Of routines and fish

[elephantnose3334]

On a now-deleted thread, @Colin_T had his own unique routine of the freshwater fish tanks he kept over the years. Here is the routine:

"When I had a fish room at home, it contained 40 tanks and I did water changes and gravel cleans every week on all the tanks. Filters were done once a month, and I cleaned the covers and glass once a month.

I had holding tanks for water, which was dechlorinated and made to whatever requirements I needed for certain tanks.
eg. Some water holding tanks had Rift Lake water conditioner added to increase the GH, KH & pH for the Rift Lake cichlids. A lower dose of this water was used for the rainbowfish. My tetras and barbs got water with nothing added because we normally have soft water in Perth. Water made up for salamanderfish had peat added to it for tannins and to drop the pH."

Ah, routines. They form an integral part of the fishkeeping hobby. Routines include looking at the fish to see there are no dead ones, feeding them at a certain time, etc. I'm starting to do a routine with the occasional gravel vac with my dad, checking on the fish and turning on the lights for a short period of time when I see any disease clearly. My tetras have lived longer than my dwarf gourami. I will look after them until they die. Routines are a part of knowledge. They're great.

 

[GaryE]

Meanwhile, back at the farm...

I think establishing routines is essential. I have a whiteboard in my fishroom, and I note the dates of water changes. I have 7 day, and 10 day tanks, depending on bioload and fish requirements. I try not to ever miss a water change. It matters.

I worry less about filters as I use wide pored media, to be colonized by archaea and bacteria, but to allow maximum flow. I clean glass and filters as needed while doing water changes. I have an issue an Australian wouldn't, as for half the year, my tapwater is freezing cold, and I have to mix it with warm water. My water tank is small, so I have the room divided into sections, and only do one at a time. I tend to do my water changes in the early morning before I get into other activities. A section a day keeps the nitrates away.

As well, with consistent, routine water changes, I rarely see diseases, and rarely have fish die from anything but old age.

I drain, add dechlorinator, clean glass and fill. I have a larger hose to a floor drain to empty (in summer, to the garden) and a hose to fill.

I have to feed the fish, but since I have a lot of live food, feeding the food is also part of the routine.

Once I have covered the basics, then fishwatching, breeding the fish, aquascaping, adjusting this that and the other and special projects are simply fun. I'm retired and only work a few evenings a week, so I'm usually done in the fishroom by 10 AM, and go out to enjoy doing things in the evening, after supper or after work.

 

[simonas]

Totally agree

I do my water changes Sunday morning and Wednesday night and my fish all seem to do pretty well. I only ever seem to have aggression related deaths and they don't suffer with diseases etc