10 Tank's fish and tanks

Good morning. It's Friday and we have three tanks that need a water change. Got a nice Spring snow yesterday. Great for the garden. On a sad note, we lost a Giant Danio. It jumped right out of the tank during the night. The canopy is just a bit small for the tank, but not by very much. The jump had to have been just right. Have never lost a Danio in this tank, ever. They've been in there close to a year, maybe longer. Anyway, I adjusted the canopy a little. Keep your tank totally covered if at all possible or a jumping fish will find a way out.

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Here we go again. Saturday morning and we have some errands to run. We have the government tank to work on this afternoon and we'll look in on the 300 gallon outdoor trough. We've had some snow, so the outdoor tank is just about as full of water as it can be. With all the new water going into the tank from the snow, we've gotten a break for a couple of days from the water changes. We'll likely change half in that tank today.

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A Saturday supplemental post. You know, I'm really liking all the new mopani wood decorations that have been coming out on the market lately. I'm thinking that maybe there should be more of this type of decoration than spending the money on plants. Maybe a couple of small, easy to plant Anubias plants here and there, but the rest could easily be rocks from the local lakes and river areas and some mopani wood and driftwood. The tank would definitely be less work and the new look might be a nice change.

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Sunday morning. The Spring weather is starting out reasonably nice. Just one tank today, a 55 gallon with all the Giant Danios in it. Had a couple new fry in our 50 gallon Buenos Aires tank. So, we should start to see some new Danios too. We'll see. We'll just keep the tank water nice and clean and feed just a bit. As I've said before, if you focus on the keeping the water free of the constantly dissolving fish and plant waste, there's no reason why you can't keep fish healthy and a healthy fish lives a long time.

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Monday morning. No slacking off for us on the water changes. Three tanks today. We've just finished removing half the water in the 45 gallon tank and have moved the siphon to one of the 55 gallon tanks. It takes about 20 minutes to remove half the water in a 55 and about that much time to refill. We dose the recommended amount of API's Water Treatment and a handful of aquarium salt to a small pitcher of tap water. Then, just set up a garden hose from the kitchen faucet to the fish tank. Add the treatment and adjust the tap water temperature and we're good to go. The process is so fast, the fish hardly know what happens.

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Monday supplemental post. On the subject of internal tank filters. I have moved from hang on the back filters, to sponge filters and now, I don't use filters at all. I do use the sponge filters, minus the sponges to aerate the tank water. Although, I don't really need to do that either. I just remove and replace half the tank water every five or six days and the action of the new, treated tap water splashing into the tank mixes enough oxygen into the water to supply the fish and plants until the next water change. Besides, the fish love to swim through the bubbles created by the water change and the sponge filters without the sponge. In time, the plants and some types of algae begin to grow up around the aerator and it begins to look like a plant. It's interesting how the tank takes over something mechanical and make it blend into the aquascape. Maybe, I can send a picture. Here it is.

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Good day to you. We're in the process of changing out the tank water on a 50 and two 55 gallon tanks. These are essentially Buenos Aires Tetra tanks. Combined, there are about 30 of these larger, very colorful Tetras. Fast and aggressive fish, so with the exception of a few, small male Guppies, we like to keep these fish by themselves. They just intimidate most other fish, including the smaller ones of their own species. But, they're good size for Tetras, that's why I like them. They're extremely hardy and just need a lot of clean water. I guess this can be said for any fish.

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It's Wednesday and we have a busy day with four tanks on our schedule. We'll change the water in some of the larger tanks and also work on the government tank in the afternoon. Weather is really turning nice for very early Spring. The next few days, we'll have temperatures in the upper 60's. Not quite 70, but very close to it. Temperatures at night are in the 30's, so we'll take it.

Here's something to remember: The water quality in your fish tank doesn't just depend on how many fish you have, it also depends on how long the same water stays in the tank. The fish and plants are using the nutrients in the water and if the same water stays in the tank, all the nutrients are used up. The fish will soon be living in sterile water. So, in spite of how many fish you have, you still need to replenish the nutrients. The only way you do this is to remove the old, sterile water and replace it with new, treated tap water.

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Good morning. Our Thursday tank schedule is pretty light. We have a 55 gallon and the outdoor 300 gallon tanks that require a large water change. The outdoor fish are enjoying the afternoon sunshine and the water is likely a bit warmer in the afternoon with the sun coming through the pergola. The real cold temperatures in the morning are a thing of the past and I think the fish are as glad about that as I am.

Fed all the fish today and all the young ones are growing pretty fast. The Platys have increase their number by roughly 20 and the Tetras by two. Of course, there are always new Guppies. Can't count them.

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It's Friday, so we'll take a break from the tanks today. The tanks all got large water changes in the last four days, so the fish are happy about that. By removing and replacing so much water, so often, the toxins that are the result of dissolving fish and plant waste material, never have time to build up. Essentially, the fish live in near pure water conditions all the time. And, by feeding the fish just a little every other day, the tank water stays clean even longer.

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Saturday morning. We're working on the government office's tank this morning. We'll change out half the tank water and feed all the fish just a little. The tank is maturing. It's been up for almost a year and the plants are doing pretty well. We put in some Java Moss within the last few months and most plants are growing over the grey pebble substrate. The fish have really grown, but we've never had any fry. Not sure there would be room for many more fish, so I guess this is good. The large water changes have really controlled algae growth. We seldom need to scrape the walls of the tank.

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Sunday morning and we'll remove and replace the water in the outdoor 300 today. This job takes maybe 45 minutes. We just take a length of garden hose and get the siphoning process going. We run the old tank water into the garden area. Typically, into the tomato bed. The tomatoes love this water and we always have a good crop. My wife makes a fried green tomato bacon, lettuce and tomato sandwich that's very good. She also uses the tomatoes in breads, cookie bars and soups that are excellent. Anyway, when the water is siphoned out, we'll attach the same hose to the outdoor faucet, pour in the water treatment and bacteria booster and just fill the tank. Pretty simple.

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A cold Monday morning. Whoa! A little chilly this morning and we had a snowy and windy night. But, the moisture is good for the garden and our trees. Glad, I'm retired. I don't have to go out in the snow and wind. So, today, we're doing three tanks. Have one finished and another is filling. The tanks I keep are very simple. We use a small, pebble substrate. Decorate mostly with rocks and driftwood from the area river and lake beds and put in a couple plants of Anubias and some Anacharis. Nothing at all expensive. Several of the tanks were purchased used or donated. Don't use filters, just a sponge filter without the sponge to move the water around a little for a bit of oxygen and just change out half the water every few days and don't feed very much. The fish live in near nitrogen free water and we don't spend much time or money maintaining the tank.

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Tuesday morning. We're finishing up the water changes on three tanks. Have a terrestrial plant in the 50 gallon that has totally acclimated to life under the water. The Chinese Evergreen is your typical large, green plant that lives in large pots in most offices. But, what you don't know is it can be trained to live under the water in a fish tank. It's a large plant, so it naturally needs to be kept in a large tank. It'll grow quite fast in a tank, because it gets fertilizer 24/7. It can outgrow a large tank in a couple of years. I think I'll take some photos of one and start a new thread.

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Hello again. It's Wednesday and we're in the middle of changing the tank water on three tanks of ours and later today, we'll change out half the tank water on the government office tank. We're also filling the water containers with fish tank water for the various plants around the house and the plants in the government office. The government office people have realized how beneficial the old fish tank water is for their office plants. Today is also a feeding day for the fish, so they'll be extra active.

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