Hang of the back filter

[twisty]

Hi!
I'm taking care of one of my friends tank for the next year.
It's the home of an apple snail.
My question is regarding hang of the back filters.
How to maintain them?
There's has this foam media on the bottom and this bag with rocks over it.
Not sure how to maintain it and clean it.
Another thing is the water smells funny. Kinda Fishy.
I know this isn't normal.. Preaty sure it comes from the filter.
Any advice is appreciated.
Thanks

[Seanc]

well the rock would be carbon, Wich is usaly not used because it is only usable for about a week-10 days. So I would sujest removing it because it probobly isn't doing anyhting useful anymore. the foam should be cleaned about every 2 weeks, in the aquarium water, and you should maybe go to BigAl's for another foam. You should also do a water change, about %15-25 once every 1-2 weeks.

Is their only one apple snail, thats not a very big bioload, and depending on how big the tank is, whay dont you get some more fish? much more interesting then an apple snail. depending on how big it is why don't you get some killie's, they are small, and you wont need a heater.
hopefuly this helps
sean

[twisty]

There's 1 apple snail.. it's preaty large!
and one other fish... not sure what type.
The tank is fairly small. i'd guess at the most 10g.

So the main thing with this type of filters is the foam.
They provide me with a box of it. I guess i'll change it
What's the carbon for? why should I discontinue it's use?
What about the smell?

[Seanc]

the smell you will get rid of my doing regular water changes. you dont have to change the foam very often but wash one peice every 2 weeks when you are doing the water change, rinse it in the water you are taking out of the tank. the carbon takes out chemical stuff, most people usualy only use it after they have medicated the tank to take out all the medication. Its not that useful otherwise and can cost alot.

[BigDaddy]

Do not replace the foam insert.  Your biological filter is located there.  Just rinse it out in aquarium water.  Unless the sponge is falling apart, there is no need to replace it.

Small partial water changes will improve the water quality and should eventually resolve the "smell" issue

[Laura]

If I can just add some clarification, (and my apologies if you already know all this stuff)....

seanc is right, you do need to do weekly/biweekly partial water changes.  Make sure that the fresh water you put in has had a chemical added to take out the chloramine in our water and is the same temperature as the water in the tank.  You may have been given a gravel vacuum (it's a big plastic cylinder with a hose coming off it) - they're great as they remove a lot of the crud sitting in the gravel, along with the water you are taking out.

The reason you want to rinse out the sponge in the tank water you've removed is that there is no chloramine in the water which would kill the good bacteria living in the filter sponge.  The good bacteria play an important role in keeping your tank running well.  You could also choose to just leave the charcoal in the filter as there is bacteria living on it too, or you can do as seanc suggests and replace it with another sponge.  Never replace all the filter media (sponges etc) at the same time as you will be throwing out all your beneficial bacteria.  I clean my filter about once every week or two.

When you're cleaning your filter, rinse out the casing and pay attention to the impellor (the little spinny thing that sucks the water into the filter).  You want to make sure that stays clean so it spins well.

If it's a very big snail, it's likely a cana - they can be pretty dirty little fellas, although they are very neat.  They also need to be fed their own food, veggies etc - algae isn't good enough.  To do some research on applesnails, check out applesnail.net - they have info on how to determine the species, and their discussion forum has some great pointers on what to feed them.  Depending on the species you may need to blanche the veggies before putting them in.

Again, my apologies if all this is old news.

[twisty]

Thanks for all the info!
I will remove the Bag of carbon.
And do water changes....
They also gave me algea pelets...
They didn't mention feading it veggies..
But i alraedy do that to my other fish...