will going bare bottom heal HITH?

[Austin]

test strips are usually not very accurate IME. get a good set of tests, up your filtration, do a lot of water changes and they'll be fine. on that tank i'd run 1 maybe 2 AC 500's and your canister but i always over-filter. one of my oscars got HITH at one point and and it completely healed up and filled in once i got my 300 gal with hella filtration and moved them. they're tough fish.

i soak the magnum 350 in detergent and water for a few hours. and for the hagen i squeeze out all the crap and rinse out the loose debris also theres a bag of white rocks in the hagen. i forgot what they are called but i rinse it lightly and do i have to replace it frequently? it also came with a big of small black rocks, but when i first got it, it looked like black ink was coming out of it when i was rinsing it so i took it out. should i put it back in?

there's the problem. those white rocks are bio media that are supposed to house bacteria, if you're rinsing them in tap water you're probably killing it off so the tank is almost re-cycleing every time. just rinse everything in buckets of tank water when you clean, nothing else. and detergent around fish equipment is just a bad idea IMO unless you're real careful.

 

[jcardona1]

i soak the magnum 350 in detergent and water for a few hours. and for the hagen i squeeze out all the crap and rinse out the loose debris also theres a bag of white rocks in the hagen. i forgot what they are called but i rinse it lightly and do i have to replace it frequently? it also came with a big of small black rocks, but when i first got it, it looked like black ink was coming out of it when i was rinsing it so i took it out. should i put it back in?

and there it is. as i said, youre killing your bacteria EVERYTIME! you should be using non chlorinated tank water to rinse out your filters. and i wouldnt mess with your bio media (the white rocks im guessing). the black rocks are most likely carbon

 

[thayayballa]

if i dont clean the magnum with detergent frequently then it clogs up and has no flow. ok so as austin said, the white rocks are important. so what about the carbon? should i leave it out or put it back in?

 

[jcardona1]

magnum yes. but dont use any sort of detergent!!! this is bad for your fish. i would just rinse it with the water hose since it would probably be the only way to unclog it. for your other filter, just rinse the media in old aquarium water. do not use tap water.

i would also recommend getting another one of those aquaclear filters

 

[Austin]

not saying don't clean just don't clean with tap water. and i say chunk the carbon but i'm just not a proponent of carbon use, i haven't used it regularly in years except to remove meds for maybe 48 hours.

 

[thayayballa]

magnum yes. but dont use any sort of detergent!!! this is bad for your fish. i would just rinse it with the water hose since it would probably be the only way to unclog it. for your other filter, just rinse the media in old aquarium water. do not use tap water.

i would also recommend getting another one of those aquaclear filters

wait so "magnum yes" what? haha

 

[jcardona1]

wait so "magnum yes" what? haha

ha sorry, dont know what i was typing. i meant that yes, i think it would be fine cleaning the magnum with tap water. use a high pressure nozzle on the garden hose but avoid using detergents

 

[thayayballa]

ha sorry, dont know what i was typing. i meant that yes, i think it would be fine cleaning the magnum with tap water. use a high pressure nozzle on the garden hose but avoid using detergents

alright got it

 

[TrikkyMakk]

oscars need more filtration then regular cichlids...they are messy to the core. watch your oscars when they eat next time and watch how half of the food comes right out their gills. They really do need super water changes and super filtration to avoid HITH.

 

[pcfriedrich]

Bare bottom can help in that you'll keep a cleaner tank - but the true cure for HITH is ritually large water changes, as well as pristine water conditions - which it sounds like you're lacking.

tank will only be cleaner if you vacuum out the gunk. doesn't really matter if you have substrate or not.