Can You Stand One More Filter Question?

[Bebob521]

Hey everyone!
I'm new to the forum and would like to ask a few questions. I have a 75 gal. tank with 4 fancy goldfish.I have a Rena Filstar xP3 canister filter with 2- 20ppi foam, 2-30ppi foam,2 baskets with ceramic rings ,chem stars,bio zorb and a micro filter pad. I also have a Penguin power filter 350 bio-wheel with 4 media cartridges. Is this too much filtration and do I have the correct media?
Thanks for replies !

() Barb

 

[three-fingers]

No such thing as too much filtration, as long as it's not too much of a whirlpool in there!

However I would just replace any chemical filtration with more biological filtration.

I think that "chem stars,bio zorb and a micro filter" may be chemical filtration medias, however I'm not familiar with them.

I dislike chemical filtration media because you have to pay money to replace it every couple of months, and this can make the water stats a bit unstable as the media slowly loses it's ability to function.

They generally arent needed on regular fish tanks, so I would replace the chemical media with either more ceramic rings or maybe even just some simple filter wool to strain floating particles out of the water .

 

[rabbut]

Three fingers hit the nail on the head pretty much. There is no such thing as too much filteration, only too much current. As you know goldfish are messy, and get worse as they get older, so you probibly have just about the right amount of filtration. Good to know you also have a good sized tank for them also, as few do

The XP3 is supplied with chemical media; bio-chem zorb. The stars and microfilter are biological and mechanical filter medias respectively. Wip out the bio-chem zorb and replace it with either new biological media or some mature filter media from a donors tank Bio-chem zorb interferes with the biological filtration, and thus you will be dependant on this ATM, rather than the bio media. This means that you will need to replace this media regularly or suffer an amonia spike I assume these are juvinile goldies ATM? If so, get rid and cycle the tank on biological media now, rather than waiting for them to grow to adults (rugby ball size) to do it, after getting sick of replacing this media weekly (Monthly probibly won't be sufficient when they are adult, assuming a moderate feeding daily)

HTH
Rabbut

 

[OldMan47]

You are right Rabbut, the biochem-sorb is actually a charcoal I think. At least that is what it looked like when I tossed mine. Another biological media would work well for your setup because you have what will be a very heavy biological load. Due to their size, goldfish need big biological filtration and frequent vacuuming of the substrate to remove wastes.

 

[Bebob521]

Thanks for the replies. I wanted my goldies (Eenie, Meanie, Mighty, and Moe) to have a home large enough but I was unsure if my filtration was adequate. So, am I to understand I should fill all media baskets with bio media-i.e. ceramic rings? The cartridges for the bio-wheel appear to be a strainer of sorts. Regular water changes and vacuuming will take care of everything else?

 

[Jeff Lange]

I have a 65 gallon and I have 2 Rena XP3's running. Can't have too much filtration.
Actually as you add media into the XP3 you are slowing the flow rate that is advertised.
I think I spoke to the manufacture vi e-mail when I was putting my UV sterilizer in and they said if my canister was full with varioius media then my flow rate would probably be around 180 - 200 gph.

 

[OldMan47]

As long as you leave the 20 and 30 sponges, the rest of the baskets can be filled with biomedia. You do want the thin polishing filter on the top to keep any fine particles from getting into your pump impeller.

 

[Bebob521]

Thanks again, everyone!