Fostering Fish Mother turned into fish fanatic!

[stormhawk]

Turpentine, the activated carbon or AC, should not be rinsed repeatedly. They are meant to be replaced periodically within 2-4 weeks of use, never more than 1 month as their ability to adsorb chemical pollutants in the water starts to reach the maximum point. They can be recharged but the methods involved cause too much hassle to be economical in the long term. If you want a filter material that has the same capability as AC, try using Seachem's Purigen. It does the same job and can be recharged with the use of a 1:1 mix of water and bleach.

http://www.seachem.com/Products/prod...s/Purigen.html

The only thing is, you have to place this product in a fine meshed filter bag before placing it in your filter. I find that the best part about this product is that the color changes as it adsorbs more and more chemical pollutants.

[mincedmeat]

I have got to agree that Purigen is a good product.

I would actually not recommend you to do a recharge of the Seachem Purigen with bleach as I would rather have you throw in a new batch of purigen every 6 months. My point being is that you would have to be real careful to remove all bleach components from purigen before adding it back into the filter, and one mistake would result in loss of everything in the tank. That said, some do it as it saves them quite a bit due to the amount of purigen they add into the filter.

[tetrakid]

Good rinsing and then soaking (eg overnight) of bleach-recharged Purigen is a sensible cost-saving idea worth carrying out. But novices must avoid doing it all cost.

Generally speaking, novices must never do what an experienced veteran does, simply because a novice will not have that added store of knowledge so necessary for doing things the right way. In other words, the same sound idea will produce entirely different results (usually disastrous) in the hands of a novice.

[felix_fx2]

Good rinsing and then soaking (eg overnight) of bleach-recharged Purigen is a sensible cost-saving idea worth carrying out. But novices must avoid doing it all cost.

Generally speaking, novices must never do what an experienced veteran does, simply because a novice will not have that added store of knowledge so necessary for doing things the right way. In other words, the same sound idea will produce entirely different results (usually disastrous) in the hands of a novice.

speaking of what I seen. Purigen is good stuff. Even when I've never used it before. The online reviews normally is singing praises to it.

I really do strongly agree to what you mention. Experience also comes with many heartaches
New hobbyist best follow rough guidelines and accumulate experience.

[tetrakid]

Fish-keeping is more difficult than people think, lol. It is a very challenging hobby. We have to take our hats off to those who have made it and managed to keep fish for a long time.

I really do strongly agree to what you mention. Experience also comes with many heartaches
New hobbyist best follow rough guidelines and accumulate experience.

[Turpentine]

Ok. So today I installed an air pump. Guppies are definitely happier. Although I think it stressed everyone a bit all around. I do plan on getting a better filtration system in the future...I know this is just an "adequate" one. I also changed out the carbon filter today in case this was a problem. So far so good! ImageUploadedByTapatalk1337226822.836694.jpg

[Turpentine]

How does it look? Did I install it correctly? I anchored it down, but it seems like it has a lot of force! Bubble galore!

[mincedmeat]

From the picture you took, it seems right. How big is the tank, and at how many litres/hour is the air pump?

[Turpentine]

It's a 20 gal tank. And that's a good question. The fish guy said it was appropriate for my size tank. I will check in the daylight tomorrow and check back in....all lights are out now and it's off to bed. Even the tetras turned off their colors.

[tetrakid]

Not only Tetras need sleep, humans too need to take a nap at times.

I see you are doing well with your fish so far.

[Turpentine]

It's a fusion 200. That's all it says. No liters per min or anything stated.

My girls are swimming about today like there's not a care in the world! Yay! I'm so happy! They are back to feeling good! Thank you all for your help! Happy fishies! They play with each other and swim about doing a dance of sorts...very cool.

[mincedmeat]

A quick search on Google and I found out that the air pump is appropriate for the tank size, though no where does it state the output/litre. Nonetheless, don't be overtly concern about the force.

[Turpentine]

Thanks! Crazy work day and I haven't even had the time to think about the simplest task of google! easy as apple pie right?

[Turpentine]

Found a snail!!!ImageUploadedByTapatalk1337539733.869440.jpg

What should I do???

[wongce]

Cook the snail...lol...just a joke to lighten you up...

Remove the snail manually...maybe it hitch hike from plants or driftwood....

By the way,its always good to quarantine plants and decoration you bought from lfs with anti snail solution prior putting them into aquarium... From the picture,the snail looks line pond snail?? It will eat plants so manual remove any you see..

[Turpentine]

Found TWO of the buggers! UGGGGHHH! And they move pretty fast! Not at all what I expected! Are they algae eaters normally? Are they beneficial in a tank if you don't have plants?

[mincedmeat]

You should probably remove them, especially if they bug you (no pun intended). These snails probably don't clear algae at all.

[Turpentine]

Given that I have loads of plants I don't feel too bad getting rid of them.

[tetrakid]

Once my 3ft tank was plagued by these pests. That was when I had my big shoal of Neon Tetras. I remember I had to pick them out feom the plants and discard them every other day. It's a real chore. They propagate real fast, talk abour swift snails. I won't want any snails in my tank, unless it's for cultivating "big bad boons" (Russian Daphnia Magna).

Found TWO of the buggers! UGGGGHHH! And they move pretty fast! Not at all what I expected! Are they algae eaters normally? Are they beneficial in a tank if you don't have plants?

[diazman]

These are pond snails. I used to have them tons in my tank. They breed like rabbits Just remove them