Fish Filter Clogs REALLY REALLY quickly.?

Question

OK I have a 29 Gallon tank with 8 small Comet fishes. When I first bought the tank, the fish filter started clogging and back flows within 2 weeks. I took it out and its full of BROWN NASTY stuff, so I tried to wash it off but it doesn't come off. A few days ago I went to buy some new filter nets, and I replaced it with that clogged one. NOW, 2 days later, ITS CLOGGED AGAIN!!! Full of that nasty brown stuff again...what is going on here...I'm going to go bankrupt soon...

I also did a COMPLETE water change today cuz it was getting so dirty. Also added a new filter net, hopefully this one will last much much longer.

It's a 30 gallon filter.

Answer 1

You need a much larger filter from what I am reading. Comets are goldfish and produce alot of waste. What size filter do you have? You may want to upgrade to a larger filter. And in a few months you will have to upgrade to a much larger tank if any of your fish survive.

Edit* Yep a 30 gallon isn't going to filter out all the waste from the goldfish. You will have to go larger or try using two 30 gallon filters. You can also vacuum the gravel about once a week to cut back on waste going into the filter.

Answer 2

Well, I dunno about the fish load. In theory, if they each measure less than 1/2 inch, you should be OK with that size filter and tank.

It is a good size filter for the tank, but if the tank is overloaded, you're going to be in a mess either way.

Even if your tank is not overloaded, you may also consider the possibility of whether cutting down on feeding might help the situation.

Sounds to me like the main problem is you are getting gunk in the pump. You can cut this down a little by putting more filter stuff between the tank and the pump.

Whenever possible, I run my filter intakes through an undergravel filter plate. I've done some pretty wacky setups to get that working... sometimes I use PVC pipes and teflon tape to get good fits between parts that aren't supposed to match. I used to just stick my intake pipes inside an uplift tube and call that good enough, but that tends to make the filter run dry sometimes.

This way most of the gunk gets stuck in the gravel where I can vacuum it up with a gravel vac. I your tank is seriously overloaded already, that's not such a great idea, because some of the gunk will get stuck on the bottom of the tank, and will be hard to clean out ever.

You can also get filter foam, and cut it to fit, or stick nylon around intake pipes for more filtration.

Biological filtration can also help a little by breaking down leftover food. Lava rocks, bio balls, and clay tubes are favorite biological filtration devices. Old airstones and extra gravel can also work, but these are not recommended.

If you do tend to overfeed, sometimes introducing snails to the tank will help a little. I favor the "trumpet" snails, because they spend most of their time in the gravel, especially the dark stubby ones. They tend to eat stuff from the bottom, and come out at night to clean the glass a little... but some consider them to be pests. They do tend to breed very quickly...

Answer 3

The problem is way to many fish in a small tank,comets are really pond fish because of their adult size but even with fancy goldfish(like black moors) you need 20 gallons for the first one and another 10 gallon for each additional goldfish.

Answer 4

you're not suppose to do complete waterchanges, but only 25% partial waterchanges once a week

It's not enough to just to replace the filter cartridge, you have to clean the whole pump as well with cold water, if you don't do that replacing the cartridge doesn't help at all

What I do, is every 4-6 weeks I take out the whole filter, unplug and clean it with brushes and cold water and replace the carbon cartridge with a new one
Keep up with partial waterchanges and you're going to be fine
The brown stuff you see in there is waste from food

So only feed your fish what they will eat in a period of 3-5 min at a time, up to 2 times a day


Hope that helps
Good luck


EB

Answer 5

Your description is demanding to tell what's faulty. over feeding could be a issue, cleansing or changing the clear out could be a issue, in all probability a pump issue. I experienced comparable toubles with my over the returned potential clear out whilst the intake tube did no longer seal properly and started out "sucking" air whilst the water point decreased to a undeniable factor.

Answer 6

You need a canister filter or 2, Goldfish are messy and try upgrading your tank, Goldfish are really pond fish

Answer 7

it could be brown algae. you could try gettting a fish safe chemical to treat that before you buy another filter. if it works then you are good until you have to buy a larger tank for your fish.