To Clean Or Not To Clean

[Ishyfishy]

Hi

I'm cycling my tank at the moment with 2x goldfish - it'll be 3 weeks this Saterday. However, my filter (Elite 15) requires me to replace 1 cartride and 1 sponge a month - shall I do this whilst cycling? If not, shall I wait until the tank is fully cycled?

Regards

Ishyfishy

Oh forgot to mention that my filter has 2x cartridges and 2x sponges in it.

Cheers

Ishyfishy

 

[littlest]

filters always give you instructions to replace the filer pads/sponges, but if you do this you will be throwing away the good bacteria you have colonised and will have to start from scratch with the cycling every month. Only replaces the sponges when they are literally falling apart (this will take a long time). If they get clogged up clean them in a bucket of tank water by swishing them about a bit. (don't clean them in tap water).

What are the cartridges? does it say on the filter box?

 

[Ishyfishy]

Hi Littlest

Thanks for replying. Oh right I thought you had to regularly change them, at least once a month! Makes sense not to in order to keep the good bacteria - so I wont change them that often unless I have to.

My cartridges are carbon / zeolite cartridges.

Regards

Ishyfishy

 

[littlest]

Most people don't think there's much point in using carbon, unless you are using them to remove medications from the tank.
Zeolite removes ammonia, but by removing it, it can upset the cycle. Generally people view a properly cycling a tank better (and cheaper) than relying on zeolite to remove ammonia. It's also much cheaper.
If I was you I would remove the cartridges and replace them with sponge/foam or something like ceramic rings/biomax. These are good for building up beneficial bacteria.

If you do decide to keep the cartridges they do need to be replaced as they can only absorb things for a certain length of time before they get "full". I think they can also leak the nasties they absorb back into the water.

Is your filter the Stingray one? I have one of these. I managed to cram some cut up sponge into the spaces where the cartridges were.

Unfortunately I don't think your filter is strong enough for your tank and fish (if it's the one I am thinking of). Goldfish and super messy fish, so need stronger filtration than tropicals.

I seem to remember that you have a 30G tank (is that right?). If so, you should have filtrations of at least 300GPH (gallons per hour). The Elite Stingray only processes 300L per hour. So you need a lot more. You also need more media to colonise the bacteria than you currently have. I recommend getting an external filter to run alongside the one you already have. I'm not great on filtration though as I only have small tanks. Maybe someone else could help you further with filtration.
Also you might want to check out the coldwater section on the forum, there might be some topics on filtration for goldfish (do a search).

Good luck, keep up the water changes. Goldfish are super-messy, but lovely fish IMO

 

[Ishyfishy]

Hi Littlest

My tank holds 13.5 gallons / 62 litres, not 30 gallons as previously thought - sorry for the confusion. I think l'll take your advice and get some sponges to replace the cartridges.

My filter is called elite 15, and according to the box it can be used for a 15 gallon tank. What i'm think of doing is replacing my 13.5 gallon tank in about 6 months to a 30 - 35 gallon tank, as I belive my current tank will be too small for my 2x black moores when they grow bigger. At present they are about 2 inches long (including tail).

Regards

Ish

P.s everyone on the formum seems against using test strips - are they that bad? I've been using them alot!

 

[rdd1952]

I would agree about not changing th filter cartridges and with ditching the carbon and zeolite. They really have no good function except for removing things from the water. Everytime you throw away those items, you are throwing away a large portion of your bacteria. As for the strips, they are terribly inaccurate. Liquid is much better. One of the biggest problems with the 5-in-1 strips is that they don't test for ammonia.

You are correct about needing a larger tank. Generally rule of thumb for goldies is 20 gallon for he first fish and an additional 10 gallons for each aadditionafish meaning 30 gallon is what you need for the 2 moors. I'm also not sure what the flow rate of your filter is but goldies are big waste producers so you need a very minimum or 75 pgh.

 

[littlest]

If you are thinking of upgrading anyway, maybe you should get the filter for the new tank now, and run it in your smaller tank alongside the filter you already have until you get the bigger tank. That way you are increasing the filtration you have now making it easier to handle your fish's waste, and you will already have a fully cycled larger filter when you get your tank.

When filtering for goldfish, the ratings are much help. When a filter says it is enough for a 15 gallon it means a 15 gallon (probably lightly stocked) tropical tank. Goldfish are much messier than most common tropicals, so they produce a lot more ammonia, requiring more filtering.

your filter should say somewhere how much water it processes in litres per hour or gallons per hour ( for example 20gph or 200lph (those numbers were picked at random btw)).

 

[Ishyfishy]

Hi there

Sorry for the delay - my internet has been down - arrhh!!

I've taken the carbon cartridges out and replaced them with media sponge. I've also been given a spare filter from my friend, so I will use it in addition to the one i'm already using. Both filters combined will give out 132 gph! Hopefully this will deal with the mess caused by the fish. I will still replace my tank in 6 months and get a better filter for it.

At the moment i'm doing regular water changes and it's very annoying!! But it's been a good 3x weeks, so about another half way to go!

Regards

Ishyfishy