How Much Bio Filter is really needed?

terror

terror

AC Members
May 23, 1999
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Manila, Philippines
How do you determine how much Bio Filtration is actually needed by your tank?
I currently have 3 22 inc Arowanas in my 350 Gallon tank,
filter is a 6x2x18 inch sump. Media inside
1st t chamber - Japanese mats with some crushed corals
2nd chamber - Mata mats and some ceramic rings
3rd chamber - Lots of scrubbies.

I'm planning to move 3 more 20 inch arowanas into this tank.
but I'm still not sure if the filter can handle the additional bio load?
I'll add maybe a kilo only of sintered glass.

Any suggestions?
At current Bio Load i Dont have ammonia and nitrite in my tank.
 
Adding "another" 3 Arowanas to a 350 gallon tank?
I had two silvers in the past and they grew longer then my arm. (died of old age.. . i hope)
Wouldn't 6 be a bit crowded?
 
thanks :) Will check the websites .
My Arowanas are Asian Aros so they dont get as big as Silvers.
Also I'm planning to have a pond for them in the near future.
 
If you are worried about bio filtration you can always put a RUGF in the tank. Then you don't need to worry about it.

I personally think that your sump should be more than enough.
 
Since they are large fish, it might be better to add them 1 at a time so your beneficial bacteria can grow enough to handle the higher waste level. Maybe wait a week or so to make sure before adding another. I don't know aros, would that work for any territorial issues?
 
fishorama said:
Since they are large fish, it might be better to add them 1 at a time so your beneficial bacteria can grow enough to handle the higher waste level. Maybe wait a week or so to make sure before adding another. I don't know aros, would that work for any territorial issues?
Click to expand...

thanks :) I have to add them all in at once due to territorial issues, fights and injuries are likely to be less with more fish . but they are like fighting fish , only bigger and stronger. but more arowanas will diffuse their aggression hopefully :)
 
I don't think you can have too much filtration, BUT too many think this means additional or more powerful filters and that's not what I mean.
As I researched water purification, I came across bio-sand filters used in the 3rd world. Foul, polluted water is poured in and crystal clear DRINKING water is drawn off. In aquariums, we tend to think of bio-filtration as limited to ammonia and nitrites (and do partial water changes to remove nitrates). But if we expand our thinking and our bio-media capability, we just might be able to better purify the water.
I believe with sufficient bio-media and a slow constant flow, water can be purified much better.

Having written this, it also goes without saying that filtration is almost moot if one has plants and does sufficient volume and frequency of partial water changes.Or perhaps better still, a continuous trickle and overflow system.

Never having had such large fish, I can't speak to question of adding 3 more 20" fish.
 
It isn't the filter that does the bio filtration, it is the bacteria. They live all over a tank and concentrate the most where the supply of food and oxygen is best, usually the filter. Adding more filters will not make more bio-filtration. Adding more ammonia will. The bacteria reproduce when there is more food than they need.

If you dump all those fish in all at once you would will likely have cycling related issues. All of this has nothing to do with either the size of the fish or tanks involved. It has to do with microbiology and the nitrogen cycle. Yhe same situation would apply to a 10 gallon tank and adding more guppies. The scale of things may change but not the principles involved.

I can offer a few suggesttions as to how you might handle things. One is to get a new filter or two cycled up fishlessly in another tank. This would take a couple of weeks using some seeding from your exisiting tanks. Buy viable bottled bacteria- this would be either Dr. Tim's One and Only or tetra's Safe Start. You can use it to seed a new filter as i described or in greater amounts oto allow trhe addition of the 3 new fish immeduately- this will not be cheap.

Thw normaly rule for adding new fish into a tanbk where cycling is done with fish in is to limit any addition to now more than a 20% increase in the bio-load. This lets your exisiting bacterial colonies grow into the increased load fairly fast. Usually before ammonia or nitrite levels can harm the fish. but careful monitoring is required after any addition to make sure things are OK.
 
I'm thinking if I was you I might use your nylon pot scrubbies as wet dry after some filter floss and then use a fair amount of Seachem Matrix or pond Matrix in your sump. More is better than less :-)
 
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