I tested our tap water with my aquarium test kit, and it turned out that there was a significant amount of ammonia. While the test kit might not be highly accurate for regular water, it did occur that we should get a water filter. We have the water coming from an underwater spring.

We own livestock, so I suspect that their urine might be seeping into the ground and getting into the spring, even though it’s deep underground. Could this be the reason?

Anyway, what type of filter is needed that could filter ammonia out? Would a carbon filter work?
Thanks,
-Josh

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Hey all. I have a constant problem. My 10 gallon fish tank i have for the kids is constantly cloudy. i have tablets an "potion" for everything.I have used water clear, ammonia clear,ph balance, i have test strips for ammonia an a 5 test strip. The 5 tests are all in normal range for the usual, nitrates ammonia,ph etc. I empty 25% of the water,50% of the water,70% of the water,changed filters etc.This has been an ongoing problem for 3 months.I have 4 goldfish an 1 algae fish. I chaeck every few days an it never gets any better. I have a filter system i guess that uses a bio filter an a carbon filter but im at wits end.Tired of a cloudy tank an i have to believe its not over populated.About 15 years ago i had a 10 gallon tank with 3-4 fish an it was never ever cloudy,.not sure whats wrong or what im doing wrong.I dont wanna have to start flushing fish .By the way i use tap water an i have used 2 different start up liquids over 3 months tryin to see if maybe the brand i used was causing it.But my drinking water isnt naturally couldy is my point.Please help me out.Thanks
at first i did feed them twice a day but i have feed them once a day and thats it for a month at least. One goldfish is kinda big, 4 inces long id say,the rest arent big. i use the power filter that came with it,aqua filter i think.walmart brand. I use a vacuum pump to drain an clean gravel every few weeks.maybe fish are moving gravel around stirring up dirt constantly..

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I have one of those ole wal-mart brand Aqua-Tech 20-40 gallon filter systems for my 20 gallon, and recently it’s started acting up on me and I need to know what to do! There’s the part where the water flows out the filter and back into the tank, but in between that and the tube that siphons the water out the tank, there is a small opening, and that is where most of the water is coming out of! It’s like just dripping out the main part, but straight up coming out that opening! I know the water coming out like that isn’t going through my filters and don’t want all my fish to die! I Just don’t understand why that opening is even there, it’s on no other filter system I’ve seen. Please Help! Also, if I take both the carbon and bio filters out, the water will start flowing back out the way it should, but as soon as I put them back in, starts flowing back out the opening! And yes I wash off the bio filter once a week and change the carbon filter every two weeks and make sure it doesn’t gunk up in between!

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It is ina 30 gal tank with carbon filter and bio filter, i have had a problem with algae lately, so i used the algae stop. I recently did a complete water change

Technorati Tags: algae, bio filter, carbon filter, gal tank, water change

I currently have an up and cycled 15gal tall aquarium (20×10x20 I believe). The floor of the covered with a mixture of river stones, natural-colored sand, and black aquarium rocks (all pet-smart bought). There are also tons of fake plants lining the back of the aquarium (no real plants at this time). My biggest concern is that the tank must be transported to and from my college dorm every year. I have posted a few pictures of the tank here: http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v51/elves117711/Fishy/100_3986.jpg (there are a few pictures, and the filter isnt dirty -that is loose carbon on the top from the bottom of the package).

Housing: 7 zebra danios (2 male 5 female I believe) ; 1 male betta (veil tail, very very passive) ; 2 mystery snails (1 gold and 1 blue) all of the creatures in the tank for the most part ignore each other. I could not be happier with the set up!

Heater: Constantly on; used to keep the tank at about 80*F (it turns itself on and off)

Air Stone: There is a 12in (??) air stone along the very back of the tank. It helps to move air into the water but is blocked by lots of large plants. The betta does fine in the “current” bc there is literally no current moving through the whole tank bc of all the plants breaking it up.

Filter: A combo lid/light/carbon-biowheel filter. The monster is an Eclipse 1 system by Marineland running 150gal/hr (so, 10x my tank size). You can read up on it here: http://marineland.com/sites/Marineland/products/productdetail.aspx?id=2054&cid=3243&mid=3227

Maintenance: I change the carbon filter about every 2-4 weeks (i.e. whenever it turns black) and perform about 30% water changes every week to every 2 weeks with a gravel vacuum. The replacement water sits overnight and is conditioned before use.

Feeding: The little fellas are fed a combination of Topfin color enhancing pellets and Topfin freeze dried medly and/or Tetra Tropical Crisps… and there is usually one little algae wafer in there for the snails.

The “Rule”: Sure, there is the whole rule about 1in of adult fish per gallon or 3in of adult goldfish per gallon (I have 1.5 in of fish left over by this rule), or some say to use this rule based on the standard size of the aquarium (so mine would be a 10gal for stocking reasons because you would ignore that it is a tall). …but then, if you do regular water changes and have a super filter (like my 10x my tank size one) you have much more room for bioload reasons (I not discussion swimming space in this thread). …but then other people say that the more stuff you have, the less bioload you have (makes some sense bc there would be less water).

Does anyone have experience on this? I have quite a bit of middle swimming room going unused, my fish are content in each other’s company, I do regular water changes biweekly at a minimum (although could probably do it once a month)… do I really only have room for one little 1.5in max fish? As a science major, MY bioload story does not add up. The tank is fully cycled and the filter works wonders on it. I really think I could add more creatures.

Thank you for any comments,
Sarahbeth

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I have 2 male guppies in a ten gallon tank. I try to keep the tank as clean as I can, and I change the water weekly. For a while now, they have had tail-rot. I’ve tried everything I can find, but nothing seems to work. Some of the medicine says it works better with out carbon filters, but I’m worried that if I unplug the filter for a week at a time that my fish will run out of oxygen or have too much waste in the tank and it will harm them. Does anyone know any medicine for tail/fin-rot that can work with a carbon filter? Or am I just being too paranoid about unplugging the filter?

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Every time i medicate my fish with pila fix (i believe), the water turns really cloudy, and that deeply worries me. i have a 1.5 gallon for now, and i use less than 1/4 of pila fix liquid, am i over medicating, but then i also don’t want to under medicate.

Please Help? I have a betta fish, i never can fully heal him, because his tank gets cloudy, because i turn of the carbon filter, and everytime that happens he can’t see his food. The tank is only temporarely, until his in tip top shape, then i’ll move him to a ten gallon.

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I have a 125 gallon tank with three 3" oscars, three 3" blood parrots, and two 3" plecos .. I have an Eheim caninster filter which says could handle 160 gallon tank and also a hanging dual side carbon filter .. I have had the tank running now for about a month and so far so good but have read that it is good to do water changes/ clean gravel and what not .. What is the best way to do this and how often should I do it? Also should I treat the new water before putting it in the tank or can I add the water and then put in the conditioner after?

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My fish are dead and I don’t know why? They had Ich so I changed 50 percent of the water and treated them with "Mardel Coopersafe" and and removed the carbon filter; the Betta and Pleco both started losing skin and died about 4 days later, what happened? Now, I drained all the water and want to clean the tank and prep it for only one new Betta fish, should I clean the algae or leave it be (my thinking is it’s good for the water)? Also, how long should I wait before adding a fish to this tank? It has a biofilter so my guess was just a day, but I really don’t know. Please help!

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I have a well established tank ammonia 0 ppm nitirite 0 ppm, nitrate 5 ppm (at last water change yesterday) I keep the tank warm 78-80 degrees. I have 2 female guppies in a 6 gal tank, my male recently died (I believe due to high nitrates from my son overfeeding) I treated the tank with "fugus ease" and aquarium salt (1/2 tsp per gallon) If the treatment will harm the snail, how long should I wait after I replace the carbon filter to add him?

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