New Tank 75 gallon!

[Gruntking]

Pacus and goldfish?

I won't go any further

They were in the old owners fish tank for over 4 months and they get along just fine.


Thanks for the link to that AqAdvisor website, it has amazing information!

One of my filters seems to be throwing out gunk instead of throwing out clean water... One of my friends told me this was normal since i just set up the tank and that it should be gone in a couple of days. The filter looks pretty clean... What could it be?

 

[Kyle_91]

if the filter looks clean but its still kinda cloudy, its still in the process of "breaking-in" everything in your tank since its new.

 

[Freezekougra]

You're going to have to get rid of the pacus...they will outgrow your tank.


And with regards to your filter, is it actually spewing out stuff, or is it just not clearing up the water? The most important part is bio filtration...converting ammonia to nitrite and then to nitrate, that keeps your fish alive. For clear water you want mechanical filtration to remove particles in the water...and/or just do large weekly water changes(50%? ), with dechlorinator

 

[Gruntking]

So i just did my first water change after putting the Pacu and goldfish in a friends pond, hopefully they will have a better home there and will be able to grow to their full length.

I used the vacuum on the gravel and was surprised by how much shi1t was under there! I basically did around a 40 pct water change just cleaning the bottom and there was still some left. I readded the new water and treated it before adding. I am using water conditioner, bacteria, and something called neutral regulator.

I was reading on some sites it says when your tank is new or you set it up again that you should change your water about 2 times a week doing a 10-15% change, what do you guys think about this? My water hasnt completely cleared up but its alot better now that the pacu arent swimming from one side to the other picking up all the feces.

 

[Crazed Demasoni]

Buy a test kit (not strips, buy the one with the test tubes and liquids), learn to use it, and you'll have a much easier/more successful time (and more fun/less costly etc).

Making sure ammonia is at 0ppm is highly important, bacteria do the following:
Ammonia (from fish crap)
broken down to Nitrites
broken down to Nitrates

Nitrates must come out via water changes (in an unplanted setup).

 

[kdrun76]

Throw the "neutral regulator" out.

You need a dechlorinator, and lots of fresh water. That is all. No need to add anything else. Very few of the "bacteria supplements" in a bottle contain anything you care about. Most are just snake oil.

50% water change once a week on a properly stocked and healthy tank. Newly set up tanks and sick tanks need a lot more than that changed.

Get a test kit, you need to be able to test ammonia, nitrite and nitrate. You need a test kit that uses liquid reagents and test tubes. Do NOT buy dip sticks, they are so inaccurate the box they come in is a better gauge.