newbie here, i need some insight from you pros

As for the gravel. If you want to change it out I would suggest removing all your fish into a buvket filled with tank water. Then change out all the gravel. At this point do not change the filter media as well as it will be the prime source of good bacteria for your tank. In fact you rarely have to change the media in a filter. For sponges you just rinse them out when you do a water change using old tank water. Bio Wheels can just be rinsed off as well when the gunk builds up too much on them.

When changing out the gravel make sure to pay attention for ammonia or nitrite spikes for the next week or so as this will remove a lot of good bacteria as well.
 
i have a marineland biowheel, and it says i have to replace the filter every month or so, is that really necessary?
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Unless it is really ratty and beat up, you shouldn't ever have to change your filter material. All you really need to do is to clean it off with dechlorinated water that it the same temperature as your tank then put it back in your filter. The reason is that if you remove your biowheel/filter cartridges than you are removing a good deal of your biological filter which would lead to an ammonia spike.

HTH
 
Agreed Puma, with any physical or biological filtration you can just rinse, rinse, rinse. After you've vaccumed your gravel, take out the filter and clean it in the water that's in the bucket, i.e. old tank water. I'm under the impression that a lot of companies (or all) suggest you change or replace some part of their product much more often than necessary, it's really just to sell more.

The only exception to this is chemical filtration. If you're using activated carbon, you'll need to replace it probably once every few months, depending on your bioload and diligence at water changes. Activated carbon acts like a magnet for organic wastes, but over time, the sites that trap these get filled and the media needs replacing.

As for the gravel, I actually find dark gravel really appealing. It's likely that your fish don't mind it either, likely closer to their natural habitat. If you do feel strongly about the colour, try just thinning it out a bit and mixing in some lighter material. This will lighten it up a bit but won't disturb your biobase as much as a complete overhaul.
 
hey guys! thank you so much for all your replies!!

today after school i went by petco to get some stuff for my dog and i was looking around for those water testers you were talkin' about and man they're pretty expensive. and i asked the guy there if they test the water and he said they do it for free. should i get my own water testers or just take my water to petco every week?

and if i have to buy my own tester do i have to by all of them? ammonia, nitrate, pH..

thanks :cool:
 
I'd advise to keep the basic testing equipment on hand. That is Ph, ammonia, nitrite, and nitrate. If you can find a kit with those in it you may save some money buying just one box instead of four.
 
the whole kit that includes all those testers is like 40 bucks. :eek:

anyway, i bought a gravel vac today and i vacuumed out A LOT of gunk.. it was mostly the fishes poop not food. kinda felt relieved to know i wasn't over feeding my fishies. but anyway i only vacuumed half of my tank which took out nearly 50% of my water.. since it was my first time i was going a bit slow so maybe that's why. and i was really trying not to frighten the fish..

one question though, do i seriously have to do this every day till my cycle's over? because i hate moving my plants and rocks around when i already have them the way i like them. i have to re-arrange them every time i siphon out my water and that's no fun because i'm afraid of bothering my fish.

and oh yeah i bought some aquarium salt because the guy recommended it and i remember seeing cups of salt in the aquariums at the store. but do i have to put the salt in cups like that or can i just pour some in?

thanks again.
 
the whole kit that includes all those testers is like 40 bucks.
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Well, that 40 bucks gets you MONTHS of testing supplies... if not a year or more, depending on how often you test... those kits go a long way since you only use a few drops at a time.

one question though, do i seriously have to do this every day till my cycle's over? because i hate moving my plants and rocks around when i already have them the way i like them. i have to re-arrange them every time i siphon out my water and that's no fun because i'm afraid of bothering my fish.
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No, you don't have to deep-clean the gravel bed, but you do need to do water changes. just hold the siphon above the gravel 3 out of 4 days, and the 4th day, vacuum the gravel too.
and oh yeah i bought some aquarium salt because the guy recommended it and i remember seeing cups of salt in the aquariums at the store. but do i have to put the salt in cups like that or can i just pour some in?
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I don't recommend putting salt in a freshwater aquarium unless you are treating for ich or other parasites. It's not necessary, and while it might not hurt, it's not something you MUST do like a lot of places might tell you. It's another "You have to have this and this and this" to run up your tab at the register.... it's great for parasite treatment though, so keep it handy as part of your fishy first-aid kit.
 
Yeah, I understand that about LFS pricing. Have you tried looking at different websights? As an example try Petsmart.com . They have the Aquarium Pharmaceuticals master kit (Ph, ammonia, nitrite, and Gh) for about $15 and a Aquarium Pharmaceuticals nitrate test kit for about $5. If you can get this stuff online and wait for it to be shipped you can generally save a bit of money.
 
if you want to you can buy the kits one at a time and the adjuster checmicals for them and get the shop to test the water for the others you don't have yet.
 
Originally posted by m3th0d
anyway, i bought a gravel vac today and i vacuumed out A LOT of gunk.. it was mostly the fishes poop not food. kinda felt relieved to know i wasn't over feeding my fishies.
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You may be overfeeding, a fish will eat as much as it can find and fit into its mouth, it will just push it out the back end as fast as it goes in. You ought to be feeding each fish about as much food as the size of that fish's eyeball, once a day. Not much at all. You can even skip a day or several days without any problem on occasion.

Beyond that, you have been given great advice here, re the testing kits and the water changes and everything. So, yeah, what they said.
 
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