. And I haven't added anymore since I put it in 4 days ago. I make sure to always dissolve it. I keep an eye on the fish after I add it, and my pleco has never seemed to be bothered by it. Thanks for the info

 

[tayhudson]

I personally think you're cutting it close with your filter size, though I'm sure other people would say it's fine.

I prefer to massively overfilter my tanks; I have a 40g breeder as well, with 1 kissing gourami and 1 senegal bichir, and my canister filter pumps out 350 gph (good for tanks up to 175g). These fish are small, 5-6". I do weekly 50% changes and my nitAtes hover at a steady 5.0ppm

Your HOB filter, especially being a Marineland Penguin, doesn't really have sufficient area for a bacterial colony that can handle your bioload. Your sev is going to hit 8" at some point, and depending on your pleco's species, it can grow as long as two feet. Plecostomus are notoriously messy fish, they produce a *ton* of waste.

I'd suggest looking into a good canister filter, and loading the baskets with bio media.

What filter would you recommend?? Like a brand or size??

My pleco is a bristlenose and I've been told they don't get up to 2 feet. But I know she is the super pooper of the tank. And I make sure to vacuum really well.

 

[rockhoe14er]

I only added what the box said to. And I haven't added anymore since I put it in 4 days ago. I make sure to always dissolve it. I keep an eye on the fish after I add it, and my pleco has never seemed to be bothered by it. Thanks for the info

sounds good. Yeah then you don't need salt anymore. Really nice looking tank BTW i really like the light you choose.

 

[tayhudson]

sounds good. Yeah then you don't need salt anymore. Really nice looking tank BTW i really like the light you choose.

Thank you very much. I like it too. I figured the light that fits the tank would look nice.

 

[tayhudson]

I love how it looks like I have no fish in my tank in that photo. Lol.

 

[Carch]

What filter would you recommend?? Like a brand or size??

My pleco is a bristlenose and I've been told they don't get up to 2 feet. But I know she is the super pooper of the tank. And I make sure to vacuum really well.

Oh, if it's a bristlenose I wouldn't worry about him. He'll still be a bit messier than most fish, but he should max out at about 6-8".

Bio media is key; the more bacteria you have, the cleaner your water is. I would definitely look into getting a canister filter, the brand I go with is Rena Filstar XP's, my 40g canister is a Rena XP3. Doesn't even have to be a Rena: Ehiem and Fluval are good brands too. Rena's generally pump more gph and have much larger surface area in the baskets that you can customize.
The XP3 has 3 baskets, I have the lowest basket full of 20-30ppi foam pads that came with the filter, and the top two baskets filled with bio media (I used Ehiem Substrat Pro... expensive but amazing).

I know a lot of people use a canister + HOB combo, but I have not done that myself. Their canisters take care of the bio load, and their HOB deals with mechanical filtration. You could do something like that, as well. Or even just add another HOB filter with your existing one.

If you wanted to stick with HOB filters, I would go with Aquaclear, the 300 model should work good for you (up to 70g, 300 gph). Aquaclears are like miniture canisters, you can completely customize the filter media.

You could also try buying those little media socks and fitting some bio media into your Penguin, but I've tried that in the past with mine and it's the biggest hassle ever. The flow ends up backing up and leaking over the side, the socks don't fit well in the filter... it's just a mess.

Lastly, though... don't just rush out and buy a filter "just because". Judge for yourself: if you feel your tank is a bit underfiltered, then yes, get something else. If you keep up on your water changes and your fish are not as dirty as they could be, then you don't really have an issue so long as your water perimeters are in check. The plus side about buying a hefty canister filter, or ANY larger filter, is that you can use it on a future tank if you ever upgrade sizes. Whereas with your Marineland, it probably doesn't have the 'umph for a larger tank.

 

[carpenter547]

just one note instead of buying a newer biger filter you could go pick up another marine land 200 then you would only need one type of filter. you wouldn't have to worry about any other spikes durring filter changes. you would have 2 bio wheels rolling and up to 4 size C filters possible. it is alot of filteration but hey that was the idea no?

personally i have a 200 biowheel as well it came with the tank kit. and it is supposed to be able to handle 20 mollies 1 violet goby and 20 ghost shrimps according to that online stocking calculator. it would be a 40% water change once a week recomended by them so i dunno that would be alot of nitrAtes to deal with i guess. seems like for the 37 gallon tank the limit was the size not the bioload. again this is according to my research and i very well could be wrong

 

[tayhudson]

Oh, if it's a bristlenose I wouldn't worry about him. He'll still be a bit messier than most fish, but he should max out at about 6-8".

Bio media is key; the more bacteria you have, the cleaner your water is. I would definitely look into getting a canister filter, the brand I go with is Rena Filstar XP's, my 40g canister is a Rena XP3. Doesn't even have to be a Rena: Ehiem and Fluval are good brands too. Rena's generally pump more gph and have much larger surface area in the baskets that you can customize.
The XP3 has 3 baskets, I have the lowest basket full of 20-30ppi foam pads that came with the filter, and the top two baskets filled with bio media (I used Ehiem Substrat Pro... expensive but amazing).

I know a lot of people use a canister + HOB combo, but I have not done that myself. Their canisters take care of the bio load, and their HOB deals with mechanical filtration. You could do something like that, as well. Or even just add another HOB filter with your existing one.

If you wanted to stick with HOB filters, I would go with Aquaclear, the 300 model should work good for you (up to 70g, 300 gph). Aquaclears are like miniture canisters, you can completely customize the filter media.

You could also try buying those little media socks and fitting some bio media into your Penguin, but I've tried that in the past with mine and it's the biggest hassle ever. The flow ends up backing up and leaking over the side, the socks don't fit well in the filter... it's just a mess.

Lastly, though... don't just rush out and buy a filter "just because". Judge for yourself: if you feel your tank is a bit underfiltered, then yes, get something else. If you keep up on your water changes and your fish are not as dirty as they could be, then you don't really have an issue so long as your water perimeters are in check. The plus side about buying a hefty canister filter, or ANY larger filter, is that you can use it on a future tank if you ever upgrade sizes. Whereas with your Marineland, it probably doesn't have the 'umph for a larger tank.

just one note instead of buying a newer biger filter you could go pick up another marine land 200 then you would only need one type of filter. you wouldn't have to worry about any other spikes durring filter changes. you would have 2 bio wheels rolling and up to 4 size C filters possible. it is alot of filteration but hey that was the idea no?

personally i have a 200 biowheel as well it came with the tank kit. and it is supposed to be able to handle 20 mollies 1 violet goby and 20 ghost shrimps according to that online stocking calculator. it would be a 40% water change once a week recomended by them so i dunno that would be alot of nitrAtes to deal with i guess. seems like for the 37 gallon tank the limit was the size not the bioload. again this is according to my research and i very well could be wrong

Thanks guys. And thanks to everyone who offered their advice. I realllllllly appreciate it!!!! :hearts: