Angels and filter in a 6 foot tank.

[DaharkazAngel]

Hi guys!!

So heres my story. I bought a 6 foot long 18 inch wide 18 ich tall tank.(400 litres ecaxt or 100 gals) When i first set it up about 6 months ago i used a 600 litre per hour internal filter. Then i upgraded to a 800. And finally got enough togehter for a 1200 litre per hour (all the same brand and filter type) Now i know the 1200 quite big enough but 2 days after usuing ,my biggest angel at the time just died. NO reason at all. Then the filter killed another Angel , my smallest. She got caught in the tiny space the air hose goes =(....so after all this i noticed my fish would only sit in one corner, wheras usually they would swim near where i sit (more to one side of the tank) so i removed the 1200 and put the 800 back in....

Now im having trouble keeping the water quality good and 'know' i need a bigger filter but now my Angels are way bigger and im just so afraid that the filter is too big and strong for them.

Any thoughts guys? Has anyone else had this issue??
I havnt lost any fish since those two...i cureently have 7 Angels with various small other fish but overall im nicely stocked maybe slightly under.
Cheers Angel

[fishfever]

I'm not too familar with internal filters but if the smaller flow ones don't have problems with physically hurting your fish, could you not put the 600 l/hr back with the 800 l/hr? I have used two HOB filters in my tank and aside from lots of water current it worked very well. You could also supplement the 800 with a large sponge filter(s); they really do a good job for me.

I assume your tank is already cycled? How long has it been set up? Have you actually checked your water parameters with a test kit to verify bad water conditions? Because with a cycled tank that size - unless you are overstocked (doesn't sound like it) it is usually easier to keep water parameters good than with small tanks.

[murdock6701]

I agree w/ fishfever - check your water parameters! I am not familiar w/ internal filters either but maybe by changing them you have altered the nitrifying bacteria necessary to keep them stable

[bikeguy33]

from what was said here....i don`t think the fish was sucked into the internal.....well not directly anyways. a dead or dying fish will often get caught in an intake. what i am wondering....how did you jumpstart this new filter???

[DaharkazAngel]

I ran them side by side for each jump....And the tanks 6 months max. So a few months each filter. ..

[DaharkazAngel]

Its not the quality 'presea' but the amount of poo on the ravel and free floating poo. Unless i do more then 25% once a week i cant keep it clean.

[eve]

I love the internal filters i have on my 55 tank, easy to clean and maintain

to me it sounds like your angles might have died due to a water parameter change
either due to a small nitrogen cycle, which happens no matter what when you put in a new filter or due to weak/sickness

[DaharkazAngel]

So theoretically guys would the 800 be ok with weekly changes??? I feel comfortable with it but every site and person i know says i need a filter that does at least 4 times the tank water not 2...
I just want big healthy Angels!!! Thanks so far for for all the replys, This site in no 1 for sure!! =)

[fishfever]

When you changed filters, did you overlap them for a time to get the replacement filter seasoned? It sounds like Eve is saying that you probably lost a lot of beneficial bacteria when you upgraded to a larger size.

I'm still a big fan of multiple filters. It's really hard to do too much filtering and overkill helps. My current HOB does almost 8x /hr in my 26g (when passages are clean) but I still supplement it with two small sponge filters (one drives a UV sterilizer). It sounds like you have multiple filters at your disposal; is there any reason you can't install additions one(s)? Also are you doing any kind of aeration in your tank (i.e. air stones, bubble tubes, etc.)?

[goldenpuon]

Just a question but how often do you siphon out the gravel? That might be why you are having a lot of fish waste in there. Water changes and a filter alone can't keep a tank clean.

[eve]

Jun 21, 2009 3:59:53 GMT -5 DaharkazAngel said:

So theoretically guys would the 800 be ok with weekly changes??? I feel comfortable with it but every site and person i know says i need a filter that does at least 4 times the tank water not 2...
I just want big healthy Angels!!! Thanks so far for for all the replys, This site in no 1 for sure!! =)

twice is more then enough for angels
4times more, seems a bit over kill

[DaharkazAngel]

I dont want to run two because of the current (these guys pump out a bit hey). I sypon once aweek with the 25% water change. I clean the filter once a month maybe? I think eves said it...twice is more then enough for Angels anymore is overkill.

Maybe if i do two syhons a week with small 25 % changes i should be alright....thanks again so far guys =) much appreciated.

[DaharkazAngel]

Adding on to this tread... at least one person will be able to answer this. Im new, yeah. So what is 'karma' I know there is most likely a thread already about it but i havent done much sniffing around and since i have a thread...well yea. Cheers Angel

[murdock6701]

Eve meant twice the fitering is adequate if I'm not mistaken - vaucuuming should be done w/ weekly water changes - siphon the water from he bottom, gets out all the crud - once a month vauuming is not enoug - karma is a point you get for a good contribution

[Carl]

As others have noted, my first thought is with your Nitrogen Cycle, as maybe there was an interruption in your tanks cycle.
Although (if I read this thread correctly), you ran both filters together so as to not interrupt bio-filtration which is important, I wonder if when the new filter was added if you possibly cleaned the older filter. What my point is when you add an new filter it is important to not clean a new filter any more than basic rinses with de-chlorinated water or used tank water, otherwise this filter could have its bio filtration temporarily destroyed.

I have had clients add a new filter for redundancy (which I strongly agree with), only to take the initial filter apart and thoroughly clean it, not realizing that this should be put off for 4-6 weeks so as to maintain bio capacity.

It is also possible that some other procedure or fish was added to your tank that introduced another problem that has been missed totally.

Could you post a picture of your filters and how you maintain them?

For our Nitrogen Cycle Article:
Aquarium Nitrogen Cycle

Carl