Really Confused About Filter Changing

[rosiegirl]

i've gotten so much conflicting advice on the filters on my tanks and i really just want to do right by my fish (really my kids' fish but i've become their caretaker!)!  i'm careful not to overfeed and i've done lots of research on keeping them healthy.
 
currently we have a 10g tank (established 6 months ago) with 4 platys in it (3 of them are babies that were born in the tank).  i then moved one of the platys (a baby that turned out to be male!) into a new 5 gallon tank (established 2 weeks ago) with a new platy from the fish store and 2 white cloud mountain minnows.
 
i tested the water in both tanks yesterday and the levels of nitrate (80+) were really high in the 10g (older) tank.  the levels of ammonia (2.0) and nitrite (2.0) were high in the 5g (new) tank.  today i did a water change in both tanks.
 
anything else i should do or add?  i add stress coat to the water that i use for the water change but that's it.
 
 
now, the filters.  the 10g tank has a tetra filter cartridge (bio-bag) and a bio-foam filter thing.  how often do these need to be cleaned/changed?  i've been told that the cartridge needs to be changed once a month and i've also been told that changing it once a month is bad for the tank!  and i have no idea what to do with bio-foam thing.
 
the 5g tank has a whisper micro filter with the same carbon filter cartridge but no bio-foam thing.
 
 
so how often do i change these filters?  and is there anything else i should be doing? 

 

[Mikey1]

im not sure of the exact filters you have, but you should never change ALL of the filter media at one time....doing this will remove all of the beneficial bacteria from the tank/filter....without going into a scientific explaination that you probably wouldnt understand anyway, i will just say, if this happens your fish will basically be poisoned to death....
 
filters normally have two or three seperate filter media parts/cartridges, when you need to change them you change them alternately, never all at the same time

 

[eaglesaquarium]

And you don't change them until absolutely necessary.  Just rinse them in OLD TANK water (never tap!).  Rinsing them will help remove excess crud and allow for better flow so that the bacteria have access to ammonia, oxygen, etc.  Without flow, the bacteria will die off (or go dormant) and won't be able to process the ammonia.

 

[TwoTankAmin]

The foam thing is to provide a home for the bacter. The bag is probably a mechanical filter media/ The foam should be rinsed carefully in dechlorinated tap water or in water removed from the tank. The other bag can be rinsed until finally rinsing wont help restore good flow at which time it can be changed.
 
Readings for 2 ppm of ammonia or nitrite are too high. Do as many water changes as it takes to get them closer to .25 but certainly under about .50.
 
The problem is that you have too many fish in a 5 gal for cycling and it will push ammonia and nitrite too high to be safe for the fish. One thing you can do yo healp yourself out is to take the foam from your 10 gal and swish it around in the 5. Do not worry about junk coming out into the water, this is a good thing to see in this case. What you are trying to do is get some of the good bacteria into the new tank to help it cycle.
 
I would also suggest that you consider parking the two white clouds in your 10 gal. The amount of bio-load they would be adding in that tank is minimal and the bacteria should catch up to the additional load pretty quickly. this will also reduce the ammonia being produced in the 5. This will make it easier to finish the cycle for the reduced load.
 
Once the 5 is cycled you could move back the white clouds. However, I would suggest that a 5 gal is a bit on the small side for platys.

 

[rosiegirl]

thanks, all.
 
 
how do i know if the carbon filter bag thing is at its end?  how do i measure the flow? 
 
this is the filter media i have:  http/www.amazon.com/Tetra-26169-Whisper-Bio-Bag-Cartridge/dp/B0006JM09E/ref=sr_1_6?s=pet-supplies&ie=UTF8&qid=1359835273&sr=1-6&keywords=biobag
 
this is the other one that's in the 10g tank:  http/www.amazon.com/Tetra-Whisper-Foam-Grid-Replacement/dp/B001NTIZ04/ref=sr_1_2?s=pet-supplies&ie=UTF8&qid=1359835338&sr=1-2&keywords=bio+foam

 

[This Old Spouse]

The carbon in those bags isn't meant to last very long at all. Problem is, if that's the only media in your tank you shouldn't change it at all until you get some kind of sponge well established to hold the bacteria.
 
I used to use HOB filters, first with the carbon inserts, then I quit using the carbon and went with the empty bags. Fine, but they do disintegrate after a number of months. So over time I switched completely to a sponge media, which last almost forever and hold bacteria really well. Then I added in some ceramic noodles which also kept healthy bacteria.
 
Any readings of ammonia or nitrite are dangerous. You need to get the reading to 0 for healthy fish. Keeping a .25 reading constantly will cause long-term damage to fish. You may need to do a couple of 80-90% water changes to get the levels to 0, but it's worth it.

 

[TwoTankAmin]

Any readings of ammonia or nitrite are dangerous.

 
Easy to state, harder to prove scientifically. Especially when one ignores the time frame involved and the pH of te tank or the type if test kit being used.. The tank is being cycled, some ammonia must be present for that and some nitrite as well. managing them is the key- and that means keeping them from causing any permanent harm to the fish.
 
Who suggested a tank should have any ammonia readings longer term, i.e. "constantly"?
 
As for the filter media - its what I said- the foam you use til it starts to fall apart, the bags when they get so clogged you cant clean them well enough to get the kind of flow that did when the filter was pretty new. Remove the bag of carbon and drop it in the tank away from the filter outflow. Leave it for about two weeks, then take it out and dump it.

 

[rosiegirl]

As for the filter media - its what I said- the foam you use til it starts to fall apart, the bags when they get so clogged you cant clean them well enough to get the kind of flow that did when the filter was pretty new. Remove the bag of carbon and drop it in the tank away from the filter outflow. Leave it for about two weeks, then take it out and dump it.

 
thanks again!  i'm sorry, i'm still lost on how i know how to check the flow?  like where specifically i'm looking?
 
when i put the carbon bag in the tank, i put a new one in the filter?  i'm sorry for such stupid questions!
 
also, i have no foam media in the smaller 5g tank.  should i buy something separate to put in there that doesn't go in the filter itself for the bacteria growth?

 

[TwoTankAmin]

You are checking the flow visually/ You simply look at it. As the media begins to clog, you will notice that the output of the filter does not appear to be as strong. Basically, if one does nothing to clean the media the flow will eventually slow to a trickle and might even stop completely. But you can avoid all that worry and decision making easily, just do a water change and media rinse weekly.
 
Of all the things you may see on fish sites all over the net there is one you will almost never ever see. And that is the statement that the water in a tank was too clean. The only time I can recall seeing that is in relation to folks who are breeding fish which are seasonal spawners. During the dry season the water is less clean than in the rainy season. So breeders intentionally let the water dirty up some when simulating the dry season. But even when they do, the water is still pretty darn clean.
 
I have a couple of Whisper Jr.s I run on 2.5 or 5.5 gal tanks. I will use a small piece of sponge in the filter right before the outflow. In one I just pushed part of an AquaClear sponge into the filter. The trick is to have the sponge sit high enough up in the filter that the water dose not spill over the sponge but goes through it.

 

[rosiegirl]

I have a couple of Whisper Jr.s I run on 2.5 or 5.5 gal tanks. I will use a small piece of sponge in the filter right before the outflow. In one I just pushed part of an AquaClear sponge into the filter. The trick is to have the sponge sit high enough up in the filter that the water dose not spill over the sponge but goes through it.

 
thanks...the only sponge i have is the bio-foam thing that came with the filter on my 10g tank (i think that's a sponge?)  do i buy something like the aquaclear separately to put into my other tetra whisper filter (that doesn't come with the biofoam)?
 
i did a water change on both tanks a few days ago and retested the water today.  the smaller tank's ammonia stayed at 2.0 but the nitrate went down from 2.0 to .25.  the bigger tank's nitrate stayed at about 80.
 
i thought i'd take these steps:
 
1. swish the biofoam sponge from the 10g around in the 5g tank.
2. rinse the carbon filters on both tanks.
3. do another water change
4. buy a sponge for the smaller tank.
 
does this sound right?