Could Use A Little Advice.

[Zen]

Hi Folks,

I am hoping you can give me a little advice. I am in the process of setting up an aquarium which is about 250(ish) litres. I have an external Fluval filter which is rated up to 1000 litres. In the past I have only had quite small aqauriums and have always used an internal filter, usually doing a 25% water change every 3 weeks or so, rinsing the filter medium off in tank water. Basically what I would like to know is if the process for an external filter, and a tank that size is the same kind of process? Should I do a slight water change every few weeks? How often should the filter medium be rinsed or indeed changed?

Any help very much appreciated!

Thanks

Zen

 

[rdd1952]

Hi Zen and welcome to the forum.

The basics are the same, regardless of the size. Larger tanks are usually easier to keep stable. Your filter is possibly a little on the weak side. General rule of thumb is that it needs to be rated 5x the tank volume and you are at about 4x. Frequency of water changes really depends on stocking level and type. The heavier the fish load and the messier the fish, the more frequently you will need to do them more often. The norm is about once a week or every 2 weeks.

As for cleaning, that also depends on the stock. More messy fish means the filters get clogged quicker. I clean my external filters about every 3 months but my tank is lightly stocked. When you clean them, simply rinse them in dechlorinated water (or old tank water).

If you haven't had a tank in a while, you may not have heard of fishless cycling before. Here is a link to the pinned topic explaining it. It allows you to add all your fish at once at the end wihtout exposing them to high levels of toxic ammonia and nitrite. If you do choose to go the old route, you will need to start slowly and do water changes more frequently to keep the toxin levels low. Here is a good thread on fish-in cycling.

 

[LolaLouie]

If you want to keep your fish in best health do a 20-30% water change weekly, rinse filter media in tank water around every 3 months. And you rarely need to change filter media, some people leave the same media in for years.