Worried about bichir aggression

[mirs]

These guys love wc's

Holy cow your guys are beautiful! Alright, I'm heeding your every word J jaws7777 you've clearly been doing something right with your guys haha. Would 5g 3x a week (for the 20g tank) be a better routine? Oh, and what is "fin level"? You mentioned it in your other reply.

 

[mirs]

It would be more efficient to do larger water changes once or twice a week vs a couple of gallons a day. Depending on bio load i'd advocate for fin level. Polys and most fish being stressed during wc's are a myth. Take notice of how they love to swim in the fresh water coming from your tap.

Nitrates creep up all week long amd taking a few gallons out a day does not account for this. Think of it as slightly diluting dirty water then the next day removing a little of that clean water along with some dirty water.

You were so right, just checked the parameters. Everything good, 0 ppm ammonia... except my nitrates were elevated (20ppm)!

 

[thefredpit]

Holy cow your guys are beautiful! Alright, I'm heeding your every word J jaws7777 you've clearly been doing something right with your guys haha. Would 5g 3x a week (for the 20g tank) be a better routine? Oh, and what is "fin level"? You mentioned it in your other reply.

You were so right, just checked the parameters. Everything good, 0 ppm ammonia... except my nitrates were elevated (20ppm)!

20ppm isn't bad and fin level means water down to the top of their fins when sitting on ground

 

[jaws7777]

You were so right, just checked the parameters. Everything good, 0 ppm ammonia... except my nitrates were elevated (20ppm)!

20ppm is ok but imo on a 20 gal it would take a few extra minutes to do 75% to fin level water changes (couple of inches above your largest fish). Once or twice a week.

We are removing allot more than nitrate with wc's. For the most part nitrate is the parameter thats easiest to judge by.so when its high all the other bad stuff must be high too. Plus as water ages it loses mineral content

Id say once a week should be fine twice would be great as well if u dint mind. Every few weeks test your water right after a wc (next day) then test again the day of your next wc. If parameters are good then your changing enough water if your not happy with the test results then adjust your regimen.

I think you'll be fine for a long time with 75% to fin level (an inch or so above the polys)

Feedings are important too. Dont over feed. Unless your trying to put on size fast theres no need to feed everyday. A fasting day once or twice a week wouldnt hurt either depending on how big your guys are. If they are babies i still would let them go atleast ine day a week with no food.


Btw. Thanks for the compliments. I dont do anything special besides sticking to habits ive learned from other members

 

[jaws7777]

Best advice i could give you is read other threads some of them are quite long. Learn from mistakes other members have made (such as myself lol)

Also read up in other section such as general aquaria and filtration and set up

 

[magpie]

I agree with Jaws. You could try just starting with a 50-75% water change if you don't want to jump to fin level right away, and monitor your numbers.

I am more conservative on stocking than some. For me, if a 50-75% WC once per week doesn't keep nitrates down (with no nitrates out of the tap) that's more than I want to deal with and it would quickly become toxic for the fish if life got in the way (as it does!) and you skipped a week.

I know you're moving/upgrading in a few months, and I also know you're trying to keep the water extra clean to help with healing.... Upgrading to the 75 will likely help in regards to aggression and the stocking.

What else do you have in the tank? Is it just the 3 polys? I wouldnt' think they would create that much in nitrates if you're doing daily water changes. Be sure you're not overfeeding.

 

[mirs]

J jaws7777 twice a week at 75% is definitely doable for me- beats my roommates making fun of me for lugging around buckets every day I have sort of been trying to grow them quickly so I can take my big guy out of quarantine and put him in with them. I'm way ahead of you on the threads, I'm basically a double major in aquarium forum studies now.

 

[mirs]

I agree with Jaws. You could try just starting with a 50-75% water change if you don't want to jump to fin level right away, and monitor your numbers.

I am more conservative on stocking than some. For me, if a 50-75% WC once per week doesn't keep nitrates down (with no nitrates out of the tap) that's more than I want to deal with and it would quickly become toxic for the fish if life got in the way (as it does!) and you skipped a week.

I know you're moving/upgrading in a few months, and I also know you're trying to keep the water extra clean to help with healing.... Upgrading to the 75 will likely help in regards to aggression and the stocking.

What else do you have in the tank? Is it just the 3 polys? I wouldnt' think they would create that much in nitrates if you're doing daily water changes. Be sure you're not overfeeding.

Oh no, I think you misunderstood. I do a 3g change every day at least, but I was diluting my new water slightly by dividing that into 1g changes 3x a day for about a week. I just have 2 juvenile polys in one 20g and the big guy in his own 20g. Although I'm pretty sure I have freshwater hydra so I was considering asking my LFS if I could buy a couple gourami and give them back later lol (I heard gourami have an appetite for hydra). Is it worth adding to my bioload to eliminate the hydra?

 

[jaws7777]

Miranda if you can pick up a garden hose and drain into the toilet that would make life much easier. Also to refill pick up a universal adapter so you can connect the garden hose to the sink.

 

[magpie]

Sorry but I know nothing about hydra! Maybe someone else does?

I can’t inagine life without a python for water changes!