Unifilter 1000

M

Mark O'Reilly

Mark
Sep 10, 2008
5
0
0
58
UK
Hi,

About 3 months ago put a Unifilter 1000 filter in my 80 litre tank. The tank has been established for sometime (previously I had the Unitfilter 750 & prior to that about a yrs ago had an undergravel filter, but removed this about a yr ago). However ever since the 1000 has gone in I have had a real issue with amonia & it's average reading is between 0.50 & spiking today at 2.0.

My regime for servicing is cleaning each brush alternatively in tank water ever 2 weeks & doing a 10%-20% water change each week & vacuming the gravel every 2nd week.

The tank tempature is a steady 26.

When I do a water change I also include JBL Biotopol for the water & JBL Denitrol to help with the bacteria. In addtion I also have a strip of Zeopad in the filter to help with the amonia ALL TO NO AVAIL !!!!!!

I know I must be doing something wrong, but really are running out of options;

Is it just that the Unifilter 1000 is just not up to the task (honestly thinking about getting rid of it & getting an external filter - Any recommendations???)

Increase the level of water changes, however last time I did this was told that the Amonia problem was caused by the influx of fresh water which was cleaning out the "good" bacteria in the filters.

Still have a few fish left (a few tetras, a gourami & the later who have been in the tank for yrs so are quite tough) who seem as tough as old boots but it must really be stressing these guys out)

Please any suggestions - Should I just invest in a new filter or do something else with my cleaning routine.

Thanks in anticipation for any responses.

Mark
 
Mark O'Reilly said:
Hi,

About 3 months ago put a Unifilter 1000 filter in my 80 litre tank. The tank has been established for sometime (previously I had the Unitfilter 750 & prior to that about a yrs ago had an undergravel filter, but removed this about a yr ago). However ever since the 1000 has gone in I have had a real issue with amonia & it's average reading is between 0.50 & spiking today at 2.0.

My regime for servicing is cleaning each brush alternatively in tank water ever 2 weeks & doing a 10%-20% water change each week & vacuming the gravel every 2nd week.

The tank tempature is a steady 26.

When I do a water change I also include JBL Biotopol for the water & JBL Denitrol to help with the bacteria. In addtion I also have a strip of Zeopad in the filter to help with the amonia ALL TO NO AVAIL !!!!!!

I know I must be doing something wrong, but really are running out of options;

Is it just that the Unifilter 1000 is just not up to the task (honestly thinking about getting rid of it & getting an external filter - Any recommendations???)

Increase the level of water changes, however last time I did this was told that the Amonia problem was caused by the influx of fresh water which was cleaning out the "good" bacteria in the filters.

Still have a few fish left (a few tetras, a gourami & the later who have been in the tank for yrs so are quite tough) who seem as tough as old boots but it must really be stressing these guys out)

Please any suggestions - Should I just invest in a new filter or do something else with my cleaning routine.

Thanks in anticipation for any responses.

Mark
Click to expand...


I don't know what that unifilter is...is it a internal sponge filter or something?

Anyways get a HOB or cannister filter. Has your tank been seeded with bacteria? Also you should be cleaning the gravel each week that you do water changes that will help with the ammonia some. Also doing water changes does not kill your bacteria....if you let your filter media dry out then the bacteria will cyst and become dorminant. After they are wet again it takes a while before they become able to work at the ammonia and nitrites. You might have to much bioload in your aquarium I don't know what size a 80lit. is. Get a better filter, do more water changes and clean the gravel each week. I would take that ammonia lock stuff out if its not working. If you have any other tanks that are established (cycled) then take some gravel from that tank and put it in the one your having problems with. Hope I helped. Good luck.
 
lol, i thought the post means unfilter 1000 gallons tank . Now when i read carefully it's unifilter. Ammonia is bad. you should consider HOB with biowheel.
 
So, it seems like the filter was doing something if ammonia levels rise once you removed it. Did I read that right?

After a quick google, those unifilters don't look bad at all. They're a smaller internal filter, no? If I'm reading your post correctly, I would recommend putting that filter back on until you decide on which external to get.

From what I've read, Tetratec (Marineland?) externals seem to get pretty good reviews on your side of the pond. I don't want to turn this into a fluval vs. eheim fight, so do what you want man. I only have one Rena XP1 and absolutely love it. These filters effing rock and should be bought now just because price seems to be getting higher on them all the time.

I would think if you had two filters on your 20g, and you removed one of them, the other filter doesn't have enough bacteria built up to handle the bio-load. That's why your seeing a rise in ammonia.

By cleaning 'brush' do you mean filter pads themselves? If so, leave those alone. At least for now, anyways. Let the bacteria build up on those for a few months that way cleaning them won't remove as much bacteria, make sense?


Water routine seems okay cuz your stocking seems pretty light. Got any pics of it?
 
the type of filter has practically NOTHING to do with ammonia levels.

ammonia levels are determined by the ammount of bio-media and the amound of bacteria growing on that media

by switching out your filter.. you have sent your system into a mini-cycle

ALWAYS leave the old filter running WITH the new one for at least a week to transfer bacteria.

daily 25% water changes, and constant level monitoring will bring your bacteria back to normal
 
bobross said:
I would think if you had two filters on your 20g, and you removed one of them, the other filter doesn't have enough bacteria built up to handle the bio-load. That's why your seeing a rise in ammonia.
Click to expand...

Well from what I know from another thread on this forum is that bacteria double daily when the right sources are available. If he had 2 filters on the tank then we could say that you total bacteria colony is spread out between those two filters. If you take one off then you took away have the bacteria colony. Well in a day the bacteria colony on the other filter will double and you will be right where you were before you took the first filter off the aquarium. Of corse nothing is absolute where you always have a 50/50 bact. colony on your two filters. Anyways in a couple of days he should be fine if he had enough space for the bacteria to grow. I think he doesn't so I believe he should get a nice HOB filter or a small canister filter. Hopefully then he should be fine.
 
All - Thanks for the responses

Just to clarify - The whole ug filter was removed about a yr ago & the tank fully cycled, gravel fully cleaned etc.

When swapping over filters 750 to 1000 I initially carried over the brushes from the 750 & replaced them with the 1000 gradually.

Will try going with 25% water changes for the next few days & see if it will settle down & leave the cleaning of the actual filter (brushes) alone for a month or so.

Cheers
 
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