Fish Tank Help

[giant19000]

what filter will do for my 40 gallon it ususally has leftover food and poop on the sand i kno i should clean it but it doesnt work what filter will do the job?and what can i use to make the water really clear?
i change 25% every week and clean out the filter every 3-4days and the water is like 40%cloudy ?pls dont ignore and reply!!!its a FRESH WATER TANK!!



THAMKS TO EVRYBODY IN ADVANCE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[trit0n2003]

what filter will do for my 40 gallon it ususally has leftover food and poop on the sand i kno i should clean it but it doesnt work what filter will do the job?and what can i use to make the water really clear?
i change 25% every week and clean out the filter every 3-4days and the water is like 40%cloudy ?pls dont ignore and reply!!!its a FRESH WATER TANK!!



THAMKS TO EVRYBODY IN ADVANCE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

If the food makes it to the bottom and poop, a filter wont really suck that up on its own. You will have to use a gravel vacuum to pick it up.

Id suggest feeding less? Or get a bottom feeder fish (cory catfish) they work as a good cleanup crew and eat up things that sink to the bottom. Also shrimp are good for cleaning up too.

also you dont need to clean your filter every 3-4 days. the filter media contains the necessary bacteria that breaks down the harmful chemicals in the tank released from decomposing food or waste. Since you keep washing it out to keep it clean you are killing off the bacteria colonies that are growing on there so it is constantly trying to build up a colony every few days (cloudiness = bacterial bloom).

Change your filter pad with a BRAND NEW one every 3-4 weeks. Take it out completely and place a new one in the filter. when you do this it will cause another cloud bloom but it will disappear in a few days on its own.

 

[KittyKat]

+1 for feeding less. The fish should finish off all the food in 60 seconds.

What is your stock? Which filter do you currently have?

 

[nmonks]

I agree with what people have said before. The root causes are overfeeding, under-filtering, and overstocking; very likely a combination of all three.

The single best filter for messy fish is the reverse-flow undergravel filter. This design pushes water up through the gravel so detritus and faeces end up in midwater, where the big canister filter can suck them up. No other filter does as good a job as a powerful, properly designed reverse-flow undergravel filter.

In a more general sense external canister filters are broadly accepted as the best filters for large, messy fish for a variety of reasons, and whether used as part of a reverse-flow UG or on its own, you very likely need a big canister filter rated at 10 times the volume of the tank in turnover per hour.

Cheers, Neale

PS. If we're talking about your two fire eels in a 40 gallon tank, you're insanely overstocked, and given this species is extremely territorial once sexually mature, you will need separate tanks for the two of them. At minimum, you need 100 gallons for this species, and realistically 150-200 gallons. Given the filtration requirements, even a 100 gallon tank needs a 1000 gallon/hour turnover rate, and that will very likely be from more than one canister filter.

 

[giant19000]

I agree with what people have said before. The root causes are overfeeding, under-filtering, and overstocking; very likely a combination of all three.

The single best filter for messy fish is the reverse-flow undergravel filter. This design pushes water up through the gravel so detritus and faeces end up in midwater, where the big canister filter can suck them up. No other filter does as good a job as a powerful, properly designed reverse-flow undergravel filter.

In a more general sense external canister filters are broadly accepted as the best filters for large, messy fish for a variety of reasons, and whether used as part of a reverse-flow UG or on its own, you very likely need a big canister filter rated at 10 times the volume of the tank in turnover per hour.

Cheers, Neale

PS. If we're talking about your two fire eels in a 40 gallon tank, you're insanely overstocked, and given this species is extremely territorial once sexually mature, you will need separate tanks for the two of them. At minimum, you need 100 gallons for this species, and realistically 150-200 gallons. Given the filtration requirements, even a 100 gallon tank needs a 1000 gallon/hour turnover rate, and that will very likely be from more than one canister filter.

nope i gave the younger 1 back..
but i do have a black ghost knife with my fire eel and nope they are in a 130gallon right now i have a ornate bichir with a yoyo loach in the 40