10 Tank's fish and tanks

[10 Tanks]

Hello. Today being Thursday, we're changing half the tank water in a 55 gallon tank that has a few Guppies and about 18 Giant Danios. These Danios are fairly large and have blue and orange colored horizontal stripes. They're very active swimmers and really need a long tank. The standard 55 gallon is perfect for them. They're aggressive swimmers and chase each other around the tank. The Guppies are fine with the Danios and often swim with them.

The 50 percent water change is to me, the most effect amount of water to change. It removes what little nitrogen there is in the water and dilutes what's left in the tank to a very safe level. Any change larger than 50 percent could abruptly change the tank chemistry and stress the fish. A water change less than half, still leaves most of the toxins in the tank. But, this is just one reporter's opinion.

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[10 Tanks]

What to do on Friday. No regular tank maintenance today. But, we have a large Locust tree in the backyard and the Fall leaves are definitely falling. Many of the leaves are landing in my outdoor tank. Will need to go out in the cold and skim those leaves out of the water. Too many decaying leaves may change the water chemistry. I'm fish sitting for my friends at the local botanical gardens. They gave me four large Koi to watch for the Winter. So, I'm needing to change the water in the tank more often. May use a little extra time to do a water change today. You can never change too much tank water. The fish will appreciate it.

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[10 Tanks]

Hello. Did a large water change on the 300 gallon Koi/Goldfish tank this afternoon. Temperatures are dropping below freezing at night here in northern Colorado. The heater in the tank has definitely helped keep the water from freezing. Water temperature is around 50 to 55 degrees. The fish are fine with the cooler water. All the fish seem to be getting along. Some of the Goldfish are nearly as large as the Koi. Water seems to be clearer in the Wintertime. Possibly because the fish are less active in cooler water and don't stir up the bottom material as much. Still, when the sun hits the water, the fish seem to enjoy coming to the surface more.

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[10 Tanks]

Hello. It's another Saturday and the temperature outside is a chilly 30 degrees. We're at the government office to check on their 55 gallon tank. We'll clean the filters and remove and replace half the tank water. We'll feed a little too. Water temperature stays around 77 degrees. Haven't seen any eggs other than those laid by the Zebra Nerite snails. There are quite a few of them. No chance of development, because the tank water has very little or no trace of salt in it. The office people have truly enjoyed their tank. The office manager has taken it upon herself to finance the tank. So, no taxpayers' dollars have been spent. Thought that would be important to mention. People might get a little testy if they knew their dollars weren't being spent on the right things.

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[10 Tanks]

Hello. It's Monday and we changed the tank water on three 55 gallon tanks. Moved a couple of Goldfish from a 55 to the 100 gallon tank. They'd been in the 55 for about 5 years. Goldfish like a lot of company, so they'll have plenty in the 100. It already has a dozen or so Goldfish. Also, changing the tank water in the outdoor 300. Since we added four medium sized Koi, we've started changing the water every three to four days. The Koi seem happy in their Winter home with a couple of dozen Goldfish of various sizes.

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[10 Tanks]

What's going on today? Was a little enthusiastic this morning. Changed half the tank water in three 55 gallon tanks and one 60 gallon. You know, if you're a fanatic water changer, you can almost eliminate some tank jobs. Like not cleaning filters as often, testing the tank water. Haven't in some time, vacuuming the bottom material, and my favorite, you don't need to scrape algae buildup on the front glass as often. By changing a lot of water, you're removing nitrogen from the water. Nitrogen is a toxin for fish and food for algae. So, fish are healthier and algae doesn't become much of a problem, because you're removing the water that contains the food source for the algae.

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[10 Tanks]

Wednesday. Large water changes for a 75 and a 100 gallon fish tank. The 75 gallon has a growth of hair algae, very stingy and thick in areas. The water seems a bit Removed most of it. Hard to believe the stuff can grow in water with very low nitrates. But, it will grow in water with as little as 10 parts per million of nitrate. Anyway, removed quite a bit of it and changed out roughly half the tank water. The water in the 100 gallon is crystal clear. It has a heavier fish load than the 75,. Go figure.

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[10 Tanks]

Thursday. We have an easy day today. Just need to change half the water in a 55 gallon tank with roughly 18 Giant Danios and a few Guppies. The Danios are young and around two inches long. They're speedy swimmers and jet around the tank most of the time. These are very streamlined fish, so it's important not to feed them every day so they stay lean. I feed just a combination of flakes every other day. I keep the water in the lower end of their preferred water temperatures at 72 degrees. We keep the house at 72, so we don't need to heat the tank. The cooler water holds onto oxygen longer and slows the fishes' metabolism too. If you keep the tank water a bit cooler, I've found this slows the reproduction process. We don't have a lot of room for more fish in the tank.

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[10 Tanks]

Today is Saturday. We're working on the government office tank. 50 percent water change, cleaning the sponge filters and checking of algae on the front glass. Typically, there's no algae anywhere except on some of the Anubias leaves. The fish are all looking good and the Nerites are fine too. When you're responsible for taking care of someone else's tank, you need to be extra careful.

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[10 Tanks]

Hello. It's Sunday after setting the clocks back an hour. Apparently, the time change was to benefit the farm people, giving them a little more daylight. I don't bother to change the timers on my tanks. It doesn't affect the fish or plants and with so many tanks, it becomes a little bit labor intensive and there's really no reason to do it. I mean the timers will go back to their original time by the second Sunday in March anyway. There's no tank work today. But, we're back on our Monday schedule with three tank cleanings.

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[10 Tanks]

Today is Monday. Three tanks to work on today. Three 55 gallon tanks. When you change out so much water every week, you don't need to clean the filters nearly as often. The filters don't get as dirty, because most of the time they just filter water that's already clean. Sponges do need to be squeezed out fairly often, but not weekly. I just clean them if I notice the bubble action slowing down. The sponges will clog up with debris eventually, even in tanks that get regular, large water changes. We don't keep many fish and that's good. Too many fish will upset the water chemistry and you'll need to change the water more often. Feeding once every other day will also keep the water clear of built up toxins and keep the fish healthy. This hobby is really so simple if you just limit the amount you feed and make sure not to miss a water change.

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[10 Tanks]

Tuesday. More tanks to maintain. Typically, I try to get four done in a morning. Currently have a bit of an issue with a type of hair algae. Have to remove it weekly, but in another week, it will be back. Lighting is fairly strong, so that's part of the problem. The water change will help remove what little extra food may be dissolving in the water. Can't be much, because I only feed a little every other day. But, algae can live in water with as little as 10 ppm (parts per million) of nitrogen in the water. Goes to show how little it needs to grow.

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[10 Tanks]

Hello, hello. Another day and more tanks to work on. Got to love this hobby. There's always something to do. Got enthusiastic and changed the water on an extra tank yesterday,, so did the water on four of them. Today, I'll change the water on a 75 and 100 gallon. Maybe the 300 gallon if I get a little extra time. Its pretty heavily stocked. Also working on the tank I maintain for the local government office. Their's is a 55 gallon. Just the right size for the office. They have it placed in a wide hallway and it looks nice there. Most of the office people walk by it several times a day. It's good to have one in an office. More offices want one, but no one understands how to set them up and maintain them. It's a shame.

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[10 Tanks]

Hello. Still Wednesday. Am working on an outdoor 300 gallon trough tank that sits out in my back yard. Am changing roughly 40 percent of the water. Could be half, I don't know for sure, but it's quite a bit. The four Koi fish I introduced a couple of months ago or so are doing very well. They're in with a couple of dozen Goldfish of various sizes. Had fry a couple of years ago and they're starting to change color. Sometimes the black fry stay dark. Anyway, the weather here has been unusually warm. Not complaining, but it's unusual for us in northern Colorado to have upper 60s and even 70s this time of year. I heat the 300 gallon, so the fish stay in water that's at least 55 degrees. Anyway, I really think the Koi have grow some. They sure eat enough to get bigger. Only feed every other day this time of year though. Don't want the water going bad or anything.

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[10 Tanks]

Another day. Thursday is a fairly easy day as far as tank keeping is concerned. Just one tank to clean up. Actually, "clean up" isn't really what I do. I'm not cleaning up anything, just maintaining what is already a clean tank. I'm just changing out half the water in a 55 gallon tank. It has 18 or so Giant Danios in it and some Guppies. Maybe there are three female Guppies in the tank. Sometimes I see them, sometimes not. They hide from the larger Danios. They were fry that I missed when I changed up things in the tank. Anyway, we'll squeeze out the sponge filter and trim up the plants a bit. Maybe the whole process takes 45 minutes. Here's a photo of the tank.

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