BIOLIFE FILTERS
Jonathan Ivy
TropiQuarium 68) is totally inappropriate for a freshwater tank. The "coral
block" filter will harden the water, and the "sponge" filter breeds bacteria
that will ultimately kill off my fish. First choice get rid of the filter,
second choice, remove the coral, and replace it with charcoal.
Having lost 3 khuli loaches in the last month, I am beginning to think he
may be right.
HELP!!
Rocinante
it
was the best filter I've ever had.
I've been looking all over the US to try and get another
one, and can only seem to find the refils. (sponge, ceramic hexagons
etc)
My tap water was already hard (lovely London water) and the
fish never complained. And isn't the sponge supposed breeds the bacteria
colonies for the proper cycle of the aquarium? (Or is it just supposed
to be kept in the dry chamber part).
Anyways, I loved this filter and never had any problems with it and
would happily recommend it again.
"Jonathan Ivy" <ji...@iafrica.com> wrote in message
news:3958e...@news1.mweb.co.za...
Maehem~
leeching minerals into water and hardening it, but can't remember for sure)
But the sponge breeding bacteria that will kill your fish is a bizzarre
notion. Your filtre sponge is supposed to breed bacteria, nitrifing ones,
these are benneficial to the fish and provide biological filtration.
A little more information would be helpfull, what size (not familiar with
the name you provided, my assumption is 68 something but is that litres, or
gallons?) How long have you had your tank set up? how many/ what kinds of
fish are in it? How long have you had fish in it? What are your water
chemistry readings?
Mae
Alec Dale
> My aquarium supplier tells me that my internal BIOLIFE filter (in my
> TropiQuarium 68)
These are the ones made by Hagen right? The wet-dry filters or whatever
they call them.
> is totally inappropriate for a freshwater tank.
Wrong
> The "coral
> block" filter will harden the water,
This part is true, fine if you have cichlids, or SW, but not something
you want for a general community tank.
> and the "sponge" filter breeds bacteria
> that will ultimately kill off my fish.
LOL, where do people come up with this stuff. More like
the sponge filter will "breed" bacteria that ultimately are the only things
that will keep your fish ALIVE. The sponges in these filters are the
location of most of the nitrifying bacteria that break down ammonia
to nitrites to nitrates. You want this!!
> First choice get rid of the filter,
> second choice, remove the coral, and replace it with charcoal.
Get rid of the coral, and you can try the charcoal ...personally
I don't use it unless I know there is something in my water
I want to clean up.
>
> Having lost 3 khuli loaches in the last month, I am beginning to think he
> may be right.
How old is your tank? Assuming it is already cycled? If so do not
switch filters or even media (sponge anyway) as this will lead to more
problems and dead fish than anything.
>
> HELP!!
Alec Dale
Alec Dale wrote:
> Jonathan Ivy wrote:
>
> > My aquarium supplier tells me that my internal BIOLIFE filter (in my
> > TropiQuarium 68)
>
> These are the ones made by Hagen right? The wet-dry filters or whatever
> they call them.
>
> > is totally inappropriate for a freshwater tank.
>
> Wrong
>
> > The "coral
> > block" filter will harden the water,
>
Could you give us some more information on this "coral block"?
You're not talking about the ceramic noodles or something like that
are you?
Steve Gunn
ceramic, and won't affect the water. Also, any bacteria on the sponge
will be beneficial - it will be colonised by nitrifying bacteria, which
will add to the biological filtering capacity.
I ran a Tropiquarium68 with a Biolife for two years with NO PROBLEMS.
Find a new supplier.
--
Regards,
Steve Gunn
Visit my mbuna tank at Steve's Fishy Website
http://www.madasafish.com/~fishyweb/
Sent via Deja.com http://www.deja.com/
Before you buy.
Alec Dale
Steve Gunn wrote:
> Your supplier is talking nonsense. The "coral" block is actually
> ceramic,
That was my concern as well, but I suppose they could have coral
inserts to raise GQ and KH. If this coral block is shaped like little
tubes (noodles) then they are ceramic and as mentioned will certainly
not have any negative impact.
Ann Hunt
I have a Biolife 35 (the smaller version, it's still physically a large
filter) in one of my coldwater tanks. The heater is set very low as I have
Hong Kong plecs in there. What's all this about a coral block? I am sure
mine has no such thing. There are several parts to it - a rough plastic
strainer for filtering out large debris, a sponge, a carbon section encased
in an outer covering, a screen pad, Hexnodes and A CERAMIC CORE. Not a
coral block. Unless they do a separate type for other than freshwater uses
I don't know what on earth your lfs is on about! I have had the Biolife for
several years and it works fine. I think they are barking up the wrong
tree, unless as I said there are several versions available, but I have
never heard of one utilizing a coral block. And as for the sponge filter -
they are widely used in many different types of filter and an excellent
growing medium for GOOD bacteria, which you need. I do not think the loss
of your kuhlis is down to the Biolife. Maybe they would like to sell you
another expensive filter to take its place!!
Jonathan Ivy wrote in message <3958e...@news1.mweb.co.za>...
>My aquarium supplier tells me that my internal BIOLIFE filter (in my
>TropiQuarium 68) is totally inappropriate for a freshwater tank. The "coral
>block" filter will harden the water, and the "sponge" filter breeds
bacteria
>that will ultimately kill off my fish. First choice get rid of the filter,
>second choice, remove the coral, and replace it with charcoal.
>
>Having lost 3 khuli loaches in the last month, I am beginning to think he
>may be right.
>
>HELP!!
>
>
Richard Trigg
try and get advice of someone else in future. I have been running a Biolife 55
in my Tropiquarium 88 and I have to say that I am more than happy with it. It is
efficient, quiet and easy to maintain. The coral block does not harden the water
- I think it's only called a coral block because of its appearance rather than
what it is made of. As for the sponge breeding deadly bacteria - well I almost
fell off my chair laughing!
Rick
Ian S
"Jonathan Ivy" <ji...@iafrica.com> wrote:
> My aquarium supplier tells me that my internal BIOLIFE filter (in my
> TropiQuarium 68) is totally inappropriate for a freshwater tank.
> The "coral block" filter will harden the water, and the "sponge"
> filter breeds bacteria that will ultimately kill off my fish. First
> choice get rid of the filter, second choice, remove the coral, and
> replace it with charcoal.
>
> Having lost 3 khuli loaches in the last month, I am beginning to
> think he may be right.
The supplier is a clueless fool. Get another supplier now.
The Biolife is made for aquaria, be they freshwater or marine. The
instruction manual makes that clear enough.
There is no coral in the filter.
The bacteria are essential for your tank. As far as I'm concerned any
supplier who declares otherwise should be reported to the trading
standards authorities.
I'd be willing to bet something like the supplier's had you replacing
the filter media every week. That will have killed your khuli loaches.
Get test kits for ammonia, nitrites and nitrates.
--
Ian