What do you do when you "tend" to your tank(s)

[NJ Devils Fan]

What do you usually do when you take care of your tanks?

I usually vacuum the gravel until about 30% or so of the water is out of the tank, then refill it, and add Stress coat and aquarium salt. Then, I take out the filter media and rinse it off if there is a need to and clean out the intake tube. Also, I wipe the inside of the tank with a sponge. I always do this on Saturdays. I haven't actually had to do anything with my other tank sinse cycling and everything is fine in it.

 

[online2]

Every other week I vaccum and do a 20-40% water change depending on my mood. Wipe inside of the glass and any plastic plants that need it & refill and add AmQuel. Clean the filter housing once a month. Change filter fiber every weekend. Lightly rise sponges every 2 weeks & check nitrates before each water change. Do a fish count every morning during feeding.

 

[RTR]

Daily look over tanks for anything out of the ordinary - behavior, color, activity, tank temperature, filters running, lights working. Top up any low tanks.

Weekly partial 15-50% of the water, vacumming gravel in FO, only debris in planted tanks. Clean glasses if needed. Rinse all mechanical filtrers. Supplement for planted tanks as/if needed, check nitrates, GH/KH. Clean cover glasses on tanks with such. Makeup water is aged, confirm no chlorine/chloramine prior to use. Refill reservoirs after use for next time.

Monthly check nitrate, GH/KH in FO. Any pruning or planting required in planted.

Six - 12 months rinse biofilters. Evaluate tanks - keep, dispose, rework decisions.

 

[Cichlid Woman]

Every two weeks:

1. Haul four 3.5-gallon buckets, pitcher, and gravel vacuum up from basement.

2. Fill two of the buckets with tapwater and treat with StressCoat.

3. Syphon out about 20% of tank water. Clean inside of glass with algae sponge.

4. Refill tank (one pitcher at a time) with two buckets of tapwater.

5. Remove unplugged AquaClear 200 and clean all parts in dirty tank water.

6. Replace filter and plug in.

7. Use old tank water to water houseplants.

8. Clean outside of tank glass with ammonia/water mix and paper towels.

python...python...python...python--it's on my wish list.

Oh, and dose with Fluorish once a week.

-- Pat

 

[FishmasteR2002]

I have reminders built into my PDA that tell me when to do things because I usually forget. I usually do a daily check of all my tanks because my cichlids like to dig up small plants in my planted tanks. Every Saturday I test the water for Oxygen, Ammonia, Nitrite and Nitrate, pH and GH/KH. I also check my CO2 level on the chart I have. I top off any low tanks daily. I don't usually do a fish count but I will from now on. I keep a log of everything I do to the tanks in a notebook so if something goes wrong I can check back and see how my water chemistry has changed over time. I clean the gravel every Saturday, changing 20% to 50% of the water depending on how dirty the gravel is. I also make a new mix for my DIY CO2 injection system every 2 weeks.

 

[Hammerman]

Here goes it's very simlar to RTR,

Daily look over the tanks for anything out of the ordinary - behavior, color, activity, tank temperature, filters running, lights working. Top up any low tanks

1.) Every Saturday water change of 25-50%. With each water change I do a deep gravel vacumming, clean the glass if needed, add Prime during the refill process.

2.) Every other Saturday I rinse the mechanical media in each filter, add replace as needed. Check the biofilters attend to as needed.

3.) Monthly: check for nitrates, evaluate my set-ups, layouts, etc. adjust for growing fish, move to the bigger tank as need.

4.) Monthly: sit down at try to figure out how I can squeeze out the funds for another tank....yada,yada,yada...

 

[mhmh]

My 90 gallon tank has a UGF and an external canister. Every two weeks I use a Python to deep clean the gravel and change out 30 gallons of water. I add something (I can't remember the brand right now) as it's refilling to remove chlorine. I clean the glass where necessary. About a half-hour after refilling I check pH, nitrites and nitrates. Every second change (once a month), I take out the rocks and plastic plants and soak them in a weak bleach solution to remove algae. I'm rethinking the algae removal, though. Occasionally, when I think of it, I check the parameters between water changes. I usually have to add one gallon of water shortly before water change time to top off, otherwise the return from the canister starts getting louder than I like. I feed them at night after work, so that's when I inspect for anything unusual.

 

[RTR]

I did forget to specify that vacuuming is by Python. Refills from reservoirs is by other pumps, but reservoirs are refilled by Python.

 

[Stephen]

Once oa week, sometimes once every 2 weeks I...

Change 25% of the water in all my tanks

Check the filters. (they usuaully get cleaned once per month)

Clean the glass inside and out.

Clean the covers if needed.