Do I Need To Clean My Filter?

[raptorrex]

Coldcazzie,My life is not the same now and i fully repent on my decision not to listen to your advice.I know that many sleepness nights lay ahead and it will be in these episodes that your words of wisdom will echo through my mind,please forgive me and have pity on my soul.

No need to feel bad about it. Sometimes it's hard to listen to the truth but obviously you know what's wrong here. My advice would be to get rid of some fish. Like I said in my previous post and from what the OP says, you have tripled your stock so your filter media can't keep up. You have to get rid of some fish or do exactly what I said; over filter, big water changes, lots of plants, gravel vac, or all your fish are going to perish. You are damaging your fish every time they are exposed to ammonia and nitrites. I know you probably love all your fish but to be fair, it's not right to keep them in the tank if you can't handle it.

Good luck to you

excellent advice. however i should point out that "planting" is not a necessity. that is, unless you planned to do so from the outset,. I'd still cycle without planting first, though.

 

[maisy12345]

Thanks for all your advice,much appreciated.

 

[The Taffy Apple]

Looks like you got your work cut out for you in the coming months my friend... ANY trace of Ammonia and/or NitrIte over prolonged periods are going to seriously damage those fish, and your stocking seems to contain some lovely specimens.

you really do have to keep up with the water changes, but of them i'm sure you're aware of.

Terry.

 

[maisy12345]

Thanks Taffy apple

 

[Tizer]

I believe people got the wrong impression, its a 110 Litre tank, not the old 28 litre correct? In which case, stocking is fine(ish).

My question is, if ammonia gets up to 0.50 and you leave it at that, does it get any higher after a few days?

 

[maisy12345]

I don`t know because as soon as it gets to 0.50,i do a water change as i`m worried about the effect of the ammonia on my fish.

 

[coldcazzie]

I believe people got the wrong impression, its a 110 Litre tank, not the old 28 litre correct? In which case, stocking is fine(ish).

My question is, if ammonia gets up to 0.50 and you leave it at that, does it get any higher after a few days?

My gripe is not with the stocking level of a 110l tank. I actually think the stocking is great. My gripe is with putting more and more strain on a filter that isn't adequately processing the current bioload. If it can't handle a small amount of ammonia, then obviously it's not going to be able to handle large amounts. And in the process an ever increasing number of fish are at risk of ammonia/nitrite damage, because it's taking longer.

 

[raptorrex]

I believe people got the wrong impression, its a 110 Litre tank, not the old 28 litre correct? In which case, stocking is fine(ish).

My question is, if ammonia gets up to 0.50 and you leave it at that, does it get any higher after a few days?

My gripe is not with the stocking level of a 110l tank. I actually think the stocking is great. My gripe is with putting more and more strain on a filter that isn't adequately processing the current bioload. If it can't handle a small amount of ammonia, then obviously it's not going to be able to handle large amounts. And in the process an ever increasing number of fish are at risk of ammonia/nitrite damage, because it's taking longer.

I gota agree here. perhaps the most salient point in the thread. stocking, for any size of tank, assumes the filter is cycled.surly there should be, little or no stocking, until the tank has a bioload that can support it!
to me, and i assume, cazzie, its COMMON SENSE? and a view consistent with logic, too.

 

[maisy12345]

So,eventually it will cycle,hope so?

 

[coldcazzie]

Yes. It will. They always do. Even if you did nothing, it would still cycle. Nature does what it does. Where there is food and oxygen present, life with thrive (bacteria within the filter media with ammonia and oxygen swimming right by them as the water passes through).

But the more fish you add the longer it will take. While I cannot say for sure, because I've no evidence to back it up, my instinct tells me that had you kept your original stock and not added anything, you would now have a cycled filter.

 

[Harlequins]

Yes. It will. They always do. Even if you did nothing, it would still cycle. Nature does what it does. Where there is food and oxygen present, life with thrive (bacteria within the filter media with ammonia and oxygen swimming right by them as the water passes through).

But the more fish you add the longer it will take. While I cannot say for sure, because I've no evidence to back it up, my instinct tells me that had you kept your original stock and not added anything, you would now have a cycled filter.

+1

 

[raptorrex]

Yes. It will. They always do. Even if you did nothing, it would still cycle. Nature does what it does. Where there is food and oxygen present, life with thrive (bacteria within the filter media with ammonia and oxygen swimming right by them as the water passes through).

But the more fish you add the longer it will take. While I cannot say for sure, because I've no evidence to back it up, my instinct tells me that had you kept your original stock and not added anything, you would now have a cycled filter.

+1

+ another