Breeding/ Grow Out tank Filtration

[Hail2Pitt02]

Assuming you do not have a central filtration system and have multiple grow out/ breeding tank....I assume that most people use only sponge filtration. Is the idea that by vacuuming uneaten food mechanical filtration is not necessary. I know sponge filters provide a certain amount of mechanical filtration but in my mind it does not seem like it would provide enough biological filtration. For a tank that’s approximately 284 liters, would two of large sponge filters be adequate biological filtration for 6 adult discus?? Or enough filtration to get 6 juvies to breeding size where they will go to individual breeding tanks.

For the breeding tanks I am going to use tanks that are approximately 114 liters. What size sponge filters should those tanks get? The bigger the better?

[gfindura]

I know this isn't exactly the answer to the question you're asking and this is kind of long so bear with me. I will color the part that is most applicable to your post, though.

In my Uaru hatching and nursery tanks (20 gal long), I usually do the airstone near the eggs and keep all light out of the tank.

For filtration in those tanks, I have a penguin bio-wheel 330 power filter that I leave running continuously. When the fry are less than 4mm (wow--I used a metric measurement!!) I just put netting over the intake. I leave the regular intake on it and usually just put a mesh-filter bag (used for holding carbon, bio-balls, etc.) over the whole thing. It in turn does not suck up the fry and it also slows down the rate of the filter so as not to blow them around too much.

In all of my display tanks, I use huge amounts of water movement (power filters and powerheads) with the powerheads hooked up to undergravel filters. Not so much for biological filtration as for ease of keeping the tank clean and the water moving everywhere--more so to keep the anaerobic bacteria (and other anaerobic organisms--all of which can quickly mess up a tank in the right quantities) to a minimum.

With that type of setup, I don't think I'll ever expect to get my adult Uaru's to rear their fry themselves. The filtration and water movement is so great that the fry would probably just get sucked up while they're wigglers. However, when you have such great water movement, you can usually load the tanks with a little more fish than normal.

Never got too into sponge filters. So, I cannot give you recommendations there. But, if you're not going to put gravel in the tank in question, you can probably use one as your primary filter as long as you did regular, frequent water changes. Or, you could always use the penguin bio-wheel filter. Anyone else?


-Greg

[Hail2Pitt02]

Anyone else with suggestions or is my thinking right...that I can get by with just a few large sponge filters and a lot of vacs of uneaten food.

[Merrilyn]

You can certainly get away with sponge filters in breeding and grow out tanks if you do plenty of water changes.

In fact, the asian breeders don't even have any kind of filters in their tanks, they rely on airstones and just massive daily water changes.

A well matured sponge filter will keep your water sparkling clean, and the water changes will keep your ammonia and nitrates under control.

[samir]

after a lot of trial and error coupled with advice from people on the forum what works best for me is this.
after spawning I remove the sponge filter and replace it with an airstone. a day after fry attach i put back the sponge. David advised me to use a hang on filter, so I've started doing that when fry are 1 inch. It works really well along with the sponge. at 5cm i use a canister.
filtration should not be too much of a problem if you're willing to put in the effort. disease can be a major issue with fry so you might want to ask Merrilyn or Andrew Soh how to "clean" your pairs before attempting to breed them.

[Hail2Pitt02]

Wow, changing the type of filtration is something that I haven't even considered at this point. I think I understand the rational behind your choice selection. I assume you change from a sponge to a HOB for newly hatched fry 1.) Because the fry are attracted to the dark color and you don’t want them to leave their parents 2.) Can they maybe get stuck on it?

Why you would use a HOB for 1” fry I am not sure. I am assuming for extra flow turn over of the water and filtration purposes.

I too was considering using canisters for growing out fry around the size you mentioned. I will place fry that size in 125 gallon or larger tanks and more likely they will be away from where the spawn tanks are. The canisters would provide a better water turnover rate, and I would load them with a Ton of Bio-Max for biological filtration. What is your rational.

I am not sure what you mean by “ clean your pairs”. I was going to ask what medications people suggested I feed newly purchased discus in order to eliminate internal parasites they may have some with but I know that’s not what you mean.

[Hail2Pitt02]

You can certainly get away with sponge filters in breeding and grow out tanks if you do plenty of water changes.

The plan is to created a manual automated (does that make any sense) water change system. I want to create a system in which each tank has a valve you can open to refill them with aged treated water. I wanted to keep the removal of the water manual, which won't take long with vacs.

[gfindura]

Are you going to work a RO unit into the refill part of your system?


I think the reason why some people are suggesting more than just an airstone/sponge-filter is because power-filters provide much more water circulation.

-Greg