What would cause particles in the water? The mechanical filter?

heymybigfish

heymybigfish

Member
So all my params are good, life in the tank is happy as well... not sure what it is, but there are lots of particles in the water.
the water is still very clear, not cloudy... these are thicker particles. kind of like sand....
i took some pictures and you can't notice it.. maybe i'm just being picky.
my fluval 305 canister has 3 baskets of biomax, and 3 bags of carbon.... and the foam filter.
maybe the biomax has broken down. i guess it has been in about a 45 days....
i think ill add a bag of carbon and 1 new compartment of biomax... then in a week or so, remove 1 bag of carbon, and 1 compartment of biomax, and add another bag of carbon/biomax.
as far as that goes, how much time should i wait before completely removing one of the bags of media... don't wanna crash the tank.
 
E

eric b 125

Guest
I have a very limited experience w/ canister filters so maybe someone might correct me on this, but I would only change 1 media at a time. Also, I would wait a week before changing the next media.
 
heymybigfish

heymybigfish

Member
Quote:
Originally Posted by Heymybigfish http:///t/395769/what-would-cause-particles-in-the-water-the-mechanical-filter#post_3524428
So all my params are good, life in the tank is happy as well... not sure what it is, but there are lots of particles in the water.
the water is still very clear, not cloudy... these are thicker particles. kind of like sand....
i took some pictures and you can't notice it.. maybe i'm just being picky.
my fluval 305 canister has 3 baskets of biomax, and 3 bags of carbon.... and the foam filter.
maybe the biomax has broken down. i guess it has been in about a 45 days....
i think ill add a bag of carbon and 1 new compartment of biomax... then in a week or so, remove 1 bag of carbon, and 1 compartment of biomax, and add another bag of carbon/biomax.
as far as that goes, how much time should i wait before completely removing one of the bags of media... don't wanna crash the tank.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Eric B 125 http:///t/395769/what-would-cause-particles-in-the-water-the-mechanical-filter#post_3524509
I have a very limited experience w/ canister filters so maybe someone might correct me on this, but I would only change 1 media at a time. Also, I would wait a week before changing the next media.
thanks for the response. exactly what i was thinking.
it seems that no one uses canister filters...
 
E

eric b 125

Guest
Canister filters are good at what they do as long as the media is changed regularly and the canister cleaned. I would suggest considering a sump with a skimmer and refugium, but that's not always an option for people. Drilling my tank and adding a sump was such an important upgrade for me.
 
heymybigfish

heymybigfish

Member
i have a skimmer. just no sump.
works well i think... the skimmer is pulling (usually) dark browns/green waste out of the water... and it STINKS.
 
E

eric b 125

Guest
What kind of carbon are you using? Do you know if it's coconut shell based?
 
heymybigfish

heymybigfish

Member
Quote:
Originally Posted by Eric B 125 http:///t/395769/what-would-cause-particles-in-the-water-the-mechanical-filter#post_3524518
What kind of carbon are you using? Do you know if it's coconut shell based?
hmmm... not sure about the coconut shell thing.
its Fluval BioMax and Fluval Activated Carbon.
was also going to note, that the load in my tank is pretty light... i think
~2 oc. clowns
1 firefish
1 pencil urchin (that took my only turbo snail, ripped him outta the shell and ate him within 6 hrs of being in the tank. was interesting to see in the middle of the night when i checked my tank)
1 pincushion urchin
1 emerals crab
1 blue leg herm
2 serpent stars (about 5" right now)
3 hawaii dusters (about 3")
i think i have a different issue, maybe you'd know about... either an aggressive em crab, or maybe a rock seeping copper into the water?
i say this because, my peppermint shrimp died (suddenly)...after showing no signs of stress, eating well, molting well. (died day after a molt actually) i THINK it was the em. crab, because next to the shrimps body, his arms were cut off.... at the time, the only things i had in the tank were the shrimp, crab, and 3 fish.
also, for whatever reason, that turbo snail was somehow caught by a pencil urchin. how the hell,,, really, i mean, snails are slow, but urchins...smh
last night, i randomly went to check my tank (i like to do that every couple nights) and my emerald crab was full claw out, trying to nip (imo) my sleeping clown fish. i dropped a algea biscut in there for him, to distract him, seemed to work.
anyways, i was thinking ill get a copper test kit, just to check... i have never added anything to the tank, but maybe one of the rocks i got had been in a tank that was treated. everything else is really flourishing,
 
heymybigfish

heymybigfish

Member
also, the ONLY thing out of the ordinary i've done is... i bought this bottle of "copepods tisbe", from Algen.... was told to dump the entire bottle (of 500 pods) into the top of the tank... i decided against that, and only dumped in about 30% of the bottle... just because i hate adding stuff to the tank...
anyways, as this 'dust looking particle" thing has started, i have HUNDREDS. LITERALLY. or more, of these pods crawling all over the glass... i wonder if the water pollution is from that at all.
either way, i'm doing a 50% water change tonight... nitrates are at almost 40, figured i should knock em down low...
i'm also thinking i'll open my canister and just inspect... maybe the sponge/floss is clogged and thats why the waters dirty lookin'
 
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eric b 125

Guest
Nitrates at 40ppm is a little high. I've had my nitrates that high and higher with no losses, but that doesn't mean that it can't happen. Getting a copper test kit is probably not a bad idea, especially if it is something that you suspect. Keep in mind that the rest of your inverts are okay so maybe the shrimp just wasn't doing so good. I will be sure to check out your build thread.
 
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