filter

M

mr.cichlid

AC Members
Aug 28, 2008
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Phoenix, AZ
all,

my tank has a lot of waste settling down on everything. every time i move or rotate powerheads i see a lot debris. are siphoning or filter the only way to reduce the debris? are there any invertebrates/fish that are made to deal with this stuff?

Thanks!
 
It depends on the fish load you have in your tank. How much you feed them and how often. How often do you do water changes? I go weekly 50% waterchanges and vacuum the gravel at the same time. I clean out the canister filter out monthly. I have 4 parrots, 3 severums and a pleco in my 150g. Plecos, like oscars produce a lot of waste. I feed them once a day and nothing on Sunday. I put enough food in that it's gone within 2 minutes.
 
Yep you'll want to do more extensive vacuuming if you want to get rid of that debris. I've got two different gravel vacuums I use regularly, on has a small end on it that can get into the tighter spots in my tank and one is wider and makes quick work out of the big areas that I can get into easy.

It sounds like you have some powerheads, so you can use those in conjunction with a canister filter - use the powerheads to kick up the debris and then let a canister filter do the work and clean the debris out of the water

I have luck with nassarius snails eating debris on the substrate in my aquarium (they usually get most of the extra junk if I accidentally overfeed the fish), but I need to regularly blow the rocks off with the powerheads and suck up the debris with a canister filter or vacuum to get it outta the tank
 
I guess FO or FOWLR?
I usually left the cleaning of substrate to few large diamond Gobies or its cousins. May take some time but will eventually leave the substrate free of detritus.
 
i wud say its half b/n a FO and Reef tank as i do have some corals in there...i used to have canister on this tank but transfered it over to my 120g cichlid tank...i am currently running a hob filter with cheato and live rock rubble...thinking to run another small hob filter with a sponge or something in it to trap detritus...i think i have about 5-10 nassarius snails in my tank (60g)...should i add more snails? i also have very few hermit crabs...i am think about adding more in. do they help?

Also in the hob filter...can i use carbon? i guess it will reduce smell if present and also improves water quality. plz advice.

thanks!
 
You do more good with weekly water changes and vacuuming the gravel all the way down to the glass bottom to get the gravel clean
 
It sounds like you may not have enough circulation in the tank if detritus is settling out so much. Are you running anything that helps remove the detritus? Even a protein skimmer can help with fine, less dense solids -- but I wouldn't buy one just for that if you're not already using one.
 
i am running a hob skimmer...but that only take care of small particles or almost dissolved matter...i am running two koralia3 powerheads in a 60g and i am thinking about adding a koralia1 underneath the rockwork...i will vaccum the sand this weekend...
 
You may want to try tuning your skimmer to skim more wet, if possible. If detritus is suspended well, skimming wet can help more. If you're already filling the collection cup frequently, this may not be a realistic option with a HOB for fear of overflowing the cup.
 
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