General Care Discussion :: Debris on bottom of tank

[baba]

I've got a 90 gallon tank with one 8 inch RES. We feed her in the tank - mostly dandelion greens and romain, plus Reptomin per vet's recommendation. I have a Fluval 406 setup in there per the instruction specs that came with it. So, the intake is about 4 or 5 inches or so from the bottom of the tank and the output is an inch or two below the surface. The bottom is bare glass except for 5 or 6 flat rocks that take up 60 % of the bottom.

I get a lot of debris on the bottom of the tank. Mostly used and unused bits of lettuce. I scoop or vacuum them out every night but I'm wondering if there isn't a better set up that would just suck them into the filter. Perhaps the 406 instructions are good for fish but less than optimal for a turtle. If I did suck them up into the filter, I'd imagine it's no worse than all the other gunk that's in there and I'd just have to clean the filter a little more often maybe.

Anyone have any thoughts/experience with this? I have similar issues with a smaller tank with 2 4 inch RES in it also with a 406 installed to the instruction specifications. Currently looking to move the little guys to a larger tank with 2 406's.

I've ordered a FX6 that should be here tomorrow. Any recommendations on how that should be set up for a turtle in a 90 gallon tank?

Thanks

[Jeremiah]

I can't help you with the FX6 since I built my own filters, but regarding the ability to suck things directly into the filter, it's not really something that it's meant to do. Filters will usually take up debris floating nearby without a problem, but they're not supposed to actively take in bigger chunks of waste matter (I would consider lettuce "large" compared to, say, little poop pieces that break apart and dissolve in the water column). Ultimately, filters remove smaller pieces of junk and fix nitrogenous compounds--in that respect, they are "small-scale" tools. In fact, many people who keep ponds try to protect their pumps from sucking in large pieces of debris.

[Kansasslider]

The only thing you can do to help with debris is feed out of tank and add a maxi jet circulation pump. Unfortunately the FX will not solve the problem.

[baba]

Thanks. The pieces on the bottom that in any way resemble lettuce I'll scoop or vacuum. The debris I'm talking about looks like little pieces of poop that happened to settle before getting close enough to the strainer on the inlet to be sucked in. The coarse pads in the 406 seem pretty full of the stuff when I clean it. I figure a little more probably won't hurt it.

I've had ponds for over 20 years, actually on my third due to moves, and understand about straining to keep large matter out of the pump and I build my own filters. I also know debris settles in the bottom with no ill effect on the fish and I clean it for seasonal maintenance. It is substantially bigger though at about 15,000 gallons. I guess I don't think of the fish tank and the pond as the same thing but I suppose it really is. I was planning on building a large tank which basically would be a small pond anyway.

The turtles were originally destined for the pond. I was told I could just toss them in it which is why I got them. However, before they went in, I found out they likely wouldn't survive our winter so now they're primarily indoor turtles with some outdoor time in the summer.

The FX6 was mostly for water clarity issues and now that I think about it, I had the same issue when I inherited the first pond from my dad. Filtration was too small and I ended up doing maintenance all the time. I installed appropriate filtration and maintenance dropped dramatically.

[Kansasslider]

I'm pushing my fx beyond what it was built for. I think my goldfish help with the poop etc. My maxi jet also does a great job moving the water around the tank. The fx is a great filter.