Another important problem with a newbie like me that is causing some discomfort is the waste of the fishes. If they are feed regularly they always discharge their wastes in the tank and it will accumulate at the bottom. Is there a way to deal with this problem aside from keeping on changing the water?
waste problem
- Thread starter roger1
- Start date
yes... but it is not simple.
you must have a fully planted tank.
by fully i mean substrate, a full ground cover, hardy rooted plants, column feeders, and algae eaters. fully includes everything from the original eco-system. i never vacuum my tank because i cant. but it doesnt hurt my fishes because there is so much nutrients being absorbed that they have very liuttle time to break down and stress my fishes.
you must have a fully planted tank.
by fully i mean substrate, a full ground cover, hardy rooted plants, column feeders, and algae eaters. fully includes everything from the original eco-system. i never vacuum my tank because i cant. but it doesnt hurt my fishes because there is so much nutrients being absorbed that they have very liuttle time to break down and stress my fishes.
Kcooly, that won't work very well in salt water 
. Imho, the best way to go is with either a sand bed or a deep sand bed the little infaunal critters and the bacteria will deal with the detritus very well. I'd also have at least 1 lb of lice rock per gallon of tank water to keep it filtered well. You could add some macro algae if you have the right lighting to assist with nutrient export but, you should be ok if you have enough l.r. the sand bed and will do an occasional water change.
Fwiw, with that sort of set up the only time I've ever done much more than a 10% water change was when my nitrates got over about 5 ppm or if there was some other issue.
hth
max
. Imho, the best way to go is with either a sand bed or a deep sand bed the little infaunal critters and the bacteria will deal with the detritus very well. I'd also have at least 1 lb of lice rock per gallon of tank water to keep it filtered well. You could add some macro algae if you have the right lighting to assist with nutrient export but, you should be ok if you have enough l.r. the sand bed and will do an occasional water change. Fwiw, with that sort of set up the only time I've ever done much more than a 10% water change was when my nitrates got over about 5 ppm or if there was some other issue.
hth
max
I find this hard to understand, go with a sand bed? shallow sand bed need to be vaccumed every week otherwise detritus builds up.maxilaria said:Kcooly, that won't work very well in salt water
DSB will harbour more microfauna which eat the detritus not the bacteria. The bacteria in a DSB feed on nitrates which is caused by detritus.
How often do you feed the tank, if it is once a day and small quantities you should be fine. I feed my tank once a week. Another important factor is circulation, with low amount of circulation you get dead spots which will accumilate detritus, and that can cause nitrates.
there are so many ways to deal with waste products of fish, entire books are used to explain certain ways in stopping nitrate etc. it is something that cannot be covered on a forum in great depth. IMO read a few books if you are concerned with those issues, that information will help you far more.