Equipment Review and Discussion :: Filtration question/suggestions

[NYstyle]

Morning all, new to the forum, I've been fishing around and think I have my answers, but want to through this out there.. I, currently have a Fluvial 305 in a 30Gal tank, with ~15gal of water,looking to upgrade to a 40 breeder in the near future, with a Yellow Belly ~2" long. I do have a couple of fish in there as well, 2 neon tetras, 3 feeder guppies, and 2 cory cats. I have some river rock on the bottom, and do ~70% water changes once a week. My PH and Nitrates are beginning to be a problem, too high. I've tried some plants to help control the nitrates, but they don't last long, i'm pretty sure he doesn't like plants that are we'll anchored or organized. Waters crystal clear, no odors, I am going to change the lay out of my filter to add a little less carbon, and more Bio-thingamajigs. What else can I do to help with my PH and nitrate issues? Thanks.

I forgot to add, I also have two, either 12" or 14" air stones as well.

[steve]

Welcome to the forum! I think the issue is the small volume of water compared to the bio-load. Try getting rid of the river rock to see if that helps with the water cleanliness.

[NYstyle]

thanks. I'll give it a try.

[amwassil]

It may sound counter-intuitive, but more water is easier to maintain. As Steve recommends, you've got a 30 gallon tank, put 25 gallons of water in it. If you're concerned about your turtle climbing out, put a clear acrylic 'wall' on top of the aquarium or an ATBP. If that's not feasible you could instead put a screen on top. Florescent 'egg crate' type light diffusers work well.

You will eventually find that as the aquarium cycles, pH will tend to drop and nitrates to rise. This is totally natural and results from various biological processes going on both in the aquarium and the filter. There are ways to deal with this other than massive weekly water changes. But for your small sized aquarium, water changes are likely all you need. Let us know when/if you get tired changing water all the time.

Also, it's a good idea to test your source water. If the source contains nitrates and/or phosphates you need to know that. And because you have fish in the same tank, if your source contains ammonia or chlorine or chloramine you need to get that out. That stuff won't kill your turtles, but they will love for getting rid of it.

[NYstyle]

I've since upgraded to a 40 breeder, with about 30 gal of water, seems to be holding pretty good. I did test the tap, and the PH was a little high, so that may be a part of my problem. What are the other ways to deal with water changes?? I'd really like to get some more plants in the tank, but he's a bit of an A hole with plants in the tank...
This is where I'm at now,

[VeipaCray]

Your PH doesn't need to be 7. A stable PH is better than a perfect number. Depending on what type of rock your river rock is, that may have something to do with an increased PH number. Anywhere between 6-8 is perfectly fine for freshwater.

Your ammonia / nitrites should read 0 on a drop based test kit when the tank is fully cycled. Biomedia in your filtration is needed to accomplish this. Biomedia is essentially inert very porous material for nitrifying bacteria to colonize. Not to get too far in the weeds but there are two types of naturally occurring bacteria that will populate. Nitrosomona and Nitrobacter. One converts ammonia-->Slightly less toxic Nitrite. The other converts Nitrite --> slightly less toxic Nitrate. Turtles produce a LOT of waste compared to fish so we must compensate in our filter setups by putting a LOT of biomedia. It's the most expensive media to purchase but it never goes bad. It can be cleaned and reused as needed. Don't listen to the manufacturers packaging that tells you to replace x% monthly. That's BS. It's inert and is just there to provide lots of surface area. Over time the outer pores will get clogged with gunk and it needs to be rinsed clean to keep it useful but it does NOT need to be replaced.

If your nitrates are high - you need to do water changes. That's the purpose of the water change - to remove nitrates. We cannot replicate enough of nature in our home aquariums to deal with converting nitrates to nitrogen.

[VeipaCray]

Aqueon and Python (the original) make water change systems that hook to your faucet. I wouldn't have a freshwater aquarium without one. They're a HUGE time saver for cleaning and water changes.

Several of us have modified these water change systems to include inline filtration of tap water to help reduce chloramine and other contaminates. viewtopic.php?f=9&t=33171

[NYstyle]

That's a good break down, thanks. My PH does seem to hold steady around 7.8, and yes, my ammonia / nitrites are consistently at 0.
That's another upgrade, I now have all baskets filled with Biomedia, with the top basket with one bag of carbon, and one bag of Zero-carb and is topped off with more Biomedia. I have a python, I would't have any tank without one, absolute life saver! I'll give that filter a shot, thanks.

[steve]

Updated setup looks great, though that is a lot of river rock. Also not sure about the reptile carpeting going in water. What's the purple thing, is that like a feeding ring? I'd also replace that thermometer, RES are know to break those.

[NYstyle]

Yes, it's a feeding ring, I figured I'd give it a try. I wasn't sure about the carpeting either, I'll probably replace it with some slate when it gets too nasty, but so far it's holding up. I have it over some egg create. When he gets a little bigger, I plan on switching out the thermometer and heater.

[steve]

Would shelf liner work? IKEA sells a nice thick plasticky one http://www.ikea.com/us/en/catalog/products/80012853/

[NYstyle]

Well, If the terrarium liner will eventually get nasty, would that have the same affect?? Maybe what I'll do is lower the egg create below the basking frame, and adjust the depth with zip ties, and add some of that river rock into it...That should work, I think..

[steve]

I'm not sure what you mean by same affect.

[NYstyle]

Getting nasty, after being submerged.. is that what you were implying??

[steve]

No, I wasn't sure what you meant. The shelf liner I linked to should hold up longer than any type of carpeting. I do have a similar PVC platform but with a few layers of tiles on top (to create the incline).