Do i need to do water changes if i have good filter

  • We are currently upgrading MFK. thanks! -neo
aae0130 said:
I reset-up my filtration a few months ago with Seachem Matrix but have not made a dent in my nitrates. I attributed my failure to too high of a flow rate. The recommended rate of flow for this is 50 gph. I just can’t get there........
Sounds like you were there with the flow but still not successful.
Maybe we are destined to be water boys.......
Click to expand...

Im no expert by any stretch of the imagination so take this with a grain of salt. 50gph was too high. I messed around with this project for a while so many of the numbers and exact stats are buried somewhere on mfk. Im pretty sure i was below 20gph when the system actually started working. I also seeded it with some bb in a bottle in the very beginning (i think)

The method is definitely plausible but dont expect to set it and forget it. Constant tinkering. I bet it would be even more successful if you were to carbon dose.

I think theres a fine balance between the overall tank volume - low gph output - amount of surface area of bb that are just way too difficult to pinpoint to a point where we can all give each other specifics and a detailed instruction on how to get this thing going.
 
  • Like
Reactions: aae0130 and twentyleagues
jaws7777 said:
Im no expert by any stretch of the imagination so take this with a grain of salt. 50gph was too high. I messed around with this project for a while so many of the numbers and exact stats are buried somewhere on mfk. Im pretty sure i was below 20gph when the system actually started working. I also seeded it with some bb in a bottle in the very beginning (i think)

The method is definitely plausible but dont expect to set it and forget it. Constant tinkering. I bet it would be even more successful if you were to carbon dose.

I think theres a fine balance between the overall tank volume - low gph output - amount of surface area of bb that are just way too difficult to pinpoint to a point where we can all give each other specifics and a detailed instruction on how to get this thing going.
Click to expand...
Well if you believe the claims of biohome it's all you need. The outside grows aerobic bacteria and the inside grows anaerobic bacteria. The flow doesnt matter as the center allows flow but is "self regulating", my words not theirs.... exactly. The more you use the better the results, their words...lol. I'm not saying I disbelieve if it works or not, I'll probably never find out myself as it costs to much. According to them I need 32kg of media. Which takes up about 2000 cubic inches of space. Screenshot_2019-02-14-20-29-03.png
That's the cost.......ummm no. And I guess I missed it they do recommend a lower flow rate to help facilitate nitrate reduction. But they dont give any numbers. Must be pond guru that said you dont need to separate it out.
 
  • Like
Reactions: aae0130
twentyleagues said:
Well if you believe the claims of biohome it's all you need. The outside grows aerobic bacteria and the inside grows anaerobic bacteria. The flow doesnt matter as the center allows flow but is "self regulating", my words not theirs.... exactly. The more you use the better the results, their words...lol. I'm not saying I disbelieve if it works or not, I'll probably never find out myself as it costs to much. According to them I need 32kg of media. Which takes up about 2000 cubic inches of space. View attachment 1360466
That's the cost.......ummm no. And I guess I missed it they do recommend a lower flow rate to help facilitate nitrate reduction. But they dont give any numbers. Must be pond guru that said you dont need to separate it out.
Click to expand...

Man how many polys could we get for 500 lol

I feel like someone on here would have done it already (if it really works) idk
 
  • Like
Reactions: aae0130 and twentyleagues
Mattteus"post: 7987523 said:
Hmm. The answer to the question is yes you do need to do water changes.

Oscars are extremely messy fish. They chew up their food and spit most of it out. They pee lots. Have you ever seen an Oscar poop? Especially when you feed them crickets...it almost doesn’t even make sense that something so big can come out of that little hole. The filter doesn’t remove most of these things, they can be broken down to a certain extent but you will still be cycling the same water over and over again.

There could almost be an entire thread or even a sticky about how big of a tank oscars require. The truth is your fish may be alive in that 55 gal tank but they most likely are not thriving. Imagine you had 2 roommates who were absolute slobs and didn’t clean up after themselves, and you all shared a room. And that’s all you had to live in. And you have to crap and pee in the same room. But someone has an air purifier in the room so they don’t think it’s a big deal so they just keep giving you more food....

Just sayin.
Click to expand...
I've noticed this thread and am finally getting around to reading it...and to think I have been missing this post all this time LOL!
 
  • Like
Reactions: twentyleagues
Just add 6 oz of pure sugar, and a bottle of rid-ex septic tank stuff. Nitrates will disappear about as fast as the tank turns milky white.

Just add some daphia to clean up the mess.
 
markstrimaran said:
Just add 6 oz of pure sugar, and a bottle of rid-ex septic tank stuff. Nitrates will disappear about as fast as the tank turns milky white.

Just add some daphia to clean up the mess.
Click to expand...
I really really miss have clean up critters in saltwater. Pods, bristleworms, snails , crabs and all maner of others. I want some scuds and other small critters to populate my tanks. How long will daphnia live in a fish tank? I've never had them show up in my tanks. I found a planaria a few months ago. I see them from time to time but not in any quantities. I have feed black worms and found them still alive in dark uncharted regions of my tank from time to time. I need/want some good detrivoirs!
 
I have had daphnia continuously. Since I started using algea scubbers. Then some Midge fly larve, snails, and just added assasin snails.

One of these summers I will start up a sulfur denitrator, with the effluent dumping into an algea scrubber.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
MonsterFishKeepers.com
Top Bottom