Questions, questions, questions. Beginner at work...

[grey_fox]

Hi there,

I'm a newbie to this forum and also fish-keeping. Always wanted to keep fishes and to learn the art and maintainence of Aquascaping and finally got the chance to.

It's been almost a month since I setup my tank. It is 4.8ft x 1.5ft x 2ft, has 2 jebao canister filters (huge ones), used Sera flowerpot (correct me if I am wrong about the name - threw the empty canisters away) ferts, gravel + ferts make up about 2.5" at the front and slopes to about 5" at back. CO2 tank hooked up to some green thing with 3 bio balls.

The tank is planted with a variety of plants in proper places (plants still growing - as described by fellow AQ members about the protein layer + the evidence of new shoots) I have about 60 neon tetras, 5 yamatos, 2 Zebra Danio, 4 Fire Rings, 6 corydoras, 2 bumblebees, 5 fresh water prawns, 2 congo tertras, 2 dwarf rainbow fishes, 2 holland rams, 2 glass fish (mini ones) and some other fishes I can't really remember off-hand.

My question is that I want to roughly know the following.

1. When should I change water and how much should I change?
2. Is feeding the fishes twice too much or how often should I feed them?
3. Filter media should be washed or left as it is?
4. Where can I get that Python hose?
5. If I do a partial change of water, should I add liquid ferts?
6. Where can I get Dr. Mallick's formula from (any particular shop?)

Heh, thanks for entertaining me and my questions, I have other questions but can't remember off hand now. Will post them when I can remember.

Many thanks!!!

[benny]

Congratulations on your successful set up grey fox!

1. I would suggest that you change no more than 20 percent of water every fortnight, given your current bioload.

2. Twice a day is fine, it's the quantity of food that matters. They should finish it within 5 mins.

3. You filter media should be left as it is. For heavily plant tanks, you can clear it every six months on the average.

4. Python Hose can be purchased from Pet Mart at Serangoon if I recall correctly.

5. Don't add anything that you don't know.

6. If you are just starting out, I suggest you use commercial fertilizers like Ferka until you understand the basics. Then you can consider this PMDD solution.

Hope the above helps.

Cheers,

[StanChung]

hi grey fox,

its sera floredepot...and wow... that's a lot of questions. loaded ones...

in summary

1. a tank that size with med-low lighting needs a water change every time you see something not looking right. stunted growth, sick fishes...just my MO. you can opt for 30% every week. that's a pita for most people with more than one tank to maintain.

2. twice is fine. all they can eat in a minute or two.

3. rinsed not washed. you need to keep the filter bacteria to convert fish waste to no3

4. ...do you need it? it wastes quite a bit of water.

5. as per manufacturer's instruction. pick one or learn a method for dosing. EI-estimative index is popular. has it's merits as it's proven to not only work but work better in some cases. however not everybody likes/can do weekly wc esp for large tanks.

6. merchants section has the address if i'm not mistaken...

[BFG]

Let me assist with your fourth question.

You only need normal hose. Get the ones that can fit your tap fitting from your kitchen bathroom. Use it to fill your tank with water. To drain water from your tank, you need to fill the hose with water 1st just like adding water to the tank. When the entire hose is filled with water, switch off the tap and unplug the hose from the tap and drop in on the bathroom floor. The water exiting this end of the hose will form a suction and suck out the water from your tank. The other end of the hose which was used to temporarily filled the tank must be under water so that the suction action can be achieved. Simple to do.

Hope this helps!

[|squee|]

3. Filter media should be washed or left as it is?

Left as it is. Don't do cleaning of the biological filter more than twice a year. The mechanical media can be cleaned, but the "dirtier" the media is, the more polished your water will be.

4. Where can I get that Python hose?

I believe it's not available in Singapore.

5. If I do a partial change of water, should I add liquid ferts?

If you add ferts regularly, no need to replace since your routine takes care of that.

6. Where can I get Dr. Mallick's formula from (any particular shop?)

Nature Aquarium at Thomson Road, opposite Thomson Medical Centre (I only know this plce, there are others though).

To comment on the rest, imho, if you have the moolah(money) it's good to go into commercial fertilisation like Dennerle, ADA, Ferka. That way you can don't waste time on solving algae issues and whatnot and focus more on aquascaping itself.

[grey_fox]

Thank you guys for all your answers! Really appreciate it! More or less I now have a better idea of things (to come) but will use this same thread to post more newbie questions.

Come to think of it, I have one on my mind now.

My KH value is 5, is that high? Also what does it do, KH.

[StanChung]

that a good range...
exactly what it does i know little except that it's indicator for temporary hardness. bicarbonates and carbonates. 3-5 range is good so that the ph does not swing.
been getting funny answers...

[grey_fox]

Heh, my PH is at 6.5-6.8 now. So I guess everything a A-OK? I used the calculator here for the CO2, it shows 23.8 ~ 24 PPM, I know I asked this in a another thread but how does one count PPM?

[|squee|]

Read this.

[StanChung]

good article... adding co2 doesn't swing ph...myth...where did this myth come from? probably need to feature on 'mythbusters'...

[valice]

doesn't your two holland ram bother with your bubblebee, yamatoes and "fresh water" prawns?

maybe your tank is big enough for them to hide from your rams...

anyway, quite an envy that you started with such a big tank right from the start... could really do some very serious aquascaping...

[grey_fox]

doesn't ur two holland ram whack up ur bubblebee, yamatoes and "fresh water" prawns?

maybe ur tank is big enuff for them to hide from ur rams...

anyway, quite an envy that u started with such a big tank right from the start... could really do some very serious aquascaping...

Hi valice,

They don't (at the moment) but can see they are quite territorial.

Still learning the ropes at the moment. A long way to go

|squee| thanks for the article, very educational

[grey_fox]

Just did a partial water change (20%) and topped it up with tap water (no declorination done) and fishes are still ok. Just wondering, for the water skimmer, where can I buy that? Also can it be attached to the output of the canister filter (or supposed to be attached elsewhere?)

[ahkarboy]

do a 20% water change every week or every fortnight to avoid algae growth. if you want to feed the fishes twice a day its fine as long as they finish it.

[grey_fox]

#)#*$#! As you guys know I'm using 2 x canister filters, one of the canisters started spewing gunk.... its like those snow machines except it was some brownish dirt. I suspect it was from the output tube (the rubber one), took about 2 hours for the filters to suck everything back up, was really disheartened (as water was already clearing up) now the water is cloudy again (not cloudy like the bacteria boom period). Should I wash the damn tubes? And if I do so, I believe since this can happen, I believe it will happen again correct? Or is there a simpler way to prevent such a thing from happening?

I have a few questions that need some answers from all who's much more experienced that I am in this.

1. It's been about (give or take) 3 + weeks but the water quality is still not clear yet. What could be causing this? Bacteria boom (I thought) would last for a short period?

2. When I set my tank up, I did not use underwater gravel plates (could this be a factor of the dirty looking water?) does it really matter if I use it or not?

3. My plants are growing rather well (see the moss doing the 7up) and the vallis (correct me if i'm wrong about the spelling) plant shooting out quite a number of plantlets. However, those at the bottom (mainly the grass) are not growing as well as I hoped (and a small tiger lotus too). Could this be due to insufficient light source? (I have 4 x 36W 7000K FL tubes) but my tank's depth is 2ft. Should I invest in a different light source or strong tubes?

4. Since my plants (majority - except that I mentioned above) are growing well, can I do a re-scape as I am not really happy with the current layout. (I added too much plants)

Would appreciate all the advise you can give to this greenhorn here. Also I have added in a picture of my tank and layout. (My skill & creativity level is still below amateur for sure). You can roughly see the water quality there too (now after all the gunk came out, just imagine it, slightly cloudier...)

Please advise.

[benny]

Don't worry about the gunk from your external canister filter. We ALL have the same problem, be it from a S$30 or S$300 filter. You'll get used to it, OR you can put a fine mess net at the output when you turn on the filter after the water change.

As for your other questions...

01. It's one of those strange things. There's not fix period for the tank to turn clear, but when it does, it does.

02. Why do you need under water gravel plates for? I assue you are talking about underwater Gravel Filter plates. Not necessary at all.

03. Looks like the bottom plants are not doing well due to the inability for light to penetrate that deep. Could be due to the partially cloudy water too. If the situation does not improve, then you may need to think about improving penetration.

04. Your tank looks only 30% planted (in terms of floor space). I had my 80% planted. This is to prevent algae out break. When there is plenty of plants, algae usually don't stand a chance. But if you are talking about plant species, then I think you have about 15 to 18 species of plants inside. The layout could be better. It's not a problem re arranging them.

You are doing just fine with your tank. Relax and enjoy!

Cheers,

[valice]

You are doing just fine with your tank. Relax and enjoy!

I agree... Actually our planted hobby should be meant to help us relax... But sometimes we seemed to be caught up with the issues of fertilisation and lightings!

grey_fox, just plant more (quantity & not variety for now) and enjoy ur fruits (should I say 'plants'?) of labour...

[grey_fox]

Hi all,

Thanks for your feedback, I should put more plants or should I let them grow first? I feel that its a bit too crowded.

Can you recommed a foreground plant which can grow with the lightsource that I have? As my tank's depth is 2ft, I believe what you guys mentioned is correct - not having enough light. I don't think I would want to add more background plants at the moment. However, how can I further improve the penetration of the light? I already bought a skimmer but would need to do some customization to it or was thinking of getting guppies to remove the protein layer.

Actually I have about 16 species but some (as mentioned) the smaller/shorter ones are really struggling.... Should I upgrade the tubes? What would be sufficient? 55W or stronger?

Also if the plants have rooted themselves, would it be advisable to yank them out? Will this affect their growth if I should replant them? Also I am sure by uprooting them I will get the water stirred up again correct?

[|squee|]

It's always good practise to have more plants at the start. It helps in deterring algae, and you can fill out your aquascape much faster. Deterring algae is a very important thing in your aquarium, as once algae appears everything you have planned has to be put on hold.

I'm sorry, I forgot the wattage of your light source. Was it 15W? However, from the picture, it seems that you can at least try E.Tennellus or common mosses. Doubling the light will of course give you more range of plants.

I'll leave the penetration of light issue to the pros. For such a big tank, frankly I'd consider a MH (metal halide) lamp set. Penetration will be no issue, and you'll have lots of light. Downside is, they're damn hot and consume much electricity. But for a big tank, it's justifiable imho. I'd get a chiller to go with the light if I had your tank.

Why do you wanna yank them out? It's okay, but not too often I guess. Replanting/rescaping should be done as infrequently as possible as everytime you do such a mess up, the whole balance is thrown off and the possibility of algae always threatens. Yes you'll get the water dirtied especially when uprooting deep-rooted plants.

[grey_fox]

HI |squee|, I tried search for the E.Tennellus but unable to locate this plant at tropica.com, got any pictures of it? My FL tubes are currently 4 x 36W 7000K tubes. I don't think I would want to use MH as they consume too much electricity as I have my lights on for about 10 hours a day.

Would changing the tubes to 55W help out much more? So you too recommend that I add in more plants? I believe most of the plants have taken root and I am afraid of yanking them out to move them about.

If so I will buy more plants and start planting them. More quantity then species too would be your advise?