10 Tank's fish and tanks

[10 Tanks]

Hello. It's MLK Day and three tanks need to be done. We'll change half the tank water in a 50 gallon an two 55 gallon tanks. You know, the fish keeping hobby is so much easier than I thought it was going to be when I started roughly 20 years ago. If you don't get creative and add too many steps to the process you'll be infinitely more successful. For one, just change half the tank water every few days. Don't feed the fish too much. They're small and their stomachs are even smaller. So, it doesn't take much to fill it. Just feed a little every day or two. Don't ever put chemicals into the tank water, other than the standard water treatment. If you have what is obviously a sick fish, just change out a little more water next time. Keep the tank water clean at all times. Keep the number of fish in the tank small. Too many fish will foul up the tank water. Another thing that comes to mind is tank size. Don't try to keep a small tank. It you're getting into the hobby, get at least a 30 gallon. 55 gallons is, in my opinion, the best size. And remember, change at least half the water every few days!

Have a little fun today.

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[10 Tanks]

Tuesday. Got to put out the trash today. So cold here that you really can't be outside for long. Shoveled a bit of snow yesterday. But, we're staying indoors for the most part. This "arctic blast" is affecting most of the country. Will change the water in a 60 and 75 gallon tank today. The whole process takes a couple of hours. Noticed a few more fry in a couple of tanks that have Platys in them. Now have a wide range of younger fish in those tanks. Have one 55 gallon tank that has just a few Buenos Aires Tetras and some Guppies. I change out so much water, that I removed the filter. It never had much in it anyway. I did leave the tube in the tank to move the water around for the purpose of keeping the water a little higher in oxygen. But, by changing out a lot of water every week, the oxygen level remains high. Not much else to report on for now. Hopefully, we'll get a break in the cold soon. This is the coldest Winter I can remember.

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[10 Tanks]

Hello and hooray! The "deep freeze" is moving on to some other place. Instead of minus degrees this morning we have a nice, balmy "0 degrees". Not bad. We can live with it. Today, we change the water in our 100 gallon Goldfish tank. We'll feed all the fish a little, so they'll be happy. We have three, large sponge filters in this tank and will need to squeeze them out. These typically have a little material in them that needs to be cleaned out. We'll go to the government office late this afternoon to change out the tank water on their 55 gallon. We put some Java Moss in it last week and so far, it looks like the moss is starting to grow. This tank gets two large water changes every week, so we never need to test the tank water. Changing out that much water, twice a week will guarantee very good water conditions for the fish and plants. If time permits and the weather isn't too cold, we'll get out the gear and change out the water on the outdoor 300 gallon tank. Just a few more weeks and March will be here. Then, we'll have to start thinking about cleaning up the garden and making plans for what annuals we want. The perennials will of course come back. Hopefully, we haven't lost any plant over the Winter.

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[10 Tanks]

A rather nice Thursday so far. Temperatures are finally getting back to what's more normal this time of year for this part of the country. 16 degrees this morning when I got up around 4:30 AM. Yes, I know. Crazy for a retired person to be up so early, but old habits just seem to hang on. I'll change the tank water on a 55 gallon tank and my 300 gallon outdoor trough. The Goldfish and the Koi in the 300 made it through the really cold weather with no problem. I have a heavy duty heater in this tank. It's rated at keeping the water clear of ice for 1500 gallons of water. So, 300 gallons was no issue. I'm sure the fish appreciated the extra heat. There's no filter in this tank. Just large water changes twice a week. May rethink the whole filtration thing in other tanks. Not sure filters are really needed in tanks that get the water changed out so often. The filter picks up small bits of fish and plant waste and mixes oxygen into the tank water, but water changes will remove whatever waste material has dissolved in the water and returns clean water and oxygen to the tank as well. Something to think about.

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[10 Tanks]

It's another Friday and we're taking a break from the tank work. I tweaked the schedule a bit, so Tuesdays aren't so busy. We won't do more than three tanks a day. The fry we got a few weeks back are doing very well. Most appear to be from our Mickey Mouse Platys. They're bright orange with a little black on the tail. Not much else going on in the tank room.

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[10 Tanks]

It's Saturday and we're normally off this day from the tank duties. However, we're feeling energetic and will change the water on four tanks today to get ahead of schedule. Have a schedule conflict this Monday, So, instead of delaying the water changes, we're going to change the water in four tanks a day or even two early. I doubt the fish will mind. More is always better when it comes to removing and replacing the water in a fish tank. Have an uneventful and restful weekend.

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[10 Tanks]

Happy Sunday. Got enthusiastic and did five tanks yesterday. Forgot to mention yesterday, that we did the government office's 55 gallon. No one is in that office on Saturday, so we can take our time with the water change. That tank is looking good and the fish seem active and are eating well. We'll just do a couple of tanks today and take Monday off for running some errands. Weather is beginning to warm up a little. 16 degrees this morning. We'll get back into the 40s during the day pretty soon.

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[10 Tanks]

A Sunday supplemental post. Whoa! It hit 48 degrees today. Now, that's balmy. Performed a water change on the outdoor 300 gallon this afternoon. The fish always like to swim through the clean water as it dumps into the trough. It was a little cloudy today. Unusual for northern Colorado. But, we'll take the bit warmer temperature.

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[10 Tanks]

It's back to work Monday. Not for me, I retired in 2019 after almost 34 years working in the shipping department of a large construction company. There was a lot of lifting involved in the job. Not sure I could do all that today. Anyway, there are no tanks scheduled today. Need to run some errands, so we'll pick up with the tanks tomorrow.

I want say a special thanks to all our workers here in the US and everywhere for that matter. Always give your best, there are many, many people counting on you!

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[10 Tanks]

Good morning to you. It's funny. I never thought I'd get even five views when I started this post, let alone 5,000. Just funny to me. Didn't think I had anything interesting to say about the "Water Keeping Hobby" that everyone didn't already know. Most know about the importance of removing and replacing at least half the water every few days. You have to remove the constantly dissolving waste material. I'm gradually moving toward removing the filtering devices in my tanks and simply removing and replacing more water. By doing this one thing, you don't need filters and aeration. The water change removes toxins and maintains high oxygen levels. The waste will slowly build back over time and the oxidation process will change the water quality, but before there's time for these natural processes to foul the water, you replace it.

Today, we'll change out the water in a 75 and 100 gallon tank. By using a "Python" siphon we can remove half or more of the water in a 100 gallon tank in about 20 minutes. Then, by getting an attachment for a garden hose to fit our faucet, we can fill the tank in about the same time. Treating the water is simple too. We use API's water conditioner and treat the water according to the instructions. We can also use API's quick start to replace any bacteria lost if we decide to vacuum the bottom material.

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[Back in the fold]

There was a guy , who has since passed away , Jack Wattley , who was considered a great authority on Discus . He constantly hammered on the point of daily 100% water changes . His fish proved his thinking . What does a filter do ? It traps dirty particulate. This trapped dirt slowly decays and leaches toxins into the water . You might call it auto-intoxication . I think you are on the right track .

 

[10 Tanks]

Hello Back in the Fold. I very much appreciate your comments. I'm a water change fanatic, for sure. Now, 100 percent would be tough to do. I don't have any place to put my fish if I emptied their tank. I do leave some water for them. I think such a large water change might suddenly alter the water chemistry and the fish wouldn't appreciate it. But, if you could do it, you'd never need to worry about the fish living in clean water.

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[10 Tanks]

Wednesday. Just two tanks today. A 55 gallon with 18 Giant Danios and the government's tank that we clean for them. We'll also feed all the fish today. The Danios are very energetic, especially at feeding time. We only feed a little variety every other day. So, the fish are glad to eat. The weather here has been pretty mild lately. We're in the 20s at night and mid to the upper 40s during the day. February can get pretty chilly, so I don't think we've seen the last of the cold weather. As always, thanks for reading these posts and feel free to comment.

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[10 Tanks]

Good morning to you if you're reading this post. It's Thursday and we'll change out half the tank water on the outdoor 300 gallon trough. The Koi are doing very well in their new temporary home. One is 12 inches, one 10 inches and two others are 8 inches. That's of course an estimate. But, they're quite a bit larger than my Goldfish that are in the tank. Did you know that Koi can live 25 years or even more? I didn't. Koi can mate with Gold Fish, but the fry are sterile. Seems to me, the same can be said about live bearing fish like Guppies, Platys and Swordtails. I can't recall the particulars. Anyway, morning temps are good, in the 20s. So, no complaints from me.

Don't forget to keep up on your water changes!

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[10 Tanks]

Hello. A little late with my post for today. It's Friday and decided to change out half the water in four tanks. They are, a 45, two 55s and a 50 gallon. Retired life can get busy with errands. We do the grocery thing and go to various doctor appointments, try to get some exercise daily and help my mother-in-law. She's 91 and not in the best of health. But, that can be said of most 90 plus year olds and the rest of us senior citizens as well. We'll keep plugging away though.

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