Fish Tank Maintenance Tips

[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.

[EmilyS]

Originally Posted by Lankyrob

How ŵould this manifest itself?. Sorry for being a noob about it but i hope to get fish in the future (after lots more research ) and want to know what to look out for

Are you talking about nitrates? Here's the nitrogen cycle in a nutshell:

Fish produce waste that gives off ammonia; fish can only tolerate a very small amount of this (they'll start showing symptoms of ammonia poisoning even at a concentration of .25 ppm; in an established aquarium, there should be 0 ppm). To help get rid of ammonia, there is a naturally occurring bacteria that turns ammonia into nitrites. Well, nitrites are similar to ammonia in the fact that they are bad for fish in even small numbers. So, there's a bacteria to turn nitrites into nitrates, which fish can handle much more of (I wouldn't allow a tank's concentration of nitrates get above 40 ppm, unless that is the amount found in your tap water). Only water changes can get rid of nitrates. The amound of fish you have in an aquarium, and their bioloads, determines how often a water change in necessary. In a fully stocked aquarium, that's generally around 25% per week.

Originally Posted by 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.

I've found that many fish, even the less hardier ones like neon tetras and german blue rams, can adapt to a large pH range. If the change is drastic, however, a longer acclimation process will be required. I keep fish that prefer many different pH ranges acclimated to the pH of my tap water, and they do fine.

[Lankyrob]

Originally Posted by EmilyS

Are you talking about nitrates? Here's the nitrogen cycle in a nutshell:

Fish produce waste that gives off ammonia; fish can only tolerate a very small amount of this (they'll start showing symptoms of ammonia poisoning even at a concentration of .25 ppm; in an established aquarium, there should be 0 ppm). To help get rid of ammonia, there is a naturally occurring bacteria that turns ammonia into nitrites. Well, nitrites are similar to ammonia in the fact that they are bad for fish in even small numbers. So, there's a bacteria to turn nitrites into nitrates, which fish can handle much more of (I wouldn't allow a tank's concentration of nitrates get above 40 ppm, unless that is the amount found in your tap water). Only water changes can get rid of nitrates. The amound of fish you have in an aquarium, and their bioloads, determines how often a water change in necessary. In a fully stocked aquarium, that's generally around 25% per week.




I've found that many fish, even the less hardier ones like neon tetras and german blue rams, can adapt to a large pH range. If the change is drastic, however, a longer acclimation process will be required. I keep fish that prefer many different pH ranges acclimated to the pH of my tap water, and they do fine.

So would having the tank planted with live plants help or hinder the fish?

I had sand and gravel substrate on top of an earth layer, i had plants planted into the soil covering three quarters of the tank. Snails cleaned the glass and pebbles and the guppies ate the "moss" that grew on the ornaments. The tank was approx two foot square, and there was an eight hour "daylight" bulb each day. I also had a couple of small catfish type things that fed off the bottom