I'm Fed Up...Im out of answers

[bumpylemon]

This may sound like a stupid question but I didn't see it specified anywhere...Do you vacuum your gravel when doing water changes? Also, what are your other readings?(nitrite and nitrate)
You could have excessive build-up in your substrate causing all the issues.

yes i vaccum the gravel. really good too. matter of fact last time i did a WC a day ago hardly and debris came up..ill get back to on the nitrites and trates..now that test i know was messed up.

 

[bumpylemon]

I only read about three pages of this thread and it keeps coming back to the AC110s on the 90 gallon.

Get rid of them and buy a canister that holds more bio media. AC110s are junk when it comes to bio filtration on a large heavily stocked tank. Especially when your using chemicals which convert chlorimines to ammonia.

You don't need to shut your filters off when doing a water change. With that said, I have shut my canister off for a couple hours without injury. I would not chance that at all with a HOB filter which removes water and food from the bacteria.

Before dumping water into your tank, I would treat it first. Maybe get a trash can or something which can hold lots of water, enough to do a 25-50% water change. Treat it and test it to make sure its good before putting it into the tank.

i do have a canister filter on that tank

 

[bumpylemon]

onther tip +> more oxygen +> better filtration .
water current , move the surface water with an power streamer . water suface mving make uge amount oxygen more , i did it in my 3 meter tank and it the best thing ever .

and i now some with champoin duscus fish with huge water blowers and they are healthey as you can get them to be

2 AC110's, and a 350 and an air stone and at 2 foot bubble stream on the bottom of the tank..theres TOO much O2 lol.

 

[bumpylemon]

i agree that my problem might be the filter maintenacance.. i thought for some reason people dont clean out their filter because of the good bacteria...i did squueze my sponge on 1 ac110.. and when i do replace i only do 1 filter at a time as to not destroy the bacteria... what should i be doing for maintenance. should i be squeezing out the sponges, if so how often.. i dont do much in the area of filter maintenace. so tips are welcomed

 

[LadyBarbara001]

How I clean the filter...I rinse the sponge in the water I'm removing from my tank, just to get the "gunk" out of it. Don't use tap water, that will kill your bacteria. Rinse it in either declorinated water, or what is coming out of the siphon.

 

[LemonHead]

I clean my fx5 out once very 6 months. Everyone is different.
Depends on stock and size of fish and tank.

 

[Bre]

i agree that my problem might be the filter maintenacance.. i thought for some reason people dont clean out their filter because of the good bacteria...i did squueze my sponge on 1 ac110.. and when i do replace i only do 1 filter at a time as to not destroy the bacteria... what should i be doing for maintenance. should i be squeezing out the sponges, if so how often.. i dont do much in the area of filter maintenace. so tips are welcomed

I rinse mine every other week or so...sometimes more sometimes less. I'm betting if you test your nitrates they will be on the high side. I think if you can get your filters under control that may solve the issue. That would also explain why after your tank cycled everything was fine for a while...until excess buildup occured.

 

[Bderick67]

How I clean the filter...I rinse the sponge in the water I'm removing from my tank, just to get the "gunk" out of it. Don't use tap water, that will kill your bacteria. Rinse it in either declorinated water, or what is coming out of the siphon.

Why would you want the bacteria growing in your sponge? What is the biomax for? I clean the sponges in my ACs on a weekly basis, in hot tap water to remove all debries. The sponge is for mechanical filtration and the biomax is for housing the colonies of bacteria(biofiltration).

 

[crisper]

Why would you want the bacteria growing in your sponge? What is the biomax for? I clean the sponges in my ACs on a weekly basis, in hot tap water to remove all debries. The sponge is for mechanical filtration and the biomax is for housing the colonies of bacteria(biofiltration).

The reason you want bacteria growing on your sponge is the same reason you want it growing on your biomax. The more the better why would you want to kill it off.

 

[Bre]

The reason you want bacteria growing on your sponge is the same reason you want it growing on your biomax. The more the better why would you want to kill it off.