fluval cleaning and multiple skimmers questions

[buleetu]

hi hows it going,
i asked u to take a look at my equipment list last week,u said everythink should be fine if a clean out the canister and have a skimmer

well i have a skimmer its a deltec mc 500 & i also have a smaller tunze nano skimmer,which of these 2 would u think is beter to use?

the tunze is small and a lot older than the deltec,i got the tunze with the tank when i bought it second hand,the guy sold it to me when he got a larger tank him self,i assumed he gave me the skimmer because his set up would need a larger skimmer too,
i bought the deltec in the lfs,the guy in the shop told me i should get it because the tunze was nt working,he tried to fix it for me but i dont think he tried hard enough because he couldnt and i could,
needless to say the both of them are working fine but the smaller tunze seems to work a great deal easier with not much adjusting involved,
so which one would u recommend me to use(what about using both at the same time,or should i just stick to the best 1?
also on cleaning out the fluval canister,it has 5 compartments for carbon and ceramic rings it also has 4 spongy things to collect dirt as the first stage
(could i put other stuff in there?),today i cleaned out the sponges and rinsed the carbon in a bucket of RO water,i didnt touch the ceramic rings because i didnt want to disturb any benifical bacteria,

what i wanna ask u;is it a good idea to even have carbon in there?(ive read its not really) and if it is a good idea should i replace the carbon now?,i have just finished the cycle process and im going to be putting my first fish in the tank within the week(2 baby clown fish,there tiny,thats why im putting 2 in at the same time) also if u can think of anything else i should be doing before i put the fish i would really like to know,i dont wanna kill any fish because of impatience or missing something small

ok talk soon
thanks
david

 

[MartinJ]

Hi David,

I would go for the skimmer that removes the most coffee-coloured gunk - if that's the Deltec (which you say is also the easiest to adjust) then you win both ways.
It's unlikely you'll need to run both skimmers at the same time although it wouldn't hurt, it would just be an extra piece of kit to clean & maintain.

I suggest that when you clean the filter sponges, you clean only half of them (i.e. two) at any one time and do it by rinsing in tank water that you have just taken out as part of your regular water changes this way you'll preserve the bacteria better.

Good luck with the Clowns - I have a small pair of Clowns in my quarantine tank at the moment and they have loads of personality.

Cheers

Martin

 

[newkidfish]

H, we have a fluval filter and the advice/instructions that came with it supports all that martin says with regard to rinsing in tank water and only doing some of the filter media, our lfs told us to keep the carbon in but to replace the green fluval sponge (bacterial sponge) with a blue one just to remove debris. We arn't experts and so the advice we got may not be right, perhaps someone could comment?
We hope to get clowns too, once our tank is cycled. Good Luck

 

[bjoiner]

newkidfish,

You want to do the exact opposite. The activated carbon gets full and needs to be replaced, while the bacterial sponge hosts the bacteria that changes ammonia -> nitrite -> nitrates. You want to keep this bacteria!!

Since it is a sponge you will want to remove the debris that gets caught and will turn into ammonia if not cleaned (fish food, fish waste etc). Like Martin said, you do this by rinsing it in a bucket of the old tank water. You don't need to make the sponge perfectly clean, if you remove all of the bateria, you could end up with a New Tank Syndrome where your tank needs to cycle all over again (not fun)! Just stick the sponge in the bucket, shake it a bit, and place it back in your filter.

Ben

 

[bjoiner]

Sorry, re-reading your post, I may have misunderstood. It could be that what the LFS was telling you to do was to use your filter as a chemical and mechanical filter only (no biological filtration). If you have live rock in your tank, you do not need to include any sort of media for the bacteria to grow on (because they will grow on your live rock). I don't have a fluval, but it sounds as if there is a difference in the green and blue sponges(??)

If this is the case, the LFS's advice is probably just in terms of setting up your filter. (keep the carbon in there and replace the green biological sponge for a blue mechanical one)

For maintainance purposes, you want to replace your carbon and just rinse the sponge.

HTH

 

[buleetu]

hi

i changed it today but how often should i be changing the carbon,and how often should i clean the sponge

 

[jumpincactus]

Ok heres what I would suggest, First, like someone else said if you have live rock in your tank this will provide all the bacterial growth you need provided you are using anough rock. As for the Fluval I would use it strictly for carbon and phophate removers etc, provided that phosphates are an issue and that you indeed are using live rock.

The carbon does a real nice job keeping your water clear. It removes the junk that will make your water appear yellow. Just make sure that you clean the sponges or other mechanical filters at least once every other week or weekly. They will become a nutrient trap if you dont. I change my carbon once a month.

Concerning your skimmers I would set them both up and see which one really rocks with the gunk in the collection cups. I would venture to say the Deltec hands down from my experience. You have to play with it and tweak it for a time. You did say the Deltec was new right? A new skimmer can sometimes take a week or two to really start to act properly. Mine took almost two weeks. Something about the manufacturing process leaves a film on the acrylic and it keeps it from running until the stuff is washed out. Keep in mind the skimate that either will produce is in direct realtion to your bioload. If you dont have much in the tank for critters you wont get much junk. Try to keep from over feeding your critters. Rule of thumb for fish is only put in what they will consume in the first three or four minutes.

Hope this helps