Do You Ever Get Fed Up With Cleaning Your Tank?

[andyg81]

@ NICOLAISAM

Awesome thats all I can say, I love plecos, I only have a bristlenose one in my tank but I am on the look out for a larger tank as cheap as possible (free) lol so I can then have discus as my wife thinks they are amazing but wont let me have a bigger tank yet !!!! lol

a LFS to me is selling a 6 tank rack set up on ebay at the minute

 

[nicolaisam]

They are in seperate tanks,The zebs,260 and 134 are all in there own 3ft tanks.

3 ft tank can be 20 gal or more, mine's about 3 feet but a 20.2 gal. Was asking about gallons or liters.

sorry they are 110 lts i think, 28 us gals

Thanks. So plecs should be kept in 110L or more.

It depends on how many and what ones,all mine are small plecs,but some are quite messy,134 are very messy.Zebs arnt
some like massive flow,and lots of dissolved oxygen some dont.
some like 23 degrees others like my zebs are at 29 degrees,lots of variables

I also have plecs in the 2ft tanks,these are 18 us gallon.
i wouldnt go smaller than a 2ft for them,they need space,some can be quite agressive towards each other,and sqaubbles will break out.
my 2fts are 24x18x10)height of the tank is 10" because they are all bottom dwellers,so a taller tank is wasted
I have had all my tanks specially made to fit the rack i designed and made.

@ NICOLAISAM

Awesome thats all I can say, I love plecos, I only have a bristlenose one in my tank but I am on the look out for a larger tank as cheap as possible (free) lol so I can then have discus as my wife thinks they are amazing but wont let me have a bigger tank yet !!!! lol

a LFS to me is selling a 6 tank rack set up on ebay at the minute

I do have a soft spot for plecs and cory,i also have Discus,Penang eruption,waiting to be moved into the shed.I will then sell the Juwel Lido tank they were in.and get some of my living room back

6ft racks are a good size.i have a 4ft rack in my garage aswell,but i dont use this anymore.

 

[Salam]

@Alm0stAwesome If the dechlor amount question was for me (I wasn't sure if it was lol) I only add the dechlor for the "new" water. On my last wc before getting the unit I did my usual weekly 50% then on the side of the aquarium a tiny piece of cellotape to mark 50% if that makes any sense lol.

@salam You attach the unit to the mixer tap, and turn to water on. The water passes through the unit head and creates suction, how powerful depends on what level you turn your taps to (I put both of mine and full blast/flow.) The water is then sucked up and into the sink. In my case it takes about 8mins to remove 50% from my 180L. You unit has a switch that you flip to change from suction to flow which will refill the tank. To adjust the temp you simply put the unit in suction mode (with the siphon part out of the aquarium) when you get the desired temp, turn the switch to flow mode and bam. Refilling takes about 5-6mins.

Thanks for the info, was really curious. I do it with a hose at the moment, but feel bad for them getting a cold water shock whenever I refill. They seem ok though, but it would be better if I could get warm water in straight away.

 

[FishBlast]

It depends on how many and what ones,all mine are small plecs,but some are quite messy,134 are very messy.Zebs arnt
some like massive flow,and lots of dissolved oxygen some dont.
some like 23 degrees others like my zebs are at 29 degrees,lots of variables

I also have plecs in the 2ft tanks,these are 18 us gallon.
i wouldnt go smaller than a 2ft for them,they need space,some can be quite agressive towards each other,and sqaubbles will break out.
my 2fts are 24x18x10)height of the tank is 10" because they are all bottom dwellers,so a taller tank is wasted
I have had all my tanks specially made to fit the rack i designed and made.

@ NICOLAISAM

Awesome thats all I can say, I love plecos, I only have a bristlenose one in my tank but I am on the look out for a larger tank as cheap as possible (free) lol so I can then have discus as my wife thinks they are amazing but wont let me have a bigger tank yet !!!! lol

a LFS to me is selling a 6 tank rack set up on ebay at the minute

I do have a soft spot for plecs and cory,i also have Discus,Penang eruption,waiting to be moved into the shed.I will then sell the Juwel Lido tank they were in.and get some of my living room back

6ft racks are a good size.i have a 4ft rack in my garage aswell,but i dont use this anymore.

Well, I was talking about a single plec (usually in a community tank).
The most interesting plec varieties I've seen online or in shops:
That black one with yellow dots (a bristlenose I guess), the albino bristlenose.
Green Phantom.
Red pleco.
The common pleco seems kind of cute, but it's a mammoth...

I like hoplos the most, because I was used to growing these since I was a kid. But I'm not sure what I will do once my last little buddy passes away (if it's true what websites say that at 8 years they are old, at 9 years he's already the equal to a 100-year old human).

I don't like pygmy cories because of their lack of a solid color, but while I like bronze / albino and trilineatus cories, getting a shoal of them would be quite expensive and would probably be too much for my 20 gal, even with no decor.
So I don't know if I'll get another hoplo (and hope I could find a dwarf (Lepthoplosternum pectorale) one) after I won't have this one. No idea if they sell dwarves here either. Or what exact breed I have at the moment.

 

[JSmails]

This is really interesting! So what you guys are saying is that you just fill water straight from the tap directly into the tank, then add dechlorinator afterwards?

If thats the case (and sorry to go over old ground again) can you just confirm the following:

1) Even if the water is very cold, and obviously the water in the UK can be very cold at times, the massive temperature drop before the tank heater gets it back up, is no problem whatsoever to your standard tropical fish? Cos obviously a load of very cold water in a 50% water change would surely bring say a 26 degree celcius tank down massively?

2) The chlorinated water isnt a problem for a short space of time? How quickly in a tank does the dechlorinator take to work?

 

[LucyB]

YES, I hate the thought of doing water changes, and put it off until I literally have to drag myself over to the tank and do it. When I get started, I don't mind at all, and I love how clean the tank looks afterwards.

 

[TheJ0kerrr]

This is really interesting! So what you guys are saying is that you just fill water straight from the tap directly into the tank, then add dechlorinator afterwards?

If thats the case (and sorry to go over old ground again) can you just confirm the following:

1) Even if the water is very cold, and obviously the water in the UK can be very cold at times, the massive temperature drop before the tank heater gets it back up, is no problem whatsoever to your standard tropical fish? Cos obviously a load of very cold water in a 50% water change would surely bring say a 26 degree celcius tank down massively?

2) The chlorinated water isnt a problem for a short space of time? How quickly in a tank does the dechlorinator take to work?

From what i've seen, you add the dechlorinator into the half-full tank before filling it back up with tap water. Apparently, dechlorinator works almost instantly. As for the water temp, you'll have to use some hot water to bring it as close as possible to the tank temperature. Otherwise, it will definetly harm any temp sensitive fish you have in the tank!

Don't take my words for absolute facts though, i'm just a n00b! I'm sure others will validate or clarify what i'm saying.

 

[Alm0stAwesome]

No you don't add cold water to the tank - the system we are talking about has a valve on it so you can stop the flow of water. So you match the water temperature to your tank water first, close the valve on the pipe, put the hose in your tank and start refilling. No temperature shock

 

[fluttermoth]

This is really interesting! So what you guys are saying is that you just fill water straight from the tap directly into the tank, then add dechlorinator afterwards?
If thats the case (and sorry to go over old ground again) can you just confirm the following:

I use this method and am more than happy to clarify for you

1) Even if the water is very cold, and obviously the water in the UK can be very cold at times, the massive temperature drop before the tank heater gets it back up, is no problem whatsoever to your standard tropical fish? Cos obviously a load of very cold water in a 50% water change would surely bring say a 26 degree celcius tank down massively?

If, like me, you don't have a mixer tap and so can't temperature match the new water, you have to trickle it in very slowly. Fish are quite tolerant of temperature changes, if they happen slowly. I might take an hour or so to refill a 200/240l tank after a 50 or 60% water change. As I'm not having to lug buckets and buckets of water around, I don't mind it taking longer; I can sit next to the tank and read with a nice cup of tea

2) The chlorinated water isnt a problem for a short space of time? How quickly in a tank does the dechlorinator take to work?

Many, many very experienced fishkeepers are happy to use chlorinated water for water changes of 50% or less; the chlorine level is designed to kill loose bacteria, not fish or established bacterial colonies like we have in our filters, plus the chlorine level is reduced by the water that is already in the tank.

Personally (after many years ago seeing what happened to some minnows a friend of my son caught in the river and put in a tank) I prefer to add dechlorinator (enough for the whole volume of the tank, as some of it gets bound up by organic compounds present in mature tanks)before I start refilling. Dechlorinator works more or less instantaneously.

I'd add a couple of cautions, just personally and I know some people will disagree; make sure your filters are switched off, just to make sure no chlorinated water comes into contact with your bacteria. I think this method is best suited to large tanks that are well established, with good, robust bacterial colonies. IMO, very newly cycled tanks need a little bit more TLC, and for tanks of less than 100l it's probably not worth doing.

 

[JSmails]

Thanks Fluttermoth, very comprehensive.

Thinking of doing this. Its more to do with avoiding spillages for me while saving some time too. Looking on the internet, looks like it costs about £35.

I've got a 260l tank with internal and external filter, established for around 3 years.

So couple of final question: Are we basically saying that you almost drip the water in? And if so do you sit the end in the tank? By this I mean is it easy to balance so you can walk away?

 

[Primous]

@fluttermouth What water change system are you using?

@JSmails I purposely drop my temp from 25C to 20C and do so within the time it takes to complete the change (inside 14 mins.) I do this for the health of the fish more than anything else. I asked what system fluttermouth is using because with the aqueon unit it would be extremely difficult to have a slow water change. It's just how the system works where in the water pressure needs to reach a certain level for the unit to kick into gear so to speak.

I'd also advise you never to allow chlorinated water to run through your filter. How and when you add dechlor differs from person to person but in my experience it is vital. I'm saying this because on one occasion I did a 50% change using the the unit and switched the filter back on without adding dechlor. It ran for about 6 mins and as suspected did damage to my bacs. I use a nutrafin liquid test kit and had low ammonia and nitrite readings for a week until my bacs recovered. Don't ever risk it!

 

[KkAaNnEe]

Just to add I use my electric shower with hose attached if you havent got mixer taps

And yes this only works with big tanks as a small tank will fill very fast and you might forget, also the power from the hose would blow everything about if putting water directly in

 

[fluttermoth]

Thanks Fluttermoth, very comprehensive.

Thinking of doing this. Its more to do with avoiding spillages for me while saving some time too. Looking on the internet, looks like it costs about £35.

I've got a 260l tank with internal and external filter, established for around 3 years.

So couple of final question: Are we basically saying that you almost drip the water in? And if so do you sit the end in the tank? By this I mean is it easy to balance so you can walk away?

I do a 'gentle trickle', and I tuck the hose behind the pipes of my external filters to keep it in place; I don't walk away; I've had hoses fall out of tanks before; although if you can get one of those 'hockey stick' shaped things they use for washing machine hoses, you'd probably be safe to leave it, though I wouldn't; it's very easy to forget and flood your floors!

@fluttermouth What water change system are you using?

A long garden hose, a tap adaptor and the kitchen or bathroom (cold) tap. I live in an old council house, and we don't have mixer taps or a shower

 

[Primous]

I see. Though anyway to do bucket free wcs is a plus in my eyes.

 

[Mikaila31]

I also attach a cheap hose vinyl hose I made to my shower. It works just as fast as any python type changer without having to run the sink to drain the tank. As KkAaNnEe mentioned it can fill a LOT faster then a sink hook up and you do have to pay closer attention to it. I never run the shower valve more then 1/2 open when filling tanks. Fully open is impossible as it will shoot the hose right out of the tank lol. I fill tanks as small as 15 gallons with this method its just you have to be careful and make very small adjustments at the shower tap and run it barely on.

I don't mind cleaning tanks usually. I keep densely planted tanks and normally do weekly 50% water changes. If I am too lazy or busy to do water changes I usually just put it off till I feel like doing it. I can change water on 3 tanks totaling 90 gallons including pruning back plants in roughly 2 hours max.