New to the fish scene..and have tank questions...

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skovach

Feeder Fish
Sep 1, 2010
4
0
0
SoCal
Hello all I am new to the fish scene and new to this site. My girlfriend came into our relationship with a awesome tank. We have a 150 gallon tank with 2 4 year old Pacus and 2 1-2 year old plecostomus'...we can never keep this tank perfectly clear or close to it...we feed the pacus hot dogs and strawberries and the plecostomus eat algae tablets...I try to change the water out 20% every week. I have not tried any tests or balances on anything. We do change the filters frequent we have two filter systems for this tank, but only the 45 dollar ones from wal-mart...not sure if this can be this issue or not.

And my second question is...we know how big this rascals get and they are close to a 14-16 inches now but ummmm when do they start breakin glass? lol My two guys chase each other like dogs and forget where the glass ends and sure nuff one of them always knocks into the side wall...hard...

So my two concerns are clear tank and when do they normally start breaking glass tanks and/or when should we start looking for a 500 gallon, and would that be big enough for two 3 foot tykes?


Thanks to those that read this and willing to help!!! Greatly appreciated...and please easy on the noob! lol cheers
Steve
 
i think you should start doing bigger water changes and get better filters then you water may clear up also not sure about the hot dogs and strawberries they may be contributing to the cloudiness too
 
Thank you I will try those steps and see what happens I kinda knew the filter systems are a tad inadequate...
 
Yeah, you need more filtration for starters. Also you can then modify the way the filter doles filter the water for clearer water. You should be routinely testing the water to make sure the parameters are not all out of whack. With fish that large I would dry to do that percentage water change 2x weekly, or a bigger one for once a week. I would definitely lay off the hot dogs and strawberrys and switch to a nutritious pellet for these guys, the mess will be much much less.
 
feed them anything but people food. try different pellets and plants, but make sure you are getting stuff without pestacides, also a lot of different fresh fish from the market would be worth a shot. get the right bio filter setup, and you will never have cloudy water. live plants like java moss also make the water clearer (maybe im imagining it)
 
Thank you guys very much...this help is tremendous...I am currently draining the tank half way, I am also going to go get some pellets for them. I will also look into a better filtration system. Any ideas for a moderate system that will do two things...be great for the fish and be good on the pocket book at the same time?
 
skovach;4434534; said:
Thank you guys very much...this help is tremendous...I am currently draining the tank half way, I am also going to go get some pellets for them. I will also look into a better filtration system. Any ideas for a moderate system that will do two things...be great for the fish and be good on the pocket book at the same time?
Click to expand...


keep the current filters and ad a Rena XP-2, cheaper than some other canisters, but work like a champ.
 
over filter....over filter...maybe two water changes a week although its already been said.
in order to stop the glass from breaking you will want to have heaters that are incased and not exposed and dont have any large rocks close to the glass...thats what i would do
and a 500 -600 gallon would be ok but you know you want a bigger one...i mean i always do...hahahaha
have good day
 
I can see my gf rollin her eyes on that comment cause she knows I want bigger...lol but first things first...I need to clear the cloudiness on this one.

So far I did a 50% water change and I am headin to the store for some new food and price a canister tank...the Rena XP-2...thanks again for the advice I will be on here more often you folks are extremely helpful and don't make us noobs look like asses when we mess something up...lol
 
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