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Filter Help ---Beginner

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  • #1

    Filter Help ---Beginner

    I made the beginner mistake...overstocking...
    I need a filter that will be able to keep up with the amount of fish waste that is in the tank...is it okay to put the Marineland Penguin 100 and maybe pair it with a Tetra 10i internal filter without killing the fish from the amount of currents? I was told by a friend that i could go buy a cheap net and cut the netting off and place it at the output so it wont be so turbulent. Please
    20 Gallon High
    -5 Guppies, White Cloud
    130 Gallon AGA
    -Oranda Goldfish, Lionhead Goldfish, Black Moor Goldfish, Ryukin Goldfish
    10 Gallon Hospital
    - Black Moor Goldfish ---Tail Rot
    Tags: None
  • #2
    Tetras like a lot of current, mine will actually spend time swimming into the current from my powerheads. but what you need is a test kit so you can check the ammonia, nitrates etc and do more water changes
    'Dear Lord,' the minister began, with arms extended toward heaven and a rapturous look on his upturned face. 'Without you, we are but dust ...'
    He would have continued but at that moment my very obedient daughter who was listening leaned over to me and asked quite audibly in her shrill little four-year old girl voice, 'Mom, what is butt dust?'

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    • #3
      I do regular test every three day to ensure that the water is within the correct parameters and looking at it is with in those parameters...the only thing i am worried about now is that there is a white haze in the water and causes it to look dirty...i think it might be a bacteria bloom but cannot tell...it started about a week ago right after a gravel vacuum. But really i guess what i am trying to get is it okay to have a filter that is rated up to 20 gallons in a 10 gallon tank?
      20 Gallon High
      -5 Guppies, White Cloud
      130 Gallon AGA
      -Oranda Goldfish, Lionhead Goldfish, Black Moor Goldfish, Ryukin Goldfish
      10 Gallon Hospital
      - Black Moor Goldfish ---Tail Rot

      Comment

      • #4
        throw that 100 on there and keep up with at least 50% weekly water changes and you should be fine. Ratings are just made up by the manufacturers so i always go by GPH and try to set it at a round 7-10x turnover rate so on a 10 gallon tank 70-100 GPH.
        25g - Reef
        3.5g - Surge Tank
        10g - Ichthyophthirius multifilis breeding colony

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        • #5
          First of all, maybe I'm crazy, but I really don't think you're overstocked. You have 12 tiny tetras, 2 tiny otos, and 4 cories in a 10g. I think that's fine. It may be a bit of a crowd if it's a new tank, which I think it is from your posts, but as long as you keep monitoring your water parameters (which you are, GREAT!) and do regular water changes accordingly, your fish will be happy. :)

          Like the others said, the fish that you have won't mind the extra current if you put a filter rated for a larger tank on there. In point of fact, filters rated for 10 gallons don't put out a lot of current anyways, and are usually insufficient for a 10g unless you have only a couple tiny fish in there.

          How long has this tank been running with fish in it? Did you add them all at the same time?

          The white haze you're describing definitely sounds like a bacterial bloom, which is good. Keep doing water changes, but try not to change the filter media for a couple months unless it gets clogged. If that happens, simply rinse it out with some tank water during a water change (in a bucket) and put it back in the filter. The biggest beginner mistake, I've found, is to replace all filter media and do a huge water change when the water is cloudy. That just makes the tank's cycle start all over again, and endangers the fish even more because the beneficial bacteria is gone and ammonia is once again a problem.

          What tests are you running on your tank every three days? Are you testing for nitrites, nitrates, and ammonia? Would you mind posting the results you had on your last test, if you remember, or post the results from the next test you do? That can help us determine what's going on in your tank, and if the cloudiness is in fact a bacterial bloom. Also, testing regularly, coupled with water changes, is the best way to judge if your tank is overstocked compared with your maintenance level. If the nitrates are high, for example, that's not a problem. It just means you should do more (or larger) water changes.

          Lastly, welcome! Thanks for joining us!
          "Millennium hand and shrimp!"

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          • #6
            formulas to figure aquarium stocking levels=completely worthless

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            • #7
              Re: Filter Help ---Beginner

              I will certainly will post some test results...I have to go get a new
              Filter rated a Bit higher for my tank anyways.
              20 Gallon High
              -5 Guppies, White Cloud
              130 Gallon AGA
              -Oranda Goldfish, Lionhead Goldfish, Black Moor Goldfish, Ryukin Goldfish
              10 Gallon Hospital
              - Black Moor Goldfish ---Tail Rot

              Comment

              • #8
                Re: Filter Help ---Beginner

                Don't worrie about current. Tetras love it but add a place where that can get out of it if needed like a rock cave or driftwood. I have a eheim 2217 on a 20gal. And my tetras go wild in the current.

                --I contend that we are both atheists. I just believe in one fewer god than you do. When you understand why you dismiss all the other possible gods, you will understand why I dismiss yours.
                -Stephen Roberts

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                • #9
                  That's good to here...well I just installed a aquaclear 30 for my 10g so I can get ALL the dirtiness floating aroung in my tank...it is amazing and I did a water test And my ammonia is at 3ppm and the nitrite went up...expectable for replacing a bad filter. Oh and mzungu missing from that list is three guppies
                  20 Gallon High
                  -5 Guppies, White Cloud
                  130 Gallon AGA
                  -Oranda Goldfish, Lionhead Goldfish, Black Moor Goldfish, Ryukin Goldfish
                  10 Gallon Hospital
                  - Black Moor Goldfish ---Tail Rot

                  Comment

                  • #10
                    Was the tank cycled before adding the fish? Ammonia at 3 is bad anything over 0 and you could start to lose fish. I would recommend WC
                    Resident fish bum
                    330G FOWLR
                    34G Reef
                    330G Discus biotopish (no longer running)
                    28G JBJ Reef (no longer running)
                    Treasurer, GHAC

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                    • #11
                      Aquaclear 30 should work great you will be happy with the new filter.
                      25g - Reef
                      3.5g - Surge Tank
                      10g - Ichthyophthirius multifilis breeding colony

                      Comment

                      • #12
                        Re: Filter Help ---Beginner

                        Well something is screwing with my ammonia...I just did a wc and did the test and got 3ppm but nitrite and nitrate is 0 and also I did put in ammonia lock from API in. It says the test can still give test for ammonia but it is in a non lethal form for fish
                        20 Gallon High
                        -5 Guppies, White Cloud
                        130 Gallon AGA
                        -Oranda Goldfish, Lionhead Goldfish, Black Moor Goldfish, Ryukin Goldfish
                        10 Gallon Hospital
                        - Black Moor Goldfish ---Tail Rot

                        Comment

                        • #13
                          You best bet is to go fine someone that lives near you with a fish tank and "borrow" some of their media.
                          I ate my fish that died.

                          Comment

                          • #14
                            sounds like he didn't let the tank cycle before adding the fish. or he added all the fish at once. im doing a filter change tomorrow if you want some of my old pads. that will really speed up ypur cycle.

                            --I contend that we are both atheists. I just believe in one fewer god than you do. When you understand why you dismiss all the other possible gods, you will understand why I dismiss yours.
                            -Stephen Roberts

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                            • #15
                              If you saved any of the filter media from that last filter, put it in the AC30. Or, if your old filter is still running, that's even better.

                              Like Darbex said, any detectable ammonia in a tank isn't good. But you said that you had nitrite BEFORE you did the water change and changed the filter, correct? That's indicative that your tank was cycling, and on its way to finishing. In cycling, first ammonia will rise. Then nitrite will rise and ammonia will start to drop off to zero. Then, when you see nitrate starting to rise, you're in the clear. The nitrite should start to drop and in the end you will be left with only nitrate.

                              If you changed the filter and didn't use any of the old media, you may have started the process all over again. Hopefully, though, since your tank was already in the nitrite phase of cycling, the new filter will pick up some of the old bacteria from other surfaces in the aquarium and begin to seed itself. But you might have that cloudy bacterial bloom for longer now. :(

                              Be sure to keep testing the water. How big of a water change did you do yesterday?
                              "Millennium hand and shrimp!"

                              Comment

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