Two questions

[half0tempo]

Ok, so I have two quick questions. First off, I have 6 tiger barbs (most around 1.5 in.) and a snail (maybe 2 in.) and the barbs love to pick at the snail while he wanders around. I was wondering if they could harm the poor snail at all, I feel so bad for him when they pick!

Also, I was wondering if cleaning can be overdone in a tank. How many times is safe for siphoning the tank, I want to do it nearly every day but this might be bad for the tank. I always seem to be creating a mess in my tank.

[Crabbypatty]

I'm not shore about this but I don't think you should siphon you tank every day. I'd say once a week should be okay.

[WinterWind]

If you tank is stocked heavily, then you might want to do the waterchanges more often, but not quite as much as everyday. Everyday would be stressful for the fishes. Maybe do it 3 times a week at most.

[Leopardess]

You could do a small water change everyday without causing any problems at all. That's how discus breeders keep the water clean for the juveniles (except they do massive water changes). That said, there should be no reason to do it everyday and you don't need to give yourself so much work to do. If the tank is getting that dirty in one day, there is a problem somewhere. Every other day is fine, twice a week is fine, once a week should be fine. Basically, keep the nitrates under 40ppm (I like to stay under 15 ppm) and you are doing your changes enough. Your guide is your nitrate levels.

And yes, they barbs could potentially harm the snail. All they have to do is nibble at the squishy part of the snail and buhbye snail:(

[TommyR]

Ok, so I have two quick questions. First off, I have 6 tiger barbs (most around 1.5 in.) and a snail (maybe 2 in.) and the barbs love to pick at the snail while he wanders around. I was wondering if they could harm the poor snail at all, I feel so bad for him when they pick!

Also, I was wondering if cleaning can be overdone in a tank. How many times is safe for siphoning the tank, I want to do it nearly every day but this might be bad for the tank. I always seem to be creating a mess in my tank.

How big is the tank? You have 9 " of fish. You want 1" per gallon.

Gravel cleaning/water changes every day is not needed. Once a week should be fine.

I can't answer the snail question.

Tom

[pseif1]

Ok, so I have two quick questions. First off, I have 6 tiger barbs (most around 1.5 in.) and a snail (maybe 2 in.) and the barbs love to pick at the snail while he wanders around. I was wondering if they could harm the poor snail at all, I feel so bad for him when they pick!

My fish did the same thing to my apple snail but later learned to leave him alone plus my snail is noctournal as most are so when they're sleeping he's having the time of his life :dive2:

[daveedka]

Picking can end up being bad for the snail, but in most cases it's something the snail knows how to defend against. If the barbs do get a grip on him they will try to eat him. It's just the natural way of things, but it may prove to be an incompatability in your tank.

As far as water changes, as long as your new water and your tank water are similar parrameters (i.e. Temp, kh,gh etc.), and you treat properly for chlorine/ chloramines, you cannot do too many water changes. You can do far more than you need too but if you like doing them and want to do them then by no means is it bad to do them. In a planted tank, this could cause you a lot of work balancing ferts etc. but in an unplanted it should cause no harm, and will without a doubt provide an exceptionally clean environment for your fish.

As said Nitrates are the measuring device used to decide on a maintenance routine, but more than clean enough is never bad, just not necessary.
Dave

[centralharbor]

Picking can end up being bad for the snail, but in most cases it's something the snail knows how to defend against. If the barbs do get a grip on him they will try to eat him. It's just the natural way of things, but it may prove to be an incompatability in your tank.

As far as water changes, as long as your new water and your tank water are similar parrameters (i.e. Temp, kh,gh etc.), and you treat properly for chlorine/ chloramines, you cannot do too many water changes. You can do far more than you need too but if you like doing them and want to do them then by no means is it bad to do them. In a planted tank, this could cause you a lot of work balancing ferts etc. but in an unplanted it should cause no harm, and will without a doubt provide an exceptionally clean environment for your fish.

As said Nitrates are the measuring device used to decide on a maintenance routine, but more than clean enough is never bad, just not necessary.
Dave


i would think tho, lets say you do water changes everyday for maybe a month, then you decide to do it once a week, your tank would probably start a new cycle again since all this time you have been taking out a lot of the ammonia from the tank. what i mean is, if you do water changes everyday, i think you should plan on doing it everyday for the rest of the life of the fish

[daveedka]

i would think tho, lets say you do water changes everyday for maybe a month, then you decide to do it once a week, your tank would probably start a new cycle again since all this time you have been taking out a lot of the ammonia from the tank. what i mean is, if you do water changes everyday, i think you should plan on doing it everyday for the rest of the life of the fish

Not really though. the trace amounts of ammonia needed to maintain a bio-filter are not going to be affected by the water change really. Bacteria can go for quite a bit of time with no ammonia before it dies, and ammonia production in the tank is pretty much constant 24/7. Since ammonia dipserses rapidly and evenly in water, 2 minutes before the water changes and two minutes after the water change the ammonia levels will pretty much be the same. In a properly running tank we are not creating a build-up and subsequent consumption of ammonia. We are creating an environement that constantly consumes ammonia as it is produced. So unlike the nitrates which build and then we reduce them via water change, the ammonia levels don't fluctuate and are based on production in the tank. The only time there is a change is when we have a problem that exceeds the bio-filter capabilities. Water changes will not reduce or harm you bio-filter even if done daily.
Dave