Inadequate filtering. What to do, help please.

I was told my tank was a 40gal when I got it but measuring with the calculator here it looks more like 37 gal to me. It is 23.5 inches high And came with an in-tank corner filter. That was just fine when I was cycling the tank but now that I have my fish I don’t think it’s doing the job. Every morning I find a substantial amount of fish waste in one corner, the filter is located in the back right corner and the fish waste and other detritus all end up in the front right corner. I therefore find it absolutely necessary to clean that corner every morning and take out and replace one pail of water.
I am looking for suggestions please as to what I could add to correct the situation or if I need to get rid of that filter all together and if I do what should I replace it with. Thank you for your help, I really need it.

 

Firstly, do you know what your ammonia and nitrite is like? If they are 0 (or if ammonia reads 0.25ppm on the API test kit), then the filter is at least filtering the water adequately, so it won't be that.

It may be an issue of flow, i.e. even if you replace this filter, another may not make a difference since this may be more about tank design than anything.

You can get another filter, but whether it can circulate water throughout all the tank in a way to get rid of all the detritus is not easy to say.

What you can do rather is get a powerhead or just an additional filter for the other side to push fish waste from the other corner.

Bear in mind as well that having fish waste and other detritus at the bottom of the tanks is not really uncommon, either way. They only really break up well if there is enough of a current to constantly cause them to move around. And/or have organisms that can break them down super effectively.

 

First, thank you for your reply. I take my API kit reading every 2 days and amonia and nitrites are always 0 and nitrate fluctuate a bit around the 5 mark. I do water changes about every 5 or 6 days.
So yes I think it’s a water circulation problem since the bottom of my tank is always mostly clean and all the waste gathers in that same corner and stays there if I dont remove it. What do you mean by a powerhead? If I add a second filter what kind do you recommend?
i should also have mentioned that the back wall of my tank is a bubble wall that I keep not too strong or my Bolivian Rams flow backwards toward that same corner. Lol

 

First, thank you for your reply. I take my API kit reading every 2 days and amonia and nitrites are always 0 and nitrate fluctuate a bit around the 5 mark. I do water changes about every 5 or 6 days.
So yes I think it’s a water circulation problem since the bottom of my tank is always mostly clean and all the waste gathers in that same corner and stays there if I dont remove it. What do you mean by a powerhead? If I add a second filter what kind do you recommend?
i should also have mentioned that the back wall of my tank is a bubble wall that I keep not too strong or my Bolivian Rams flow backwards toward that same corner. Lol

Oh gotcha. A powerhead is just a water circulator. Depending on what fish you have, you may have to wrap foam or something around it to prevent things from being sucked in. The advantage of a powerhead is that it is designed specifically to create flow, so you can point it at the problematic area to clean it. Though if it is sand, it might blow around a bit. What kind of substrate do you have by the way?

A second filter would work too, I tend to like HOBs, because you can kinda have the water falling down from the HOB be strong enough to stir up detritus just underneath the outlet. But it kinda varies from one product to another and the exact layout of the tank.

 

I second the powerhead.
Reef aquariums use them to create the flow over corals that they like. But an undersized powerhead aimed at one wall and deflected across the substrate, or whatever needs done, produces a nice gentle current to keep things moving.
I ran a 15g powerhead in my 27g until I got a better filter for it.

 

Here is a pic that might explain better. As you can probably see I have Fluval stratum all over but on the right side (which is the problematic one)I added some fine sand for my little baby corys.
I will check for a powerhead on Amazon and also I was reading up on HOB filters and the Fluval C40 has a really good review. If I get a second filter, where would you place it or the powerhead as well. Your help is really appreciate, I’m really lost when it comes to filters and such.
A second vote for the powerhead, going to go check online right now and see what it looks like. Thank you for your opinio.

MARINE COLOR jvp130 wavemaker Series Submersible Circulation Power Head Pump, 530 GPH, Black​

this is the smallest I found on Amazon. 530 GPH won’t that cause a tsunami in my tank?

 

Here is the one I used
Amazon.com : Fluval Sea CP1 Circulation Pump for Freshwater & Saltwater Aquariums, 14345 : Aquarium Water Pumps : Pet Supplies

265 GPH, which still moves quite a bit of water.

 

Great! Where would I place it? I will also look to see if it’s available somewhere here in Canada because Amazon wants import fees and delivery charges for that one even if I have Prime.

 

Ah, Canada. Maybe a local shop has one.
Where you place it is up to you. You don't want to be blowing your fish and plants all over. Just a slight current over your substrate and in that corner. You'll see after you plug it in.

 

Sounds great, thank you for your help much appreciated.