Canister Filter?

[inimical]

I recently set up a Fluval 204 canister filter on a brand new tank (20L) and did the shrimp cycle to get everything going. Well, it's been about two months now and the water tested fine so I added a small puffer and trigger from my main 55 tank that are really cute, but I can't afford to keep replacing all my snails and hermit crabs every other month. They're still small enough to have plenty of room in the 20L. After a couple of days I noticed that they were breathing heavy and not eating. I'm pretty anal in my acclimation procedures but they weren't too happy at all. I retested the water and saw a sharp jump in the amonia after only 2 days. I put them back in my main tank and let the 20L do its thing for a couple more weeks. Even after the fish were removed, the amonia level kept going up more. I have live rock and sand in there but can't find anything in there like uneaten food that might be causing it. I'm thinking of replacing the ancient undergravel setup I'm still using in my 55 with a canister filter and sand but the results so far with my 20L have been dissapointing. Any ideas?

 

[stuckinfla]

Welcome to the boards

Lots of great info here. Alot of ppl will say ditch the undergravle (and me) some will be against the canister,as well as wet/dry, others will say that enough live rock is all the filter you need. Dont just take the advice of one person, get alot of opinions. Are you sure the tank cycled from the begining? Did you test throughout the cycle amm., trites, then trates? You said the fish were small, how small? Could have been just high bioload.

 

[joker_ca]

puffers and triggers put alot of waste out
sounds like the 20L couldn't handel the bioload

 

[nm reef]

I agree...sounds like the established bacteria in the new 20l couldn't cope with the bio-load placed on it. The addition of the fish triggered a cycle and its probably now attemping to recover.

 

[spline9]

I would consider a good skimmer instead of a canister. Could help with the bioload action.

 

[smickied]

My canister is a great pod producer..when I openit there are thousands apon thousands of pods and other good things living in it and I can sit back and watch the pod get shot in to the tank once in a while.
I would keep the canister filter as a pod producer and back it up with some other filtration and a skimmer.

 

[smickied]

Oh ya Welcome to the fourm!

 

[inimical]

Thank you. =) I've been reading these forums for months now and always seem to find excellent advice whenever something happes. ICH, for example. :::shudder:::
That's good to hear about the pods. I don't suppose it would put in enough to feed a dragonet would it? It's about time I got a better skimmer for my main tank. I'll use this oportunity to put a better skimmer on it and give the hand-me-down to the 20L. And get a buttload more live rock, of course. =)
Thank you all again for your help. You've saved my leetle friends. Again.
Maybe I'll put my two b.d. damsels in there instead.