Powehead/filtration

[f8fan]

You might be able to rent a diatom filter at your LFS. I know my local "mom and pop" store have one for rental.

I would do very frequent water changes. I had the same problem in my tanks after setting them up with a sand substrate. I rinsed and rinsed and rinsed the sand prior to putting it in the tank, but a month later the water still had a brownish tinge. Do some large and frequent water changes, and place a saucer or plate or something on the bottom of the tank when replacing water so it doesn't stir the sand up more when the water hits it.

I don't think a powerhead is going to help your filtration out all that much, however they are really good at moving water in "dead" spots around so everything circulates itself to the filter path.

 

[YahooFishKeeper]

PetSmart - Power Sweep Powerheads by ZooMed

i have 2 of these in my tanks just as powerheads, but they come with a sponge filter that goes on them. good circulation and the filter will help your bio filteration. also you can hook them up to an air pump, but you probably wont need to.

 

[mattistat]

f8fan wen tou say large and frequent chenges how mutch do you mean and how do you tell if a spot id "dead" cause i cant tell if its moving or not

 

[mattistat]

PetSmart - Power Sweep Powerheads by ZooMed

i have 2 of these in my tanks just as powerheads, but they come with a sponge filter that goes on them. good circulation and the filter will help your bio filteration. also you can hook them up to an air pump, but you probably wont need to.

awww that makes me mad i was just there and saw thoes grrrrr o well i guess
but would a normal sponge be ok?

 

[YahooFishKeeper]

yeah, but make sure its clear of chemicals.

 

[f8fan]

f8fan wen tou say large and frequent chenges how mutch do you mean and how do you tell if a spot id "dead" cause i cant tell if its moving or not

I'd do at least a couple 50% water changes a week.

When I say "dead" spots, I mean like in an area where you are pretty sure it's not getting a lot of flow from the water splashing back down from the filter. Like if your filter is situated on the left side of the tank, water on the right side of the tank wont be as inclined to be sucked up into the "intake" just because it's not as close to the filter intake or output. If you had a powerhead on the right side of the tank, it would push it all over to the left side where the filter will process it.

 

[mattistat]

thxit looks alittle clearer to me somehow alredy and its been running olny 1 hour sweet i dont know how

 

[mattistat]

if i cant get one of thoes filter things is there anny chemichal i can add?

 

[Igor The Cat]

nope, no chemicals ever, you should never need chemicals to fix your problems, save for activated carbon from time to time.

cheers

-Java

 

[YahooFishKeeper]

or dechlorinator if you done age your water first. or if you have chloramine in your water. thats like the only time you should ever use chemicals.

 

[mattistat]

are you saing save my money for the carbon or something else im so confused all the time lol

 

[YahooFishKeeper]

no we are saying dont waste your money on chemicals at all besides carbon and dechlor. and dont even waste your money on that if you age your water first.

 

[Igor The Cat]

exactly, the only reason there is a big bottle of Genesis Dechlor on my shelf is for the aquarium maintanace business..

cheers

-Java

 

[mattistat]

well thank you but i am still confused lol sorry what is carbon do and why would i need it?

 

[YahooFishKeeper]

carbon is charcoal. it takes bad stuff out of water. its why they force feed dogs charcoal and water when they drink antifreeze.

 

[mattistat]

so would this help cause ther is a spot for carbon to go in my filter (i have an empoer 400) do i put it in there and leav it in there or take it out after so long

 

[Igor The Cat]

i wouldnt use it for more than a month at a time, and only when you really need it, i only use it on brand new tanks or when removing medication anyway.

cheers

-Java