Cleanest fish?
- Thread starter nighthawk2207
- Start date
I deffinately agree with upgradeing the filtration even if you get away from the O's and the pleco. both are notoriously dirty fish. the JD shouldn't be as bad. but also imo a potentially dirty fish. personally i think your fish are underfed. if their stomachs are concave, look from the base of the tail to under the pectoral fins. Then they are indeed. they should have an overall even contour. nothing can replace WC's they are a neccisary evil. but upgradeing your filters, lowering your bio-load can decrease the amount needed, or adding a planted refugum system. also if your not enjoying the gallons per wc. spread it out. do 25% 2x a week instead of 50% ect.. or the 1 cup a day. it is better then nothing though personally I still have found a major WC is needed when doing anythign less then 10% = 50% a week.
if money is an issue, I'de get another similar filter to what you have and run them both. it will increase your electric costs and filter costs abit. but it is a "quick fix" that is doable. personally I also prefer running 2 filter opposed to simply 1 on a tank and I clean them alternately. every 2 weeks I clean them back and forth so they get clean/changed 1x a month per filter. It allows for a stead BB count to be maintained with little worry or fuss. particularly and on heavier loaded tanks where a crash of bacteria would wipe out my tank in short order due to nitrate/ammonia output.
I too have a planted tank.. and adding plants to a system is a good way to control nitrates but to grow properly they need quality lighting, even if its low light plants, and other nutrients that either need to be dosed, or come with those weekly water changes. I use java moss to help nitrate control and keep baby fish safe in my smaller tanks. they are alot easier then my "planted" tank but they still require some work. to me this way would only be adding more work. for minimal gain. If you want to go the plant route because you think their cool I'de deffinately agree it can help your tank. But if you want to do it "just" to make less water changes on your tank.. imo your asking for more trouble. not to mention if you don't maintain those plants they will decay and make a bigger mess then your already trying to control.
if money is an issue, I'de get another similar filter to what you have and run them both. it will increase your electric costs and filter costs abit. but it is a "quick fix" that is doable. personally I also prefer running 2 filter opposed to simply 1 on a tank and I clean them alternately. every 2 weeks I clean them back and forth so they get clean/changed 1x a month per filter. It allows for a stead BB count to be maintained with little worry or fuss. particularly and on heavier loaded tanks where a crash of bacteria would wipe out my tank in short order due to nitrate/ammonia output.
I too have a planted tank.. and adding plants to a system is a good way to control nitrates but to grow properly they need quality lighting, even if its low light plants, and other nutrients that either need to be dosed, or come with those weekly water changes. I use java moss to help nitrate control and keep baby fish safe in my smaller tanks. they are alot easier then my "planted" tank but they still require some work. to me this way would only be adding more work. for minimal gain. If you want to go the plant route because you think their cool I'de deffinately agree it can help your tank. But if you want to do it "just" to make less water changes on your tank.. imo your asking for more trouble. not to mention if you don't maintain those plants they will decay and make a bigger mess then your already trying to control.
No intention to hijack 
Pmed someone on youtube a few days ago, and he sort of mentioned something about not needing to do water changes if you have fish with a very low bioload(no monster fish)
If you look at this, would it be possible for the nitrate to turn into a gas and remove itself from the aquarium? The guy claimed that he did 5 gallons of w/c per YEAR on his 29g reef, and he seemed to know what he was saying(I'm too much of a noob to understand half the stuff). I was thinking about minerals, so I asked him what would happen to the calcium that snails needed and he said he just adds the calcium himself. Maybe you would be able to do less(maybe not as little as 5g per year...) water changes if you somehow made the nitrate into a gas with non-monster fish?
Pmed someone on youtube a few days ago, and he sort of mentioned something about not needing to do water changes if you have fish with a very low bioload(no monster fish)
If you look at this, would it be possible for the nitrate to turn into a gas and remove itself from the aquarium? The guy claimed that he did 5 gallons of w/c per YEAR on his 29g reef, and he seemed to know what he was saying(I'm too much of a noob to understand half the stuff
). I was thinking about minerals, so I asked him what would happen to the calcium that snails needed and he said he just adds the calcium himself. Maybe you would be able to do less(maybe not as little as 5g per year...) water changes if you somehow made the nitrate into a gas with non-monster fish?
Freezekougra, this question has been discussed in a thread in Setup and Filtration forum a few days ago. The answer is yes however you do not expect anaerobes to develop dangerously in your FW tank while you have fish there. Why? The anaerobes form hydrogen sulfide, an extremely dangerous acid which when disturbed, can cause respiratory problems to the owner and the fish. The anaerobes are incorporated best in reef systems hence you will notice most SW tanks have very thick sand beds. The FW on the other hand, uses denitrators which for this reason, the nitrate is reduced by the anaerobes by turning it into nitrogen gas which is released into the atmosphere.Freezekougra;3226343; said:If you look at this, would it be possible for the nitrate to turn into a gas and remove itself from the aquarium? The guy claimed that he did 5 gallons of w/c per YEAR on his 29g reef, and he seemed to know what he was saying(I'm too much of a noob to understand half the stuff
See compilation of discussions here.
http://www.monsterfishkeepers.com/forums/showthread.php?t=250173
The absolute simplest way to remove nitrates is an algae scrubber. All you have to do is clean algae off a small screen every week.Lupin;3226364; said:
even if your tank is clean you still have to change it anyways and i you cant do that then dont keep fish. '']
If you want some cool fish that might not require as much work changing water look at Paradise Fish. Their natural environment is kind of harsh and not fit for most fish. They live in dirty shallow rice patties with little oxygen and will happily tolerate your desired level of maintenence. You will still need to make water changes but not so frequently. Paradise Fish also do not require a heater in most cases.
Naldo
Naldo
