Should I Get A Different Filter?

[shaddai]

I've been wondering this because the Regent filter I have now doesn't seem to keep little floaties out of the water very well, but my water quality over the last couple of 2-3 weeks has been excellent. It's in a 40gal US tank, and I've been checking the water quite often because I'd rather be safe than sorry. This is where it's been:

Ammonia=0
Nitirites=0
Nitrates=5-10
pH=7.6 steady

Currently stocked with 2 swordtails, 5 red eyed tetras, 6 golden barbs and 3 dwarf gouramis. I know it's about at it's stocking limit for full grown fish, but these guys are itty bitty for now. I'll get a MUCH larger tank..as soon as I convince the wife.

I don't know what model number or anything the Regent filter is because it was given to me, but I know it has 2 filter pads & seems to move an okay amount of water. Whether it's enough or not, I have no clue. The filter media isn't clogged at all, and it should easily go through the strainer, so why's this stuff floating around?


Todd

 

[nmonks]

I have no idea what a Regent brand filter is, so what I'm putting here is very general...

Aquarium filters are usually sold as being suitable for a tank containing X gallons/litres of water. Almost invariably, this is a "best case" estimate, assuming a clean tank with only a few small fishes. Back in the real world, you usually need twice as much filtration as the manufacturers imply. It's not that they're lying, but that they are doing their best to make a small filter seem like a really good one, and we, as fishkeepers, tend to overstock our aquaria.

A 40 (US?) gallon tank is quite big. Ideally you want the filter to "turnover" the water at least 4 times per hour; in other words, all the water should pass through the filter 4 times per hour. If you look on your filter, it should have written on a label somewhere its turnover rate, either in gallons per hour (gph) or litres per hour (lph). For your tank, you want something with at least 4 x 40 gph, i.e., 160 gph (or about 600 lph).

Because manufacturers give this quote in the best case scenario, realistically you should budget in the filter media and its clogging over time. Watch any filter in an aquarium and you will see that while it starts of pumping the water strongly, after a week or two that flow can slow to a trickle. Therefore you want to scale up the turnover by at least 50 to 100%, in other words at least 240 gph (900 lph), and perhaps up to 320 gph (1200 lph) in the case of aquarists with big or messy fish like cichlids, puffers, or plecs.

The fact that your filter isn't straining out debris demonstrates that a lot of the water isn't passing into the filter; if it was, all the debris would be in the filter medium and not the water. You could try placing it in the middle of the tank instead of one corner, but it sounds much more likely you will need to get a second filter. Consider a big external canister filter -- these are invariably the best value even if they are somewhat expensive. While they cost more than internal filters, they always have much greater turnover rates as well as more powerful pumps. For a tank your size, you want to be looking at something at least as big as a Fluval 204 (150 gph) but better yet the Fluval 304 (220 gph). There are other brands, like Eheim and Rena that are at least as good, and perhaps better.

If you're on a tight budget, and undergravel filter can work very well. Because the "sucking part" is spread out across the entire gravel bed, these filters don't need strong pumps (an air stone in two corners will work well) and the massive surface area of the gravel means the biological filtration capactity is excellent. There are some problems though. For one, you'll need to clean the gravel monthly; and secondly, most plants with roots won't grow well. But if all you have is a plastic skull and a bit of bogwood, then an undergravel filter will work fine

For what it's worth, your tank doesn't sound overstocked to me. Stocking rules are guidelines and need to be handled intelligently: a 6 inch plec obviously uses much more oxygen and filtration than 6 one inch neons, so the "1 inch per 10 square inches" rule is very much something that works with small, guppy to barb sized fish.

Cheers,

Neale

 

[smurfyy_2k3]

edit:sorry posted this in the wronge thread

 

[cujoho78]

Hi. Nmonks has given you some good advice already, but i'll add a couple of comments. Regent filters are made by the same company that make Penguin and Emperor filters (both of which have excellent reputations). The company's name is Marineland. Some people have even taken them and using conversion parts from the Penguin filters added bio-wheels to their Regent filters.
What are the little "floaties" that are still in the water? Could they be tiny air bubbles? In any event, any debris that is in the water should settle pretty quickly if it is not sucked into the filter. The filters do need to cycle the tank water 4-5 times minimum per hour but even so, the suction isn't able to get every little piece of debris out. If it were you could imagine the fish getting sucked into the intake more easily. If your filter is the one that has two sides with a filter pad in each one then i think that you are fine. I believe those are rated at 40-60 gallon tanks. If you are from North America, Walmart sells Regent filters so you could go and have a look at the packaging. Maybe some of the particles are too small to be caught by the filter material. In this case you could add another filter pad or some other sponge type material or look into getting a diatom filter (i think that's what they're called) which will remove the small particles from the water. Or you could always add a second smaller filter to your set-up, but you may wind up with too much current. Your water stats look good and that's the main thing, so spending more money on another filter to me seems like a waste.

 

[shaddai]

What are the little "floaties" that are still in the water? Could they be tiny air bubbles? In any event, any debris that is in the water should settle pretty quickly if it is not sucked into the filter.

They're definitely not bubbles. Seems to be little bits of uneaten flake food mostly. I watched one single piece of it for about 15 minutes, and it just goes around in circles.

I read the post about Marineland making the filter, and I went over to our LFS & started opening Penguin boxes & diggin around a little The filter I have is apparently a renamed Penguin 330, without the bio-wheel. I took my filter cover with me to be sure, and it fits the Penguin perfectly.

Anyway, the guy at the LFS said I might try moving the filter to the center to see if it helps. He thought that being over in the corner that it could be creating a little current around the outside perimeter of the tank & leaving the center area of water just spinning around in circles...which makes some sense once you watch the little piece of food for a while.

Suppose I'll give that a shot, if not, I'll be back.

Thanks for your help.
Todd

 

[Teelie]

If food is floating around like that, you're feeding too much which leads to a multitude of problems, including excess gunk in the water, which clogs the filter, which slows it down which makes it less efficient and so on.

 

[shaddai]

If food is floating around like that, you're feeding too much which leads to a multitude of problems, including excess gunk in the water, which clogs the filter, which slows it down which makes it less efficient and so on.

Yes, I know...I have a teenager.

Anyway, moved the filter to the center of the tank & it cleared up. Still kind of odd if you ask me, but whatever does it I guess.

Todd

 

[cujoho78]

Cool. Glad to hear that you got it sorted out, not to mention the good help from the LFS guy!