Aquarium water prep.

[Crabber85]

I've been doing some extensive research since having to completely re-do my fresh water aquarium three months ago and I've found that I'm doing to many water changes 20% every week on a 20gallon tall and that my water prep has been all wrong. Apparently for an established 20gallon I should be doing my water change-outs no more frequently than every two weeks to maintain the proper water chemistry.I've lost all five of my female Bettas and all but one of my corydoras panda catfish due to the way I've been handling the water.I've been in the habit of running the water through the faucet using the hot water heater for the house to get the water to the right temp but this according to several fish keeping sites has actually been hurting my fish by introducing ammonia gas into the water which can wreak havoc on a fish causing bloating and in most cases death as the gas blocks the absorption of oxygen the fish literally suffocates.I've been laboring under the delusion that adding the tap water conditioner to the water before adding to the aquarium was enough but according to my sources 99% of all tap water conditioners do not address ammonia gas.So now I'm prepping my water in a 5gal bucket with a power head to circulate the water and an aquarium heater to bring it up to the right temp without out causing the ammonia to convert to gas.I add the tap water conditioner during this process and allow the water to percolate for a minimum of 24hrs before adding it the aquarium.So far this process has proven successful and I highly recommend it.

[jenok]

That's interesting. I always get my water from the sink/tap when I add or change water for my 10g fish tank making it as close in temp as possible. But we have good well water maybe that makes a difference plus I don't keep any of the rarer tropical, just the usual tetras, guppies, catfish/bottom feeders, whiskas shrimp, and the smaller placo. Nothing fancy or exotic.

[Crabber85]

@Jenok, being that you are on well water your not going to have the amonia gas issue so you should be good on that point and having the hardier tropical fish will also make things easier as well.I'm not a novice at keeping tropical fish as I've had two ten gallon tanks in the past that ran successfully with tetras and danios for four years before the fish all aged out and so I thought I could handle some of the more tempermental fish like the Rasbora-het and the Corydoras catfish which have stringent water chemistry needs compared to the tetras and danios.I'm going out of state in two weeks for vacation and I'm planning on re-stocking the tank once I get back and have the time to monitor the water and so on.I'm looking at getting a couple dwarf gouramies, a few more Rasboras and possible some rose belled or flame tetras.

[jenok]

I hope you have fun. I had a dwarf gourami before but it lasted for several months (approx. 6) then died. I always thought it was cuz of a couple other fish picking on it, maybe it was the conditions instead? Here lately we will get a few neon tetras and after a month we only have one, the odd thing is we can never find the (dead) bodies in or out of the tank and the other fish are fine. We thought about the shrimp and/or catfish eating it but they can't down it in one swallow it would take a little while so I still don't understand what is happening. I believe the one always left is the original that was in the tank before we add the others(added twice now).

[Crabber85]

I've had neon tetras in the past and they tend to be prone to PH sensitivity meaning that a low or high PH basically anything other than 7.0 can shock them and they won't live long though you might have a fighter as in your case that just keeps trucking along.You might want to consider testing your PH levels in the aquarium and compare that to water straight from the well and see if theres a big difference or if they are around the same.If you notice the aquarium water testing at 8.0 or higher you might want to add a buffer to it as 7.0 to 7.9 is neutral and the higher the number gets the more alkaline the water is as is true with the reverse the lower the number the more acidic the water is and water that is too acidic for tetras will literally kill and the dissolve the fish in a few days which would explain why you never see any remains.Corydoras and Rasboras love a PH of 6.8 so I have to use a piece of drift wood to get to that range but the water is too acidic for Bettas which love a PH of 7.0 to 7.5 and other tetras which like the same range as the Betta.Gravel, rock decor and certain plastic plants can alter the PH level to be more alkaline acting as buffers which is why I always recommend using sand and silk or live plants instead.

[jenok]

I have live plants. I've never tested my ph personally, usually when I first setup a tank or if all/most the fish are having problems I have my pet store test it. Very seldom is it off neutral. Occasionally I get higher ammonia cuz sometimes I forget and wait to long to do a water change but I think the plants help with that. I will get a kit for the ammonia and ph testing though and see if I can figure it out.(still doesn't explain disappearing bodies) I have always used gravel(sometimes colored)so maybe next time I get a chance I might try sand, but how do you keep it clean? I can suction the gravel and get the 'crap' without the gravel what about sand?

[finalfantasyxii]

Wow! This is new info! I have a newly set up Betta 5 gal and am already very attached to the little guy. I've been using warm water from the tap - but not anymore!

[Crabber85]

The food debris and fecal material literally float on the surface of the sand so its easy to see where the stuff is and you just simply hover over it with the gravel vac making sure not to go so low with it that sucks out the sand and your done.As a plus using sand actually adds an additional layer of filtration called sand bed filtration where the water seeps through the sand, layer by layer so slow that the beneficial bacteria have an adequate time to come into contact with the water thereby cleaning it.You'll need a layer of sand about three inches deep to accomplish this.Gravel allows the water flow through so fast that the bacteria don't have enough time to be in contact with it making them much less effective.It's been confirmed that using a gravel vac on a regular basis going deep into the gravel layer actually removes as much as 2/3rds of the beneficial bacteria each time the vacuum is used which is seriously detrimental to the ecosystem and can cause ammonia spikes as well as throwing the nitrite and nitrate balance out of whack.Having bottom feeders such as snails, loaches, catfish or shrimp will greatly diminish the likelihood that you would see a deceased fish in the water and I have caught my corydoras nibbling on tank-mates that had already passed and most of the decedent had already been consumed.

[jenok]

quote:Originally posted by Crabber85:The food debris and fecal material literally float on the surface of the sand so its easy to see where the stuff is and you just simply hover over it with the gravel vac making sure not to go so low with it that sucks out the sand and your done. That's what I was afraid off sucking out all the sand, but I didn't realize it just kinda floats so you don't have to get right next to the sand. In my tank it always gets in the gravel.Do you use playsand like with the crabs?

[Crabber85]

I went out and bought a bag of QUICKCRETE play sand at Home Depot for $3 and it works just fine.What you'll have to do is take the sand and poor a little bit say a layer about two or three inches into a clean bucket and put it under your faucet outside and let the water run till it runs over the sides of the bucket.Do this while stirring it up with your hand or a stick until the water runs clear this may take upwards of fifteen minutes becuase what your doing is getting rid of all of the debris and lightweight particles that would stay suspended for weeks in the aquarium.Even after washing the sand your aquarium water will still be cloudy but this should clear up in a couple of hours provided you have a good filtration kit on the aquarium.Most people will tell you that play sand is to light weight to be good for aquarium usage and will try to get you to buy the sand sold for aquariums at the pet store but the truth is play sand can be used quite well.