Boyu TL 550 Filtration Improvement

Hi Guys



I hope you are all well.


I need some help and advice please. I spend allot of time away from home so my tank gets neglected and I feel really bad every time I get home, thus the reason I’m trying to sell it.


But for the mean time what can I do to improve the filtration of the Std setup. It consists of the 4 compartments at the back so in the first I have a massive sponge the second my heater third is ceramic rings and bio balls and fourth is the return back to the tank.
The water in the tank goes all foggy and smelly after about a week after a water change the tank is not overstocked and gets fed minimal daily.
Thanks in advance


Best regards



Pieter

 

Well what fish do you have ?

As for my 550 ... keep the big sponge where it is .. move the bio ball to the heater, fill the 4th with Seachem matrix - several nets make it easier to clean.

On top of the sponge I put layer of batting - that means it is easy to remove and replace the big gunk collection.

In your tank put a power-head or something like Compare Prices on Aquarium Powerhead Pump- Online Shopping/Buy Low Price Aquarium Powerhead Pump at Factory Price | Aliexpress.com | Alibaba Group make sure that you do not get a build up of detritus but rather that it lands on the batting.

The biggest thing with any tank and few water changes is the need for live plants .... without that you will never get a healthy green grass smelling tank.

Later Ferdie

 

Hi F-fish thanks for the feedback

Currently in the tank there are 3 squeakers, 2 ancustris acommon pleco and 2 lost tetras.
I want to get rid of the squeakers and fill the tank with feederfish like mollies guppies platies and mixed tetras or something like that.

What is the reason for suggesting a wave maker for the tankand do you use a pray bar on your tank and how is it positioned

Thanks

Pieter

 

Hi Pieter,

I agree with f-fish on the power head

I dont know how othe members feel but I have found that the standard pumps that come with most of these tanks, Boyu.. Sunsun.. etc.. are not relly that powerfull.

For some reason I also find that it is much harder to keep a small tank clean than a big tank..

The power head, (not wave maker) there is a difference, the wave maker just circulates water creating current/waves, the power head circulates but most also come with an attachement where you can insert some wool so it also filters.
Power heads also oxygenate water

The power head's current if strategically placed will push bris towards the intake of your filter but if you have the attachment in with a bit of wool, also picks up debris around it.


If the power head also has a little pipe that sticks out the water which allows it to oxygenate the water as well. If the power head is placed very low towards the bottom of the tank then it doesn's oxygenate so nicely but if placed about halfway, it oxygenates the water beautifully

Power heads are also fairly easy to hide behind some wood or something and really work wonders
I have poweheads in all my tanks positioned on the opposite side of the intakes of my other filters and the blow all the debris towards the intakes.
What ever stays behind the powerhead sucks up keeping the tanks really clean

Matrix, as f-fish suggested is great, you could also add a small sachet of Purigen, not cheap but the tank is small so a small sachet wouldn't be too bad. Both well worth the investment.

 

Hi MariaS

Thank you for the reply

So is it better to get n power head or a internal filter andI have air pumps in the tank to oxygenate the water.

I was thinking of getting one of these and attaché it in themiddle of the tank at the back just as a extra and will this work with thepowerhead

Best regards

 

This is what I mean by a power head. It is much smaller than an internal filter yet, you can chose the power ie litres per hour and it still isnt as bulky as an internal filter.
Also very easy to change the wool in the attachement as you just clip it out, change wool and put it back in the powerhead
It creates water movement pushing debris towards your intakes, and it sucks up debris left around it and it can also oxygenate water if you need extra oxygenating like in the extreme heat conditions we have had.

I dont have a filter like the picture you posted in my tanks so I am not too sure, @Cesar has one in his discus tank, maybe he can comment however he mentioned to me he wanted to replace it with a small powerhead.

The second picture is what see as a wavemaker, it only circulates water

 

Thank you for the information

Will go have a look over the weekend.

what filtration ill b needed if I go the low tech planted tank route

 

Pieter.... when it comes to planted tanks... I am no expert.... the only thing that survives in my tanks are anubias and java ferns attached to wood as my fish re arrange anything that is not tied down...but I think your filtration should be ok
Anubias and java are low tech but I think there are more low tech plants you can use

I am sure that one of the members with more experience in planted tanks, will help you....

 

Let go the pleco and you should have half the problem solved.

 

@Vis

Why would you say that vis

 

Plecs are messy fish. I am convinced they can poop twice the amount they eat

 

Add some fast growing plants

 

Lol, lets me think about the first time I fed my dog cheap dog food

 

Mxm pleco also poops alot.