Habitat - Indoor :: BASKET CONFIGURATION QUESTIONS

[krysten]

I need basket configuration suggestions. I replaced one basket of carbon at the bottom that had carbon packets in it with pre-filter ceramic rings, thinking it would help keep my water more clear. However within 3 days the tank was extremely murky, there was a thick slimy film at the top of the tank and the smell was the worst it has ever been. I need some help configuring my fluval 405. I spent the money on this "decent" filter and i have not been having any luck keeping my tank clean. I shouldn't have to be doing full tank water changes every week like i am right now. what should i change about the way it is configured or fix about the filter?? Please help.

[Chrisbarnett]

In a Fluval 405, the water comes in, goes through the sponges on the side, and then comes up through the baskets before exiting the filter and back into the tank.

Pre-filter media is essentially useless in a 405, simply because it is designed to filter out large particles, which has already been done by the sponges on the side of the filter. It has a very poor surface area for colonization of biological bacteria, so it is useless for that as well.

Carbon is not necessary either. I'd replace carbon with more Bio-media. Such as ceramic rings(not the prefilter), biomax, rena bio stars, potscrubbers, etc.

So for your configuration, I'd set it up similar to mine. Since the water is filtered by the sponges first, and already relatively clean when it reaches the baskets, in my bottom basket, I have multiple pieces of Filter floss, which is very fine sponge, and I have used panty hose for this as well. Either way, something fine for keeping your water crystal clear.

In my second basket up I have fluval pre filter, which is useless, but I havent bought more biomedia.

3rd basket I have full of Biomax

4th basket I have full of biomax as well.

This way, I have plenty of Bio power to handle the load of my turtle and my tank. If you still would like to put in charcoal or something of that sort, I'd put it in the bottom, or 2nd to the bottom basket.

Hope it helps,
Chris.

[krysten]

so basically all biomax lol

[Chrisbarnett]

Turtles need a lot of biopower.

[krysten]

i hope thats what it is. i cant keep doing full water changes weekly. im off to petco to get it all....ill keep you guys posted.

[krysten]

if i do not want to opt for floss, can i use all biomax in all the baskets??

[jozzep]

if i do not want to opt for floss, can i use all biomax in all the baskets??

Your problem is that your not letting the filter cycle.It takes a few weeks for the bacteria to establish in the filter and usually you get a nitrite spike before this happens (cloudy smelly water). If you let it be and only do 50% water changes, it should establish. By doing 100% water changes, your killing the little bacteria that was established.
You should keep filter floss in the bottom 2 canisters, and bio media (ceramic rings, bio balls) in the top 2.

[krysten]

i've read about the filter cycling.... however this is beyond cloudy smelly water. this is where i cannot see the turtles at all, and my whole apartment is unbearably rancid. I am still fairly new to owning turtles, but i cannot accept that this is due to water cycling. rather, it worsened when i took the carbon packs out of the bottom basket and replaced them with pre-filter. i bought three packs of biomax and im going to replace them gradually and see if it clears up this problem.

[krysten]

UPDATE:

drained the water...had to do it lol ....took out the prefilter and the carbon packs that i had and replaced one of the biomax's that i had in there for more than 6 months. so currently there are three new biomax's and one old one so i didnt have all new ones.... well see how it goes

[krysten]

okay, so the water was clear for two weeks then got nasty again. Smelled pretty bad but was somewhat bearable so I swapped a quarter of the water out but it only got worse and worse. my whole apartment smells terrible. right now i've got the water siphoning out and i was planning on doing a complete swap again but I must be doing something wrong since the water is not getting ANY CLEARER AT ALL. i need some help fast please.

[Kemul]

So, could you tell us how much water is in your tank? What are the media in your
filter right now? What creatures do you have in that tank? What water do you
use to fill the tank?

If you're using tap water from the city, perhaps you need to let it be for about 24
hours before putting it in the tank. That is to let the chemical evaporate. I think
that will make healthy aquarium water. If it's well water, it should be alright to
use it right away. You may want to get your water tested though. Maybe your
local pet store can do it for you if you don't have the kit.

Healthy cycled aquarium water should have ammonia and nitrite at 0, nitrate below 40.

[krysten]

I live about 30 minutes north of the city. i certainly do not have well water. the thing is, when i had a smaller tank with a small basic fountain type filter, it was fine however the turtles were a lot smaller. I believe this smell to be from the accumulation of waste. the tubes to my filter had to be cut short and i do not know if that is affecting its ability to filter. also, one turtle is significantly bigger than the other one and maybe the waste load is just too much. I have no clue what to do except swap the water out when it gets bad, even though i know it is not helping the situation at all. i have a 29 gallon tank with the water about 90 percent

[Kemul]

Cutting the tubes short shouldn't affect filtration. There are several options you
can try:
1. Feed in separate container. This way, uneaten food won't dirty the water.
2. Do about 10% water change daily and clean prefilter often.
3. Get a bigger filter or a bigger tank.

I hope this helps.

[TurtleKeeper48]

i've read about the filter cycling.... however this is beyond cloudy smelly water. this is where i cannot see the turtles at all, and my whole apartment is unbearably rancid. I am still fairly new to owning turtles, but i cannot accept that this is due to water cycling. rather, it worsened when i took the carbon packs out of the bottom basket and replaced them with pre-filter. i bought three packs of biomax and im going to replace them gradually and see if it clears up this problem.

Hi. I'm still fairly new as well – we’ve had our two less than a year, but I'm trying hard to get all of this stuff figured out.

We have some similarity’s – I have two turtles in one enclosure(both 5 year old females that are 4” and 5”).

My son also has 1 female (2 years old, and 5”) in a separate tank.

I also went with a Fluval 405 on a recent upgrade – but so far I’m happy with it. I am running 40+ gallons of water in a 75 gallon tank. I am using the media that comes with it, in the recommended arrangement - carbon in the bottom two baskets and bio rings in the top two. I feed in the tank.

I set up the new system 17 days ago, and I haven’t done anything. The water is complexly odorless, crystal clear, and tests fine per the petcomart place I had the water tested at. I probably should have been testing water every two days and doing partial water changes to make sure it cycled properly, but I seem to have got lucky and it cycled just fine without me doing everything exactly right. I need to do a little 25% change tonight and get the test kit to monitor more closely to make sure it stays clear for a very long time.

Again – I’m new, so this is only based on my limited experience – but I don’t really know why everybody says activated carbon is a waste and don’t use it. My experience with our old, smaller set up, has been that when the carbon gets old, the turtle tank starts to stink – and replacing the carbon media in the filters would fix the stinky turtle tank problem. I seem to be getting good bio filtration with bio media in two baskets.

You have a pretty small tank to be running a Fluval 405 – it must swirl like a whirlpool. Are you getting good mechanical filtration? Is it keeping up with cleaning the floor and the chunks of debris from the water? I’ve worried with mine (40+ gallons) that I didn’t have enough water and the massive out flow would create enough current that it would interfere with the intake – but it seems to be working pretty good.

With our old set up, much smaller and inadequate filtration, our water would foul after about two weeks, no matter what. Any longer and it looked like pickle juice and smelled like a septic tank. Carbon was an absolute necessity.

I think when people say it’s not necessary to use carbon, it’s because a properly cycled tank shouldn’t get smelly – and the water shouldn't foul. In the real world, if you’re system is a little undersized, or not doing the ideal cycle thing, carbon helps a lot. You said yourself that your problem worsened when you took the carbon out. Did you try putting NEW carbon back in? I know everybody here seems to say you don't need it - but surely there must be a reason they make it, right? It does something. It removes odors.

You said you’ve read about tank cycling. Have you got the master test kit and tested every two days and done partial water changes to control the ammonia, nitrates, and nitrites? Did it cycle? How did that go? What were your levels when the water fouled?

I suspect, based on my experiences, that you might have better luck with the same filter, same two turtles, but in a larger tank with more water. If that is not a possibility for you at this time, I suspect that using the activated carbon might help you deal with the system you have.

Let us know how it goes.

[krysten]

I think when people say it’s not necessary to use carbon, it’s because a properly cycled tank shouldn’t get smelly – and the water shouldn't foul. In the real world, if you’re system is a little undersized, or not doing the ideal cycle thing, carbon helps a lot. You said yourself that your problem worsened when you took the carbon out. Did you try putting NEW carbon back in? I know everybody here seems to say you don't need it - but surely there must be a reason they make it, right? It does something. It removes odors.

You said you’ve read about tank cycling. Have you got the master test kit and tested every two days and done partial water changes to control the ammonia, nitrates, and nitrites? Did it cycle? How did that go? What were your levels when the water fouled?

I suspect, based on my experiences, that you might have better luck with the same filter, same two turtles, but in a larger tank with more water. If that is not a possibility for you at this time, I suspect that using the activated carbon might help you deal with the system you have.

I feel as if the carbon would be more suited to fish type environments. currently running all biomax relatively new, (maybe a month or so old) i do not have a master test kit but i certainly plan to attain one. I really do think i need another tank as the current is rather rough being that the tank is so small. ill re-post when i have another larger tank. However, this question is for those with fluval 405 experience, does the fact that the tubes in my filter are rather short make any difference?