135 gallon bioload

[cichla1004]

Ok so I impulse bought a few fish and just want to check with everyone on bioload. I have a 6 foot 135 with 2 emporer 400 biowheels and I do twice weekly 40 - 50 % water changes. Current stock list is
1 JD
1 GT
1 Texas Cichlid
1 Green severum
2 Silver dollars
1 senegal bichir
1 rubber lip pleco
Think this will work long term? They are all about half grown right now. Is this too much bioload for my filtration and maintenance schedule?
I impulse bought the bichir and pleco, everything else I've had for about 2-3 months or so.

 

[jordanlewis100]

should be ok for a while but i would worry about the severum taking a beating at some point,the other fish should be fine but just keep an eye on your bichir

 

[cichla1004]

As funny as this may sound, the severum runs the tank at the moment lol. I'm not too worried about aggression just bioload. I went through alot of fish trading and swapping to get a peaceful mix. The only rowdy one is the texas and hes still not too bad. What should I be watching for with the bichir? Should I be worried about his safety or the safety of my cichlids?

 

[hillbilly]

I would keep an eye on the Texas. I had one who was a pussycat at first, but the bigger it got, the more agressive it became, until it had to be removed from the tank. With your waterchanging routine, bioload should be fine for the time being.

 

[Wolf3101]

I like emporer filters. The bio wheels are quick to respond to changing bio loads and should handle your stock list just fine. One suggestion I can make would be to replace the standard cartrage/media basket combination with a Bioforever supercartrage. Not only do they add to the bio capacity of the filter they also have washable pads that slip right in and that can be replaced by almost any bulk pad material making it a LOT less costly to maintain. I've done that on all 5 of our 400's and both 280's

You can get them on Ebay for a reasonable price concidering the cost of replacement cartrages.

 

[Mystix212]

If you do large weekly water changes, ammonia, nitrite etc wouldnt have a lot of time to build up. I reckon you've got the all clear.

 

[jordanlewis100]

As funny as this may sound, the severum runs the tank at the moment lol. I'm not too worried about aggression just bioload. I went through alot of fish trading and swapping to get a peaceful mix. The only rowdy one is the texas and hes still not too bad. What should I be watching for with the bichir? Should I be worried about his safety or the safety of my cichlids?

just saying to watch out incase your bichir get's picked on especially the texas,everyone i've had got more territorial as they matured but i suppose the same could be said of most medium/large centrals!

 

[cichla1004]

Well, the texas is already starting to nip a bit, I figured as much when I bought him. So, in the long run he'll probably be going to another tank. As far as the bichir goes he is MUCH larger than everything else so he pretty much gets left alone. My largest cichlid is 5 inches and the bichir is around 9, and very solid.
I'll have to look into replacing the cartridges with what wasa suggested, thank you for the info. I think I'm going to add another emperor 400 too.
Thanks everyone for the input.

 

[ewok]

sounds fine although after a while i find that the biowheels can't compete with a good canister... i would recommend that you get a good canister rated for around 200 gallon tanks (i think fluval 404?) and replace one of the biowheels for that. more water turn over and it should handle things better.