aquaclear 110

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xiiutao

Feeder Fish
MFK Member
Jan 24, 2006
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I am new to the site and unsure if this is where I should post this topic, because I have a mixed topic about my filteration and my cycle. I got the idea to come here when i visited a LFS that had a MFK.com sticker on 2 of there tanks!(Aquariums Etc, in Centerville, Ohio)


I have a aquaclear 110 that is about 3 weeks old. I noticed the other day that with the max flow rate the filter water overflows partly on the left side of my filteration 'basket'. I don't know if this is normal, but I don't think the overflow is more water then being filtered. One thing I am concerned about is my tank is 3 weeks old, and I have a 5ppm nitrate reading. The first week I got 10 black tetras, and fed them 2 times a day. The second week I kept the 10 black tetras, and added a 4" elong piranha. I added Bio Spira, and Established media from the elongs tank of the other owner. My tank now goign on 3 weeks old still hasn't cycled. My readings are .50ppm ammonia, 5ppm nitrate, and 5.0 nitrite for the passed week. 5.0 is the highest my test kit will test nitrite. Does this seem normal for a 3 week old tank with 2 weeks with Bio Spira? My filter is seemingly overflowing so not all my water is being pushed through all the levelers of filteration, and I thought this might be messing with my cycle. Any opinions are appreciated. THANKS!
 
Sounds like clogged sponges. Especially if you haven't rinsed them in 3 weeks - is this true?

Just rinse/squeeze the sponges out in a bucket of tank water. I'm pretty confident this will fix your problem. :thumbsup:
 
I've noticed my 110 overflows if you put the bio rings in the middle and the charcoal on top. It works best with sponge on the bottom, charcoal in the middle and biomax rings on top
 
Sorry for the late replies!

I have a 55 gallon tank, and I used a whole pouch of biospira, and I floated it in the tank for about 5-10 minutes before adding it. I rinsed my sponge out once I noticed the problem. By the spacer do you mean the thing that makes the filter level? If so, then ya I have it on and the filter is level.

I rinsed my sponge 2 weeks after my tank was setup. My first water change is when I noticed the slight overflow from the left side of the filteration basket.

My filteration is setup Sponge level1 bottom, Carbon level2 middle, and bio max rigns level 3 top.

I'm not sure the overflow is a big problem, but I just noticed that the left chamber with the motor the water rises to high that some of the water just falls over the left hand side of my filter basket. If I slow the flow about halfway the water level of the motor chamber falls to a lelve where it isn't reaching the hole to overflow into. But this cuts my filteration in half, and with Piranhas its good to have as much filteration as possible. I want to invest in a xp3 or 404 canister filter, but I need the funds first. =) Thanks for the replies!
 
xiiutao said:
My readings are .50ppm ammonia, 5ppm nitrate, and 5.0 nitrite for the passed week. 5.0 is the highest my test kit will test nitrite.
Click to expand...

Howdy and Welcome to MFK!

First of all, your water levels are alarming, if not shocking. Your nitrite, as you said, it extremely high and toxic. You did not mention your pH value, but if it's anything higher than 7.5, then your ammonia levels are toxic as well.

I hope that your test kit is bad... please test your tap water or distilled water for negative control.

If the values are real, you need to perform an immediate total water change. In your case, this will do more good than harm. Please use quality water conditioner. Also, despite of the use of "old" filtermedia, I recommend you get some bottled bacteria and use them as stated in the instructions for setting up a new tank. Since you already have fish in your tank, that might be the best way to reduce the risk of losing any.

Also, reduce feed intake and keep measuring water parameters and perform water changes as necessary to keep nitrite and ammonia low!

Good luck,

HarleyK
 
do a big water cahnge.
 
My AC110 overflowed once in awhile too, just squeeze out the debris over the sink. Some people say not to rinse it with sinkwater, as it kills the bacteria. I think its not that big of a deal since there are lots in my gravel. Another trick I use is to poke into the sponge with something sharp to loosen some of it so the water flows through it better, but still catch debris.
 
It takes 11 days for the cycle to be complete when Bio-Spiro is used (I had a couple of long talks with marineland).

I have set up 20+ tanks using it and I have noticed that a lot of test kits will test off the scale on nitrates and I was really worried at first but I have to tell you that I've never lost a fish during the cycle .

I would go ahead and do a 50% water change every week for the next month and I think that you will see that everything will be fine.

Remeber that the good bacteria lives in the gravel and the filter.

I would start feeding only once a day and only as much as the fish will eat in 2 min.
 
The sponge needs to be cleaned, hence the overflow... As far as the cycling, try cycle or stability... they cycle much faster then your bio-spira appears to be.
 
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