I have some questions please

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imcrystal

Feeder Fish
MFK Member
Aug 18, 2008
323
1
0
Indianappyville, IN
Hello everyone!! Im pretty new here & not much newer to fish keeping. Ive always been intrigued with the hobby and finally got a tank of my own. And now Ive got questions :D..
First let me say I have a 55gal tank with-

1 glass knife
1 clown knife
1 pictus cat
1 spotted cat
1 pleco
2 goldfish @ a chinese algae eater

Theyre all babies, except the goldfish. The glass knife always stays in one corner for some reason and the catfish hide under this little mushroom thing I have & almost only come out when I have the light off. Is this normal?
Also, I just put a really fine white sand on the bottom & not sure if it may harm any kind of fish??
And one more question (for now) I know I have to water changes every month or so and I heard Im soposed to put carbon in my filter. Is this true? and why????
Any answers are very appriciated bc Im only 21 & live by myself. Nobody around to help me out but you guys..
 
this isn't an answer to the question, but the clown knife will get too big at some point.
Personally I don't use carbon on my HOB filters, and I would do water changes every week, considering the stocklist you have
 
yea i know, but i figured that would take a couple years. when he gets bigger will he get more aggressive toward the other fish or even try to eat them? even if hes lived with them for so long?
 
Carbon removes chemical impurities in the water but turns into biological filtration after it is used up. I used to use carbon in my filters but stopped because it was expensive. Just make sure that you clean the mechanical pre-filter pads about once a month and change the water once a week and you should be good. However, when you clean the filter, be careful not to thoroughly clean or let the bio media dry out (I did this once and it wasn't pretty). Sorry, I've never kept a glass knife, but I do know that the pictus cat is nocturnal and that getting a small school would help it feel more comfortable during daylight hours. Keep an eye on the algae eater becase, if it was like mine, it will harass and possibly kill all the others as it gets bigger. Finally, where did you get the sand?
 
Just re-read my post and the first line isn't totally clear. Carbon will only turn into biological filtration if you leave it in your filter long enough for bacteria to attach to the surface.
 
Your catfish will hide during the day, that is normal, what time do you usually feed them? If you feed them in the morning they may come out more during the day because they want to eat. As for the carbon, I don't change mine with every water change, but I do drain some of the tanks water(that I'm taking out anyway) into a bucket, where I will gently clean off some of the gunk. As QueueBa11 mentioned I try not to scrub them clean, because I don't want to harm the BB (beneficial bacteria). I use old water so that there is no chlorine to kill that same BB. I do like to change the carbon every 3-4 months or so. Also I would try to do water changes every 2-3 weeks. I do between 30-50%. These are techniques that I use, and by no means a rule, but welcome to the hobby you will find the technique that works best for you.
 
imcrystal;2206089; said:
geeez people thx.
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Don't worry if you don't always get a quick response, not everyone likes to answer some of the "noob" questions over and over, but there's a lot of people who don't mind, so hang in there. If you're concerned that no one noticed the thread (after 2 or 3 days) you can post a reply that says "bump" which means you're bumping it to the top of the threads so that it gets more exposure, but be careful not over use the "bump" or you'll have a whole thread of them... ;)
 
Thanks guys, I got the sand at the same pet store I get eveyrthing I need. It says "All around the world" on it. It was $45. for one bag! I left some gravel under the sand because I thought it would be too fine to put by itself..
 
Mystus Redtail;2206412; said:
Your catfish will hide during the day, that is normal, what time do you usually feed them? If you feed them in the morning they may come out more during the day because they want to eat. As for the carbon, I don't change mine with every water change, but I do drain some of the tanks water(that I'm taking out anyway) into a bucket, where I will gently clean off some of the gunk. As QueueBa11 mentioned I try not to scrub them clean, because I don't want to harm the BB (beneficial bacteria). I use old water so that there is no chlorine to kill that same BB. I do like to change the carbon every 3-4 months or so. Also I would try to do water changes every 2-3 weeks. I do between 30-50%. These are techniques that I use, and by no means a rule, but welcome to the hobby you will find the technique that works best for you.
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I usually always feed them before bed. Sometimes in the morning too. I put tropical flakes in there (goldfish gobble those up) & some sinking shrimp pellets, and then once a week I buy a dozen live shrimp for the knife fish. I bought the sinking pellets for the knife fish but I figured the catfish would eat them bc they STAY on the bottom.
 
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