Aquarium maintenance help

[suicune]

sure next time when I changed out mine I'll let you know. Probably soon as I had this one in February, and I replace it every 6 months.

[SunnyHouTX]

Cleaning them periodically is a good thing

[frusterdated]

Should I worry about how brown the tubing from the pump has turned and also the u tube is brown as well

[SunnyHouTX]

I think that's the main reason for your water issues. Do large (think 75% +) water changes weekly and go easy on the feeding and you should see a big improvement in you tank.

[frusterdated]

One more question: how often and how much do you feed per day?

I feed twice a day cichlid pellets and algae wafers. Every couple day I'll feed blood worms.

I was on vacation last week so the overfeeding was prolly due to the in laws

[SunnyHouTX]

Yeah man, put me in the line for used purigen behind Steven.

[mistahoo]

I'm scared of recharging purigen. I'm one of those that replace them haha

Let me have your old ones then! I've done it a few times and never fails. Don't let them dry out or they'll go bad.

[suicune]

I'm scared of recharging purigen. I'm one of those that replace them haha

[SunnyHouTX]

One more question: how often and how much do you feed per day?

[mistahoo]

just buy purigen and replace very 6 month, that tannins color should go away.

No need to replace. Just recharge it when it looks very dirty. Unless you've got money, more power to you.

[suicune]

just buy purigen and replace very 6 month, that tannins color should go away.

[mistahoo]

How often do you do water changes? I would up it to 50-75% (at least until the tank is clear again), but that's just me. I like bigger water changes. What's all in your diy sump? Maybe you don't have enough media?

[morpheus]

I wouldn't say it's still cycling. It just doesn't look like it. Usually it'll be a white haze. The OP confirmed that it's been setup for 3-4 months. The tank should be able to handle the bioload of so few fish. Frequent water changes will not cause stress to the fish. I used to do 100% water changes every 2-3 days. If anything my fish enjoyed it very much based from their reactions. I would highly disapprove of those chemicals to bind particles. Why add more chemicals when you can do what it'll do but faster through a water change? Plus you'll be adding in fresh new water.

Yes, I replied before he said how long the tank has been running. The tank would have cycled in that timespan. I generally do 50% every 2 weeks. I agree water changes far better than using chemicals, just some use them as quick fix options. I dont know what the tank looked like before/after a few water changes to see if it was making a clear difference. The 20% he mentioned wouldnt hurt anything, but might need to increase the percentage.

[frusterdated]

i do 20% water changes.

Filtration is:
eshopps pf-1000 overflow box into 30 gallon diy sump and a rio 3100 pump

[SunnyHouTX]

How much water do you take out every water change? Could you also describe your filtration in more detail?