I have a small aquatic turtle and five small fish In a 20-gallon tank. I bought new filter cartridges and I also bought water clarifier, but the water is still very merky.
Hello.
Is it true that if I place my Elite Stingray Carbon/Zeolite filter cartridges in an oven, it renews the Carbon and Zeolite.
Apparenty, when the fish tank water passes through the filter cartridges, the ammonia and other organic chemicals bind with the Carbon/Zeolite and just stay there. When there is no more space left on these cartridges, then they have to be replaced. Rinsing them off does not solve the problem.
The bonded organic chemicals like ammonia, need to be released by heating in an oven – apparently. I wondered if this is true.
Please only answer if you have a definite and Valid answer.
Cheers (:
I was at Lowes yesterday talking with the plumbing guy. He said a few things that remotely made sense, but I challenge what he said. I just want honest open opinions, and if someone knows better, please tell me.
I’m about to put new filter cartridges and a new RO (Reverse Osmosis) element. He told me there are better systems out now. OK, so I haven’t followed plumbing advances very well.
I’m thinking of putting a whole house filter BEFORE my water softener (not including the outside hose bibs). My mineral count is somewhere around 400 (had it tested a few years ago and I hope I remembered that correctly). The guy at Lowes said that my RO drinking water should also be before my water softener. Is that true? Since I’m planning on doing some work, what would be the best way to handle this?
Thanks for your help.
The guy at Lowes made some statements about ultra pure water being acidic. He said that ultra pure water will dissolve copper pipes, brass, lots of different irons and such. While I suppose that a lack of minerals in water COULD leach minerals from copper, I think he was a bit over the top. If you know, please let me know. It won’t make any difference to how I handle my drinking water situation, but it’s always nice to know something for sure.
Again, thanks.
in a fresh water 55 gallon tank, if you have a bunch of plants. do you really need to switch the filter cartridges, because they do have all the good bacteria why would i want to get rid of them?
i have this filter and havent changed my filter in almost a year….it isnt clogged or anything
http://www.thatpetplace.com/pet/prod/239404/product.web
in a fresh water 55 gallon tank, if you have a bunch of plants. do you really need to switch the filter cartridges, because they do have all the good bacteria why would i want to get rid of them?
I have a few questions on the Top Fin 10 filter.
It came with a small bio bag for top fin filters, are Whisper and Top Fin bio bags the same size ?
When do I replace these cartridges even though I will rinse them weekly with old tank water?
I thought replacing Filter Cartridges was harmful, because bacteria is stored in it , so do I need to take out a certain part of this cartridge?????
And Can i put filter media inside the bio bag???
I have a Watt Premier WP-2 LCV water filter. Interested in replacing the filter cartridge with a different brand filter cartridges to get lower micron filtration. The smallest this Watt Premier filter replacement cartridge I can get for this filter is 1 Micron. Thinking about replacing with 0.5 micron or even 0.2 micron from different branch such as Culligan, Pentek & etc. Not sure if it will work, does anybody have any ideas?
It’s a really big tank, and I am so sick of changing water. i’ve done 50 % and it didn’t help.
I keep changing and changing but nitrates are still really high.
yes the filter cartridges are clean. no i don’t over feed.
no it’s not over stocked. unless 6 angelfish in a 100 plus tank is crowded.
if i change all the water, will that help.
I’ve also tried meds.
thanks.
The fish tank is about 10 or 20 gallons and I have a filter that is plenty big enough and holds two filter cartridges. I use the anti-cloudy drops and the anti algae drops but it always goes cloudy after a few days. Could it possibly be the fish food?
I have a 55 gallon fish tank powered by two 60 gallon filters. Each filter requires 2 filter cartridges to run. I was wondering if i could go a little longer without changing them because there are two of them. I usually change them once every 3 weeks, but that runs me a lot of money, especially when I got another 29 gallon tank also power by a 60 gallon filter that needs changing. I vacuum my tanks and do a 20% water change once a week. Any suggestions?
BTW the 55 gallon only has 6 afican cichlids in it.
I often read people saying do not change the filter cartridge, and just to rinse it out with old water? But what if its the kind that you buy that comes with many filter cartridges? You know the ones that hang on the back and you just slide the new cartridges in or out..I hope that makes sense. Weren’t these types of filters made to have the cartridges replaced?
Any advice? Thank you!!!
=)
I have two small Oscars (2.5) inches in length in my 55 gallon tank. Yes I know this will not be sufficient for them when they are grown, and I will buy a new tank for them. I initially planned on keeping a tropical community at first and decided against it when all of them died in the new tank within 2 days. I got the Oscars now and I love them and do not want to get rid of them.
After much research, I plan to get a new tank when they grow larger and keep the smaller 55 gallon for a community tank. I have become addicted to my fish already! My Albino got ich its first week and my Tiger was fine. I treated with salt and heat and a mild protozoan treatment, he was perfect within 48 hours. Now my tank is ridiculously cloudy.
I put the filters back in after doing a 25% water change after the treatment to clean out the tank. I know they are messy fish! I tried to clear the water with a water clarifier, I did two treatments in 2 days, and all I see is some of the clumped together dirt particles, but the water is still cloudy. I added another dual filter yesterday, so now I have two back of the tank bio-filters running, with a total of 4 filter cartridges. Water is still cloudy. Tested PH, and it was 7.0. I tested for ammonia, nitrate and nitrite and its fine.
1.Is my water cloudy from the ich treatment?
2.Is it cloudy because it is still a new tank? (3 weeks in, cycled with live bacteria (not stresszyme, I go to a specialty store for cichlids and other exotic fish, they gave a treatment they use in their tanks, basically live bacteria from older tanks) from an aquarium store, put directly on filters, so the tank may already be well cycled using this method)
3.How long will it take for my tank to clear up with this new, extra filtration system put in?
4.Do I need to do another water change and vacuum the gravel? The fish seem fine, its just cloudy water!
5. I have two zebra danios in there still, my Oscars cant seem to catch them, but they had no problem killing a couple minnows, lol.
Any info would be great… How long before I change out these filters on a new tank and if I rinse them, how do I do that? In the sink? Im a little new to that part.
My two filters run 630 GPH, is that not good enough?
I added about the Danios just to let you know of anything else in the tank. My Oscars basically leave them alone because they are too fast. I would take em out, but wat would I do with em? I cant give em away, so its either let them eat them or flush em. I figure I will just see what happens, since they have lived together for weeks.
The tank is new and the method of ich treatment I stated above, so if I have to do another change, I will. Didnt know if I should do it so often in a new tank. It was cloudy the first week and went away, up until I treated them.
Oh one more thing, no I did not remove the entire filter, sorry it came across that way. I only removed the carbon filter cartridges while I did the ich treatment. I left it running other wise! 
i feel like the aquarium industry is just trying to make money saying that filter cartridges should be changed every few weeks to a month. i’ve used each cartridge for several months and don’t change it until i notice the water flow weakening/overflowing over cartridge bc it’s so clogged with muck. plus, isn’t the filter more for OUR benefit of having an aesthetically cleaner looking aquarium?? bc if u think about it, in nature there’s all kinds of crap in the water that we wouldn’t want to touch but fish still live and thrive in it. in nature the "biofilter" is taken care of ecologically but when we have fish in a closed system aka our aquariums, we must maintain it to keep fish healthy and happy. so as long as you feed and clean with the right frequency and maintain the bio system, the filter is virtually moot in reference to the fish’s health, no?
when i didn’t change my filter for months, water is still crystal clear and there’s no stench whatsoever. if either were not the case, i definitely would change filter bc that’s basically all i see the use of the filter for, aesthetic cleanliness.
Ianab: i know the biofilter is vital, that’s what i was referring to when i said "so as long as you feed and clean with the right frequency and maintain the bio system, the filter is virtually moot in reference to the fish’s health, no?" my logic is that my biofilter and filter cartridges are two different entities. there’s a spongey media that supposedly contains most of my biological filter (nitrifying bacteria) and i also have a gravel substrate for my tank which should have a pretty good amount of the bacteria as well. the only filter i change and am referring to is the cottony filter pad that holds the activated carbon. what i’m referring to is just that unit of cotton mesh and the activated carbon contained. the mesh collects the solid waste, while the activated carbon neutralizes any odor and colorations from the water. so, when the activated carbon depletes its absorption capacity, water discoloration and odor may occur, but are harmless to the fish
I just took about 1/5 of my water out and rinsed my filter cartridges from my canister filter in the tank water, then replaced the water in the tank and started the filter back up and now the water is so cloudy i cant see hte back of the tank. Its been about 1/2 an hour. Im guessing it will just settle after a few hours but can anyone tell me why this happened?
My RO system is 9 years old. The storage tank had worked well and provides plenty drinking water at the faucet until recently. It now gives only 5 oz water before the pressure diminish to zero and no water flows out. I have replaced the filter cartridges yearly. What’s wrong?
