Cloudy Water...

[abe]

When I switched over to my 20 gallon (from a 10) I kept the same filter. I was thinking it was for 5-15 gallons & I could just up the water changes, but I'm thinking now that it's for up to 10 gallons.

The water was a bit cloudy to begin with, because I added Proper PH to it, I quit using that long ago. So it was slightly cloudy for 4 months or so, then when I got back from vacation it was REALLY bad (or maybe I just didn't realize how bad it was before? i dunno). I assumed that my mom overfed them, did water changes, not much better now.

I just noticed some light spots on my female betta, I think it's fungus. So I moved her into a bowl for a light treatment, and my boy betta into the 20 gal, all looks good in there so far.

So does this sound like under-filtered water?

I was thinking of getting a Penguin w/ a bio wheel, but Ive heard they can be noisy. Is this true? Should I just stick w/ Whisper filters? Or something else? I can't spend a lot either, heh.

 

[yhbae]

Get yourself a AquaClear 200. Its relatively cheap and it works! It should be more than sufficient for your tank.

 

[abe]

Thats another possibility

And another question, hehe. How much water should it filter per hour? I have no idea how much my current one does as Tetra doesnt seem to want to tell anyone... Is a little stronger than advised best, or would it create too strong of a current for my fish?

 

[yhbae]

More the better as long as your fish can handle the current. I personally like to go at 10x rate, that's why I suggested AC200 on your 20g tank. Currently, my 25g is driven by AC200 and I certainly don't feel I am over filtering the tank. My 30g tank is driven by AC300, but this is a mbuna tank, so I will be adding another filter shortly.

Some will suggest 5-6x, but I like to get close to 10x whenever possible...

 

[abe]

Alright, I ended up w/ the Aqua Clear 150 Are these supposed to come w/ manuals? Cause mine didn't, heh. I did get an extra tube though, strange.

Anyway, is the sponge supposed to go in to the basket so its taller or shorter?
_______ _______
! ! ! !
! ! ! ! ???
! ! -----------
-----------

The instructions make me think shorter, but then theres "dirty" water going over the carbon part; less goes over when the sponge is taller.

Still cloudy

 

[abe]

ok my illistration didn't show up right... So nevermind the middle part, hehe.