Is this normal?

I just happened to notice today, that my Aquaclear 500 had "muck" at the top of the filter mixed in with the bio-max.
I have the Aquaclear sponge at the bottom & then 2 bags of bio-max on top. Been running this way for a good month now & just seen the build up.
Is that normal?
I used to have 2 sponges and one biomax bag and had never seen any build up on the top sponge.

I have added a sheet of filter floss on top of the sponge to help out.

Yup, it's normal. It'll build up quickly in a heavily stocked tank - with plecos, goldfish or large cichlids, really quickly.

Bio-max should only be rinsed out in tank water
the brown gunk is your beneficial bacteria
working away removing the ammonia and nitrite in your tank
 

All that is in that tank is a big Fan tailed gold fish along with a Koi. I also have a second filter running with the Aquaclear (Aqueon).
Ya, I rinsed the bags off with tank water.

Since it was at the top, I thought the much was making it's way back into the tank as the biomax bag is the last thing the water sees before it spills back into the tank.

That's a lot in a tank - you have to expect a lot of 'mulm'. It will be going back into the tank if it's getting that high up into the filter, but what can you do? Koi are pond fish.

2 filters for 2 fish on this tank.

That muck is perfectly normal considering what's in the tank. Might just have to be rinsed a little more frequently then usual. Koi for obvious reasons is not a good aquarium fish, but can certainly be accommodated in the short term. What's the long term plan for the Koi? you know for the next 50-60years that is?  

No secret I love Koi so how about a picture of this future beast.

Steve

Talking about goldfish and koi; I have never understood what the difference is between a comet goldfish and a koi. Are it 2 different species or does it more refer to selective breeding that has worked on getting these different colour patches and patterns?

Selective breeding was certainly involved along the way but they are two different species.

Koi are really just colored common Carp (cyprinus carpio) selectively breed over the years for there decorative color patters. A Koi also gets considerably bigger then a goldfish, some topping out at a metre in length.

Goldfish (Carassius auratus auratus) are a descendant of the Asian Carp, still a carp but a totally different species. Like the koi they have been selectively bread over the years more for their different body shapes and forms (which i have a problem with).

If you are looking at Koi and Goldfish and are not sure if it's one or the other, an easy way to tell is that Koi have barbels by their mouth like a cat fish. Or just look at the price  

Steve

Both are members of the carp (Cyprinidae) family but different species:
Koi are domesticated form of the common carp (Cyprinus carpio) native to Europe and Asia.
Gold fish is (Carassius auratus auratus) a domesticated form of the Prussian carp (Carassius auratus) subspecies (gibelio) so
(Carassius auratus gibelio)

My understanding is that a koi doesn't have a stomach per so, but a long intestine.. They push through a lot of waste for their size, and their size is impressive. In a well managed pond, that is fine, but in an aquarium, I would expect you to have to do large daily water changes to keep one for any length of time.
It would also call for a huge tank.
Filters do what they do - they supplement water changes and remove some solid wastes. However, those wastes stay in the filter til it fills, and then flow out. I expect that's the case here. And, when the waste is in the filter, the tankwater passes through it at a serious rate. No amount of filtration will compensate for overstocking or for inappropriate fish choice.
You can put five filters on a 100 gallon with a koi and a common pleco, and the tank will still be too small. If you have made that choice, all you can do is change water, then change more.

As Gary said Koi do not have a stomach, so if they eat more then there intestine can accommodate it just passes out the back door as it came in the front one. So it's better to feed Koi more frequently but in smaller amounts. While a Koi can supposedly eat 2% of it's body weight a day, I never do, they are better kept on the hungry side. When the water is warm in the summer I feed my Koi three times a day. If i were to feed them hourly they would probably eat that to. As the water cools i drop it to twice and now down to once a day. Once the water drops below 50F i will not feed them at all. below 50 the bacterial in there intestine shuts down and they can't digest the food. Actually between 50-60F i feed them a special food that is weat germ based, it's easier for them to digest.

Steve

50-60 years eh? One would have to include them in their will! I had no idea that a koi's lifespan was so long! They are quite stunning in a pond and a lot of work by the sounds of it!

hello_rockview12 wrote:50-60 years eh?  One would have to include them in their will!  I had no idea that a koi's lifespan was so long!  They are quite stunning in a pond and a lot of work by the sounds of it!

A healthy Koi can live well over 100 years,

The oldest one on record died in 1977 at the age of 226 years old. The scales show microscopic rings just like a tree trunk, you can look at them and determine the approx age. It takes a microscope to count them.



Steve

If you are a Queen fan (I'm not, but) the late Freddie Mercury's koi were recently killed by an error by their keepers - it made international news. The fish outlived their owner by many years, even if they'd actually died early considering their potential.

GaryE wrote:If you are a Queen fan (I'm not, but) the late Freddie Mercury's koi were recently killed by an error by their keepers - it made international news. The fish outlived their owner by many years, even if they'd actually died early considering their potential.

I'm not but my daughter is a huge Queen fan, I made a post on CAC back a few months ago when it happened. Fish can be replaced, but there is no replacing what they represent.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/article-129259/Fury-Freddies-koi-carp-worth-1million-die.html

http://myfreddiemercury.com/2013/01/28/freddie-mercury-freddies-loves-koi-carp-fishes-and-royal-cats/

Steve

Yeh and the price was something like over a million dollars worth of koi.

Sbenson11 wrote:
No secret I love Koi so how about a picture of this future beast.

Steve

I am trying to get a pic of her/him for ya. But she/he won't sit still long enough.

Also, I am sad to say that I have a name for it now.
Killer as she/he ate the head of one of the Oto cats I had in that tank.
I have moved the remaining 3 to the 130 gallon with the other 7 Oto cats.

Sandman1969 wrote:

Sbenson11 wrote:
No secret I love Koi so how about a picture of this future beast.

Steve

I am trying to get a pic of her/him for ya. But she/he won't sit still long enough.

Also, I am sad to say that I have a name for it now.
Killer as she/he ate the head of one of the Oto cats I had in that tank.
I have moved the remaining 3 to the 130 gallon with the other 7 Oto cats.

His head must have looked like a piece of food  

Steve

I finally got a pic of the Koi, but no idea how to upload the pic here?

Sandman1969 wrote:I finally got a pic of the Koi, but no idea how to upload the pic here?

This is a thread about it.

http://canadaquaria.canadian-forum.com/t26-how-to-post-photos

Personally I post a lot of pictures so I have a photobucket account, that way they are hosted outside the forum and they don't use up the forums space. If you go that route you can set one up for free.

www.photobucket.com

Steve

Sbenson11 wrote:

Sandman1969 wrote:I finally got a pic of the Koi, but no idea how to upload the pic here?

This is a thread about it.

http://canadaquaria.canadian-forum.com/t26-how-to-post-photos

Personally I post a lot of pictures so I have a photobucket account, that way they are hosted outside the forum and they don't use up the forums space. If you go that route you can set one up for free.

www.photobucket.com

Steve

PB works well. You don't have to worry about filling up spacing using this hosting system either. It is connected to forumotion, but still external (servimg).

Let me know if you have any trouble with the instructions from the link.

Best pic of the Koi I could get.

He's about half a foot already & he was 2/3 inches about a month ago.

cool fish and yes they grow fast,

maybe I missed it, what size tank is this ?

Steve

can goldfish live with fancies? I thought no but perhaps they can?!