CichlidFish.com - Fish That Think.

I am fairly new to this hobby, less than 1 year.
At present I have a 120 Gal High tank (24" high X 60" wide X 18" deep). I am running 2 Emperor 400 filters. Water quality is Ammonia .25, Nitrite 0, Nitrate 20, Ph 8.2, GH 25, KH 300. This particular tank has been running for about 90 days with fish in it.

I know there is maintenance involved with keeping freshwater fish and I don't mind water changes and cleaning of the tank and ornaments. However, I am now doing 25%-30% water changes daily just to keep the water "fairly" clear. It seems like I am always adding something or taking something away and by the time I sit down to enjoy the fish it is time to do something else.

My goal is to have a crystal clear tank I can enjoy and keep the maintenance to a weekly or bi weekly time period. Is this possible with the fish I am keeping? The water is white cloudy (not real bad, but more than I want). I would like to have my tank look like the ones at the LFS, which are always clear.

I am thinking a different filter system may accomplish this. Am I right or am I going to spend money needlessly?

Could the food I am feeding them be the culpret? I am feeding flakes, sticks and pellets once a day and only what they will eat in 3-5 minutes or less.

I don't think I am overstocked, but I'm not sure and I like a pretty full tank.

Please give your suggestions. I am willing to try anything.

Still sounds like bacterial blooms, It could take up to six months to get your bio system established.
Fish stores sometime use flow type filtering, into humongus sumps and wet drys, so the water is alsways crystal clear.

By your test reading ammonia at .25ppm, yet zero nitrite that show an ammonia spike, which can explain the white cloud. Try backing off on the water changes, just do normal changes. IF the ammonia is not up around .5ppm for any lenght of time, you are still ok. I think your tank is just cycling in small leaps due to the total water volume.
Don't clean the tank orniments, at least not by removing them and washing them. All you should be doing is a gravel vacume once a week to remove the poo, and left over food particals.
The nitrfying bacteria grows on everything , the gravel, the tank walls, the heater, the inlet tubes, the orniments, and of course in the filter, and on the bio wheels. The greatest concintration is in the filter, but it grows everywhere, and since I don't think it is still established enough, you can't afford to remove any yet.
Be patient a bit longer....

like fuzz said be patient. dont feed them for a couple days and let the tank mature on its own. try not to add chemicals into the water(dechlor exception). but let the water sit. also i'd get a cannister like an xp3. probably the emps cant keep up with the bioload.

All you should be doing is a gravel vacume once a week to remove the poo, and left over food particals.

This may appear to be a dumb question, but I'm not sure.

I have algea building on the inside of the back glass. I normally let it build for awhile so the algea eaters have some place to go, but it is building up pretty much and probably should be cleaned off. Will this be okay?

Also, thanks ma, I will look for a xp3 and try it. I can always switch back to the emps when the tank is settled.

Originally posted by Indy
I have algea building on the inside of the back glass. I normally let it build for awhile so the algea eaters have some place to go, but it is building up pretty much and probably should be cleaned off. Will this be okay?

Either is fine. Cleaning it won't hurt anything. One advantage of leaving it there is that it uses Nitrate as "food", which is the last product of the nitrogen cycle, so your tank would be about a half-inch healthier. But if you're doing regular partial water changes, Nitrate shouldn't be a problem anyway -- so i guess it depends on how you want your 120 to look:)

--Mark:cool:

I just bought a XP3. My LFS, who I actually trust, recommended it also. I am going to run the 2 Emperor 400's and the XP3 for about 6 weeks and see what happens.

If this doesn't do it I may switch to plastic fish on strings and leave it there LOL! I will keep you posted. Thanks for the help.

Xp3 is a great filter you will be happy with it//.//....

Question????

The best way I could configure the XP3, and keep the Emps, was to put the input on the left side and run the outlet spray bar in the center of the tank. So far it has been running for about 3 hrs and I can't see much difference (I really didn't expect a change that fast).

Is this the best way to set this up? Is there anything I should do to get optimum performance? I put Activated Charcoal in it to help also. Is the Power Jet Nozzle better than the Spray Bar?

You can use the jet output instead and it works as a powerhead as well. You need to get some bio media like seachem matrix ,noodles stars etc lots of different kinds .
Mine is set up bottum 2- 30 pads 2- 20 pads bottum basket, 2nd basket floss[thin layer],divider then matrix [1 liter],some noodles, then top and 3rd basket i have noodles then divider, then Nitra zorb pouch or charcoal the fine pad.
The ways to setup this filter is unlimited but id put as much bio media in that you can.