10 Tank's fish and tanks

[10 Tanks]

Hello again Colin. As always, thanks for checking in with me. You're more knowledgeable than I am, no question. But, here's my take on vacuuming. First, I have a large trough outside and I could never begin to vacuum that 300 gallon trough. So, I just change out a lot of tank water a couple of times a week. This aggressive routine does a couple of things: It removes most of the toxins that dissolve in the water and what toxins that are left are diluted to a safe level in all the new, treated tap water and this keeps my fish in clean water conditions. So, they're healthy and the chances of a healthy fish being infected by some sort of pathogen that probably exits in all tanks, is to me really remote. I treat my large, indoor tanks the same. There's just too much area to vacuum. I change out most of the water every few days, so the fish stay healthy. I really believe that most pathogens aren't going to do well in near pure water conditions. Just my opinion.

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[Colin_T]

Disease organisms do well in clean or dirty water but by doing lots of big water changes, you dilute the number of pathogens in the water and this reduces the chance of infection. Clean water also helps improve the fish's overall health and immune system so there is less chance of them getting sick or infected by something.

If you have really big tanks, you can gravel clean part of them each time you do a water change. I used a home made gravel cleaner that I made from a 2 litre plastic drink bottle and a length of clear plastic hose. I could gravel clean and drain a 4x2x2ft tank in minutes.

 

[GaryE]

If you have really big tanks, you can gravel clean part of them each time you do a water change. I used a home made gravel cleaner that I made from a 2 litre plastic drink bottle and a length of clear plastic hose. I could gravel clean and drain a 4x2x2ft tank in minutes.

That is officially my hack of the day. Thank you!

Getting away from commercially made devices and making your own based on their design can save you enormous time and trouble. People think I'm nuts for having so many tanks, and while that's possible, I have systems worked out. I think I'm about to make a gatorade (wide mouthed bottle) gravel vacuum. The only thing that slows me down on water changes now is refilling. But Colin's idea is going to speed large tanks up a lot.

I don't gravel vac enough, and find the problem with just water changing is that we're human. As long as we're changing the water and diluting the pathogen load, it works like a charm. But if you get sick, have an injury that takes time, or even go on a trip, then a mulm problem can become a serious issue. I'm retired, and I generally have time to water change like a madman. But I'm retired, and that means I have some age on these bones, and I want a system that can keep working during my body's glitches.

 

[Colin_T]

That is officially my hack of the day. Thank you!

Getting away from commercially made devices and making your own based on their design can save you enormous time and trouble. People think I'm nuts for having so many tanks, and while that's possible, I have systems worked out. I think I'm about to make a gatorade (wide mouthed bottle) gravel vacuum. The only thing that slows me down on water changes now is refilling. But Colin's idea is going to speed large tanks up a lot.

Glad you like it

I have been using the 2 litre plastic drink gravel cleaner since the 80s. I used to take mine into the shop to speed up water changes. It makes a huge difference doing big tanks.

In my fish room I had 3 tier stands. The top shelf held tanks that I used to hold water only. They were aerated and had a thin layer of gravel in and I had a 2 inch hose made of black polypipe (irrigation tube) with a tap on the bottom end. The polypipe had a couple of 90 degree elbows on both ends (it made a U shape at each end) that let it sit on the edge of the tank and one end stayed in the water and the other end hung down and was used to fill the tanks below it. I could drain the 2 lower tanks in minutes and fill them even quicker just from gravity. When the top tanks were empty and water changes were done, I used the garden hose to fill the water holding tanks back up and they were left to aerate and warm to room temperature over the next week before I started all over again.

A friend had a 200 litre plastic wine barrel in his fish room. He filled it with tap water and added Rift Lake conditioner (he kept Tropheus species), let it aerate for a few days before using a water pump and hose to fill the tanks after doing water changes. Another friend used a plastic wheelie bin for the same purpose.

 

[GaryE]

I know this is usually a journal type thread for 10 Tanks, but I use direct tap water with a dechlorinator. The water here is perfect for the fish I keep, although I do have to mix hot from the water heater in for most of the year. It can be very cold water for much of the year. I empty via a siphon into a swimming pool hose that taps into the drainage system, or in summer, out the door into the lawn. The swimming pool hose is lightweight and easy to move from tank to tank.

 

[10 Tanks]

Hello. This is great form my prospective seeing these additional post! My approach to fish keeping is really quite simple and based almost entirely on an aggressive water change routine. Everything else I do with my tanks works off the larger, weekly water change.

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[Uberhoust]

I used a home made gravel cleaner that I made from a 2 litre plastic drink bottle and a length of clear plastic hose. I could gravel clean and drain a 4x2x2ft tank in minutes.

Don't let the fish near your gravel cleaner they could be gone in a second.

 

[10 Tanks]

Hello again. I use a python to remove the tank water and use a sponge I cut from an old sponge filter and place it snugly into the vacuuming end of the python. This way, nothing small can accidentally be sucked into the vacuum, just the water. This way, I can walk away from the siphon and set my timer for the time it takes to remove half or a bit more of the tank water. This allows me a little time to be working on another tank and not have to watch how much water I'm removing.

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[10 Tanks]

Wednesday morning and we'll finish up all the tanks by removing and replacing half the water in a 100 and a 55 gallon tank. We've been pretty good about changing out at least half the water in the tanks about every five days. By feeding just a little flaked food and feeding just what the fish will eat in a couple of minutes, the chemistry remains steady and the fish enjoy clean water conditions. This water condition means we no longer need to test the water, need minimal filtration and never need to vacuum the bottom material. The water is always high in oxygen, nutrients and nice and clear.

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[10 Tanks]

Wednesday supplement. Hey, let's talk about Platies today. Can't decide on a hardy fish to keep? There's probablay not a better one than a Platy. Whether or not you're new to this fish, you really can't beat it for toughness, easily bred, cheap and available at most fish stores. Comes in a lot of different colors too. Something else about them, their peaceful, so they'll work well in a tank with other peaceful fish. More about this interesting fish is coming up.

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[10 Tanks]

Another Wednesday post. More on Platies. This easy to care for fish, doesn't mean you can toss them into a tank of water and enjoy them. You'll need to set up your tank with all the bells and whistles and fill it with treated tap water and some bacteria starter. Then, you allow the tank to sit for a couple of days to steady the water temperature. Most tropical fish, like Platies will do just fine in a water temperature around 75 degrees. That temperature must remain fairly constant too. I keep my place at 77 degrees in the Summer and allow it to slowly drop to 72 degrees in the Winter time, so I don't need to use a heater.

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[Colin_T]

drawback to platies is they are regularly infested with intestinal worms

 

[10 Tanks]

drawback to platies is they are regularly infested with intestinal worms

Hello Colin. That's something I've never encountered. I have a list of things to look for when selecting my fish and haven't had a problem in the past keeping healthy fish. I don't even quarantine my new fish, but have always kept them in clean water and a bit of standard aquarium salt. My fish keeping methods are extremely simple and I don't venture into things like medications and the like.

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[10 Tanks]

We should really talk briefly about filtering the tank water. We know to add tap water conditioner to the water to make the chemicals the public water people put into the tap water to make it safe for you to drink. Those chemicals need to be changed to a non toxic form. That's the job of the tap water conditioner. We need to add a bacteria starter to the water too. The starter establishes a colony of little bugs that use the ammonia and nitrite produced by the fish waste as food, removing it from the tank water. The large, regular water changes will remove nitrate, which is last product of the "Nitrogen Cycle". Now, it doesn't hurt to have a good filter for the tank. One like, those from Fluval work pretty well and won't cost a lot. This filter will provide mechanical filtration that removes the small bits of material that float around in the water. Then you have chemical filtration to remove compounds and gases from the water. Last, your tank needs the rough material or biological filtration for the bacteria to live on to help control ammonia and nitrite. Remember, remove and replace half the tank water every few days and always dose the water conditioner and bacteria starter according to the instruction every time you do.

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[10 Tanks]

Thursday morning and it's coffee break time and thinking about the tank work to be done today. Just two tanks, a 45 and a 55 gallon. Had a bit of a scare yesterday. Thought we were losing one of the fish in the government's 55 gallon tank, a Skirt Tetra Glofish. It was swimming at an odd angle and had a protruding eye. Thought it was possibly an injury to the eye. But, miraculously, it got better in just a matter of a few hours. So strange. The fish may recover. Don't know for certain at this point, but we can hope. We'll be over on Friday to take another look when we change out the water in that tank.

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