Morning People, Filter Medium Q...

[stuhyde]

My fish tank had finished cycling about a month ago, and since then I had put in 1 angel fish, 4 neons and 5 glass fish. angelfish has already noticably grown!!

Water parameters are still minty mint, doing regular partial water changes, but I have done NOTHING with filter as yet. Flow rate hasn't slowed down, and it still cleans the water really well.

its a tetratec ex700 filter, do I need to start thinking about changing any of the sections yet, if so where do I get the medium from etc.

also noticed a couple of small snails in the tank, should I get rid of these?

thanks in advance!

 

[J4MES]

i don't think you need to change anythng yet. and the snails? can you get a pic?

 

[Jim2007]

Snails come in with plants. Once you have them they are hard to get rid of.

 

[evilchild]

keep an eye on the snails they will over run your tank if your not carefull. your filter seems fine, you can always wash it in your old tank water once you have done a water change to freshen up the filter with out destroying the goodness inside. hope that make sence

 

[heymickey94]

About the snails:

Put a piece of cucumber in the tank overnight and when you wake up in the morning take it out and it will be covered in snails. If that doesn't work next time you go to your lfs, check for product called snailaway. And btw when your angel gets bigger it will eat your neons. Good Luck!

 

[evilchild]

i have been told loaches eat snail's, watch out some do get big

 

[stuhyde]

thanks for the replies

 

[loachman]

i have been told loaches eat snail's, watch out some do get big

Loaches that is.

The most commonly sold loach for snail removal, the clown loach, is the worst for it. Not because it is bad at eating snails, rather because it can reach a foot in length and does best in groups of 4+. I point this out b/c most LFS will recommend the clown loach for snail removal...don't go that route unless you can comfortably house it.


In terms of your filter, it doesn't hurt to rinse the fitler media in tank water after you siphon it out during a water change. If you notice the flow rate declining, you should definitely wash the media in tank water.