As to the advice of 99RedSi I have taken this post out of my old thread and started a new one as I would like to hear some responses on this. The old post is at http://www.aquariacentral.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=935
I am going to open a can of worms here, but what the hey, you only live once. I keep reading posts on water changes and it seems that the general majority of individuals think that this is the way to go. What about individuals who don't want to climb in the tank so to speak and clean glass, siphon gravel, change water, etc.? Is there a better way?
In two years of owning my current tank (mind you I have had a fish tank/s for the last twelve years?) my biggest problem so far has been a small amount of brown growth on a single artificial plant in my tank. This same tank has not had a water change or partial change in two years and the water quality has remained extremely consistent. Previous to this tank I used to do what everyone else does and that is clean it conventionally as mentioned above. I was sick of it and figured that I could come up with something better that what I was doing.
Now I am not saying what I have done is perfect. Most of you will probably disagree with this method of aquarium ownership. I can just see you cringing as you read that this water hasn't been changed in two years. I also have to say that this method of aquarium ownership is expensive as it takes allot of chemicals, additives, etc to maintain the water properly. Just to look at it from my perspective though, I do not see my aquarium as a hobby. I use it for relaxation and soothing meditation purposes. Don't get me wrong, I love my fish, but I have enough to do and enough hobbies to keep me busy without climbing into my tank. I do however want what’s best for my fish and would never do anything to harm them, at least not intentionally. Short of talking about me and what I believe anymore here is what I've done.
In most tanks there is a bed of gravel or other substrate in the bottom of the tank. If you run your fingers through it you will churn up sediment and debris, even if the tank was recently cleaned. I have a friend that has a 125gal tank with oscars in it and no matter when you run your fingers through the gravel you will churn up debris. This individual is religious about cleaning and maintaining his tank. If you do the same thing in my tank, you will see absolutely nothing. This is due to the large volume of water that flows through the gravel. There is a strong current that runs through the entire surface area of the gravel. This current doesn't allow any matter to settle. The under gravel filter is rigged so that it is broken into 4 separate sections - front left, front right, rear left, and rear right. Each of the 4 sections has a large powerhead moving water through each area of the plate. As any matter sinks towards the bottom you will see it swirl and rise as it gets to about 3-4 inches from the bottom. Even large food pellets never touch the bottom. I combine that with a total of three filters cycling just over 1000gph. With these three filters I rarely see any debris floating in the tank.
Now this leads to other issues like proper ph levels and the fact that you are virtually eliminating bacteria growth in the substrate. Using a combination of natural rock with buffering capabilities and a host of chemicals and bacteria, along with the bio capabilities of the filters, I am able to keep the environment quit fish friendly. At least it seems that way. Everything I have tested for has consistently fallen within acceptable ranges. When I submitted a sample of the water to a local pet shop for testing, I was told that the water was some of the best he had seen for a cichlid tank (this was about 3 months ago when I was getting fed up with the brown spots).
Now I am sure that allot of you won't agree with this setup. Allot of you do this as a hobby. I have to say however, that I can't see how this setup is not working. My fish are healthy, the water looks great, the water seems to test fine, I have never had a loss or a disease, and I am always complimented on the overall appearance of my tank.
I would love to hear comments on this and if anyone has done something similar let me know about it. If any of you have ideas or know of other tests that can be done to prove that there are ill effects going on in this tank please let me know and I will buy the tests and check it out. My main goal here is to have a healthy tank with very little maintenance. Thoughts???
I am going to open a can of worms here, but what the hey, you only live once. I keep reading posts on water changes and it seems that the general majority of individuals think that this is the way to go. What about individuals who don't want to climb in the tank so to speak and clean glass, siphon gravel, change water, etc.? Is there a better way?
In two years of owning my current tank (mind you I have had a fish tank/s for the last twelve years?) my biggest problem so far has been a small amount of brown growth on a single artificial plant in my tank. This same tank has not had a water change or partial change in two years and the water quality has remained extremely consistent. Previous to this tank I used to do what everyone else does and that is clean it conventionally as mentioned above. I was sick of it and figured that I could come up with something better that what I was doing.
Now I am not saying what I have done is perfect. Most of you will probably disagree with this method of aquarium ownership. I can just see you cringing as you read that this water hasn't been changed in two years. I also have to say that this method of aquarium ownership is expensive as it takes allot of chemicals, additives, etc to maintain the water properly. Just to look at it from my perspective though, I do not see my aquarium as a hobby. I use it for relaxation and soothing meditation purposes. Don't get me wrong, I love my fish, but I have enough to do and enough hobbies to keep me busy without climbing into my tank. I do however want what’s best for my fish and would never do anything to harm them, at least not intentionally. Short of talking about me and what I believe anymore here is what I've done.
In most tanks there is a bed of gravel or other substrate in the bottom of the tank. If you run your fingers through it you will churn up sediment and debris, even if the tank was recently cleaned. I have a friend that has a 125gal tank with oscars in it and no matter when you run your fingers through the gravel you will churn up debris. This individual is religious about cleaning and maintaining his tank. If you do the same thing in my tank, you will see absolutely nothing. This is due to the large volume of water that flows through the gravel. There is a strong current that runs through the entire surface area of the gravel. This current doesn't allow any matter to settle. The under gravel filter is rigged so that it is broken into 4 separate sections - front left, front right, rear left, and rear right. Each of the 4 sections has a large powerhead moving water through each area of the plate. As any matter sinks towards the bottom you will see it swirl and rise as it gets to about 3-4 inches from the bottom. Even large food pellets never touch the bottom. I combine that with a total of three filters cycling just over 1000gph. With these three filters I rarely see any debris floating in the tank.
Now this leads to other issues like proper ph levels and the fact that you are virtually eliminating bacteria growth in the substrate. Using a combination of natural rock with buffering capabilities and a host of chemicals and bacteria, along with the bio capabilities of the filters, I am able to keep the environment quit fish friendly. At least it seems that way. Everything I have tested for has consistently fallen within acceptable ranges. When I submitted a sample of the water to a local pet shop for testing, I was told that the water was some of the best he had seen for a cichlid tank (this was about 3 months ago when I was getting fed up with the brown spots).
Now I am sure that allot of you won't agree with this setup. Allot of you do this as a hobby. I have to say however, that I can't see how this setup is not working. My fish are healthy, the water looks great, the water seems to test fine, I have never had a loss or a disease, and I am always complimented on the overall appearance of my tank.
I would love to hear comments on this and if anyone has done something similar let me know about it. If any of you have ideas or know of other tests that can be done to prove that there are ill effects going on in this tank please let me know and I will buy the tests and check it out. My main goal here is to have a healthy tank with very little maintenance. Thoughts???
