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Posted by Alan Paterson on March 15, 2005, 6:43 am
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I recently bought a new tank, roughly double the volume of the old one, but
kept the original pump/filter. I've noticed in the 4/5 months since that the
plastic plants seem to get dirty more quickly - needing cleaning every
fortnight, rather than once a month or so - and that there seems to be algae
building up more than before - eg bits of gravel developing furry little
coats. The fish all seem happy enough, mind, including guppies, which I've
always thought pretty good indicators of any water problems. Do I need a
bigger pump? Or do I just get used to more regular cleaning? Is there any
basic formula for deciding how much pump you need for how much water? Thanks
for any advice.
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Posted by Roger Sleet on March 15, 2005, 7:40 am
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alan.paterson@btclick.com.INVALID (Alan Paterson) wrote:
> *Date:* Tue, 15 Mar 2005 11:43:33 +0000 (UTC)
>
> I recently bought a new tank, roughly double the volume of the old one,
> but
> kept the original pump/filter. I've noticed in the 4/5 months since
> that the
> plastic plants seem to get dirty more quickly - needing cleaning every
> fortnight, rather than once a month or so - and that there seems to be
> algae
> building up more than before - eg bits of gravel developing furry little
> coats. The fish all seem happy enough, mind, including guppies, which
> I've
> always thought pretty good indicators of any water problems. Do I need a
> bigger pump? Or do I just get used to more regular cleaning? Is there
> any
> basic formula for deciding how much pump you need for how much water?
> Thanks
> for any advice.
Algal build up is down to available nutrients and light, not level of
filtration. It is possible that you have higher levels of Nitrate and
Phosphate in your tap water - they certainly go up around here in winter.
However, the most likely cause is more/better light in the new tank. You
can either cut back on light quantity/quality or nutrients. For the
latter use Nitrate and Phosphate reducing resins.
Most filters have a "Maximum Tank Size" in the instructions. I
generally find this is conservative in the extreme, and run tanks of
twice the recommended size without problem (with low stocking levels).
The amount of filtration is enough if Ammonia and Nitrite are both zero.
Roger Sleet
Roger's Aquatic Pages http://www.sleet.plus.com
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Posted by SkyCatcher on March 17, 2005, 5:12 am
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Following a recent spate of algae problems I spoke to some people in the
know in my local water company who told me that due to fears over
cryptosporidium (not sure of spelling!) outbreaks they are adding
orosodiumphosphate (spelling again!) to the water supply - this is basically
making the phosphate levels go through the roof. I got a test kit and wow -
off the Richter scale! I used tmc phosphate remover in my canister to remove
it (or get it much lower) and my algae problem is now gone.
Get a test kit and check it out.
I hope this helps.
Sky
>I recently bought a new tank, roughly double the volume of the old one, but
> kept the original pump/filter. I've noticed in the 4/5 months since that
> the
> plastic plants seem to get dirty more quickly - needing cleaning every
> fortnight, rather than once a month or so - and that there seems to be
> algae
> building up more than before - eg bits of gravel developing furry little
> coats. The fish all seem happy enough, mind, including guppies, which I've
> always thought pretty good indicators of any water problems. Do I need a
> bigger pump? Or do I just get used to more regular cleaning? Is there any
> basic formula for deciding how much pump you need for how much water?
> Thanks
> for any advice.
>
>
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Posted by Fishman on March 17, 2005, 8:08 am
Please log in for more thread options
> Following a recent spate of algae problems I spoke to some people in the
> know in my local water company who told me that due to fears over
> cryptosporidium (not sure of spelling!) outbreaks they are adding
> orosodiumphosphate (spelling again!) to the water supply - this is
> basically making the phosphate levels go through the roof. I got a test
> kit and wow - off the Richter scale! I used tmc phosphate remover in my
> canister to remove it (or get it much lower) and my algae problem is now
> gone.
>
> Get a test kit and check it out.
>
> I hope this helps.
>
> Sky
>
A Cryptosporidium infection isn't nice.
It's a parasitic disease that you can get from drinking contaminated water
so I can understand water companies taking precautions.
Damm nuisance for us aquarists though!
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>
> I recently bought a new tank, roughly double the volume of the old one,
> but
> kept the original pump/filter. I've noticed in the 4/5 months since
> that the
> plastic plants seem to get dirty more quickly - needing cleaning every
> fortnight, rather than once a month or so - and that there seems to be
> algae
> building up more than before - eg bits of gravel developing furry little
> coats. The fish all seem happy enough, mind, including guppies, which
> I've
> always thought pretty good indicators of any water problems. Do I need a
> bigger pump? Or do I just get used to more regular cleaning? Is there
> any
> basic formula for deciding how much pump you need for how much water?
> Thanks
> for any advice.