My tank light is on only during the times I feed and look at the fish. I turn it off while I am at school. It is maybe on for an hour or two total during the day. I do not have a pleco in the tank.
I'm going to kill my filter
- Thread starter Optimist
- Start date
the white stuff sticking in your glass are from your white sand. change your sand to regular gravel and problem is solved. second just buy a sufficient and effective filter for your tank. since you have a rena xp3 filter already just buy a wet/dry filter. dont need to upgrade your rena and ac 70 for another filter. go to pro clear acqatics and they sell wet/dry filters in there for 100-160 dollars for your tank every thing is included including the return pump. very easy to operate and maintained. plus cost effective too. also try ebay just make sure you buy the proclear acquatics brand. this will definitely answere all your problems trust me on this one.
Ok. I'll try leaving my lights on for a while longer. As for a pleco, which kind would you recommend? From my past experience with pleco's they produce more waste then they are worth. In terms of filtration, the Proclear aquatics wet/dry filters look fairly reasonable, so I'm thinking about getting a ProClear Aquatics Premier 125 Wet Dry Filter with Prefilter. Does this come with everything I am going to need? I am definately keeping my Rena XP3, but what would everyone recommend for my second filter. A wet/dry or an Aquaclear 110? I don't know if I have enough space for both. As for the sand, I really like it a lot more than gravel. It looks really nice, and it seems to keep fairly clean. However, If I really need to make the switch, I will, because I just want whats best for my fish.
What type of sand did you use? Playground sand? This is what I used and you have to clean, clean and clean it some more before you put it in the tank, even after that the tank will remain cloudy for months. How long have you had sand in your tank for?
Also when doing water changes turn your filters off untill the sand settles. This will save you some headache. Just leave a powerhead or air stone on.
Also when doing water changes turn your filters off untill the sand settles. This will save you some headache. Just leave a powerhead or air stone on.
I would use foam to avoid sand in the filter. With regards to cloudy water, i can't help... the suggestion that has been made are more than enough to take the cloudy water out unless it has not fully cycled which i doubt. maybe you need a fine filter floss for the canister filter to polish the water. and since it is sand, you fish moves it a lot. 
