I dont want to eat my fish, you cant force me!

[Deniz]

Can someone please list everything I'll need to do to maintain my aquarium (just the weekly stuff, how much water to change, how to do it, and where to put the fish while doing it etc etc)


Thanks chumps and chumpettes :)

[Andy16]

All you need to do weekly is do a 25% water change. Dechlroinate the water with stress coat. An easy way to do tghis is with a python vacuum. I have only heard great things about then but i havent been able to afford one lately. You jsut leave the fish in the tnak. Also vacuum the gravel to get all the waste and uneaten food off of it. Then scrape off unwanted algae. I might bew missing some things. also every 2-4 weeks you should change the filter media. If you have tow filters you shouldnt change them both at the same time. You should do one one week adn the other hte next week. This way you wont be destroying large bacteria colonies, it will give the other filter time to grow a new one before you wipe out hte other one keeping a more even balance. Also try to test your water once every two weeks jsut so know your tank perimeters on a regular basis. TEst for ammonia, nitrite, nitrate, and ph.

[stbrigid]

You said to test the H2O every two weeks, should this be done before or after partial water changes?

[TKOS]

What you do to your tank will kind of depend on what setup you have. Tell us about the tank size, filter type, gravel or sand, temperature, lighting, real plants or fake, and of course what kind of fish you have.

IF you have 1 small fish in a 70 gallon tank then water changes don't need to be done that often. But a bunch of fish in a 10 gallon tank will mean water changes a lot.

[Aderynglas]

Deniz,

Please read the stickies at the top of the newby forum, they are full of information to help you. :)

We need to know what filter you have and what your tank set-up is, along with water parameters and how long it has been running. Is your tank cycled??

Does your water company add Chlorine or ChlorAmine to the water - this will determine what you treat your water with. If it uses Chlorine then Stresscoat or similar will be ok but ChlorAmine will need something different, check on the bottle to find out what it neutralises.

Typical Maintenance Schedule for established tank (3months+) -
DAILY
Count fish and check all are active and healthy. Check water temperature. Check filter working. Feed Fish.
WEEKLY
Remove 25% of tank water, replace with conditioned water at same temperature, vacuum gravel while removing water. Remove yellowing leaves and any dead bits from plants. Clean front/sides of tank to remove algae. Check all fish are still there (not thrown out in water :D )
Ensure filter flow is sufficient. Sit back and enjoy :)
MONTHLY
Test water, if filter flow reduced rinse media in tank water.

Andy16 Why are you recommending changing the filter media monthly?? the filter type has not been mentioned. Unless there is a particular type of media (eg. carbon) then the media can be rinsed in tank water and put back rather than being discarded.

Regards
Polly

[OrionGirl]

Quick clarification--leave the fish in the tank while doing maintenance. There is not reason to remove them, and it will stress them much more to remove them from the tank.

[Andy16]

Sorry about that orion. I can type faster then i think which is pretty sad since i cant type that fast.