Do I need a filter or something?

Question

Regarding my aquarium;

I gravel vac my aquarium quite often, while I also do water changes weekly.

I have a 20 gallon stocked with these fish:

2 Black skirt tetras

2 Red phantom tetras

4 neon tetras

and to help with the bio-load:

1 Mystery snail

2 Otocinclus catfish

The problem is, whenever my fish swim very fast close to the gravel, a whole bunch of junk flies everywhere.

Please excuse the rough description, but I am just trying to best describe my situation.

I DON'T have any kind of substrate other than my coarse gravel (each pebble a little over pea-sized).

I have a Whisper bio-filter. This is an awesome filter, and if there is anything in the water when this is running it will be gone in about 25 seconds.

So don't get me wrong, my filter is working great.

This is the only filter system I have in my aquarium. Should I get an air pump? Should I get another filter?

Any help on this situation would be GREATLY appreciated!!

Answer 1

Tyler has is, a gravel vac is what you need.  The best filter in the world will still leave some accumulation in the substrate, the gravel vac cleans the gravel as well as removing some water, which is what you do during weekly water changes anyway.

Answer 2

all fish need filters

all tetra types need to school in groups of 6 plus

Answer 3

Snails usually create tons of p**p, at least in my case they always have. Have you tried sticking your vacuum right down in the gravel and allowing the gravel to toss in the tube for a few seconds? This will help remove any waste that has fallen deep into the crevices. Maybe you are over feeding your fish as well, try only feeding as much as your fish can consume in 2-3 minutes, and remove any uneaten food with a net. Fish do that all the time, if only they didn't p**p all the time lol. An air pump will only help with water surface movement allowing for extra oxygen to be dissolved into the water. Try doing a couple smaller water changes twice a week. May I also suggest getting 2 more black skirts and at least 2 more phantoms, they should all be in schools of at least 6, but with the tank size groups of 4 should suffice.

Answer 4

Yeah umm maybe you can put a air pump in the filter and see how that goes.

Answer 5

Crud from the bottom simply has to be gravel vaccumed up.

Answer 6

How about a bottom filter? Bottom filters get rid of that stuff which I used to have a problem with.Air pumps aerate the water which provide oxygen for the fish and is needed only if the fish need great amounts of oxygen but if they dont need as much, a living plant can provide them with it by giving off oxygen.