Over discussed question!!!!

  • We are currently upgrading MFK. thanks! -neo
G

grgfishkeeper

Feeder Fish
MFK Member
Sep 5, 2012
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cincinnati ohio
I got a 55 gallon native with two under gravel filters a home made 20 oz bottle with media and power head on top.... one whisper 60 and a whisper 30 hob....
A ten gallon with 2 whisper 20's hob

Any how my nitrates and nitrites have been through the roof ... 5.0 and 80 plus ive done gravel cleaning and 50% plus water changes and YES i conditioned my water after change and ammonia is between 0 and .25 alway.....

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I got one redtail in the ten gallon 2"

And 4 channel cat in the 55 gallon and two bluegill... all around 2-3"

Been running for 3-4 months... cycled with established filter media.... and forgot to add that theres probly 20 bioballs in each tank give or take

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Sounds like you don't have enough biological filtration,even though your fish are still small. The ammonia isn't being completely converted to nitrite, and the nitrite isn't all being converted to nitrate. UGF's are pretty oldschool and may work for lightly stocked community tanks, but with four potentially big catfish in a small tank like that you're going to want something far better and more efficient. I'd invest in a good canister, probably something like an fx5 that you can move onto a bigger tank when you upgrade. If the bioballs are just floating in the tank they won't be doing all that much either.

What is your feeding like?

Also check your tapwater, if it is high in nitrates then doing big waterchanges won't help...
 
The bioballs are in the filters they just got put in about 2 weeks ago.. i plan to build a pond for them but i want them to be a bit bigger before i do...

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your not cycled yet, by the sounds of it ,how long have those filters been running?
 
As long as the tanks been set up 3-4 months except the whisper 60 i just put it in the 55 the other day.. but used the filter from the other whisper 30 i replace with the 60.... and the other side has a bioball looking filter thing and filled with actual bioballs around it....

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http://aqadvisor.com/AquStockImage....1071553:6.5,3:201001071553:4,2:201001061661:4


and i know this is not 100% correct but i added a inch or so to every fish just to make it a little more relistic......

also this is going off my whisper 60 and 30..... i know that its been stated that the under gravel filter is old school but its still better than nothing at all.... and the diy 20 oz bottle with bio balls and floss and straws cut up, may not be much but it pulls everything in from bottom and sends it to the end of the filter..... it also keeps the area clean i cant normally get to with my gravel siphon cleaner....


forgot to answer question on feeding, night crawlers, tillopia, and shrimp.... and i let it sit through the night and if its on the bottom in the morning i take it out of the tank
 
I have a hunch you are trying to grow the fish out in a hurry and are probably overfeeding them???? I would guess you would not find a member on this board that hasn't done the same exact thing at one point in their fish keeping careers if they are honest with you (I have). Try feeding them every other day instead of every day (if you are feeding them every day?)

Do you clean the gravel with every water change? One of the disadvantages of an under gravel filter is that it will suck the uneaten food and waste into the gravel to break down. You might consider a hang on back filter as a replacement for the under gravel filter. I have read some accounts of using a power head to push water into a under gravel filter reversing the normal water flow to dislodge waste from the gravel instead of trap it. I used an Emperor 450 for many years with great results but I believe the Aquaclear filters are the preferred HOB filters on this board (Never tried an Aquaclear myself).
 
i do feed every day... and not in a hurry to let them grow nesserally but i was under the impression to do so, and i normally take the weekend off from feeding and start back on monday..

yes i clean gravel each water change and it does not appear to normally be that dirty (the normal waste ) and im use power heads on top of my under gravel filters so maybe i should reverse them instead of sucking they should blow in to the gravel????

and already have 2 hang on filters (3 really) a whisper 60 that has two filter bays (on side has floss and a white filter bag with carbon and substrate rocks other bay has a floss plus a plastic thing that slides in like a white filter bag but it has walls like a bio ball does) also have bioballs in there

and a whisper 30 that is just a single bay filter with bioballs a floss and a white bag filter with carbon....


forgot to mention i have 2 live plants in the tank there starting to die, but i wanted to see if they would make it...
 
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