UGF question

[KABB44423]

i have only had it in there for about 2 weeks or so(the carbon)//// i was thinking about getting 2 power heads in the morn and running the ugf what do you think?///some1 also told me that its smelling because its cycling is that true?

 

[loach43]

I doubt if the smell is from cycling. It's likely to be what chompers said about anaerobic bacteria. Coupla questions: Do bubbles come out of the gravel when you stir it up? Do you have a film on the surface of the water? Does the water smell like rotton eggs or something else?
As far as adding more filtration to rid the problem, you would be WAY better off adding biowheels to your existing canisters than adding an undergravel filter.

 

[CHOMPERS]

i did vac the gravel and fill it back up also put some drops and it still smells but i can safely vac it fill it vac it again and fill it without harming the fish i was thining to much clorine by filling and vacing my ph is 7.4 and my ammonia test chart says its at 2.0 is this good or bad?

Yer suppose to use dechlor. And you should mix it before adding it to your fish tank.

 

[KABB44423]

I doubt if the smell is from cycling. It's likely to be what chompers said about anaerobic bacteria. Coupla questions: Do bubbles come out of the gravel when you stir it up? Do you have a film on the surface of the water? Does the water smell like rotton eggs or something else?
As far as adding more filtration to rid the problem, you would be WAY better off adding biowheels to your existing canisters than adding an undergravel filter.

no no bubbles came up/// and i dont have a film on the top of the water my spray bar wont let a film form if there were 1///and yea it smells like old sour greens///and why bio wheels over under gravel filter just wondering and thanks brother for trying to help me get over this hill

 

[KABB44423]

Yer suppose to use dechlor. And you should mix it before adding it to your fish tank.

o ok well i do use that after every water change//// what do u mean by mixing it before adding it 2 my tank and do those #s sound bad? as far as ph and ammon?

 

[loach43]

A biowheel will give you more biological filtration than an undergravel filter. Since you have two canisters, you could easily add a biowheel to each one which would be a great & simple way to 'supercharge' your existing filtration

 

[KABB44423]

A biowheel will give you more biological filtration than an undergravel filter. Since you have two canisters, you could easily add a biowheel to each one which would be a great & simple way to 'supercharge' your existing filtration

on my casscade i have 2 bio pads i was told that would be good 4 my bio/////question i also have a tetra hang on working it 2, that doesnt make bio filtration?i thought because of the open top that that would be bio

 

[loach43]

question i also have a tetra hang on working it 2, that doesnt make bio filtration?i thought because of the open top that that would be bio

Didn't know you already had that. Seems to me that you have adequate filtration for your tank. As for getting your water quality in check, I personally wouldn't bother with the UGF. As said before it wouldn't hurt but I have my doubts that it would give you that much of a water quality boost. From all you've said, my tactic would be to do a 10% water change every day until the water gets to a more desirable state and from there you can decrease the water changes until you are back to just doing regular maintainence changes. Of course, you need to dechlore all water that you change out. Chloramine is meant to kill bacteria! I honestly think that the root of your problem is that the filter media hasn't come of age yet. Perhaps not enough time has passed OR your beneficial bacteria has been killed off by chlorine or chloramine. This can cause an algae bloom on top of everything else which will cloud the water. Add some direct or even indirect sunlight to the mix and things get even worse. I wouldn't go much if any beyond a 10% daily WC since you have angels in there. Just one mans opinion. Hope this helps.

 

[CHOMPERS]

o ok well i do use that after every water change//// what do u mean by mixing it before adding it 2 my tank and do those #s sound bad? as far as ph and ammon?

What is your procedure for adding the dechlor? I think your answer is going to be the root of your problem. Your dechlor and water need to need to be in the same container before being put into your tank.

The pH is good, the ammonia is really bad. It should be at zero.

 

[KABB44423]

Didn't know you already had that. Seems to me that you have adequate filtration for your tank. As for getting your water quality in check, I personally wouldn't bother with the UGF. As said before it wouldn't hurt but I have my doubts that it would give you that much of a water quality boost. From all you've said, my tactic would be to do a 10% water change every day until the water gets to a more desirable state and from there you can decrease the water changes until you are back to just doing regular maintainence changes. Of course, you need to dechlore all water that you change out. Chloramine is meant to kill bacteria! I honestly think that the root of your problem is that the filter media hasn't come of age yet. Perhaps not enough time has passed OR your beneficial bacteria has been killed off by chlorine or chloramine. This can cause an algae bloom on top of everything else which will cloud the water. Add some direct or even indirect sunlight to the mix and things get even worse. I wouldn't go much if any beyond a 10% daily WC since you have angels in there. Just one mans opinion. Hope this helps.

i was thinking of selling most of my angels and what about 2 emperor 400's i saw a guy selling 2 for 50$ in the classi