I agree w/daveedka on sticking to one brand of filters for a given job when you operate more than one tank. It makes stocking media and replacement parts and spares so much easier. It also makes cleaning easier, as you learn all the shorcuts and the symptoms of need.
what are awsome filters?
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I like to have different filters, hoping they compliment each other. On my 50 gallon overstocked, right now I have a magnum 350/biowheels , which I love, An old AC 500, I think is the best hob filter out there,a ac 420 powerhead with sponge filter for current, and an emperor 400 that i origonally set up to have a functioning filter for a new tank, but was not impressed with and haven't gotten around to tearing down. Needless to say, I don't have much trouble with water quality, although java fern and anubias seem to be the only plants tough enough to prosper.
gsk177 said:
I have a 55g with an aquaclear 300
two plants ( I cant remember their name )
long-finned black skirt tetra x3
long-finned white skirt tetra x2
serpae tetra x1
rainbow shark x1
bala shark x2
blue ram x1
clown loach x2
long-finned zebra danio x2
guppy x1
dwarf gourami x2
marbled horned pleco x1
farlawella catfish x1
glass catfish x1
black molly x2
gold liertail molly x2
uh, I think thats it.Crazy overstocked, huh.
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Wow, yes, you are overstocked. Another problem you have is that some of those fish will grow far too large for your tank. The next problem I see is that you should be doing bigger water changes. On a tank that crowded I would certainly do 30-50% bi-weekly. When I was pricing tanks, I had a planned a 55 gallon out and was going to use two AquaClear 300s for it, and I wasn't planning on overstocking.
Do yourself and your fish a favor and check out this link. This is the Species Profile section of Aquaria Central. It lists adult sizes and minimum tank sizes for one adult sized fish for most species. Compare that to what you have. Then, see if you can find a bigger tank(s) to house the bigger fish or barring that, see if you can sell or trade in your fish that will not work for your setup. Once your tank has the innapropriate fish out, you can concentrate on maintaining better stocking levels and improve your cleaning schedule. You might find that solves your clogged filter problem straight away. Personally, I maintain a well stocked tank by doing at least one 50% water change per week and "over" filtering. I have a 29 gallon tank with ~25 gallons or less of actual water in it and my filters turn over that water at a rate of ten times per hour (250 gallons per hour). Two Aquaclear 300s would do the same for you, and then some. There really is no such thing as overfiltering that I have seen. Even bettas adapt to that kind of water flow.
EDIT: Oh, and adding more plants will help your fish, if you have appropriate lighting for them to thrive, plants can use excess waste produced by fish as nutrients.
Do yourself and your fish a favor and check out this link. This is the Species Profile section of Aquaria Central. It lists adult sizes and minimum tank sizes for one adult sized fish for most species. Compare that to what you have. Then, see if you can find a bigger tank(s) to house the bigger fish or barring that, see if you can sell or trade in your fish that will not work for your setup. Once your tank has the innapropriate fish out, you can concentrate on maintaining better stocking levels and improve your cleaning schedule. You might find that solves your clogged filter problem straight away. Personally, I maintain a well stocked tank by doing at least one 50% water change per week and "over" filtering. I have a 29 gallon tank with ~25 gallons or less of actual water in it and my filters turn over that water at a rate of ten times per hour (250 gallons per hour). Two Aquaclear 300s would do the same for you, and then some. There really is no such thing as overfiltering that I have seen. Even bettas adapt to that kind of water flow.
EDIT: Oh, and adding more plants will help your fish, if you have appropriate lighting for them to thrive, plants can use excess waste produced by fish as nutrients.
awesome, thats all really good advice. I was planning on getting more plants after I eradicate my ich epidemic. I will look into my fish too, and bigger water changes. But that leads me to more filtration. My tank is acrylic, and on the top is a cut-out only big enough for my curent filter, or one of equal size. I couldnt fit another "over-the-top" filter, maybe a cannister or something. That coo?
Canister filters do a great job. My hood only had a cut out big enough for one filter as well. I measured the space I'd need to mount another filter on the opposite side and then scored the hard plastic with a utility knife using a rules to keep my lines straight. I then used pliers to pull the section I was eliminating downward. The plastic broke right at the score. I'm not sure what type of hood you have, but just in case, there's one option.
