water changes...how often

sounds like a 29g? But you have to think of it as a 20g long. The footprint for the two tanks are the same. Same surface available for gas exchange. Same amount of territory. Even though fish live in a 3-d environemtnt, most stay within 12in or so of the bottom. About the only thing 29g tanks give you is 4-5 inches at the top of the tank that are almost impossible to fill with fish or plants. I have two, and in one I don't even bother to fill it up all the way.
 
As long as params are as close as possible then I can't see there ever being too many water changes. Freshwater is always a good thing and fish quickly get used to your cleaning of their tank. Most of my fish barely notice the gravel vacuum unless it sucks up a small snail or something.
 
I did a fish count as i had lost a few and now that the tank is less full of plants I found it easier to count. I confirm that I lost two swords and i still have two. The angel is an inch and a quarter. I now count three china barbs. I think they are china barbs. I got them as feeder fish the size of neons and the bloke thought they were a mix of china barbs and gold barbs. The chinas as I've named them are a drab silver with 3 thin dark vertical stripes. The Gold barbs are the same shape, a golden yellow with a tiny black spot just before their tails. The biggest has got extremely fat and taken on a rosy red hue to its fins and a lighter red over the gold body scales. I have four of these. The catfish was sold to me as a bronze catfish and has a triangular body shape[width ways]. do you think the barbs are I.D'd correctly?
Dunluce

P.S. I'm still getting some fish flicking themselves on ornaments. I have treated for fluke. Should i Just keep water changing or treat with something else. If it wasnt for the flicking they'd look healthy. I only ever found one that had any sign of fungus and he was dispatched. otherwise the others just turned up dead. Didnt look sick other than the occasional flicking on ornaments. i thought it was gilll fluke as some,especially the origonal cat{not the replacement] were gasping at the end. the cat had trouble swimming and swam as if blind. They died quite quickly once they looked sick.

The tank was heavily planted until i split the plants between two tanks.
No sign or white spot or fungus on anyone. Is there a general purpose cure to put in.
 
Do you have tests for ammonia, nitrite and nitrate? What are the readings? If you don't have them, you should pick them up asap, or go to a fish store with a water sample, most will test for free for you and get exact numbers from them. For now, I would just up your amount of water changes, it usually is a bad idea to treat for a disease unless it is clearly diagnosed as a certain disease. Adding uneccessary meds. can be just as bad as some ailments.
 
thanks again, that seems the best advice. I have to get to the pet store and get the nitrate test kit. I'll perservere with the water changes till then. Looking at the stocking levels of everyone else I seem very overstocked. I think i have " the tank looks bare" syndrome. I'll just have to routinely water change twice a week and see if that makes a difference. till i getthe kit anyway.
dunluce
 
Pick up some more plants, fake/real whatever you have and some more deco. that will help fill the tank up without overcrowding the fish more
 
got a nitrate kit. had to brush the dusk off so to speak. Got askeed what would i want this for no one ever uses them.hows that for a question. didnt have a nitrite kit. nitrates are 10 ppm. which is good. still have one platy that looks rook and 1 barb that is a little gaspy. all other seem fine.
 
Dunluce2 said:
got a nitrate kit. Got askeed what would i want this for no one ever uses them..
Click to expand...

From the LFS you mean?!?! Good indication to not follow any of their advice :rant: . Honestly, I almost never test my tanks. However, this is only b/c it is well established and I have figured out a water change routine that keeps my nitrates low, and ammonia and nitrite should always be 0 in an established tank. Unless I suspect a problem I generally don't test, for example I lost power for about 12 hours a couple of weeks ago and tested for a few days to make sure my bacteria hadn't suffered. It is really helpful and important to have your own kits though, and almost vital to set up a new tank...Good luck with the tank :thm:
 
I'm in Australia and honestly I have messed around with tropicals on and off for a number of years and had never heard mention of nitrites and nitrates. Heard a bit about ammonia especially in new tanks { silicone sealant releases ammonia and that build up of toxins due to urine etc}. Was never adviced on the whole cycling thing andf made alot of mistakes earlier on. The bigger tank is about six months plus and was stable for about three to four. I got problems when i added the white clouds and danios. i then started a new tank cycled and moved them across. i also added some new plants about the time of the danios wether they carried anything in or not i dont know.

The few pet stores in town really only seem to rely on frequent water changes and I have had friends with similar or more stock in their tanks and not had problems. i have had similar stock levels in the past and maintained them with little problems for a number of years.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
AquariaCentral.com
Top Bottom