Fish-in cycle near end, dead fish & sick fish.

[alfbennett]

I guess I never really looked at what a real sump filter is

A sump would be like a 2nd tank ususally kept out of site. Water is skimmed off the display tank and into the sump. The sumps sole purpose is to biologically recondition the water. In SW sumps generall contain a deep (verry deep like 6+ inches) of live sand for a large anoxic filter, as well in some cases as more traditional biofilter media, or plants.

Water is taken from the main tank, and is run throug the sump which is optimized for bio-filtering, then back up to the display tank.

This is a whole nother subject which can take months to read into and understand completely.

In general sumps are used to filter much larger volumes of water than a 20 gallon tank.

 

[wakingupnow]

Ahh thanks. Well it's definitely not a sump filter then! Sorry about that. :uhoh:

 

[Hebily]

I don't really know anything about HOB's... I've always either used eclipse systems or cansiters... removing charcoal is easy... is it built in to the filter pad? if so, you can replace the whole unit with a different type pad that doesn't have charcoal, but you need to be careful, because you might have most of your bacteria in your filter pad...

 

[alfbennett]

In filters with seperate bio and charcoal filters. the sole purpose of the carchoal filter is useually mechanical and chemical filtration. The bio-media is kept seperate. Charcoal is only good for 3-4 weeks tops in good water conditions so those cartridges are meant to be changed regularly.

 

[Reframer]

*Scratches head*

Well, I guess it isn't a sump. I'm not sure, but it's a waterfall (hang on back) Tetra brand thingy-mer-bob.

I guess I never really looked at what a real sump filter is because my dad always used to call the waterfall ones sumps. lol

That is a Tetra brand power filter. All you need to do is buy the charcoal filter pads (the blue ones) at Walmart or something and replace them back to back next to the bio pad. Never replace the white or black bio pads.

 

[wakingupnow]

That is a Tetra brand power filter. All you need to do is buy the charcoal filter pads (the blue ones) at Walmart or something and replace them back to back next to the bio pad. Never replace the white or black bio pads.

What sucks is we don't have a wal-mart here or anything like that. The LFS I go to called Modernistic (best on the island) only sells the bio bags, so I always have 2 in the filter (one old and one new) and when I medicate, I cut the bag open and try to get as much of the carbon as possible.

I think I'm going to rinse then in tank water though, because they are dutty.

 

[wakingupnow]

:eek3:Oh my.

I just did my first ever cleaning of the filter and a gallon of tank water must have no been enough.

There was this white film inside the filter and oh my goodness the plastic bit with the teeth to catch gunk was so full!

When I cut the filter back on, a bunch of that white gunk came pouring into the tank. What can I do about that? Should I just clean the filter again during my next water change and eventually it will get better?

 

[alfbennett]

I am sorry, you just stepped beyond my realm of experience. I really can't think of what the white film would be.

 

[Reframer]

You don't want to clean too much of the filter at once, and it really shouldn't be too clean because you need all that good bacteria in there. The film might be bacteria or hard water deposits.
Anyhow, go to Walmart or pet whatever and order them online if you can or else you will just have to get a new filter from your local pet store.

 

[wakingupnow]

I got some more filter cartridges, but I could only find the Biobags by Whisper for my 10 gallon filter.

The ones I got for my larger filter are Tetra carbon filters, but the biobags have carbon in them too.

I'm going to swap out the oldest cartridges in them, but not yet because I don't know if I should re-treat my tank because 2 of my tiger barbs has dropsy.