Need Help with my Canister

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brittneyelz

brittneyelz

Feeder Fish
MFK Member
Jul 20, 2015
92
2
8
33
simi valley CA
i have Ehiem 3 canister filter in my 120gal. I have never had a canister filter before and my tank is starting to smell a little and im not sure how to fix the issue. there is a green tint to it that I cant seem to get rid of with weekly water changes ect. im sure there are a lot of different things but what the best medium to be using. I have two small Oscars,2 small jds, 1 Green Terror, 1 green texas and a jag.
 
You need to provide some more info, how long has the tank been running, what are you water parameters, is it planted, do you use fertilizers, what do you gave in your filters, how big are your water changes
 
I do not have plants, it has been set up at my house for about a month. I moved it from someone else's house. in my canister I have a bag of carbon on the bottom, then I have the little while coco puff looking balls then on the tray above that I have the white circular tube looking mediums. besides using aquarium salt I don't use anything else really. the guy that I bought everything from didn't had it set up right/taken care of. there isn't any filters pads in it. how is the set up supposed to look in the canister? and are those bio balls any good?
 
Hi Brittney, do you have the filter owners manual? If not, post the model number of the filter and we'll try and locate it for you. It doesn't sound as if you have the filter media in the correct order in the filter though that shouldn't be causing the problem you are having.

Can you describe the smell of the tank, that is, is it musty, earthy, sewage or something else?

Do you have an aquarium water test kit? It's difficult to troubleshoot problems without knowing the water parameters.

The green tinted water may just be an algae bloom which is usually harmless but unsightly. How long do you leave your tank lights on every day and is it possible the tank is getting direct sunlight?
 
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Along with what@deeda has to say/ask, you may also want to make sure that your lighting is not designed for plant growth, since that will definitely create green water.
 
I have the eheim 2026 filter. Didn't come with the manual or anything and I'm new to these type of filters. When I get home I will test the water. And yes its more of a musky smell like over feeding. But its weird the smell seemed to come over night
 
You one have the wrong order for your media. the bottom tray should be the white loops. then the carbon. then the coco puff balls. try replacing the carbon in the filter.
 
throw the carbon out. replace with bio media, Sechem matrix a good one. I use pond size. keep the rest of your bio media in, you have no floss or sponge in the canister at all?
 
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