Tips on What Works for Your Tanks
Wed, 02/10/2010 - 14:51
I thought it would be interesting for the members to share tips that work for them. After 20 years of keeping tanks, I'm still banging my head against the wall, but have discovered a few things that work for me. My tanks are very low tech with easy to grow plants -- I don't want to see equipment hanging off it or hear anything but the soft ripple of water. Setting up a tank from scratch is hard enough. It's heart-breaking when you have to break it down because of a problem you could have avoided. I'll start it off:
SUBSTRATE FOR PLANTS: I've found that Flourite works the best for my planted tanks. When I used Eco-Complete in my Nano tank, it immediately created an environment that allowed a carpet of bright, green algae to grow over everything (seemed like it leached nutrients into the water column). The tank was too small for full-grown Siamese Algae eaters and the ottos and shrimp couldn't deal with the algae growth. I then spent the next 2 years fighting it til I finally had enough and broke the tank down. Plain aquarium gravel, while cheaper, doesn't provide anything for plants. Flourite is extremely dirty right out of the bag. You have to wash out the silt or you'll be trying to clear a cloudy tank for weeks. I clean it outside, under my fruit trees -- so I don't feel so guilty using all that water. I put 1/2 a bag into a 5-gal bucket and use a garden hose with a strong flow of water, swooshing til it runs clear. Some people don't like the red color of the original Flourite. They now have brown and black colors, along with a black sand.
Diane Walstad describes using soil in her book, Ecology of the Planted Aquarium (an excellent book by the way). I'm not brave enough to try this, but have heard it works great for some people.
GOOD ALGAE EATERS: I love Siamese Algae Eaters (SAEs) - they are such characters. I've had them for years in my tanks, always trying to keep at least 2 together. Once they reach 6" when they mature, it doesn't appear that they are eating much algae (they love regular fish food), but when I lose the last SAE in a tank to old age, I discover just how hard they've been working -- the string algae pops right up and doesn't go away til I get more SAEs. I also have ottos, cherry shrimp and snails -- while they help with algae control, they don't come close to what the SAEs do.
CATCHING FISH: I've done my share of chasing fish with a net. Notice I said chasing, not catching. Guess I'm not agile enough. I've found that using a clear acrylic container (mine is 5x5x2.75") works great, even when I have to catch my SAEs (bullet-fast, cagey and great jumpers). I simply approach the fish and scoop them up slowly. For jumpers, make sure you cover the top with your hand once the container is out of the water. I read once that the acrylic is hard for them to sense (something to do with their lateral line senses?), unlike glass or netting, and it keeps them from panicking. It works great for me.
FILTERS FOR PLANTED TANKS: Because you want to avoid losing CO2 in your water, a submersible internal filter works best because it doesn't disturb the surface of the water. While I love the Duetto filter (quiet and moves a lot of water), I've been using Fluval for many years simply because they have more room to pack in a lot of biological filter material. And because my plants need the nutrients, I never keep activated charcoal in these filters.
I use a lot of weighted-down cork bark in my tanks for background interest and the water turns yellow over time, even with regular water changes. To remove the yellow and polish up the water, I have a Magnum canister filter that I pack with activated charcoal and hang on the outside of my tank for a day or two. I only have to do this once every few months -- works like a charm.
Wed, 02/10/2010 - 20:19
#2
As far as identifying true SAE goes, the black line down the middle of their body must extend to the fork of the tail and this stripe needs to have zig-zagged edges. Aquatic Gardners.org has an excellent article about finding the right fish: http://www.aquatic-gardeners.org/cyprinid.html
How does everybody transport fish from their tanks at home to stores? I recently used a tupper-ware container, and that didn't really work out too well...
Wed, 02/10/2010 - 20:52
#3
Ruth,
Great tips! Thank-you for taking the time to share that with us!
Your fish catching method is exactly what I witnessed over at the Southwest Reef Company. They use an plastic container and the fish just let them do it. I was really impressed with how will that works. I'm going to have to go out and get a small container soon.
I would love to share your tips on my blog. Do you mind if I republish your posting on my blog? http://www.extreme-aquatics.com/
Do you have any pictures of your tanks that you wouldn't mind sharing as well?
Thanks,
Adam
Sat, 02/13/2010 - 12:38
#4
I got my SAEs about 5 years ago -- at that time, no one had any in Santa Fe so I had to order them on-line. That's an expensive way to go but I ordered enough for friends and we all shared on the shipping costs. Clark's in Albq had some SAEs about a week ago -- they said they get them in periodically but not often. You might give them a call.
The SAEs' black line continues thru their tail. There are excellent pictures on the web showing what to look for. Try this one: http://www.fishlore.com/aquariummagazine/may08/siamese-algae-eater-id.htm
I'll have to look into the Purigen -- sounds like exactly what I need.
Sat, 02/13/2010 - 12:58
#5
You're welcome to repost to your blog. I can't emphasize how much other aquarium hobbyists posting info on the web have helped me learn over the years.
I've just revamped my 50-gal tank so it's rather pathetic looking but the plants (recovering from red-clawed crab damage) are getting re-established pretty quickly. Hopefully I can figure out how to take some pictures and get them posted within the next month or so.
Thu, 02/18/2010 - 13:16
#6
Ruth,
I just reposted your info to my blog here:
http://www.extreme-aquatics.com/general/tips-from-an-experienced-aquarist/
Thanks again for letting me repost that.
Thanks,
Adam
Sun, 02/21/2010 - 18:35
#7
Ruth,
Hope it's okay if I ask a question or two here...
What is the best way to quarantine new fish? I set up a ten gallon yesterday for some new fish, but it seems to me that you need to do a little bit more than just put fish in a tank for two weeks...I've seen all sorts of different chemical treatments, but I don't really want to medicate for everything under the sun unless I have too.
Thanks for all the help,
Mon, 02/22/2010 - 16:17
#8
I'm probably not the best one to answer this since I keep a very light load of hardy fish in my planted tanks and rarely get new fish. More of the "it's set up for plants, rather than fish" idea. Or so I told myself til I realized I was setting up a 20 gal tank planted tank just to make my betta happier. http://www.nmaquarist.org/modules/smileys/packs/Roving/lol.png
I do have a 10 gal tank that I use for new fish -- usually just using an old sponge filter is enough to keep the nitrates in check. (I highly recommend Stability from Seachem if you need to keep the nitrates in check -- don't use Cycle (waste of money).
I've never had to dose any of my fish -- I'm been really lucky to get healthy fish (e.g.. I don't purchase from Wal-Mart). And I agree with you about not dosing just to do it. Although I quarantine and do check for diseases, I mainly do it for giving the fish several weeks to acclimate to my well water before they go into a main tank. Keeps their stress level down.
Anyone out there have any suggestions for Connor?
Wed, 02/24/2010 - 18:40
#9
Ruth,
Thanks for the advice. I think I lucked out this time, all of the fish I bought were out swimming and even eating the first night. I really think that I have the drip method of acclimization to thank for this. From what I've read it's a must for most African cichlids, and in my experience it reduces a ton of initial stress.
Wed, 02/24/2010 - 20:40
#10
The purpose for quarantine is mostly not to benefit the new fish, but to keep them from giving any nasty diseases to your existing tank. If they are your first fish in the tank, there is no reason to quarantine. If there are existing fish in the tank, I'd just keep them in a separate tank long enough to make sure they aren't sick and to let them get used to water conditions. Sometimes quarantine doesn't make sense or work very well. For example, if I have an active tank of African cichlids and buy 3 new fish to add to the tank. If I put the three fish in a small tank, likely they will kill each other because there is no way to spread out the aggression. Usually what I do in that case is either just check them to see if they look healthy and add them (turning out the lights in the tank and leaving them off for a couple days to let them settle), or find three separate locations for them. I usually keep a small tank running and cycled for quarantine, holding moms, or growing out fry.
It depends a lot on the circumstances. I would never do any medication or chemical add-ins unless you are very sure they are sick and confident about what exactly they have. Pet shops often recommend that people randomly medicate fish for various reasons.... but they have a financial motivation to do so.
Wed, 02/24/2010 - 20:57
#11
Samuel,
It wasn't a fish store that made me wonder about medications, but a blog by a guy named Ted Judy. I subscribe to Tropical Fish Hobbyist, and he and a guy named Mike Helweg are having this ongoing breeding contest to see who can spawn the most species of fish over the course of a year.
On his website Ted stresses the importance of a quarantine tank, and makes it seem completely necessary to medicate from the start. He mainly breeds species of tetras and barbs, so I thought that it would be even more important to medicate cichlids. Glad I checked here first!
Thu, 02/25/2010 - 08:35
#12
You have to be careful with the drip method with high PH species. Ammonia is much more damaging to fish at high ph. When fish are in a bag, the ammonia level raises and causes the PH in the bag to crash to lower levels. This actually helps the fish survive as they aren't as susceptible to ammonia poisoning at the lower PH. If you put their bag water in a bucket and slowly drip tank water in, you are raising the PH of the water without substantially lowering the ammonia. You are diluting the ammonia a bit, but if it is really built up in the bag then it will still be at very dangerous levels. As the PH in the bucket goes up, the fish are more susceptible to damage from the ammonia levels and you can lose fish.
The drip method works ok if they haven't been in the bag very long (a quick trip home from the store), but if you've shipped them for over a day, I would be careful with it. Again, this is mostly only applicable to high PH species like African cichlids. One advantage to buying locally is if you are using ABQ tap water then the fish are already basically adapted to it and the only thing to worry about is temperature. I usually float the bags to adjust temp and then net the fish and put them in my tank (never put bag water directly in your tank). If I have fish that have shipped a long ways, I figure they are better off getting out of the nastiness in their bag than slowly adjusting. If I can make assumptions that they were kept in reasonable water before (ie the PH will be close to my tanks), than I just float for temp and net them straight into a tank full of clean water. I've had good luck with this.
I want to re-emphasize that this works well for hardy, high-PH species like African cichlids and is not the right approach for delicate soft water species like most tetras.
Sat, 02/27/2010 - 10:34
#13
This is a really great post for everyone out there, thanks to all of you who posted. I have been keeping fish a while (or are they keeping me?) and these tips help me greatly to supplement my knowledge.
Ruth, your post was great, and I really like how you outlined your method for keeping your tanks. You mentioned using soil as described by Diana Walstad. I tried this on a 15 gallon tank I have with great results. I just used plain potting soil (no other nutrients or fertilizers added) from Lowes which you can get for about $5 for a 30-40lb bag. I got out all the large bark chips, filtered it through a painter's filter (they are great because they go over a 5 gallon bucket) and then capped it off with small aquarium gravel. Heavy root feeding plants like my Dwarf Sag and Crypts loved it. The tank is low light, has a sponge filter driven by a powerhead, and is one of my favorite tanks. Now if the plants would just prune themselves I would be set.
I would encourage anyone new to planted tanks to take Ruth's approach to "lower maintenance" tanks. I have two higher tech tanks with CO2, fertilized daily, high lights, and tech to control things. They grow plants great. They grow algae great as well. All have their pluses and minuses, but you just have to remember that you can get results without having to drop a lot of cash on some high end lighting and CO2 setup. In the end, it will pay its dividends by having a more stable tank.
Anyway, enough of my blathering. Thanks again for all the great advice!
Sat, 02/27/2010 - 12:16
#14
Samuel,
Never thought about it that way, but it makes a lot of sense. Isn't pure ammonia like a 9 or 10 on the pH scale?
So dripping is still okay as long as I only buy from clark's, right? I lost two calvus in the quarantine tank this week and I think it's becuase I introduced them to the new tank too fast and then did too many water changes...I guess they're super sensitive fish...I don't think it's disease related becasue the other 5 fish (Lamprologus stappersi) are doing great and haven't shown any signs of illness.
I guess I better just keep an eye on things...
Thanks for the help,
Sat, 02/27/2010 - 21:28
#15
Here's a brief discussion of the chemical reactions involved and why it works that way: http://www.nippyfish.net/phandammonia.html
How big were your Calvus? All Tanganyikan's have a reputation for being somewhat sensitive, but I think it is largely related to the PH issue. If the water is clean, they can be very hardy. One of the problems with calvus is that they grow so slowly that they tend to be sold when still very tiny. A full grown calvus is a decent sized fish, and they are often sold at around 1", which is much smaller relatively than we sell most fish. I think that contributes to them still being very fragile.
Sun, 02/28/2010 - 19:18
#16
The calvus that I bought were about an inch or an inch and a half, and I think they were around 6 months old. They were in the quarantine tank with the L. stappersi which are pretty close to full grown. The calvus had trouble competing for food, so I started to overfeed to make sure the calvus were getting enough to eat. The water quality got worse, but I planned on doing a water change every other day to keep quality up, and to help the calvus grow. (Don't Discus breeders change 90% water daily?) Then I read that calvus don't do well with lots of water changes so I decided to wait until Saturday (when I do water changes on the 46). I found the fish dead Friday night.
Sun, 02/28/2010 - 21:28
#17
Ah yes, that kind of water change could do it. There is a big difference between river fish (discus), where the water is continually changing and has full turnover all the time, and lake fish (calvus) where the water is extremely stable. In many ways Tanganyika is more like the ocean.
Tue, 03/02/2010 - 18:43
#18
Yeah, I just wish I would've known that before I messed up. That's the last time I buy a fish on impulse.
I've wanted to get some true SAE's but I hear that most of the one's in fish stores are not true SAE's.
Do you know if yours are true SAE's? If so where did you get them?
I use Seachem Purigen in my planted tank, it's supposedly all the benefits of carbon with non of the nutrient removal. Plus it lasts much longer than charcoal.