first post :)

[Yo_Loach]

Ahoy me hearties,
this is my first post here, I started up my tank a week ago.
I was wonderin', my yo-loaches, eat bloodworms, and the
other fish think i'm giving them a treat and they rarely make it to the bottom
as the loaches are bottom feeders, also, I've been to three different pet
stores, and one said to clean gravel and change 25% of water once a week
another told me to do this once every 2 weeks, another told me to do this
once a month. Also, How long should I wait before introducing some Plieco's?
as I dont want snails as algea eaters. Any response would be appreciated,
excuse me for the long post, and my poor spelling :thud:

 

[Aquaskilz]

I was wonderin', my yo-loaches, eat bloodworms, and the
other fish think i'm giving them a treat and they rarely make it to the bottom
as the loaches are bottom feeders,

Im assuming your question is what food will sink fast enough so my by bottom feeders can get some of the grub too. If it is, try some shrimp pellets from wardleys or BIO BLEND Herrbivore fish food by Marine Labs. These little pellets sink pretty fast.

I've been to three different pet
stores, and one said to clean gravel and change 25% of water once a week
another told me to do this once every 2 weeks, another told me to do this
once a month.

Well the rule is 15-20% weekly. If you follow the rules you cant go wrong. If you have a good filter you can get away with every two weeks. 1 month- youre pushing it, but its not impossible to get away with. Fish urinate and deficate in the water so once a week is probably best. They LOVE fresh water!

Also, How long should I wait before introducing some Plieco's?
as I dont want snails as algea eaters.

WHOA! You may want to up grade your tank first...plecos get pretty big some even 12" in length. Try a chinese algae eater insted. Also, if youre concerned about algae your live plants will compete for the nutrients that feed algae so that might help also keep the lights on for a minimal amount of time.- Light also contributes to excessive algae.
Let me know how it goes!

 

[Yo_Loach]

Wow! Thanks a bunch! Yes, I'll stick to the chinese algea eaters than, I just didnt want snails cause they streak, and my friend got his plants devoured within a few days. Thank you ! I'll change the water weekly. thank you again. I'll be sure to let you know how it went

 

[Aquaskilz]

here's my email address- aquaskilz@yahoo.com and your welcome!!

 

[TKOS]

Since this is a new tank there is probably a lot of ammonia and nitrite building up right now. You really should have test kits for these and being doing water changes almost daily for the first few weeks. I wouldn't add any new fish until ammonia and nitrite can stay at zero 24 hours after a water change. Then do a water change weekly of anywhere from 20-30% depending on fish load.

There are plecos that can get to be 18 inches long and there are plecos that stay 4 inches long. You have to know what the pet store is selling. Chinese Algae eaters can get 10 inches long and when they age get very aggressive and stop eating algae, not a good choice. The best way to control algae is by doing lots of water changes and buying an algae scrapper. It really isn't hard. And make sure to not over feed the tank. A gravel vacuum is a good idea as it also makes doing water changes easier.

Read up on the cycle in the stickies in the newbie forum.

 

[Yo_Loach]

okay, thank you! I have a gravel vacuum, and will look more into algea eaters, I already scraped the algea a few times and is not really a problem as the tank is new, I assumed algea eaters would make the job easier over time, and Wow. As for snails.
I just noticed that a few tiny snails travelled over to my tank with a new plant I got.
Will these things grow? or multiply to infestation? or just 1 or 2 small ones will remain?
should I take them out? or not worry. -thanks again

 

[amosf]

What sort of filtration do you have BTW? As stated earlier, you will be getting a lot of toxins building up in the tank. It's going to take a month or more for the bacteria to build up enough numbers to cope with that. You have a lot of fish for a new tank, so will probably need to do daily water changes of 30% or so for the first month or more untill the tank matures. After that you can go back to weekly changes or thereabouts. Test kits will help you monitor toxins like ammonia and nitrites in the tank. Without water changes you will lose fish, but things will be okay if you keep up the maintainence.

 

[Yo_Loach]

Okay, I have an Aquaclear mini filter, it's a bit small but it does it's job fine. I got fish on the 4th and 5th days, and havent turned off the filter, I have to oxygenators, so plenty of oxygen to go around and I was hoping my plants take out some toxins, I went 2 days without water change so far, but I will do one tonight if I get some time, and than I will have only missed 1 day, I did rush into the fish getting a bit, I was careless. but sitting there staring at that empty tank! GAH! hehe, well thank you!.

 

[amosf]

Well, you can cycle a tank with fish in it okay, but it helps if there is not too many fish. Still, more fish will just mean more water changes and you can still get through okay. Just make sure to dechlorinate the water before putting it in the tank. The filter has a spange I guess? Don't change it if possible, just rinse it out as it will build up good bacteria. bacteria also live in the gravel and so forth. The plants will take up some of the ammonia/nitrites as well, but not enough so you still need the water changes.

 

[Yo_Loach]

Okay, well yes it does run on a sponge, and the water where I live has no chlorine in it whatesoever, but however, the Iron content of the water is high, but I boiled it and let it cool before I poured it in the tank (yes i'm old fashioned) and after I added in a capful of Aquaplus. The loach and molly's generally feed off the gravel, so Should I leave the gravel vaccuming to once a week even now? and as for rinsing the sponge, are you indicating I should disassemble and rinse the filter daily aswell? seems a tad much, I'm okay with the weekly water change, no problem there, so I supose I'll continue daily for a month, all my toxin levels in my water are normal, as it is from a freshwater spring under the house, and we got our water checked not long ago (yes I used tap water) I wanna be safe though, as I dont want to loose any of the little guys.