captmicha
Members
My tank maintenance needs have seriously shot up.
I typically understock and oversize to cut down on my maintenance bc I'm not able to keep up with it any other way. I usually had to do like a water change a month on most of my tanks.
But I've added just a few Ancistrus to some of my tanks, and the water quality goes bad really quickly. Now I'm having to do a water change 1x a week when it used to be only 1x a month.
I have several tanks. This is so much more maintenance now and I have health issues so it's a big deal.
Example of a set up: 55 gallon with a male Goldfin Kadango and three Paralabidochromis chromogynos. Sand substrate and rocks. With a 75 gallon HOB Biowheel filter that I've gutted and it's stuffed with 40 Poret. I don't think this is bad biological filtration for this size tank and set up.
But I added just two Ancistrus and now serious ammonia readings are happening after just a week.
Another set up: planted 65 gallon with three female Rainbow Cichlids. I've got *two* 75 (or over, I can't recall exact amount it's rated for) HOB Penguin Biowheels that I've gutted and stuffed with the 40 Poret. I put just three Ancistrus in there and now it's an ammonia farm.
I don't have ammonia in my water supply.
Does this sound about right? I'm having this issue with every tank I've put max 3 Ancistrus in.
I don't feed that much, but I do have algae issues. (Lights, no fertilization and Nitrites in water.)
Can these little fish really be causing so much ammonia so quickly?
I typically understock and oversize to cut down on my maintenance bc I'm not able to keep up with it any other way. I usually had to do like a water change a month on most of my tanks.
But I've added just a few Ancistrus to some of my tanks, and the water quality goes bad really quickly. Now I'm having to do a water change 1x a week when it used to be only 1x a month.
I have several tanks. This is so much more maintenance now and I have health issues so it's a big deal.
Example of a set up: 55 gallon with a male Goldfin Kadango and three Paralabidochromis chromogynos. Sand substrate and rocks. With a 75 gallon HOB Biowheel filter that I've gutted and it's stuffed with 40 Poret. I don't think this is bad biological filtration for this size tank and set up.
But I added just two Ancistrus and now serious ammonia readings are happening after just a week.
Another set up: planted 65 gallon with three female Rainbow Cichlids. I've got *two* 75 (or over, I can't recall exact amount it's rated for) HOB Penguin Biowheels that I've gutted and stuffed with the 40 Poret. I put just three Ancistrus in there and now it's an ammonia farm.
I don't have ammonia in my water supply.
Does this sound about right? I'm having this issue with every tank I've put max 3 Ancistrus in.
I don't feed that much, but I do have algae issues. (Lights, no fertilization and Nitrites in water.)
Can these little fish really be causing so much ammonia so quickly?