Zoobeat forumers pets!

  • Thread starter Thread starter Al
  • Start date Start date
I do water changes every few weeks but the fish tend to go down hill before then. The thing in the corner is a filter. I clean that when I do water changes. I try to keep 3-4 fish but buy 2 at a time and wait another week before purchasing the others. I never get four at once as the first ones usually die. In the future I would like to keep tropicals but I want to get this right before I move on.
 
ok, my advice:
tank maintenance
- weekly waterchanges of about 30% of the total volume.
- never change with ice cold water directly from the tap, always about the same temperature as the tank. if possible, put water in a clean bucket (one that has never seen soap or detergents) for a night to let chlorine and such evaporate.
- rince out the filter every 2 weeks under the tap. change the sponge inside every few months.
-mount the filter so that it gives some current movement on the surface. more movement means better oxygenation and better water quality.

the fish
- I wouldn't put in more than 2 goldfish. they're big polluters.
- feed them every 2-3 days and only a little. no more than can be eaten in a minutes time. it seems little, but goldfish are able to eat all the time and the more you give, the more they pollute.

This is not a shoe-in for success, but it's common sence advice that I give any aquarium beginner. I'd say good luck!
 
forumbully said:
ok, my advice:
tank maintenance
- weekly waterchanges of about 30% of the total volume.
- never change with ice cold water directly from the tap, always about the same temperature as the tank. if possible, put water in a clean bucket (one that has never seen soap or detergents) for a night to let chlorine and such evaporate.
- rince out the filter every 2 weeks under the tap. change the sponge inside every few months.
-mount the filter so that it gives some current movement on the surface. more movement means better oxygenation and better water quality.

the fish
- I wouldn't put in more than 2 goldfish. they're big polluters.
- feed them every 2-3 days and only a little. no more than can be eaten in a minutes time. it seems little, but goldfish are able to eat all the time and the more you give, the more they pollute.

This is not a shoe-in for success, but it's common sence advice that I give any aquarium beginner. I'd say good luck!
Click to expand...

great advice - but i would say clean the filter with the water you have taken out since tap water can damage the nitrate loving bacteria in the filter - e.g hampering the ability to remove the nitrates!
 
EvilKittie said:
great advice - but i would say clean the filter with the water you have taken out since tap water can damage the nitrate loving bacteria in the filter - e.g hampering the ability to remove the nitrates!
Click to expand...

that's a fact, but as the amount of useful bacteria in such a small filter are negligable, I don't see the harm in rincing in tap water.
In my opinion these things are great as mechanical filters but don't serve any biological purpose.

I use them regularly in temporary tanks, quarantaines, etc and have always rinced them under the running tap. never had any problem whatsoever.

But nonetheless, you do have a point and it couldn't harm to rince them in a bucket of tank water instead of under the tap. "better to be safe than sorry" so to say.

EDIT: @evilkitty: rereading, I just noticed this. there are no (or hardly any) NITRATE loving bacteria in a well working filter, only ammonia and NITRITE loving bacteria. Nitrate loving bacteria need an anaërobic environment to survive. this is almost impossible to create in a closed aquarium system. the "joubert" method, sometimes used in marine systems is based on it, but it's not always reliable.
 
A couple of tips I picked up which might help;

  • Don't clean the filter and do a water change at the same time, for whatever reason it seems to be more effective if they are done on separate days.

  • Add aquarium salt when doing a water change, the name is misleading as it's for freshwater tanks, just follow the instructions on the box.
 
mjmorg89 said:
A couple of tips I picked up which might help;

  • Don't clean the filter and do a water change at the same time, for whatever reason it seems to be more effective if they are done on separate days.
Click to expand...

the reason is that you have bacteria in both your filter AND the tank environment, including the water. simultaneous waterchange and filter cleaning, upsets the bacterial balance. but as I said, in small internal filters there is very little bacterial activity, so the risk of upsetting your biological filtration is very little.

in small tanks like this one, your aim shouldn't be a stable bacterial environment, because it's virtually impossible to reach. your aim should be to do regular changes and to keep the water from becoming murky. the changes keep your pollution level (ammonia, nitrite, nitrate) to a minimum and a small internal filter takes care of bigger pieces of dirt, residu, ...

mjmorg89 said:
  • Add aquarium salt when doing a water change, the name is misleading as it's for freshwater tanks, just follow the instructions on the box.
Click to expand...
Adding salt is a great way for acclimating new fish or when battling a disease. doing it on a regular basis is hardly necessary, and allthough it isn't proven, there are indications that it's harmful in the long run. If you want to add anything during waterchanges, add a water conditioner which binds chlorine particles etc, making tap water "safer" and healthier for your fish. Most brands have such a product, but I'm particularly fond of easylife.

Disclaimer :D : In cause people hadn't noticed, fish tanks are not just my job, they're my life and filtration is the blood running through my veins.
 
Okies but wouldn't some of the chlorinated water get put into the tank via the sponge - and it wouldn't really matter with the filter/tank size (thought it was bigger :O)

@forumbully myself reading and i do agree it is Nitrite loving bacteria in the filter and Nitrate in the stones and living in the sorta areas! and since Nitrite is deadlier to fish so wouldn't cleaning the filter as lil as often be better? since nitrate is only a major factor when in the 80 ppm+ area
 
you're right when your filter is based on biological filtration. this means a large, oxygenated area where the bacteria can thrive.

a filter as small as this one is simply based on mechanical filtration = catching dirt particles. it simply hasn't got enough space to sustain a useful colony of bacteria. Sure, there will be bacteria in the filter and sure, they will help clean the filter, but not enough. if you let the filter run without regular cleaning, the dirt will mount up, resulting in more and more nitrate and nitrite and very soon, those few bacteria won't be up to the task at hand.

as to potentiol chlorine from tap water in the sponge. even a small tank can cope with the little water that comes out of a rinced sponge. especially if it's squeezed to release as many tap water as possible.
 
Hi i have
1.0.0 cat
2.0.0 dogs
1.2.0 loes
1.1.0 striped grass mice
1.0.0 gambian pouched rat (female coming soon)
1.0.0 emins pouched rat (desperately seeking a female,if anyone can help please let me know,thanks)
achatina fulica
albino achatina reticulata
achatina achatina eggs (only a week or so to go!)
various feeders (not exactly pets though lol)
 
im no expert on keeping fish in fact i acturally picked up some handy tips here. But one thing that u could be overlooking i just looked at ur filter and it looks like the ones that, create a current in the tank. In my experience goldfish dont like fast moving water or if there is a current in the tank that is to strong they get stressed. when/if u get more make sure that ur fish are not stressed.
 
me said:
Hi i have
1.0.0 cat
2.0.0 dogs
1.2.0 loes
1.1.0 striped grass mice
1.0.0 gambian pouched rat (female coming soon)
1.0.0 emins pouched rat (desperately seeking a female,if anyone can help please let me know,thanks)
achatina fulica
albino achatina reticulata
achatina achatina eggs (only a week or so to go!)
various feeders (not exactly pets though lol)
Click to expand...
"1.2.0 loes" ?? What is this meant to say?
 
adding more the collection....
0.0.2 green tree frogs

(if anyone knows where i can get some mitchell's hopping mice in the shepparton, Vic area i would really appreciate it)
 
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