Lots of debris (poo etc) at bottom of tank daily.

[ChrisNai]

Hi all,

i have a 30L tank (bare bottom <my preference to have bare bottom> with some live plants and deco) with the following :

• 5 female bettas
• 2 corydora catfish
• 1 amano shrimp
• 1 apple snail

I notice that daily, alot of debris like poo and others would accumulate at the bottom as shown in the picture i have attached. Because of this, i have to siphon or use a net to clear all of it up, which would result in it floating all over the tank. Can anyone please explain to me, if its dirty cause of the decorations and or what i should be doing?. I really love keeping fishes and don't mind learning. Feel free to ask for more pictures if you guys need it.

Thank you.

[tetrakid]

Hi Chris,
I also like this style of bare bottom for my fish tanks as I find it easy to maintain without a substrate.
What I do is make a small syphoning tube. If you use a normal syphon, you will disturb the debris a lot.

Buy a piece of hard tubing ($1) and attach a soft air hose to it. Cut the hard tubing's length to be 2" more than the tank depth.
Use this to do your daily syphoning. Because the tube is so small, it will not disturb the debris much and syphoning will be more precise and also enjoyable.

Feed your fish only twice a day with limited food so that they will not poop too much.

[ChrisNai]

Thanks,

are you able to give me links for both of the items though? I tried googling but its gave me different ideas for making other siphons. Or actually i can use my short hose pump ( something similar to Nisso Short Hose Pump. but the tubing isn't hard and its difficult to control .

[tetrakid]

Thanks,

are you able to give me links for both of the items though? I tried googling but its gave me different ideas for making other siphons. Or actually i can use my short hose pump ( something similar to Nisso Short Hose Pump. but the tubing isn't hard and its difficult to control .

Hi Chris, you won't find it online because it is my own custom syphoning tube.

This is how you make it...

First buy a piece of hard transparent plastic tubing from a lfs such as Y618, C325, C328, etc. It is 1M long and costs $1. Also buy 1M of normal air tube, same as the type used for sir pump. Then cut the hard tube to about 15" and join it to the air tube. That is all you need to do to make the syphoning tube.

To use it, there's no need to suck the water up. You just immerse the hard tube in the tank and then quickly lift it up for the water to start flowing down the tube into a bottle held in the other hand. Once you make it, you will never again live without it. It is so useful that none if any will try to make it as it is very lehcheh.

[ChrisNai]

Thank you. But regarding those debris, which actually leads to it? Since its not all poo. I dont understand where the rest came from

[tetrakid]

I'm

Thank you. But regarding those debris, which actually leads to it? Since its not all poo. I dont understand where the rest came from

The debris comes from the dirt, rotten and rotting fish poo. It happens to all aquariums, but you can see it clearly because your tank is bare bottom without substrate. When the fish poo is fully decomposed, it to turns into material which bacteria can cling to. But too much is not nice to look at, so it is okay to remove it with a small and handy syphon like the one I taught you to make.

If you use your own normal syphoning hose, it will cause havoc in the tank by disturbing and spreading the muck all over the tank. Hope you have made it because you won't find it in the shops. Once you have made it, you will not be able to live without it as long as you keep fish. It is such a useful piece of gear to have. It may be leh-chey to make, but worth it.

PS. If you are the type who likes to overfeed your pet fish until they are fat, using the small syphoning tube every day to suck up the debris will be an excellent way to maintain the water in good condition for longer periods.

[ChrisNai]

I also removed one of my deco yesterday. It was a bridge deco, i realised that it was peeling off, becoming white all over. I had brought it from a fish shop in Bedok North, where i stay. It could have contributed to it too. Now my tank is kinda empty expect for two small live plants and 2 cholla wood pieces :/

[tetrakid]

The small syphon I talked about earlier is not suitable for sucking solids like paint peels etc. It is only suitable for sucking soft stuff like fish poo and soft detritus debris. For sucking out paint peels, you will need a bigger and stronger hose.

[BFG]

If its possible , you might need a spare canister filter to do vacuuming duties . The Classic series from Eheim is ideal as it has a separate point of entry for the inlet and outlet . Just fill the canister filter with cheap filter wool and add the Installation set at the inlet part of the hose for easy canister filter priming , place the outlet hose back into the tank and you're good to go !

I would recommend getting either the 2213 or 2215 . Why , because the 2213 impeller can be interchangeable with the 2211 impeller so if you need a slower flow rate , just change the impeller only . The same goes for the 2215 . If you need a higher flow rate , just change the 2215 impeller to the 2217 impeller .

You can go the diy route also , plans are available on youtube for diy canister filter . But sometimes , you might made a mistake and your end product doesn't come out as well as you thought it would be and it may leak or something else . Totally up to you which way to go .

[ChrisNai]

Thanks guys, after deciding really hard, i actually upgraded my tank to like this http://imgur.com/a/uFx7P

[tetrakid]

Thanks guys, after deciding really hard, i actually upgraded my tank to like this http://imgur.com/a/uFx7P

Hi Chris, may I know where you bought the two big plants from? I would like to get it too.

[ChrisNai]

https://www.google.com.sg/maps/place...zpA5EQ_BIIfzAP

i got it from this shop at bedok north, its just 5 mins walking distance from my house. I got my fishes from there too, its quite cheap