Hi all -
Newbie to MFK, but I seriously love the site and finally had a question I couldn't find an answer to.
Basic history of my setup - 55g freshwater, adopted from someone that didn't take care of it how they should (oddly someone that worked in a pet store), it was stocked with cichlids, a huge Pleco, a large catfish, and a lot of grime.
Moved the tank, cleaned it up, got new filters, figured out media and filtering needs, and everyone in the tank did great for a couple years, I was shocked how hardy these guys are.
Over time I've lost some fish, they were actually old when I got them, and I pat myself on the back for extending their lifespans. I have been running with the catfish, and one huge cichlid that seem to be the old men of the crew.
Wanting to do some more cleaning of the tank and to get something new in there, I decided on some Japanese trapdoor snails. Well, some was actually 8. Online seller, included some extras and I think miscounted anyway, but they all survived the travel and migration and are doing awesome. They are creepy, I love watching them.
At the same time, I had almost the same thing happen with some freshwater clams. Same deal, ended up with 7.
The snails I feel are doing fine eating the algae they find, and I give some algae wafers once in a while if I'm paranoid. The clams are also doing their job, they dig, siphon, come back up, move around, do it again, etc. I actually time-lapsed some footage to see this and was impressed.
So my issue after this lengthy history is if I should worry about over-filtering. I am running an AC110 for my primary, but the tank came with an Emperor 400 that doesn't have great flow anymore, but I have it packed with some sponges to just help clean. I did this when the tank was originally stocked heavily and it was a good setup, water levels were great, but now with the scavenger type guys in there, I am thinking I need to cut back on the filtration and let them do their thing.
Any suggestions? Substrate is pool filter sand (the cichlids LOVE this stuff, they move it all around spit it around, dig holes), the clams like it, and with 2 small powerheads for some flow, nothing ever settles on the bottom. The powerheads were a recent add to get some current for the clams. I'm thinking the AC110 will suffice and I can put the Emp400 away as a backup.
Sorry for the long post, wanted to get some details out there.
Thanks,
10k
Newbie to MFK, but I seriously love the site and finally had a question I couldn't find an answer to.
Basic history of my setup - 55g freshwater, adopted from someone that didn't take care of it how they should (oddly someone that worked in a pet store), it was stocked with cichlids, a huge Pleco, a large catfish, and a lot of grime.
Moved the tank, cleaned it up, got new filters, figured out media and filtering needs, and everyone in the tank did great for a couple years, I was shocked how hardy these guys are.
Over time I've lost some fish, they were actually old when I got them, and I pat myself on the back for extending their lifespans. I have been running with the catfish, and one huge cichlid that seem to be the old men of the crew.
Wanting to do some more cleaning of the tank and to get something new in there, I decided on some Japanese trapdoor snails. Well, some was actually 8. Online seller, included some extras and I think miscounted anyway, but they all survived the travel and migration and are doing awesome. They are creepy, I love watching them.
At the same time, I had almost the same thing happen with some freshwater clams. Same deal, ended up with 7.
The snails I feel are doing fine eating the algae they find, and I give some algae wafers once in a while if I'm paranoid. The clams are also doing their job, they dig, siphon, come back up, move around, do it again, etc. I actually time-lapsed some footage to see this and was impressed.
So my issue after this lengthy history is if I should worry about over-filtering. I am running an AC110 for my primary, but the tank came with an Emperor 400 that doesn't have great flow anymore, but I have it packed with some sponges to just help clean. I did this when the tank was originally stocked heavily and it was a good setup, water levels were great, but now with the scavenger type guys in there, I am thinking I need to cut back on the filtration and let them do their thing.
Any suggestions? Substrate is pool filter sand (the cichlids LOVE this stuff, they move it all around spit it around, dig holes), the clams like it, and with 2 small powerheads for some flow, nothing ever settles on the bottom. The powerheads were a recent add to get some current for the clams. I'm thinking the AC110 will suffice and I can put the Emp400 away as a backup.
Sorry for the long post, wanted to get some details out there.
Thanks,
10k
