Fish Tank Maintenance Tips

[Wildside]

My golden rule of tank maintenance: Only clean it when absolutely necessary.

As a Pet Shop owner I would always hear "My fish always die."
The first questions I asked is, "Well how much are you feeding them?"
Most of the time the answer was, "2 or 3 times a day."

So here's the deal, I know that is what the fish food says but that is a good way for the fish food company to sell more fish food. The truth is most people will shake the container across the top of the tank several times a day. This is a big No-No. The uneaten food rots in the bottom causing nitrites/nitrates to spike and producing more ammonia than the fish waste alone. Sometimes this causes the pH to take a dive into unruly acidic levels. Either of these factors or the combination of the two are deadly to fish.
My recommendation: Feed your fish a healthy pinch every other day.

Since we just talked about nitrates let me go ahead and explain filtration. Most of those who keep fish will use a filter that has some sort of sponge and a carbon insert. Carbon helps to removes harmful impurities and helps to keep a crystal clear, odor free fish tank. If your tank get cloudy or starts to smell it's probably time to change the carbon. *Cloudy tanks can also be a sign of overfeeding. The sponge is a place for beneficial bacteria to grow. This bacteria breaks down harmful nitrites/nitrates minimizing the chance of ammonia or pH inconsistencies. Using tepid water rinse the sludge off the sponge as needed but it's a good idea to replace it before it begins to fall apart. I replace them about every 6 mos. DO NOT replace the sponge and carbon at the same time. Replacing the filter media all at once can cause major problems for a well cycled tank.

Cycling the tank is a very important step that needs to be taken before purchasing fish. This means you need to set the tank up, put water in it and get the filters running. You can put a little fish food in to get the bacteria growing. Or you can seed the filter by placing substrate from a thriving tank in a media bag in the filter. There are also numerous products you can buy that will help to speed up the cycling process. The tank needs to be up and running at least 48 hrs. preferably more, before adding fish.

When you purchase fish, do not buy sick fish! Look for clamped fins, pale color, heavy breathing, cloudy eyes, fungus or blemishes. If there are dead fish in the tank don't buy from that tank. The best Pet Shops will have separate filtration in every tank. Make sure that you quarantine when adding new fish. Better safe than sorry!

[Aaron_S]

Good write up.

I personally feed my fish once a day a small pinch. I go away sometimes or just do ridiculous hours at work and let them fend for themselves. I know there's algae on the driftwood and they pick at that too so I have no reason to believe they need more food. I did make the mistake of overfeeding though at the start and I lost a couple giant danios that way.


I would recommend also researching your species of fish before going to the store, just like any other pet. I know pale colour is a no-no but when looking into a tank full of red-tail black sharks they are all pale/dull because they hate being together. I knew this ahead of time and when I brought mine home and in a proper aquarium he flourished and looked very striking!

[StudentoReptile]

I had 25 fish in a 30 gal planted FW tank. I fed it once, maybe twice a week. My fish were fat and didn't die while in my care.

[Aaron_S]

Originally Posted by StudentoReptile

I had 25 fish in a 30 gal planted FW tank. I fed it once, maybe twice a week. My fish were fat and didn't die while in my care.

Key word...planted...

I love me a FW planted tank. I wish I could own my discus tank.

[RandyRhoads]

Informative post, thanks. Luckily I don't have to worry about over feeding as I only feed once every 5 days or so.

My filter has the active carbon built in the sponge, it was so gross I finally just chucked it. I have a good amount of live rock/sand, should I be ok, or do I need to do something now that I screwed up?

[BryanB]

Originally Posted by RandyRhoads

Informative post, thanks. Luckily I don't have to worry about over feeding as I only feed once every 5 days or so.

My filter has the active carbon built in the sponge, it was so gross I finally just chucked it. I have a good amount of live rock/sand, should I be ok, or do I need to do something now that I screwed up?

Just replace the carbon pad and you will be fine I always suggest just never clean the tank and filter in the same week it can be a big shock to the good bacteria and crash a tank I assume you have salt. Wildside please correct me if i am wrong i have not had a tank in about 3 years.

[EmilyS]

Originally Posted by Wildside

My golden rule of tank maintenance: Only clean it when absolutely necessary.

Are you talking about the filter/filter media, or the tank itself/water changes? I do 50% water changes weekly on all my tanks, and have been recommended to do so (or AT LEAST 25%) by many people and many websites.

[Wildside]

Originally Posted by EmilyS

Are you talking about the filter/filter media, or the tank itself/water changes? I do 50% water changes weekly on all my tanks, and have been recommended to do so (or AT LEAST 25%) by many people and many websites.

Both... Every time you mess with the tank you disturb the established ecosystem. Even doing water changes alters is slightly.

I wrote that quite a while ago and there are some more things I should've touched on. One being that dechlorination is a myth and a waste of money.
Honestly the small amount of chlorine that comes from your tap (you know the one that doesn't ever hurt you) evaporates within 24 hrs. I consider my "water change" refilling the tank after it evaporates a few inches. I do it straight from the tap. For those of you who are slightly appalled let me tell you why this is good. The small amount of chlorine you're adding to your tank doubles as pesticide. So anything that may come in off new fish/plants gets obliterated.

[Trent]

Originally Posted by Wildside

Both... Every time you mess with the tank you disturb the established ecosystem. Even doing water changes alters is slightly.

I wrote that quite a while ago and there are some more things I should've touched on. One being that dechlorination is a myth and a waste of money.
Honestly the small amount of chlorine that comes from your tap (you know the one that doesn't ever hurt you) evaporates within 24 hrs. I consider my "water change" refilling the tank after it evaporates a few inches. I do it straight from the tap. For those of you who are slightly appalled let me tell you why this is good. The small amount of chlorine you're adding to your tank doubles as pesticide. So anything that may come in off new fish/plants gets obliterated.

Your first write up was sound,but this advise is just plain wrong.
After 25 years of fish keeping the one thing that I have learned if you want happy and healthy fish is WATER CHANGES.
It is the only thing that removes the fishes excretory products.Which are slowly killing and stunting your fish.No filter will remove them.
Removing 25% a week is a good idea..replacing with dechlorinated water.
As for your pesticide comment on chlorine..lol..I will leave that alone.

[Aaron_S]

Originally Posted by Trent

Your first write up was sound,but this advise is just plain wrong.
After 25 years of fish keeping the one thing that I have learned if you want happy and healthy fish is WATER CHANGES.
It is the only thing that removes the fishes excretory products.Which are slowly killing and stunting your fish.No filter will remove them.
Removing 25% a week is a good idea..replacing with dechlorinated water.
As for your pesticide comment on chlorine..lol..I will leave that alone.

I agree with most of this.

From my limited fish knowledge it's that water changes are key to everything. A good filter is a must but so is the water change. Since we're keeping essentially an ecosystem going we need to get rid of the things that the system can't get rid of on it's own. It's the fish poop/un eaten food. I siphon the gravel as I do my water change.

[StudentoReptile]

In my experience as a pet shop grunt, aquarium maintenance technician, as well as having many of my own aquariums, I will say that EVERY aquarium is different. I had a nano reef tank that went well with a water change every 6 months.

That said, I feel that what determines how much regular maintenance is required is directly related on how the aquarium was set-up and the first 2-3 weeks after. If it was a noob who knows nothing and throw a ton of fish in a small tank, feeds them too much, etc...they're pretty much setting themselves up for a lot of maintenance down the road, as fixing all that tank's issues will be a constant uphill battle, aside from simply starting over from scratch.

Now if you're a more knowledgeable aquarist, who is patient, and let's the aquarium cycle properly before adding fish, adding the correct species/amount of fish, etc...you can eventually have a tank that is bulletproof that requires very little maintenance. And of course, a lot depends on the type of fish, etc.

One thing about tap water....chlorine and chloramines aren't the only thing to worry about. pH can be a factor as well, depending on the fish and/or plants you intend to keep. For example, the pH in my tap is naturally around 7.8-8.0. It was an uphill battle trying to keep it low for my FW planted tanks. Sometimes, it can simplify things to just keep species that prefer that pH range.

[jarich]

Originally Posted by Wildside

Both... Every time you mess with the tank you disturb the established ecosystem. Even doing water changes alters is slightly.

I wrote that quite a while ago and there are some more things I should've touched on. One being that dechlorination is a myth and a waste of money.
Honestly the small amount of chlorine that comes from your tap (you know the one that doesn't ever hurt you) evaporates within 24 hrs. I consider my "water change" refilling the tank after it evaporates a few inches. I do it straight from the tap. For those of you who are slightly appalled let me tell you why this is good. The small amount of chlorine you're adding to your tank doubles as pesticide. So anything that may come in off new fish/plants gets obliterated.

While its true that chlorine will evaporate, chloramines are pretty much there for good, and just as harmful to the fish. And while it may not kill them right away, it does stress them unnecessarily and could eventually lead to their death by lowering their immune system.

Anything new you add to your tank should get a salt water bath to remove any pests and parasites. The small bit of chlorine will not kill things like ich or other parasites.

[EmilyS]

Watch out- newbie who thinks she knows it all

While I agree that messing with the tank- no matter what you do- affects the ecosystem, some things are so small that the ecosystem will bounce back almost immediately, and some things are good for the ecosystem.

Most of the beneficial bacteria is in the filter media; a small amout resides in the water/gravel/decoration...etc. While doing a water change does take away some of the bacteria, the amount is so small that it won't matter and the beneficial bacteria in the filter media will (in an established tank) be more than enough to hold the cycle. Water changes also help to remove ammonia, nitrites, and nitrates; too many of these can be deadly to fish.

As for dechlorination, I disagree. Chlorine/chloramines can be deadly to fish. Back when I first started keeping aquariums, there were a couple times when I forgot to add a dechlorinator. I could definitely see a change in the fish- they were breathing rapidly, laying on the gravel, some getting stuck to the filter intake- and a couple even died. A dechlorinator is a must.

[RandyRhoads]

Originally Posted by EmilyS

\ A dechlorinator is a must.

If you're using garbage water to begin with.

[EmilyS]

Originally Posted by RandyRhoads

If you're using garbage water to begin with.

Chlorine is found in tap water, so unless you have some kind of purifier that removes chlorine, it's going to be there.