Help- finally got filter and its too powerful...

M

mary

Guest
hello- help.... i think i stuffed up... finally got an internal filter- an "Aqua One"- does 400L/Hr- sadly neither me or the shop assistant knew anything- just put in on and the water is swirling around too vigorously...i am hopeless with amounts so only know that my tank is 60cm in length by 30 deep x 37 high- but it is only half full so actually 20cm high- i am going to take this filter back.. any suggestions other than i should have asked here first!??
 
That's a standard 15 gallon (60-liter) tank. Is the Aqua-One a hang-on-back waterfall type filter, or a submersible?
 
its a submersible- it would be awesome in a big tank- it was so powerful-does the fact that it said 400L/hour mean its too strong? there were certainly bigger filters at the shop- this one looked to be one of the smaller ones- it didn't say what size tank it fitted tho. i just couldn't have it in the tank- the axie's were quite upset by it....
 
did you buy the aquaone f101 internal filter, if you did then this is the smallest inter filter that aqua one does, but the problem is that axies dont like it, a hang on filter by whisper would have been better, i used a whisper 40 on my 2ft axie tank and it was great cause you can adjust the water flow right down and i only had the tank halfway and the water cascades down and my axie was very sensitive to water movement. i would take the filter back and blame the shop assistant for selling you the wrong filter, it still amazes me that they have no idea what to sell you even though their the pet shop. i dont know if you can attach some piping and make a spray bar this would slow down the output of water.
 
Another question is... why is the tank only half full? More water usually means better, more stable water quality.

The problem with any submersible filter is that it will raise the temperature in the tank by a couple of degrees - just what you DONT need for an axolotl in most cases.

If you don't mind the noise of an air pump, I'd suggest a bubble-driven filter, such as a sponge filter. If you need better filtration than that, then the hang-on type would be better, but the tank has to be nearer to full for that type to work. For additional pros and cons, see:
http://www.caudata.org/cc/articles/filters.shtml
 
i think you've got the same filter i had in my old 2 foot tank, i found it a bit too powerful until I put the outlet so it was pointing towards the glass which vastly reduced the amount of water flow, they should come with a couple of different attachements. if it doesn't work, take it back to the store and tell them what's happening.
 
I think that's the filter we've had in our 40 litre tank and we had to adjust the outlet using the broad kind of shovel-like attachment. I've just replaced it with a more expensive Unifilter 500 (Aquarel) - about $55 NZ but I love it. I can create a few bubbles to aerate the surface but it is quiet and doesn't generate turbulence.

I tried the AquaOne filter in a smaller tank but it stressed the juveniles living in it so I removed it.
 
yes its the AquaOne101F- it did have some attachments but i was clueless as to what they did. Apparently there is a "fish" person on the staff at the pet shop tomorrow who may be of more assistance.. i do like the sound of the Unifilter, Deb- don't want my precious kids living in a whirlpool!
I reply to Jennifer- i guess i keep the tank half full coz it seems so unnecessarily deep otherwise- i feel like they would have to swim for miles to get to the top.I wonder how deep their natural habitat was??
 
From what I understand Mary, their natural habitat was deep lakes in Mexico and they lived on the bottom! I think they like it deep. I've recently put two juveniles in the 40 litre tank with their mum (behind a divider) and they seem to revel in floating mid-tank. I think they enjoy being buoyant and having so many options. And the sight of them hanging mid-tank is utterly captivating. Here's a photo of one coming to the surface.

74473.jpg
 
I've seen axies in fairly deep water (30-45 cm), they don't seem to mind. Since they have gills, coming to the surface is rarely an issue. I'd recommend filling the tank.

As for the filter, see if it has some way to decrease the flow rate, and also try to think of ways to put the filter under/behind some objects that would deflect and disperse the outflow. It might work OK... but I really think that the heat production is probably a bigger problem than the current. Does the paperwork with the filter say how many Watts of power it uses? Wattage is directly correlated with heat output.
 
my 4ft axie tank is filled to 50cm and they have no probs getting to the top occasionally for air and they also like to float around and even rest at different levels of filter hoses, plants or the air hoses. they also like to swim over the top of each other so the high water level helps with them not getting in each others way
 
Hi Mary

Yes that wee wild-type is one of my 'babies' from 4 months ago. Isn't he just crazy looking? He's one we're keeping - along with a little leucistic friend (names 'Dolce' and 'Gabbana'). I've managed to sell several juveniles on Trade Me (a NZ online shopping web site) recently to wonderful owners (phew).
 
i went and swapped it for this silly stingray- lookin filter thing but haven't tried it yet.. prob not powerful enuff this time!
 
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