Im new to the hobby and am looking for general knowledge. What signs should i be able to recognize that tell me my filtration is inadequate? Right now i have a 125 gallon with a fx4. Tank currently has 2 oscars and 4 SA cichlids all 2-2.5 in. From doing some reading on the forum it appears quite a few people are running MUCH more filtration either larger or simply multiple. Sometime both. Just looking for some education on the subject. Thank you
How to tell youve outgrown your filter?
- Thread starter Laiken
- Start date
Welcome aboard
A lot of things could affect filtration such as bioload, how much you feed, and as the fish grow you must monitor the water parameters. This is just a few examples.
A lot of things could affect filtration such as bioload, how much you feed, and as the fish grow you must monitor the water parameters. This is just a few examples.
Well I'd say once fish start regularly jumping out of your tank you should have upgraded your filter a long time ago.
Thanks for the replies. Hopefully there are some signs ill recognize before they start abandoning ship. Lol
Hello; I get that the current trend is to have more and more power filtration. I guess other than cost to buy the power filters and the expense of operation, then over much filtration is alright.
However it is not really needed. If you were starting out over 50 years ago as I did most of the power filtration we now use was not around yet. For around the first ten years all I had were air operated filters. Bubble operated HOB types and other in tank types. Sponge filters and UGF.
Well we got by and our tanks ran well enough. I did get a HOB power filter for a 125 gallon tank in the 1970's. Nothing like the ones today but did push a decent amount of water. Maybe not as powerful as the fx4 you are using. I used some bubblers along with it. Ran the tank several years than way. The key then as it is now was water changes (WC).
My take is you can run that tank on and on with the one filter if you want. I do like the backup of a few bubblers. Got in the habit of using them as the early power filters so often had problems. The main problem was they often lost siphon. The early filters relied on a siphon tube and were not able to self start. They lost siphon several times a week.
Keep up with the WC and you can do well with what you have.
However it is not really needed. If you were starting out over 50 years ago as I did most of the power filtration we now use was not around yet. For around the first ten years all I had were air operated filters. Bubble operated HOB types and other in tank types. Sponge filters and UGF.
Well we got by and our tanks ran well enough. I did get a HOB power filter for a 125 gallon tank in the 1970's. Nothing like the ones today but did push a decent amount of water. Maybe not as powerful as the fx4 you are using. I used some bubblers along with it. Ran the tank several years than way. The key then as it is now was water changes (WC).
My take is you can run that tank on and on with the one filter if you want. I do like the backup of a few bubblers. Got in the habit of using them as the early power filters so often had problems. The main problem was they often lost siphon. The early filters relied on a siphon tube and were not able to self start. They lost siphon several times a week.
Keep up with the WC and you can do well with what you have.
Thanks for the info. Im finding out as i read more and more that the plecko and oscars are very "messy". Also having two oscars in the tank is going to severly limit what else i can put in with them. Looks like i may have to reconsider what im stocking. Maybe replacing them with some other cichlids will also not push the limits of my current filtration.
There are a few tell tale signs that your filtration is inadequate. Lots of debris in the water column would suggest your mechanical side is struggling, this could be choice of mechanical media or simply that your flow isn't strong enough or turnover isn't sufficient.
An inadequate bio system is perhaps the most serious. You'll be forever experiencing "spikes" in parameters which can result in complete wipe out of tank inhabitants. If your tank is "spiking" your fish will let you know. Monitor their behaviour. Anything unusual could mean stress. Investing in a good test kit will help you with this one.
And keep on top of water changes, number one rule in our hobby.
An inadequate bio system is perhaps the most serious. You'll be forever experiencing "spikes" in parameters which can result in complete wipe out of tank inhabitants. If your tank is "spiking" your fish will let you know. Monitor their behaviour. Anything unusual could mean stress. Investing in a good test kit will help you with this one.
And keep on top of water changes, number one rule in our hobby.
Thanks for the info. I currently have the API master kit. Water chemistry is good and steady at the moment. Im currently using the filter media that came with the fx4. Is that going to work? How often should it be cleaned or changed? Also the filter came with a mesh bag, should i be putting something in it and addi g to the canister? Again thanks everyone for crash course.
I believe more important than filtration, are water changes.
Filtration takes out visible stuff that has more to do with aquarium aesthetic perception, than water quality reality and the bacteria in the filter reduce toxic nitrite and ammonia to lesss toxic nitrate.
What filters don't do is remove invisible toxic stuff that in the long run cause chronic health problems for fish. Regularly cleaning of your filter helps, but regular partial water changes are more important.
I kept a log whenever starting a tank, and whenever I noticed a pH drop, I knew it was time for a water change. (pH drop indication acidification from metabolism by-products, and excess fish urine)
Whenever I saw nitrates rise to above my goal level, I did a water change, and by keeping a log I soon found I needed to changes about 30% to 40%of the water every other day for large species like adult cichlids, to maintain my goal of 2-5ppm nitrates.
The larger your fish get, the more volume of "invisible" urine they produce thru gills, so the more toxic the soup of an aquarium gets.
Filtration takes out visible stuff that has more to do with aquarium aesthetic perception, than water quality reality and the bacteria in the filter reduce toxic nitrite and ammonia to lesss toxic nitrate.
What filters don't do is remove invisible toxic stuff that in the long run cause chronic health problems for fish. Regularly cleaning of your filter helps, but regular partial water changes are more important.
I kept a log whenever starting a tank, and whenever I noticed a pH drop, I knew it was time for a water change. (pH drop indication acidification from metabolism by-products, and excess fish urine)
Whenever I saw nitrates rise to above my goal level, I did a water change, and by keeping a log I soon found I needed to changes about 30% to 40%of the water every other day for large species like adult cichlids, to maintain my goal of 2-5ppm nitrates.
The larger your fish get, the more volume of "invisible" urine they produce thru gills, so the more toxic the soup of an aquarium gets.
