lisamommy

We've been doing very regular water changes (around 20-25%) since start up (every 3 or 4 or 5 days depending). At first I think we weren't really getting deep into the rocks on the bottom mostly just changing the water. Then I told DH he has to dig into the rocks with the vacuum and get to the bottom of the stones. This ends up stirring up so much "crap" that the water never looks clear. In fact it looks worse after the water change than before. Are we doing this right?

My next question is about filter maintenance. We have an aquaclear 30 and we had just left it alone since we started up the tank at the end of January. Then the fish store person told me to change out the charcoal and that I should be rinsing the sponge and white rock type things every water change. So we turned off the filter, rinsed out the stuff but didn't "dump" the filthy water that was sitting in the bottom of the filter since I assumed that to be the "good" bacteria. But when we restarted the filter all the junk can pouring out of the filter and really made a mess of the water. What am I doing wrong?

We've never had crystal clear water, there is always white particulate matter floating around no matter how often we change the water.

Can anyone help?

sjlchgo

I give my gravel a thorough cleaning once a month. The other weekly changes are done by taking water from the middle of the tank and only skimming over the gravel bed. You don't want to "clean your gravel" too often because bacteria also grows there. Arguements will vary on the issue of charcoal, but personally I don't use it. I use filter floss instead. I change it when it's dirty(ususally weekly) and watch not to over feed. The other thing to watch for is how you pour the water in the tank. I have a "cave" in mine andpour the fresh water on top of that so I don't stir up the gravel. Could be bacterial bloom also.

outlaw

Are you conditioning the water at all?

and could the white particulates be bubbles? I thought I had stuff floating around too, but turned out to be bubbles with all the current in my tank. 250GPH power head, spraybar for canister filter, and HOB filter, with a bubble stick. Tends to make a lot of bubbles.

Does the water ever get clear, or does it just look bad when you first change everything? You could try.. after rinsing the filter, before you turn it on, put a small bowl or cup under the "exhaust" and turning it on so it will spit it up into the dish/cup instead of the tank. I did that for our Terrarium and it seemed to work very nicely.

Just a thought.

COBettaCouple

We use these, cut to fit the filter:
http://www.drsfostersmith.com/Produc...31&c=3578+4150

and sponges in our fitler. That's it.

To clean our filter, we swish the sponge and filter floss in a container of tank water. When you clean the filter, you can also try swishing the filter intake tube in the container of tank water.

SereneReyn

i've read that water itself actually has relatively little bacteria in it (it sticks to surfaces), so you probably should've dumped all the 'gunky' water from your filter. my other suggestion would be to aim for having about 3 times the 'recommended' filtration... meaning, on a 30g tank, you want a filter that says on the box it's for up to a 90g tank. you can never have too much filtration.
i've also read on here that some people only 'vacuum' about half their gravel at once. and even though it does stir up a bunch of yuckiness, with a good filter, it should clear up in about 30 min...

cloudiness usually doesn't hurt much (do you have any shell decorations, or rock with white streaks? shells will decompose in freshwater and make it cloudy, and some rock leeches stuff into water too), but if it's not bubbles, and tests are ok, then again, i'd look at my filter and see if i needed to change or upgrade anything.

TuesdaysChild

Do you use the blue filter pad and a sponge in the same filter? I picked up the filter pad but can't seem to get it to stand upright in the filter. I'm trying to use it in a penguin filter.

Shawnie

I think that the particles maybe some of the carbon releasing into the water...carbon isnt any good after awile and it releases back into the tank if not taken out...most dont use it here unless removing medicines ...maybe that would help a bit also

MissMTS

One thing about vacuuming the gravel....
I was only doing a good gravel vacuum about once every two weeks. Last night I tore down my 40 gallon and set up a 65 gallon. Once I drained the water from the 40 gallon, and scooped out some of the gravel, I was able to see just how much crud gets stuck under there. The water around the gravel was dark brown and it was just gross. Now I will be sure to vacuum my gravel weekly and I urge others to do so. You will not wash away all of the good bacteria, you will just be giving your tank a good cleaning. The biological bacteria also grows in the filter and on all of the tank plants and decorations. As far as the "crud" coming out of your filter. It may mean that your filter media needs a good cleaning (you can rinse it with tank water and you will not hurt the bacteria).

Halibut

What sponge would you recommend for a penguin350? I already use the uncut filter pad and had thought about using floss but havnt been able to find a sponge that fits my filters.