sponge filters alone or supplement w/substr.clnr?

[Baba1969]

Has anyone here had any positive results from using a substrate/gravel cleaner along WITH their sponge filter? I am looking into two brands of this liquid in order to "speed up biological breakdown of toxic organic waste and to clarify the aquarium water"- one brand is called, "Liquid Gravel Vac". The information I have on this says it will breakdown any uneaten food as well as break down organic buildup on equipment and accessories to reduce manual maintenance.

Has anyone here used these products and do they really help? Even tho' I do 50% water changes every 10 days or so, my water becomes so cloudy and there is a lot of debris in the substrate.

Also, in my 10 gallon tank, I have cory cats, one betta and two mystery snails among many PLASTIC plants. These plants seem to have what almost looks like dust on the leaves. It isnt green, red OR black, just a light brown. My snails seem to like going over the leaves often, but I dont like how it looks. I see other people's setups and they dont seem to have this issue. Would a powerhead with a hefty carbon filter help? (My problem is however, is that I have a betta in there and he doesn't like a current at all, so I have resisted using any powerheads. But I AM open to trying on a filter,other than my current sponge filters, if you think it would help.

Thank you for ANY input you could offer!

-Baba

[Baba1969]

I just did a water test strip:
*Nitrate is 20ppm *Nitrite is 0ppm *GH is 25ppm *Chlorine is 0ppm *KH is only 40ppm *pH is 6.2

My water hardness (KH) seems to always be from 0 to 80ppm, but I know that it should be 120-180ppm. How do I increase it? Just by using that "pH UP,pH DOWN" or maybe a buffer like "Seachem Acid or Alkaline Buffer"???

[MatsP]

We did discuss your water quality here.

I don't believe there is short-cuts to "not making water changes" - there are certainly companies who wish you to think that if you use their product, you will have less work, but the broken down stuff has to go somewhere, so even if you can't see it, the remains will be there somewhere.

Try making more frequent gravel vaccing/water changing, a little bit less feeding perhaps (more people overfeed than underfeed fish - fish are generally like dogs, they will gulp down food any time they are given an oppurtunity).

Carbon filter will not remove the broken down food and fish poop. It is still best removed by water changing, and there is still no other (simple) solution.

--
Mats

[Baba1969]

Thanks Mats.....So, I won't waste my money then. But what do you think about my adding the use of a powerhead and maybe a carbon flter or canister filter? What do you use? What would you recommend for cory cats along with bettas?

[MatsP]

Obviously, an external filter will provide superior filtration to any other filtration method (barring a sump-filter, which is in most respects, just an even bigger external filter).

I can't comment on whether it's OK to keep a Betta with an external filter - it would also depend highly on how the filter outlet and overall tank-layout is done.

As I said, carbon filter is useful to remove:
1. Heavy metals - hopefully you haven't got those in the first place.
2. Organic compounds (dye/discolouration, medications, pesticides and such) - I suspect you haven't got much of that in your tank either.

There are situations when a carbon filter will be a good thing - in particular if there is medication in the tank that is difficult to remove by water changes alone.

I currently have 9 tanks, using a combination of internal and external power-filters. But I don't keep any form of Betta.

--
Mats

[Shane]

Baba,
Firstly Mats is spot on with regard to any type of "miracle" product. No additive, filtration system, or combination of the moon and stars makes frequent, large water changes unnecessary.

Can you provide all the details of your set up? We have your water chemistry, but I am not clear on your filtration, lighting, substrate, decor, fishes, etc.

The cloudy water and diatom growth on your plants is often the result of overfeeding. It is pretty rare that a fish eating prepared foods starves to death, but overfeeding is arguably the number one cause of water quality problems. It can also be the result to too much light. This can be the wattage of lighting, length of light cycle, and/or ambient sunlight light from windows hitting the tank.

-Shane

[Richard B]

if you are worried about the flow from a powerhead you can fix a piece of filter foam over the outlet to diffuse the flow & keep the betta happy