help me settle a debate

[toehead11183]

i need some help settling a debate with the guys at work. i set up a 280g about 2 weeks ago. its running 20g in the sump(300g) total. i also put a 315gph canister filter with about 1gal of mature biomedia in it, there is a brand new marineland commercial biowheel with im guessing 1/3 cubic feet of bio media. all running at 1500gph. ive had a 16" niger cat, a 6" irwini cat, a 10" fire eel, 6" african leaf for about 12 days and just threw a 8" frontosa in there this morning. ammonia, nitrite and nitrate all undetectible. im replacing the biowheel with 2.25 cubic feet of scrubbies monday or tuesday. now, my big question is, should i add two 12" rays to this next friday. i want to hold off for my tax return (2-3 weeks) but my buddies are saying i should bring them in friday for a party im having saturday. im thinking ammonia spikes.

 

[PeteLockwood]

So the question is: is your opinion, the potential safety of your fish and the state of your bank account more important than what your drinking pals have to say? Tough choice.

 

[scott s]

No. If your not getting a nitrate reading, your tank probably has not completed the cycle. I would keep a close eye on the water parameters and be ready for a WC.

 

[fish n chips]

whos payin for the fish, the guys at work ,or you,??

sounds like a lot of fish to have after only 2 weeks unning,i hear u say you have mature biomedia in ther so thats a pluss i guess but still sounds like a big load in a short time to me,,,

if it wer me i would hold off till i was 100% the bio thats in ther now can handle whats in ther atm

 

[toehead11183]

i have little tono nitrate in any of my tanks. we dont recycle the city water here, its straight from the aquafer plus i do regular weekly waterchanges

 

[hereticlosmorte]

even with weekly changes, you should be showing some nitrate in the water. if you're not seeing any at all, something is up.

would you rather have a hit at the party and all of your fish potentially die, or play it safe and wait until you have changed your media/added more.

 

[WhispersinMyHead]

Wait......Who cares what they say. I would also consider a larger sump allowing for more media and water.

 

[hereticlosmorte]

Wait......Who cares what they say. I would also consider a larger sump allowing for more media and water.

that's what we're trying to get across. that it's more responsible to make sure the fish are safe than overstocking and potentially killing a swathe of living creatures for a few drunk friends

 

[gangster]

It sounds like you need to add more filtration to that tank. A 20g sump on a 280 is way too little. And a 1500gph turnover rate is about a 5x turnover rate on that tank....not enough especially if you wanna add some rays. Make that sump a 75g+ and add atleast 55#'s of media to it. Then add a filter sock for mech filtration.

With the minimal filtration on that tank you shouldnt add anymore fish.

 

[toehead11183]

ok, thanks for all ur comments. looks like we arent reading carefully enough. 1st, this post was to back up my point to my friends to show them its too early for the raysAT THIS MOMENT. yall assumed that no changes were going to be made to the tank in the future. 2nd, i said 20g IN THE SUMP its a 40 g sump, biggest i could get under there i tried a 75 but its too tall and i wont be able to change the media. i could only get a 30" tall stand through my door way. 3rd, i have two 7"x16" filter sock and will be adding300 scrubbies soon, working on the flow rate, i had to cut the pump back bc it was filling the tank faster than it could drain. so right now its running 1800 gph (1500+315 with the canister filter) i plan to at least add an fx5 within the next few months.