Kaz

Yeah that's the tank, in beech. I'll enjoy it even better when the problems are sorted out. Thanks everyone for the advice, I'll work my way through them one by one and let you know when the problem is fixed

I have 7 silver sharks roughly 7 inches 3 clown loaches 4 albino catfish 2 cory catfish 2 redtail black sharks roughly 4 inches So there's no room in the other tank for them

I gave the tank 6 weeks to mature before putting any fish into it

I have 6 discus around 3 inches shoal of neon tetras around 20 - 25 6 cory catfish 2 bristlenose plecs The amonia reading is at 2ppm (mg/L) and that's after doing a 1/3 water change I'm feeding between 2-4 bloodworm per day and a small pinch of flakes later in the evening. Everything is being eaten within about 2-3 minutes

I know it does but I've left it for 2 weeks before taking another reading and they are just the same. I'm doing 1/3 water changes every couple of days and they are still sky high! I've tried real plants as well but it's just the same!!!

Thanks I'll give that a try Do you put the blue AND the black sponges in the top or just the blue one with the polypad? I've been told the black sponge is a carbon one. How do you hold the bioballs down without emptying the filter or do you empty the filter first because I don't want to lose the water in it? The tank is brand new, just set up in October so there hasn't been any other filter in it. I have another 4' x 2' x 18" tank with an undergravel filter and power filter and haven't had any problems with that. That tank has been running for the past 3 years or so. I only need to do a water change on that one about once a week, but with the Windsor 88 it's every couple of days!! I've tried ammolock, filteraid, stress zyme, and any other potion that's on the market here in Britain!! The only thing I can think of now is that the filter is faulty

The poypads are left to go in the top one! The black sponge was carbon (found out after 2 months! no instructions with the filter!) which was removed. I also have a blue coarser sponge which is still in the filter The hose was about 6 inches from the sand but the sand is now removed and I have gravel in the tank Yes it's sucking in and pumping out of the correct connections! Everything is lined up as it should be! I have now resorted to putting a piece of hose down through the filter to see if this will help The sponges that are in use are the ones I got with the filter. The polypads have been replaced about 4 times because they are going black within a day or two of being put into the filter. Anybody got any suggestions where I'm going wrong or IF I'm going wrong somewhere :-? My next step is to call the Company and try to get someone out to look at it incase it's a faulty unit.....

I recently purchased an Aqua One Windsor 88 all in one tank with the CF1200 filter. Since it was set up it's been drawing up sand, so I replaced the sand with gravel. My amonia and nitrite levels have been through the roof for a couple of months! The only thing keeping my fish alive lately is the water changes I've had to do every 2 days!!! I managed to get the telephone number of Aqua One and phoned them to see if I had set it up wrong, and this is how the guy told me it went: Bottom Tray - bio balls and course sponge Middle Tray - ceramic noodles and fine sponge Top Tray - anything that was left!!! The water being drawn through the filter doesn't seem to be getting filtered! The outlet tubes seem to be full of brown slime! I've cleaned them out but they end up the same after a few days. I've tried every combination on the filter, can anyone tell me where I'm going wrong???!!!!! PLEEEEEEASE! I have a wife with a hammer and she's not afraid to use it on my tank!!! lol Thanks in advance