Advice Needed!

[Staxx]

i have just got my first fish tank, ive had it about 2 months. it was a second hand tank i was led to believe it was a fluval roma 120(i didnt research the tank) it was from gumtree. it came with everything but a few days later the filter bust and kept leaking water so i binned it and got a new one. the old filter was a fluval 205 i think and my new one is a fluval u3. i did what i though was right by doing a filter squeeze(i think) and i used some of the old filter media in the new filter as advised by LFS and squeezes out all the sponges and media in to the water before hooking up the new filter.

i have just found out literally today due to some slight research the tank is infact a fluval vicenza 180 but my filter only goes up to 150 litre tank. im really worried now my tank is guna be #71###ed in a few days. i have it about 3/4 stocked i believe

i have 5 assorted platys, 2 albino cory cats, 1 black sailfin molly, 1 normal black molly, 3 platnium mollys, 5 tetras(cant find the species) and 2 chinese algae eaters.

the algae eaters im taking back to the shop as there not suitable for my tank, again sold to me by LFS wrongfully.

im a complete newbie to the hobby and just looking for some friendly advice on what to do about the filters and my fish.

would buying another u3 be sufficient and just have them at opposite ends of the tank? or something else? any advice!!

 

[Staxx]

here is is a picture of the tank after i put the new filter in. cant really see any of the fish

 

[FishFanatic04]

You will probably like more filtration, so adding a larger filter, or another of the same would be good. I wouldn't Panic over it just now, if your fish are healthy and the filter is handling their bioload. DO you have a test kit to test your water? Your filter may not be as strong as you need for water flow, but the bacteria should be grown to the needs of the fish you have.

I would add a filter just because you want to make sure the water is shifted enough. And more filtration is always good!

 

[Staxx]

You will probably like more filtration, so adding a larger filter, or another of the same would be good. I wouldn't Panic over it just now, if your fish are healthy and the filter is handling their bioload. DO you have a test kit to test your water? Your filter may not be as strong as you need for water flow, but the bacteria should be grown to the needs of the fish you have.

I would add a filter just because you want to make sure the water is shifted enough. And more filtration is always good!

the filter flow looks alrite to me when i feed the fish the flake goes around the whole tank in a circle(if that helps)

test results seem "normal" to me. nitrate 0 ammonia 0 ph 7.5 nitrite around 5ppm. water change is due in a couple of days i do about 32 litres every week. i dont get paid for another couple of weeks either so another filter is out of the question till then.

fish seemed perfectly fine this afternoon when i fed them. any advice on the CAE though?

 

[FishFanatic04]

Sounds like a nicely cycled tank. I don't think I would worry too much if your filter is handling the fishes bioload and you think the flow is good.

The CAE's can get up to 10" I would take them back and look for a smaller algae eater, like the Siamese Algae eater.

 

[Staxx]

i plan on getting some more fish when i finally get paid. as soon as i pick the fish i want il probs either upgrade the filter to the u4 or get another u3 and just have one at both ends pumping out.

 

[KISSfn]

the filter flow looks alrite to me when i feed the fish the flake goes around the whole tank in a circle(if that helps)

test results seem "normal" to me. nitrate 0 ammonia 0 ph 7.5 nitrite around 5ppm. water change is due in a couple of days i do about 32 litres every week. i dont get paid for another couple of weeks either so another filter is out of the question till then.

fish seemed perfectly fine this afternoon when i fed them. any advice on the CAE though?

I hope you meant Nitrate 5 and Nitrite 0.

 

[Staxx]

yeah sorry lol

nitrate 5ppm
nitrite 0

 

[KISSfn]

Just want your fish to thrive!

 

[FishFanatic04]

Just want your fish to thrive!

oh. yikes. Watch out for that funky A!

 

[tomtomtom1230]

i plan on getting some more fish when i finally get paid. as soon as i pick the fish i want il probs either upgrade the filter to the u4 or get another u3 and just have one at both ends pumping out.

I think internals ruin the look of a tank. Externals, in most cases, also offer superior filtration due to a higher capacity of everything. The Fluval lines aren't without their niggles but I swear by them nonetheless. I would reinvest in an external rather than a bigger/another internal.

 

[Dazzler666]

+1 for external. I have an APS 1400 on my 120 litre and the water is like glass ... Much easier to clean & maintain too! ☺.

 

[psp83]

I've just changed my tank over from a Fluval U3 to a Fluval 206 external because the U3 wasn't keeping my 125ltr clean.

Water looked like someone tipped dust in it.

So I would also say go for an external, based on my experience with the U3, even though the U2 did a great job on my goldfish tank.

 

[Aquamaniac]

Are you sure that's a vicenza?You did not put a full picture but from the few bits i could see specially the one that show a bit of your cabinet that looks like a Fluval roma to me. I have one.
Does your tank have a slight curve at the front?It does not look so in the picture. The vicenza is slightly curved and Roma's don't.
Also i think you should not have thrown your fluval 205 away. If it was leaking it probably was a faulty O-ring and that's cheap and easy to replace.And the 205 is much better than that U3 internal.
Externals are much better than internal performance wise and they have the advantage of being outside of the tank.Fluval externals may not be the best around but one good thing they have is that basically every part can be removed and replaced easily and even easier to find some around.
As for the tank itsel that plane and barrel inside look everything except natural. But who am i to criticize, it's a common mistakes among newbs, one i did in my days.

 

[psp83]

wrong post, please remove.