I am running 3 Hob's on my 125G, set up Q's

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Acipenser

Feeder Fish
MFK Member
Oct 16, 2008
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Port Moody B.C. Canada
I have 2 AC110's and a Penguin Emperor 400 running on my 125G cichlid tank. I have a pretty heavy stock list. In both AC110's I have carbon pads and sponges, in the penguin just the carbon loaded filter pads and bio wheels.
I was thinking of adding pot scrubbies to the penguin behind the pads and extra filter floss to the AC110's.
 
How long have you had this set up? Are the fish full grown?
 
This set up has been running like this for about 6 months, I have 2 full grown 7" jd's , a 4 " jd, a 4" convict, a 7 inch severum, a 4 inch fire mouth, a 8" geophagus and 5 1.5 inch severums. I do upto 3 20% wc each week with a 50% and good cleaning once a month.
 
What is your ammonia/nitrite readings?

If they are both consistently at zero, then your tank has enough bacteria... Pot Scrubbies are generally considered "bio media" and the purpose of using them is to give bacteria a place to colonate. Since you do not need additional bacteria, they will not be serving you much of a purpose...

Therefore I feel it would be wiser to use a media that offers mechanical filtration as opposed to using "bio media"...


There are many recent/current threads makign ample suggestions on how to set up media in both Aqua Clear and Emporer fitlers. Please see them for suggestions on how to set up media...
 
I have 2 emp 400s and one aq 100 on my heavily stocked mbuna tank.The filtration is fine My tank has no issues.

The aquaclear just has the sponge.And the emp 400s in the gray boxes I put ceramic noodles.When the stock cartrige needs replacing,tear the media off two of them.Use a piece of quilt batting for media closed in between the two like a clamshell.
tanks been going 2-3 years like that.
 
If they are both consistently at zero, then your tank has enough bacteria... Pot Scrubbies are generally considered "bio media" and the purpose of using them is to give bacteria a place to colonate. Since you do not need additional bacteria, they will not be serving you much of a purpose...
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:iagree:
I am all for an outside the tank bio colony, for the "just in case I muck something up" reasoning.
The bio wheels on your emp. serve that purpose quite well.
 
As mentioned above the important thing is to test your ammonia and nitrite levels.

Your tank may be fine filtration wise now, as your fish grow the will create more waste. Also the beneficial bacteria(BB) that converts ammonia to nitrite then to nitrate, will colonize the filter pads and carbon that you are throwing away. So when you do this you are reducing the amount of BB in your system. Also thorough cleanings can damage bacteria or wipe out bacteria colonies.

Adding the scrubbies is a good idea, as you can take special precautions to preserve the BB that has colonized them. Also if you are doing regular W/Cs the carbon is not very useful. Many find that the void area left by not using carbon is a great place to add a good quality bio media, maybe even more scrubbies :thumbsup:
 
Also the beneficial bacteria(BB) that converts ammonia to nitrite then to nitrate, will colonize the filter pads
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As well as all available surface areas within the tank itself.

For whatever reason, or lack of, we hammer away at ever larger amounts of external bio media, while ignoring what exists in the tank.

I say this from hands on experience..I cut the amount of external bio media by 75% and within a 24 hr. period my water returned to stability and has stayed there.

Like I said before, I am all for an external bio colony, but do not see the need to make that colony a major city.
 
"Bio Media" which you do not intend to clean frequently should be placed AFTER the mechanical filtration. Placing it before the mechanical filtration allows it to collect waste.
 
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