after doing some reading, I still need advice/help with filters

  • We are currently upgrading MFK. thanks! -neo
T

topofthehil

Feeder Fish
Jan 6, 2009
3
0
0
west central WI
I have a 210 gal african cichlid aquarium setup.
the yellow labs are over powering the others.
must be 60 to 70 of them. can't get then to stop having young.
I need to give about 50 or so away, but the pet stores I went to would not take them.
any way, I am changing out 25% the water every three days, or until I can't see the back of the tank.
thank goodness I am blessed with good well water that I don't have to treat.
I currently use three emperor 400 filters, and one wisper model 60.
they just can't filter the green/yellow tint out of the water.
I tried several different types of water treatments for cloudy water, but none of them worked.
I think it's time to spend some money on a better filter system.
I need some expert advice on what to buy and where to buy.
thank you for your time.
 
Your best bet is to go with a sump. You really shouldn't have that much of a problem with the water being dirty at that stocking level. Yes, there are a lot of fish in there, but I doubt they're all full grown. I would be good money that you aren't getting all of the debris out of the tank with your current filters. Wet/dry filters or sumps do a great job removing the debris and you can use a pretty strong pump to get it to stirr up the bottom and remove a lot of the debris.

Check out Drs Foster and Smith. They'll have about anything you'll need. You would want to turn that tank over at least 4-5 times an hour.
 
A sump would be a great idea. Have you tried running bigger amounts of carbon ? I pack my top fin 60 bags with seachem matrix and it clears the cloudiness with a quickness.
 
sorry about not responding sooner.
having internet problems.
yes, I do add extra carbon to the filters.
what model/brand of sump would you recommend?
thanks for the help.
 
Hey I am not really a huge ran of sumps I am sure they are good and have there fans I a 330 and am using 2 Fx5 filters and they keep my water crystal clear! They are easy to maintain. little pricy in the start up to buy that is but work really well. Look on Ebay you can find them fairly cheap.
 
x2 on the fx5. they cant be a slight pain in the butt to move to clean, due to the weight of the water in the can. but other than that, they are filter beasts. i have one fx5 running on my 250 as the only filter loaded with bio-media, and the water is crystal clear.

the fx5 is an amazing filter, and IMO the best one you can really buy for under $200 off ebay.
 
I have a pond filter for my 120 and it kept the water very very clean and diease free. It has a built in UV sterilizer. I got it from Ebay for 250 but you have to get the power head separate. I would say best investment ever! O yea one bad thing it sucks up little young fish if they get to close :D But I made a huge sponge to cover that it works great
 
I am looking at two different types of filters on ebay.
one is the fx5.
what do you use for the filter media?
there was mention of bio max and polishing pads.
on the reviews, most people did not like the polishing pads.
what else do I need to buy that goes with this filter?
the other filter I am looking at is the refugium wet/dry sump ebay item #350192181974. a lot of $ though. do you know anything about this set up?
says it's ready to go out of the box.
the more I read, the more confused I get.
thanks for the help.
 
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