# Question on Wet Dry Filters & Filter Floss



## joeyo (Jul 2, 2012)

Hey Y'all!

I had been using filter floss for two months now since starting my 150 Gallon Cichlid tank. For my wetdry, the media is as follows: Filter floss at the top, plastic bio balls next, then ceramic rings at the very bottom. It then seeps through a small gap and through a sponge and into the primary portion of the wetdry tank where my MD18 sucks it out to the 150G tank.

I have read that folks with wetdry filters only use filter floss when they are trying to provide an additional polish to the water. So in an effort to have one less step in my cleaning process, I wanted to know if its a good thing to remove filter floss, or if I should keep using it. Another reason I'm removing it, is the additional costs with the filter floss and the weekly PITA change. I have to do a few things in order to get access to taking off the cover of the tower in order to add or remove the filter floss. So, that is my other reason for looking back into NOT using filter floss. Will I miss having filter floss? Time will tell I guess. What do you all do? :fish: :fish: :fish: :fish: :fish: :fish: :fish: :fish: :fish: :fish: :fish: :fish: :fish: :fish: :fish: :fish: :fish: :fish: :fish: :fish: :fish: :fish: :fish: :fish: :fish:


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## Deeda (Oct 12, 2012)

You are going to need something to keep your bio-media clean. You can use felt filter pad, blue/white bonded pad or even Polyfil brand low loft batting. Some people use bag filters if they have room in their sump design. Maybe posting a pic of your particular setup will spark some suggestions.


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## joeyo (Jul 2, 2012)

Ok, when I wrote this on 8/18, I had just completed a 40% water change. I have a picture of the WetDry filter as requested, it currently has no filter floss. However, today, my office where the tank is, smells fishy. The water is a little cloudy as well. Which to me means, I need the filter floss to keep the water more polished, but I am not so certain why the room would smell fishy?!










The pictures sideways, sorry about that. Let me know your thoughts around the stink and on filter floss.

Thanks, Joe


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## Deeda (Oct 12, 2012)

Floss or the other media I suggested will help to polish your water because it catches any fine debris and particles.

I don't know why you are experiencing a 'fishy' smell, though it may be related to the relative humidity of the room. It could also be the type or brand of fish food you feed if that has changed recently.


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## joeyo (Jul 2, 2012)

I had to do a 70% water change today. The tank smelled really rank and I did a chem test just before changing the water. Nitrates read 80ppm. Totally the result of overfeeding. I switched from shrimp sinking pellets that I was given when i first received the tank to floating pellets by Hikari. Since the fish were trying to gigure out how to get some of that new floating stuff, i over feed as a result, thus causing the rotting decay of food on the substraight and the bioballs. tomorrow I will do a 25% water change and add filter floss to the top chamber. I shoudl be good to go afterwards. I actually was looking at the fish closely to see if they were breathing any differently, but thankfully they were not.

Lesons to be learned! Do not overfeed. I also learned that a fish' stomach is only as big as their eye (except for maybe sharks and whales). :lol: I was only trying to make them grow and speed the process, but that is not good if you want long life fishes! :fish: :fish: :fish: :fish: :fish: :fish: :fish: :fish: :fish: :fish: :fish: =D>


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## austings (May 12, 2012)

I would keep the filter floss. Is that a DIY stand? I like how tidy is it underneath. you should post pics of your tank too!


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## joeyo (Jul 2, 2012)

Oh it's tidy! If you search this forum, you should find the link to my photo bucket account which shows the stand build etc. I put a fan inside the stand (it's 75x43x26) to circulate the air & so it doesn't generate mold inside. I have six wheel casters that support over 2,800lbs so I can move this cabinet with tank across the room for any reason. I even put a 4" fan inside the canopy to circulate air inside there too. I learned the hardware with the canopy as I painted the interior of it with interior paint, not realizing the amount of moisture that would be evaporating etc. I made two 12" vents on the back and thought that would suffice, NOPE! Had to clean that mold off, repaired with exterior paint and then I added a nice little Walmart 4" fan at one end and it does a great job pushing the air around and out of those two vents.

As for the smell update and Nitrate level since Friday's large water change, it is now at 20ppm. I'll do a 25% water change this morning and that should put me between 10 & 5% hopefully. I also started doing a much better job of balancing how much food I feed these guys. Two nickle size diameter worth of mini pellets 2x a day. I read somewhere there stomachs are about the size of their eye. So that put things a bit more in perspective for me as well. Since I started these fish on July 8th, I've learned a ton and have seen them grow. I had 11 red ruby fry that are now 2" and fat like bass, those guys really grew the fastest, and some others like the Red Empress which were about 2.5" are now about all 2 3/4 to 3" with one male in full color. It's been very cool, there about 40 cichlids in all and by Christmas, I hope they all have their colors, so exciting to see these changes!


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## joeyo (Jul 2, 2012)

Did a major clean yesterday to the bioballs and ceramic rings in the WetDry Tower as the media was covered in decaying food so I had to rinse it off (water only) then also cleaned out the overflow box and vacumed the gravel really well. I also bought a couple more Anubias plants, I now have a total of 8 plants in the tank, they are about 5 to 6 inches in height. I also bought 4 Chinese Algea Eaters, initially i thought they were going to get munched, but they seem to be doing better and i will just take my chances with those little guys. Its a good thing they are quick... Some of my Ruby Greens and Red Jewels were sizing them up for a snack...

All that major effort aside, I still smell the fishy smell! Its not as bad, but its there. Any idea on what I can do to address this?


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## Deeda (Oct 12, 2012)

If it's coming from the tank water, you can add activated carbon to the filter.


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## joeyo (Jul 2, 2012)

That sounds like a quick and easy fix! Funny and ironic point, when I was cleaning the bio balls, I noticed that I actually had a layer of balls that had charcoal in them. Well, I thought, what a pita this would be to swap our charcoal in 20 balls, so I tossed em! HA!

I'll get me some Pre-made charcoal bags and put them directly after the filter floss.

Thanks again for the tip!


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## joeyo (Jul 2, 2012)

Thanks again Deeda. Life in the tank is once again in ballance. I grabbed Marineland black diamond activated charcoal and two filter bags and the odor is gone and the water looks the clearer than ever!


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## Deeda (Oct 12, 2012)

Fantastic!! I'm glad you were able to get this sorted out.


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