# setup for an older 55 gallon tank



## tokugawakhan (Mar 31, 2015)

i have an fx 6 canister filter on a 55 gallon aquarium along with an aqua clear 110. It has fully cycled and should be operating normally. I have 2 severumrs 3 barbs 3 large tetras, 4 cory cats and 2 plecos . It seems my filtration cannot handle this many fish. in the fx6 filter i have only mechanical filtration, and in the aqua clear 110 i have carbon and biome ultra media. I was wondering if there were any suggestions as to what i can do to improve this system.


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## nodima (Oct 3, 2002)

Something is wrong then. You have enough filtration for a 150 or larger. Why do you think something is not working right? What tells you that the filtration is insufficient?


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## tokugawakhan (Mar 31, 2015)

the issue is ammonia is almost constantly at near lethal levels and i need to constantly do water changes


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## tokugawakhan (Mar 31, 2015)

the tank is also old my brother used to take care of it up until around a year and a half ago. my brother had very little filtration and screwed it up immensely. I've been trying to stabilize it for a year now but nothing seems to work.


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## nodima (Oct 3, 2002)

What are you using to measure the ammonia?
If ammonia is that high the tank is likely not cycled.
Have new fish been added recently?
Was there some other new change?
How long has the tank been cycled?

When you say that you only have mechanical filtration in the FX6, what exactly is in there? Most mechanical filtration such as foam will also provide good biological filtration.

What is your maintenance schedule and procedure for the tank?

What kind of substrate?

Sorry for all the questions, but in order to do anything other than guess, we need more information.


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## tokugawakhan (Mar 31, 2015)

liquid tests to measure
possibly i have reduced the ammonia with water changes
no new fish
other than a new heater no 
i know the tank was cycled a few months ago
coarse, the medium course the medium the medium fine the fine the floss the felt
pool filter sand


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## nodima (Oct 3, 2002)

Sometimes the tests can go bad if they are older - you might look into a new test kit. Also, what are your readings for Nitrite and Nitrate in the tank?

It sounds like you are covered on the media front in the filter - though I'm assuming you are using the standard fluval media since the information you gave is a bit vague.

I asked about the substrate, as old gravel can harbor lots of detritus, generally sand stays cleaner as it packs denser.

How would you have introduced ammonia with your water changes? Is your tap water good?

What did you use to determine the tank being cycled? If you used tests, what were the results?


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## aforce (Feb 17, 2015)

I would say the answer is probably one of three things

1. your tests are bad, as mentioned they deteriorate over time and give false readings

2. You are introducing very large amounts of amonia or chlorine during water changes.. have u tested your tap water before going into the tank and are u treating that water with prime or a similar product? If u arent using prime during water changes its possible that the chlorines/chloramines in the tap water is killing the bacteria in your filters.. or if there could be more amonia in the water you are introducing during water changes than the bacteria can handle..

3. Your tank/filters are not cycled.. you mentioned that u have mechanical filtration only in the fx6 and biomedia in the aquaclear 110.. what is the mechanical media in the fx6 and are u rinsing it with tap water often? Also are u rinsing the biomedia in the aquaclear with tap water? Mechanical media typically houses a huge amount of bacteria and if it or the biomedia in the aquaclear is being rinsed with tap water the chlorine in the tap water is killing it, not allowing a bacteria cycle to take place in your system..

if its not 2 or 3 (something u are doing) than its most likely #1.. to check if its #1 buy a new test kit or take a sample of your water to a local fish store for testing.. if it ends up being none of these i would clean each of my filters seperately, one week apart using tank water and if that didnt work i would vacuum my gravel meticulously, strring it up, and removing all decore in the prosess so u make sure there are no large pockets of detrious or dead fish trapped any where..


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## GTZ (Apr 21, 2010)

tokugawakhan said:


> the issue is ammonia is almost constantly at near lethal levels and i need to constantly do water changes


If there's chloramine in the water, you'll get an ammonia reading when testing within ~24 hours of a water change. 
What's the 'near lethal level' in ppm?


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