10 Tank's fish and tanks

[10 Tanks]

Hello and "Happy Wednesday". Today we have a 75 and 100 gallon tank to do. We'll remove and replace roughly half the tank water in both. The 75 has Guppies and Platys, but not many for 75 gallons of water. The 100 has a dozen fairly large Goldfish of different colors and patterns. The Goldfish are all around 6 years old and from three to six inches long, give or take a little. The 75 has a single sponge filter and the 100 has three. Those Goldfish need a little more filtration, because they're such heavy waste producers. Feeding must be minimal if you hope to keep the water clean enough for any fish. Even a trace of nitrogen in the water is enough to weaken a fish's immune system and allow the bad bacteria that lives in any tank to infect them. This is why I preach the benefits of large, weekly water changes.

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[Lcc86]

Hello and "Happy Wednesday". Today we have a 75 and 100 gallon tank to do. We'll remove and replace roughly half the tank water in both. The 75 has Guppies and Platys, but not many for 75 gallons of water. The 100 has a dozen fairly large Goldfish of different colors and patterns. The Goldfish are all around 6 years old and from three to six inches long, give or take a little. The 75 has a single sponge filter and the 100 has three. Those Goldfish need a little more filtration, because they're such heavy waste producers. Feeding must be minimal if you hope to keep the water clean enough for any fish. Even a trace of nitrogen in the water is enough to weaken a fish's immune system and allow the bad bacteria that lives in any tank to infect them. This is why I preach the benefits of large, weekly water changes.

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How long do these changes take you normally? I just spent the best part of an hour doing my 6 gallon and 30 gallon, although I don't have a hose so it's a case of having to empty with a gravel vac/siphon into buckets.

 

[10 Tanks]

Hello and thanks for the question. I use a python brand siphon. I'm sure you've seen them. It's just a long, plastic tube that's roughly the size of a garden hose. The end that goes into the tank has a long tube and I stuff a sponge from an old hang on back filter into it, so I only remove water and not any small fish that may accidentally get sucked into the tube. The other end goes into the bathroom shower drain. There's a removable bulb on the bathroom drain side of the tube to pump the water up into the tube. Then, it's all gravity. The hose is large enough, so I can drain half the water in my 100 gallon tank in about 20 minutes. I mix my water conditioner in a pitcher of water and pour it directly into the tank. To refill the tank, I use a garden hose with an attachment for the faucet in the sink and just turn on the water. The tank fills in about 20 minutes. I can do four large tanks in about 2 and a half hours.

Sorry that's a short story made pretty long. I'm never too busy to pass on a couple of things I've learned. I very much appreciate your interest.

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[10 Tanks]

Hello. Thursdays are fairly easy as far as the tank maintenance goes. Just a 55 gallon and I'm planning on changing the water in the outdoor 300. The Koi are pretty large and definitely add to the waste material in that tank. There are a dozen large Goldfish and several smaller fish that were fry a couple of years ago. The tank water is heated, so there's no ice on the water. Most weeks, I'm changing the water in the 300 twice a week. I feel better about the health of the fish when I perform water changes more often. I know there's no chance of a build up of waste material when I change the water this often. Water makes up the largest portion of the tank system, so it's just common sense that you spend more time on this part of the system than on anything else.

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[10 Tanks]

More on a Thursday. Just finished changing out the tank water in my outdoor 300 gallon trough. Total time time: 45 minutes. If you're willing to change out half the water in your fish tank a couple of times a week, you won't need filtration if you decide not to use it. You do need aeration to maintain a good oxygen level in the water. Cooler water holds on to oxygen longer than warmer water. You can do the science part of it if you like, but the fact still remains. I have never filtered my 300 gallon. This is because I change a lot of water every week. I started doing twice weekly water changes when I added four large Koi back in October. The fish are around 8 to 10 inches and as we know they produce a lot of waste. They don't need to be feed any more often than your indoor fish. The ideal menu is a combination of pellet foods. Nothing fancy, these are originally bottom feeders or what the local fisherman here call "Trash Fish". I think they're pretty nice looking fish.

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[10 Tanks]

Friday. No tanks the rest of the week. Nothing to do but look at the fish, unless something besides the water goes "south". That's really unlikely. When you remove and replace as much water as I do, the biggest part of the tank system, the water, is in top shape. So, there's not much else that needs attention. The sponges and air pumps aren't likely to malfunction. If they did, I have replacements and could deal with that in a few minutes. Not much else could go wrong. Maybe a leak, but these tanks have been running for years with no water leak issues. Oh, I will have the maintenance to do on the government's 55 gallon tank on Saturday, but that's it. We'll start everything over on Monday. Have a good weekend!

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[10 Tanks]

Hello. Here we go again! Today is Saturday and we have a light load as far as tank maintenance. We'll pay a visit to the government's 55 gallon. We'll clean the two sponge filters and remove and replace half the tank water. One of the Skirt Tetras is pregnant and we'd hoped to see some eggs or even some fry by now, but not yet. We'll just keep doing what we're doing by keeping the water as clean as possible. The water is the most important thing in keeping the fish healthy. It's no different than people needing clean air to breathe. We'll also feed the fish a pinch of food or so. Sunday is a fasting day. The fish will do their job removing any small pieces of food that were missed.

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[10 Tanks]

Happy Sunday. We're generally off today. Typically, no tank work today. But we'll get a jump on the week and start the water changes today. By planning a little ahead, we can get our water changes in early, so if we have commitments, we can do those and still get our tanks done. This is one of those days. We have a commitment on Monday to fulfill, so we'll use our day off and get the tanks done. I'm sure we'll get no complaints from the fish, if we change out their tank water a little early.

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[10 Tanks]

Monday. Had a curve thrown my way. Have to run an errand for a friend, so we did the tanks normally scheduled for today, yesterday. With a little planning, you don't need to miss a water change. I'm sure the fish liked having half their water removed and replaced a day early. The Platy fry in the 45 gallon are a little more visible. Platy fry will hide longer than Guppy fry. Guppy fry will swim to the surface immediately after being born to get that first breath of air. Platy fry will stay hidden in a shady area and then ease up to the surface when they feel safe. I find Anacharis to be the best floating plant for fry. If you keep the water extremely clean there will always be small air bubbles among the plants, attached to the leaves and this can provide a source of oxygen for the fry as well as a hiding place.

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[10 Tanks]

Good morning. Today is what we call "Four Tank Tuesday". We'll change the water on a 50, two 55 gallon and a 60 gallon tank. Total time, about three hours. The filters are running pretty well, so I think we'll leave them another week without squeezing them out. Large, frequent water changes, temporarily relieve you of some tasks in this hobby. Frequent filter maintenance is one. In extremely clean water conditions, the filter system doesn't work very hard. It's simple moving clean water. So, this job doesn't need to be done all that often. An aggressive water change routine is good for the water keeper, because it saves a little time and even better for the fish, because they live in near nitrogen free water.

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[10 Tanks]

Hello again. Wednesday. A little tank work ahead for today. A 75 and a 100 gallon to do. Am thinking we need to work on a 55 gallon too. There's been quite a build up of bottom material in it lately. Will need to do a little vacuuming to remove it. Normally, I don't fret over this, but this tank needs a little more attention. There's maybe a dozen small fish in it, but it's heavily planted and old plant material can build up on the bottom. But, that's easily removed. Also, we need to get over to the government tank and change out the water. Still haven't seen any eggs or fry from the Skirt Tetra Glo fish. She's got to be a little stressed. But, all the fish are eating well and the tank gets two 50 percent water changes weekly. So, time will tell.

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[10 Tanks]

Hello, hello. Another Thursday and another week of tank keeping is coming to an end. Two tanks today. A 55 and I'll change out the water in the 300 gallon outdoor tank. For years I thought the aquarium hobby was too demanding and too difficult. But, the more I realized that the hobby is simply about keeping the toxins out of the water, it became so much easier. You just need to remove and replace most of the water regularly. In other words, you remove the water before the dissolving fish waste builds up. You can take another step in the clean water process by not feeding the fish too often and making sure you don't put too many fish in the tank. So easy, but sadly, many hobbyists give up, because they never realize that success is as simple as changing the tank water.

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[10 Tanks]

It's Saturday, And, after a day off yesterday, we're going to the government office to do a water change on their 55 gallon. It's a nice tank and the Glofish are doing well. There's a small Pleco in the tank. It's brown and covered with small, white spots. So, naturally, its name is "Spot". There are probably 20 small fish in the tank and we think one is pregnant. But, so far, no fry. The Zebra Nerite snails are producing a lot of eggs, but there is just s slight trace of salt in the water, so the eggs never hatch. There are also a few Ram's Horn snails in there, but the food isn't enough to allow the snails to get out of control.

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[10 Tanks]

Hello, it's Sunday. Very light work on the tanks today. Will do a water change on the outdoor 300. There's a heavy bioload (fish load) in it. So, have decided to change out the water a couple of times a week. The Koi are growing! They're considerably larger than my largest Goldfish. Not surprising, they're supposed to be larger. Anyway, all the outdoor fish are doing very well, in spite of the cooler outdoor temperatures.

Sad news today. I lost a seven year old feeder Goldfish in my 100 gallon tank. A pretty white and orange one. It wasn't its usual active self lately and last night some time, gave up. The others seem fine and all are the same age. I put them in the tank before my wife retired and she's been retired for just about six years, so I'm guessing the fish was more than six. Feeder Goldfish are raised by the hundreds in marginal water conditions, so they don't get a good start and their immune system isn't as strong as it could be. So, six to seven years is about the best I ever get with them. Like my wife always tells me when I lose a fish. "Nothing lives forever."

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[10 Tanks]

Good morning and Happy Monday. We have the first of the tanks to perform water changes, so we'll get to that later this morning. It typically takes a couple of hours to remove and replace the water in a 45 and two 55 gallon tanks. You know, if you can handle the cost of setting up several tanks and adding a small variety of fish, you don't need to purchase more fish. With good care, they'll repopulate your tank. I'm at the point in the hobby where I don't purchase more fish and have settled on the right number of tanks. I have 11 large tanks and maintain another for a local business. A person in this hobby really needs to plan ahead and see if another tank is really reasonable or not. A tank requires constant attention if only to look around and into the tank to make sure everything is running the way it should and to check the look of the fish. There's a limit to what you can keep the right way.

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