Can I overfilter my fish tank?

No. All it does is make the filters of them all less likely to be changed. It will not hurt the fish and it will be less work for you

Thanks charlie thats what I thought just wanted to make sure before I went put the peacock mantis shrimp I’m getting in there.

Make sure you never change the filters and do a water change/gravel cleaning at the same time. Do one or the other but not both. You do want some existing bacteria to stay in the tank.

Yea I know most of the basics since I’ve had a small 10g freshwater running for about 6 months now, this is my first time with something big though. Thanks anyway for the advice.

No you cant over filter. I have kept saltwater aquariums for over20 years now. The systems you have are fine but I am a fan of the plenum system. It is totally natural using a void in live sand, Live rock, pumps. Check out this website and you will be addicted. http://www.garf.org/

I both thank you and hate you gooch for sending me that link lol. Good by free time.

Do you have any pictures of your aquariums online? I would love to look at them if you do.

I have no pictures posted online. I have 3 aquariums 110 gallon show, 150 gallon long, 55 gallon show. The 110 gallon show and the 150 gallon long are reefs and the 55 gallon is a fish only which means no corals. My prize fish ia an Emperator Angel fish see link. http://www.sheddaquarium.org/SEA/fs_popup.cfm?media=fs021231100707F.jpg My favorite corals are zoanthids because they are easy, fun to watch eat, and multiply like crazy so you can sell them back to local petshops for store credit to get more stuff!

Thats a beautiful fish gooch. I am also very fond of zoanthids but never considered selling them back good idea.

If you had to guess how much money do you think you put into all of your stuff?

Don’t make me say because if my wife sees she will kill me. Okay, I will hide this from her. Over the years not including the 12 light bulbs which I change every 6 months just the aquariums, stands, living creatures, pumps,and things I bought that I learned I did not need. About $12,000.Now I could do it a lot cheaper with the knowledge I have gained along the way.

wow gooch thats crazy. Is there any advice you can give to me as to what to avoid buying and whats really not needed?

Also i noticed recently that my new saltwater tank smells. Is this normal? My freshwater doesnt smell but i was wondering if it had something to do with saltwater or if theres something wrong with my water? Thanks

If it is a new tank less than one month old this could be normal cycling. If it is older its bad. It could be caused by many things. First tell me what is in it. Both living and non living. I can give you alot of advice on saving money.

the tank is about a week old so normal cycling i suppose. right now there is gravel i forget the specific brand but its not live sand or anything. Only living things in there are 3 turbo snails. I know your supposed to wait before putting living things in there but i was planing on getting a mantis shrimp and from what i learned about them they dont really need high quality water so the snails are just food.

no don’t put mantis shrimp unless you want dead fish. They will kill your fish when you get them. Make your first fish black mollies which are freshwater fish that can be aclimated over to salt. They will die more than likely during the first cycle as would most if you want to chance a little more money get damsel fish to start. You need to get about 5. They will cycle your tank. After about a month get a h2o check. If water quality is good do a 25 percent water change and buy some fish you like but no more than 2. After a month take out all the fish you don’t want sell them back to the petshop for instant credit on fish you want. Don’t buy any expensive fish like angels or butterflies for about 6 months as the are funny about water quality. Is your substrate arogonate or crushed coral those are the best for your fish tank….ask and I can advise

The mantis is going to be in a species only tank. No my substrate isn’t arogonate or crushed coral i couldn’t find any at the time and was kind of rushing to get the tank set up because the shrimp was supposed to be here. Then my girlfriend got me a 40g for vday so now hes going to go in there so unfortunately i didn’t get to set this tank up the way i planed from the start but oh well. Thank you for the advice you have given me thus far if anymore questions arise ill be sure to ask you.