Juwel Rio Carbon Filter Sponge/algae & Fish Deaths.

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superjonboy

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Hello. I'm relatively new to tropical fish keeping.

I have a Juwel Rio 125 which I set up and cycled and has been looking perfect.
I'm generally good with water changes and general cleaning/maintenance, and test my water regularly.
Since the initial fluctuations during the cycling the readings from my tests have been great. They seem to stay identical apart from the nitrate which sometimes builds up to about 50, but this is soon rectified with a partial water change.

The problem i'm having is with Algae and a couple of fish deaths.

The algae seems to be building steadily regardless of the algae removal treatment I add. It's ok on the glass as I can clean it, but the substrate (medium gravel) gets quite green and also a little on plants.

The fish death is 2 female guppies. No signs of distress, literally just walked in one morning and one was laying dead on the bottom. Then about a week later the same thing with another guppy.

I thought I was doing most things ok, so was obviously disheartened, not to mention sad that a couple of fish had died.

I read somewhere that using Carbon in freshwater aquariums should be avoided unless you know exactly what it's there for e.t.c

The Juwel Rio filter media has 2 fine sponges(bottom), 2 coarse sponges, 1 carbon sponge and then a thin layer of filter wool at the very top.

I'm basically after any help surrounding the algae and fish deaths and if I should remove the Carbon sponge. (I change this sponge every 4 weeks).

John. :rolleyes:
 
Hi and welcome, just a few questions -

How long have you had the tank and how long have the fish been in there.

Just a quicky - you don't need the carbon all the time just to remove medication if you have needed to use it (save your money)

The filter wool is good and helps to clean/polish the water clean.

All for now.

Paul.
 
Hi thanks for the reply.

I've had the tank for about 4 months.

The fish have been in there over the past 2 months. I started initially with some tetras. Then some corydoras.
It was like this for just over a month (5 tetras & 2 corys). Then gradually I added 7 guppies (2 male, 5 female), 3 male dwarf gourami, 3 more corys and 5 more neon tetras.

I also have in there a few live plants, some java ferns, cabomba? some amazon swords and some straight valis. Theres a coupld of others in there too which when I checked on the net are not strictly aquarium plants. Purple stricta? and I can't remember the other.

I forgot to mention I have an air pump with an airstone too. I thought this would be fine to just provide a bit more movement to the water and get a bit more surface oxygen?


If the carbon is meant to remove medicine from the water does that mean all the algae treatment and plant food won't be working?

Sorry for all the questions. I did initially get advice from my aquatics supply shop but I'm not so sure to trust the advice. I read on here about not trusting them. He did tell me I could have 70 fish in my aquarium which raised alarms as this sounds way too many.

Thanks, John.
 
Hi John,

I took the carbon sponge out and replaced with another coarse sponge in my rio240.
The carbon only has a limited life span in the tank anyway.
I'm also adding liquid fertilizers for plants.

From what I have observed so far, the filter is reasonable for a lightly stocked tank.
but can see it will struggle with more fish.

Cheers
 
Hi John,

I took the carbon sponge out and replaced with another coarse sponge in my rio240.
The carbon only has a limited life span in the tank anyway.
I'm also adding liquid fertilizers for plants.

From what I have observed so far, the filter is reasonable for a lightly stocked tank.
but can see it will struggle with more fish.

Cheers

Hi I've done a 30% water change today which I do weekly. I've also now removed the carbon sponge.
I did a water test before the change and all the levels were fine, but did the change anyway as i had to clean the glass and gravel of algae.
I'm at a bit of a loss as another guppy has died. Again on close examination there's no signs of disease.
Is there any chance my weekly water changes are stressing them out too much???

Kind Regards,
John.
 
need to know exactly what the results were for the ammonia etc and what temp the tank is at

thanks Sarah x
 
need to know exactly what the results were for the ammonia etc and what temp the tank is at

thanks Sarah x

Hi Sarah, thanks for responding.

My most recent test results are as follows:

Temp: 25oC
Amonia: 0
ph: 7.2
KH: 10d
GH: 8d
N02: 0mg/l
NO3: 25mg/l

Here is an image of my tank. I'm not sure about the plants. I think my LFS (who i originally asked for advice) has given me plants that are not strictly aquarium plants. Such as the purple stricta(left) and one I can't remember the name of (far right).

I think I'm also over-stocked. Good job I didn't follow their advice that I could have 70 fsh in my aquarium!

058.jpg
 
May sound like a silly question but is the tank ever in direct sun light? I've heard that this can cause growth of algae.
 
Thanks for the reply.

It's not in direct sunlight. The room has a window at the end but it's more than 10ft from the tank. To the right of the tank there is also a partial wall, which covers the tanks right side. Some natural light gets to the tank but when the sun shines it never falls directly on the tank.

I've read about cutting back on th lighting so i'll try and give that a try. I usually leave them on for 12 hours a day so i'm going to reduce this.

Kind Regards, John.
 
Can you tell us what the 'Algae Remover' actually is? Most of these types of products aren't really that effective, and depending on what the ingredients are could be harming your fish if used a lot.
 
Yeah it's green algae control by King British.

The only other things I add are Tap Safe, which is a dechlorinator. I use this when replacing water during my water changes.

I then have some vitakraft bio-stimul. This is meant to help the plants and also be beneficial to the fish.

Thanks for the reply.

John.
 
I've attached a coule more photos. I would really appreciate some advice on my plants, as in what they are and if they are ok. I think some of them might not be true aquatic plants and as such could affect the water quality.

I know a couple of them but at my LFS they hae the plants in tanks and you basically pick what you like.

I told the lad what tank I hae and what fish I have/want and asked his advice on which to get. He then picked some out and what I have is the result.

The only ones I actually picked were the Java Ferns. I also have some floating Salvinia Natans.

I've tried to identify the plants myself but am not 100%. I think I have purple stricta in the back left.

059.jpg


057.jpg


John.
 

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