What's going on in my tank? Dead angel? Krib with cloudy eye?

[FishAddict74]

Were the hoses and tubing for the canister filter subjected to lots of light? Natural or otherwise?

I've got canisters that have been running for 6-8yrs where the tubing only has a very light surface build up. The tubing gets no direct light though.

Also, if your canisters need cleaning every 3-4 weeks, you need more filtration or less stock and feeding.

I agree with the part about the build up, but 3-4 weeks for cleaning a canister isn’t that much IMO. It depends on a lot of factors. I clean my filters on the predator tank weekly and do 50% WC 3x a week, but my community tank I clean the filters bi-weekly and do 50% WC weekly.

 

[FreshyFresh]

Yikes. I clean the HOB filters on each of my tanks weekly when I do my WCs, but my canisters only need cleaning every 4-6 months, but I usually do them every 3-4.

 

[FishAddict74]

Yikes. I clean the HOB filters on each of my tanks weekly when I do my WCs, but my canisters only need cleaning every 4-6 months, but I usually do them every 3-4.

Lol ya it keeps me busy
the predators are extremely messy, but that’s the only tank I run a canister, I also run 3 HOB on that one, even once a week that water is black after I clean it

 

[azaahp2]

Well, the best option will be to clean your filter media, in addition, these filters need to be cleaned every 3-4 weeks precisely to prevent detritus from accumulating. At a certain point, mechanical filtration no longer retains as much as it should and begins to let waste pass through, which in this case accumulates at the bottom and in its bioballs. Clean your filter and rinse your bioballs, don't forget to do it with water from the same tank, add a new mechanical filtration medium, siphon the bottom of your tank and do a 40% water change. That should be fine, also if you want to clean your hoses you can do it with a bottle brush like the one in the next photo. Don't worry if they aren't completely cleaned.
View attachment 229045

Thanks for that - a question: why do I need new mechanical filtration? What I have is only a few months old

 

[azaahp2]

Were the hoses and tubing for the canister filter subjected to lots of light? Natural or otherwise?

I've got canisters that have been running for 6-8yrs where the tubing only has a very light surface build up. The tubing gets no direct light though.

Also, if your canisters need cleaning every 3-4 weeks, you need more filtration or less stock and feeding.

The tank gets a small amount of direct light in the evenings in summer. I don't think the tubing gets any direct light - it's underneath the bench that the tank is sitting on. My other tank has been running at least a year longer and has very light buildup in the filter intake... but it's not a cannister, just the filter that came with the tank.

 

[FishAddict74]

Thanks for that - a question: why do I need new mechanical filtration? What I have is only a few months old

Mechanical filtration removes particles from the water like poo and old food, it can get clogged up pretty quick. So it should be cleaned frequently

 

[azaahp2]

UPDATE: so I took the cannister apart on Saturday. The water in there was pretty dirty and the wool sponge on the top needed a good clean. Other than that, there was almost nothing in the filter media and plastic sponges. Which makes sense because I believe my tank is lightly stocked and over-filtered... and I only cleaned the cannister a few weeks ago.

However I DID discover that I have NO bioballs, just two types of mechanical filtration. So I had the ceramic noodles in the centre and the seachem matrix in the bottom. Rookie mistake I guess as I didn't realise their exact uses! Is it possible that because I don't have bioballs, the detrius isn't actually getting trapped like it should be, and fouling my hoses instead? And therefore affecting my water quality?

 

[azaahp2]

Mechanical filtration removes particles from the water like poo and old food, it can get clogged up pretty quick. So it should be cleaned frequently

Thanks for that. It seemed pretty clean, I was wondering if there was a reason Lalo J. said 'clean bioball etc' and 'add new mechanical filtration'. I thought it could be cleaned, didn't realise it would actually need replacing so often?

 

[FishAddict74]

Thanks for that. It seemed pretty clean, I was wondering if there was a reason Lalo J. said 'clean bioball etc' and 'add new mechanical filtration'. I thought it could be cleaned, didn't realise it would actually need replacing so often?

I rarely replace my mechanical filtration, I just clean it frequently and my tanks have a heavy load.
I don’t use bio balls, but I find it unlikely they would trap much in the way of detritus. I use ceramic rings and I get very little detritus in those.
Maybe you already answered this, but what type of canister do you have and what do you have for media and what order is it in from bottom to top?

 

[azaahp2]

I have Aquis 1200 which is for up to 250L aquarium (mine is 160L).

Media from top to bottom is

Top compartment: wool filter, black sponge filter

Middle compartment: blue sponge filter, seachem matrix

Bottom compartment: blue sponge filter, ceramic noodles

It's all what came standard with the cannister except I swapped out the bioball for the seachem matrix at the recommendation of the salesperson...

In the tank I have 2x kribs, 2x angels, 4x sterbai cories, about 12 males guppies

Sand substrate with rocks and driftwood and planted