Dirty filter. Fish scratching.

[Tercio]

Hi all,

My JBL e901 filter has been running for 4 months now.
My fish were scratching on the gravel and plants, really worried about a parasite or so.

Have cleaned it now with aquarium water, and a lot of muck came out of it. It was not clocked or so,
water was streaming ok.

Can a dirty filter cause ammonia and nitrite spikes so that the scratching of the fish would rather be caused by the filter not anything else?

Thanks for your answers

 

[fluttermoth]

Unless the filter was blocked, no, it wouldn't.

Have you tested the water, and if so, what were the results? What's your usual water change regimen?

 

[Tercio]

I change 20% every week.
Really I need to get a test set for PH, GH, KH, Ammonia, Nitrite, Nitrates. Should be the key tests.
Correct me if I'm wrong on getting al those test, I'm a beginner, but really I want the best of the best for my fish.

 

[fluttermoth]

You don't really need tests for hardness (KH and GH), as they stay pretty much the same; if you have hard water, it's not going to suddenly soften. Your supplier's website will tell you how hard or soft your local water is.

You do, definitely, need the other tests though. Most fish health problems come down to water quality. Even scratching and 'flashing' can be caused by poor water, or the wrong hardness for the fish species you have.

What fish species do you have? Are they all scratching, or just some? How often do they do it, roughly? What substrate do you have?

 

[Byron]

The basic tests are ammonia, nitrite, nitrate and pH. Tests for GH and KH are not necessary unless you are adjusting these parameters [I'll come back to this momentarily]. API puts out a "Master Combo" liquid test kit that has all four necessary tests, and it is a good initial investment.

On the GH/KH...once you know these numbers for your source water (municipal tap or well) they are unlikely to alter very much in the aquarium unless you are targeting them somehow. For example, using a substrate composed of calcareous rock such as limestone, marble, aragonite, coral, etc. would increase the GH by dissolving minerals into the water continually. And conversely, the normal biological processes will tend to acidify and soften the water. The extent to which all this occurs depends upon the initial GH and KH, and regular partial water changes work to keep it stable. I would up your water change volume to about half the tank, once a week; water changes are the single most important maintenance aspect of a healthy aquarium.

Once the tank is biologically established (for a few months), tests can be less than initially. Testing the nitrates and pH periodically is beneficial, as changes from the "norm" in either of these can be signs of trouble. Once the tank is cycled, I never test ammonia and nitrite except if I detect some fish issue, and this is one of the first steps to pinning it down.

It is also beneficial to test your source water on its own for ammonia, nitrite and nitrate, just in case any of these are present. And pH of course. The GH and KH you should be able to ascertain from the municipal water authority (unless you are on a private well); check their website.

To the initial questions...I would clean the filter more regularly to reduce the brown sludge (this is organics). Provided the water flow is not being impeded, it should be OK, but I have found over the years than keeping this low does seem to benefit long-term with water stability.

The flashing of the fish could be due to several things, including water issues as you were asking about. If tests are fine (once we have numbers we can tell this) it would more likely be a parasite or protozoan. More data will be needed to assess this further.

Byron.

 

[Tercio]

The basic tests are ammonia, nitrite, nitrate and pH. Tests for GH and KH are not necessary unless you are adjusting these parameters [I'll come back to this momentarily]. API puts out a "Master Combo" liquid test kit that has all four necessary tests, and it is a good initial investment.

On the GH/KH...once you know these numbers for your source water (municipal tap or well) they are unlikely to alter very much in the aquarium unless you are targeting them somehow. For example, using a substrate composed of calcareous rock such as limestone, marble, aragonite, coral, etc. would increase the GH by dissolving minerals into the water continually. And conversely, the normal biological processes will tend to acidify and soften the water. The extent to which all this occurs depends upon the initial GH and KH, and regular partial water changes work to keep it stable. I would up your water change volume to about half the tank, once a week; water changes are the single most important maintenance aspect of a healthy aquarium.

Once the tank is biologically established (for a few months), tests can be less than initially. Testing the nitrates and pH periodically is beneficial, as changes from the "norm" in either of these can be signs of trouble. Once the tank is cycled, I never test ammonia and nitrite except if I detect some fish issue, and this is one of the first steps to pinning it down.

It is also beneficial to test your source water on its own for ammonia, nitrite and nitrate, just in case any of these are present. And pH of course. The GH and KH you should be able to ascertain from the municipal water authority (unless you are on a private well); check their website.

To the initial questions...I would clean the filter more regularly to reduce the brown sludge (this is organics). Provided the water flow is not being impeded, it should be OK, but I have found over the years than keeping this low does seem to benefit long-term with water stability.

The flashing of the fish could be due to several things, including water issues as you were asking about. If tests are fine (once we have numbers we can tell this) it would more likely be a parasite or protozoan. More data will be needed to assess this further.

Byron.

Thank you so much Byron, your answer has been truely very helpful for me.

 

[Tercio]

You don't really need tests for hardness (KH and GH), as they stay pretty much the same; if you have hard water, it's not going to suddenly soften. Your supplier's website will tell you how hard or soft your local water is.

You do, definitely, need the other tests though. Most fish health problems come down to water quality. Even scratching and 'flashing' can be caused by poor water, or the wrong hardness for the fish species you have.

What fish species do you have? Are they all scratching, or just some? How often do they do it, roughly? What substrate do you have?

You don't really need tests for hardness (KH and GH), as they stay pretty much the same; if you have hard water, it's not going to suddenly soften. Your supplier's website will tell you how hard or soft your local water is.

You do, definitely, need the other tests though. Most fish health problems come down to water quality. Even scratching and 'flashing' can be caused by poor water, or the wrong hardness for the fish species you have.

What fish species do you have? Are they all scratching, or just some? How often do they do it, roughly? What substrate do you have?

Thank you so much for your answer. Well I had 3 males 3 females endler guppies, then I had 20 fry, and they grew very well, and no problems at all. Then I got another 15-20, my tank is a 15 gallon tank. I used to give them daphnia, they really liked it and their colours got very vivid. Then suddenly I have multiple fish lethargic and scratching the gravel and plants. Then I think, why oh why does this always happen to me, since i had this probelm before with previous tanks. Is it overcrowding, is it feeding the daphnia, I don't know. Well I have now do water changes of 50%, next day 50%, next day 25%, and they seem to feel better. Of course, maybe not, you tell me, I have cleaned the Record 60 filter, and the 901e filter, not the same day but 2 days speratew. The fish seem to do much better. Anyway I have ordered Esha 2000, Esha Exit and Esha Gdex, just in case. I love these little guys if medicines are the cure, the it must be, even if they are expensive. But maybe everything gets better with the water changes, so the medicines are just in case.

Soo newbie with this, and you guys are so great helping. Thanks for the help.

 

[Byron]

You mention improvements with water changes, so I'll just comment a bit on that. One thing I have learned is that at the first sign of a problem, a major water change is just about the best immediate remedy. Of course, depending upon the issue, further treatment/action may be necessary, but the point is that a water change is so beneficial it helps the fish cope better.

Another general point to make is about the effect of stress. Fish can suffer stress, at varying levels, from so many different things. And stress itself is the direct cause of 95% of all fish disease. Pathogens may be present, but fish can often fight them off, provided they are not stressed by other factors. After all, if fish in the wild all died from parasitic diseases like ich, as will happen in an aquarium, there would be no fish left in the wild. Obviously they can deal with these things to some extent, so we come back to avoiding stress as much as possible as the major prevention to disease.

Byron.

 

[Tercio]

Thanks so for much for your answers