Thanks tlindsey. I am enjoying the wealth of knowledge on this forum.
Hello from South Africa (Green terror gender I'd)
- Thread starter Deepsynthsec
- Start date
Thanks tlindsey. I am enjoying the wealth of knowledge on this forum.
It probably won't change maybe slightly but I suggest just take enough to test Ammonia, Nitrite, Nitrate, and PH. Your issue is the Nitrate so definitely have the lfs test Nitrate level.
I'm definitely going to sort this out. I need to take the plunge and buy a proper kit.
My wife has a small guppy/Molly tank that she wanted for breeding. I took some media from my tank to set it up.
The fish were dying big time. Before the guppy Tank she had a small planted tank which everything we bought died in there. Water checks at LFS were all fine.
We broke down the tank because obviously something was wrong.
But a few days ago I read about aquarium salt.
After putting some salt in it has seemed to stop everyone dying.
I'm contemplating putting some in with the GT. But I a bit scared to do it.
Tbh it's not necessary just change out more water weekly for lowering Nitrate.
On a 200l tank I'm doing at max in summer 50% and probably around 30% now in water as the water is extremely cold and warming it before going etc etc etc
I have read that people do a 10 to 20% change a week and for some reason I always did 30-50%
I am running a canister filter. It's a dophin c1000.
I think my main issue is this guy lives dirty.
Alot of crap in the sand and it's tough to get alot of it out when doing a water change with a gravel vac.
I did buy an automated gravel cleaner but it's not that great to be honest.
Can I change more then 50% a week safely. And is it worth it.
In the wild, fish get 100% water change every few seconds. I do 80% or so every other day. So yes you can up the amount of water you change. Just make sure you temp match and declorinate if using city water that is treated. Most of us with bigger fish do what's called "Fin level" water changes. That's where you drain the tank to the top of the fishes dorsal fin.
As seen here, I am draining down
As seen here, I am draining down
You guys have got me reading about sumps now.
So basically 70% of what they tell you at LFS is nonsense.
I was under the impression that lots of water changes will kill your fish. But I guess if you have a cycled tank. Meaning a cycled filter then you can do it.
I have a 200l plastic tank outside which I'm not using maybe I can build something with that.
Am I understanding correctly that the point of having a sump and why it is good. Is that you have "more water" in your tank.
Not only more water, but more room for both mechanical and bio filtration. Also sumps make it much easier to actually get at the filtration elements, what leads to us cleaning them more frequently. There are many other benefits of a sump. Such as, if your fish destroy plants, you can fill the sump with plants to help with the bio side of filtration and said jerk fish can't shred your plants. Also you can have a safe spot for sick or injured fish to heal in peace.
A little more complicated to setup but in the long run way more beneficial.
