Giving Up - Its not all it's cracked up to be

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osufarker

Guest
My piece of advice, never listen to the person that told you the fish will get tired and die off if there is too much water flow. That is absurd for SW fish, except maybe seahorses and pipefish.
Most SW fish will be much healthier if they have a lot of flow compared to a little. I have a closed loop pushing 1000gph in one end of my tank and my Naso tang absolutley loves to swim in front of that thing. It is his fish tread mill.
 
teresaq

teresaq

Active Member
i use a canister filter, and have not had any problems with it. I Run it mainly for carbon and phos-zorb to eliminate phosphatsand silicates. It really helped with the diatom. Alsoi just set up a new skimmer. Aqua Remora C it's working great
 
djballistc

djballistc

Member
Wow tons of replies this is so helpful. See my main problem is I can't afford to spend much more money on this hobby at least right now. I want to keep the fish I have now alive but what you guys are recommending is going to set me back a ways. Protein Skimmer, New Filtration System etc. I will try to reply to each of you and quote what you said so i know who i am talking to :) Also if I was to purchase a new filter what would I get and could I switch my canister filter to my freshwater african cichlid aquarium (salt-to-fresh???) I'd like to make my canister work if possible though i mean that damned thing was expensive.
GreatfullReefer: Everything I have read online talks about protein skimmers being for reef tanks with corals etc. I have not ever seen anything about a normal marine system with one. I don't know any better but I do a lot of reading.
As for adding the 4-5 fish at a time I didn't really want to do but if you purchase from SWF.com do you know of any other way? They make you spend 100.00 per order for fish. And it isn't like I have 5 aqariums to break it into. I mean I would think they wouldn't make people spend 100.00 on live fish in one order knowing that adding that many fish can cause people to get frustrated by dying fish, i mean unless all they care about is money.
My LFS owner says his fish arrive to him on a truck from the warehouse he buys his fish from directly. He keeps the fish a month before he ever sells them to make sure they are healthy.
Ophiura: About the salinity levels I haven't tested the water in the bags from SWF.com but it seems to make a little sense to me thats all. My levels and that of my LFS are the same pretty much. The test kits I use is the Doc Wellfish one I bought. I would prefer to buy my fish locally so I could buy one at a time but they are so much more expensive. SWF.com sells a lot of the fish cheaper. I mean I am talking significant price differences at least around here anyway.
Loopy: To be honest one of the main reasons I used sand in the bottom rather than rocks is because I didn't want the hassle of frequent to very frequent water changes. The waste and food cannot get trapped in there and goes right into the filter. So I have no vacuuming to worry about, etc. Do I absolutely have to do water changes weekly? That seems rediculous.
TeresaQ: You have had no problems with your canister filter? How...why am I having troubles then?
In closing...I am not sure what I am going to do at this point. As I said before I have spend more money than I care to admit just trying to fight the algae bloom problem alone by additives and sponges etc...nothing worked until I found that diatom filter which worked wonders. Also I thank all of you for input seriously. It's awesome, I love to see a forum that so many people use so frequently and with so much knowledge. If by some strick of luck I can scrounge up enough change to get this equipment you are recommending can you list on here EXACTLY what i should get? Prices, models, etc. Just tell me what to buy. Not saying I can or will be able to but I would like to know at least. To say the least I am broke....anyone got any used equipment they can sell to help a hobbyist regain some trust and find the enthusiasm he once had in this hobby? :) Help is greatly appreciated...Love you guys and girls :)
 
djballistc

djballistc

Member
Also I can't ask this enough. You guys keep saying that adding 4-5 fish at one time screws up the biosystem then you obviously aren't buying your fish from SWF.com...that or you all have more than 3 aquariums in your homes.
 
djballistc

djballistc

Member
Most recently I have a guarantee code from SWF.com on the Flame Angel, Naso Tang and the Dottyback. That is 3 fish right there....how can I prevent adding too many fish at one time and use that credit? It just can't happen, I have only 1 saltwater aquarium.
 
djballistc

djballistc

Member
Also in thinking about the protein skimmer...i prefer things that sit in the cabinet under the aquarium but if that means a ton more money I guess I can live with it. Give me options people, OPTIONS!!! :) :) :) :) Used will also do nicely :) Help a brutha out.
 
djballistc

djballistc

Member
Thanks fantastic but remember...I don't know what i'm looking for...apparantly I have been seriously misinformed...tell me what to get and I'll go looking. :)
 
djballistc

djballistc

Member
And the thing that ticks me off is with the powerheads...as I said I have 2 of them that pump 175 GPH each and then my filter which does 251 GPH (Correction from earlier - I looked it up). So I have a total of 608 GPH of output circulation. But where should I place my powerheads for optimum use? I mean they have a directional head and all.
 
teresaq

teresaq

Active Member
Hi,I have three PH's in my 55 gal, one on each end, and one in the middle ofthe back,all pointing in. As far as my canister, i have blue filter in botton, then white, then carbon, then white then phos-zorb, then two layers white fiber. I change the white fiber once a month, and clean the blue. It seems to be working fine.
 
djballistc

djballistc

Member
Oh and to add a third one in the center of course. Is that what you mean? Or should I spread the left and right filters further apart more?
 
djballistc

djballistc

Member
Ok Got it! I'll add the second power head tomorrow and then go purchase a third...those are cheap..I can swing that...so by adding the 3 power heads and meeting my goal of at least 750 GPH what will I be improving then? Higher oxygen in my water? Which does what again?
 
shawnhardy

shawnhardy

Member
DJ:
Don't be so defensive. Everyone here is trying to help you. Most people on this site know much more than an LFS, especially the moderators.
I would say the number one problem with your tank is that you don't have enough surface area for the beneficial bacteria required for biological filtration. No matter what, NEVER add fish if your ammonia is not 0. There should be no exceptions to this. It sounds like your tank has never completely cycled.
While it is possible to not use a protein skimmer, I will tell you that it is possible to have a very successful tank that has 0 ammonia, 0 nitrite and 0 nitrate with nothing more than live rock and a GOOD skimmer. The AqauC series of skimmer are very good. It eliminates organic waste from the water before it has a chance to break down. This will slow the rate at which nitrate is produced in your tank.
People that do use canister filters usually use them as a secondary source of filtration. Usually to just run carbon or phosphate controlling substances.
Oxygen lets the fish breath.
 
djballistc

djballistc

Member
Shawnhardy I am not being defensive.. I do apologize if it sounded like I was being so. I do have to admit it seems like you guys on here know a ton more than any of the LFS in my area. And that for me is a good thing. I am just being reserved because to some degree I thought I was doing everything I should have been doing and had all the equipment I needed. Several hundreds of dollars wasted later I am more knowledgable but not really in much place to do a whole lot about it. I want to do it right though. I asked for product detail...what is good what should I buy specifically for my 75 gallon tank. How much...or give me the model etc and I can go ---- shopping for it cheaper. Money is the key right now...I have none....except for routine maintenance costs.... I want to use a protein skimmer and I would also like to know of a good replacement filter if I decided I wanted to go that route. It just seems like a waste to have un-used aquarium hardware around. I mean if I could convert the canister over to my cichlid tank then that would be a possibility for me to buy a new filter for my saltwater but trying to sell it or just have it sit around is a waste. In reading I have found some negative feedback on the wet/dry filters when it was being compared to the Eheim Pro II that I own currently so tell me anyway what to get. If at all possible I would like to be able to keep the one I am using now but if changes to it need to be made once I add the protein skimmer let me know. Like I said if I can scrounge up the cash it would be slowly liek get 1 part now and the next part when i can etc. So give me a protein skimmer price, model, etc.... filter price, model, etc. What is good..i like to do things right the first time. :) Thanks again all.
 
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