Water changes

[Byron]

I just got some new fish yesterday.
Drip acclimated and into QT
They seem alright, but I wonder if I should do a water change or just let them be. View attachment 98775View attachment 98776

I concur with Colin's post above, but I am curious...what are these tests in this photo?

 

[Back in the fold]

Yes.
If the fish have been in a tank that has not had any water changes for a long time, and you do a big water change, you can put the fish into shock due to a sudden change in pH.

In that situation you do a small 10% water change and gravel clean the substrate each day for a week. Then increase that to a 20% water changer and gravel clean each day for a week. Then do a 50% water change and gravel clean each day for a week, then a 75% water change and gravel clean each week.

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The other time it can be a problem is with newly imported fish or fish that have spent a long time in bags.

After you put new fish in a tank, they should not have any water changes for at least a few days and one week is better. This allows the fish to settle into the new tank with the new water.

If the fish have been recently imported or spent a long time in bags, they get stressed due to being put into different water multiple times in a short period of time. They need time to recover from all the moving and being put into different water, otherwise the stress can kill them.

The only exception to doing water changes on newly imported fish is if there is an ammonia or nitrite reading in the tank water. Then you do a big water change to dilute that, and hope the stress isn't too much for the fish.

Try to make sure the new water has the same pH and GH as the tank water to minimise stress.

Make sure any new water is free of chlorine/ chloramine before it's added to the tank.

I was going to say no but this is the right answer.

 

[Jan Cavalieri]

Just keep in mind that most/but not all of the Cichlids are rated as aggressive fish. I have one that a thieving local fish store told me was a Gourami and would stay the size it is. Well turned out to be a cichlid and causes havoc in my tank of semi-aggressive Gourami's. She has the lovely big lips and a spot on the side, but now that I know more about fish I would have known right away this wasn't a Gourami (he didn't have any Gourami's except "this one" - the liar). She's also now 8 inches WAY too big for my 29 gallon tank. Then my online fish seller has sent me 5 different Gourami's by mistake - there was a particular species I wanted and they are also big - about 6 inches and semi-aggressive. It's a constant battle in the tank especially at feeding tank.

Anyway - my point is make sure you know the behavior of the fish before you mix them together, plus get a reading of you GH (general hardness) from your city water department - most publish online and make sure the fish will work within those parameters. The website I buy from concentrates on KH which they feel is more important than GH parameters - but it seems like everybody on this forum concentrates on GH. So I bought my fish with KH levels in mind and I got all PEACEFUL fish except for these "mistakes". Two of the mistakes just had babies and I'm trying to deal with them. Wish my assistant hadn't noticed (I have cataracts for the second time and could barely see them), then they all would have been eaten eventually. Now I have to try and save as many as I can. Last thing I need is more large fish in a small tank and I don't think my old floors could tolerate the weight of a larger tank - plus I'm trying to downsize on the number of tanks.

 

[Retired Viking]

Just keep in mind that most/but not all of the Cichlids are rated as aggressive fish. I have one that a thieving local fish store told me was a Gourami and would stay the size it is. Well turned out to be a cichlid and causes havoc in my tank of semi-aggressive Gourami's. She has the lovely big lips and a spot on the side, but now that I know more about fish I would have known right away this wasn't a Gourami (he didn't have any Gourami's except "this one" - the liar). She's also now 8 inches WAY too big for my 29 gallon tank. Then my online fish seller has sent me 5 different Gourami's by mistake - there was a particular species I wanted and they are also big - about 6 inches and semi-aggressive. It's a constant battle in the tank especially at feeding tank.

Anyway - my point is make sure you know the behavior of the fish before you mix them together, plus get a reading of you GH (general hardness) from your city water department - most publish online and make sure the fish will work within those parameters. The website I buy from concentrates on KH which they feel is more important than GH parameters - but it seems like everybody on this forum concentrates on GH. So I bought my fish with KH levels in mind and I got all PEACEFUL fish except for these "mistakes". Two of the mistakes just had babies and I'm trying to deal with them. Wish my assistant hadn't noticed (I have cataracts for the second time and could barely see them), then they all would have been eaten eventually. Now I have to try and save as many as I can. Last thing I need is more large fish in a small tank and I don't think my old floors could tolerate the weight of a larger tank - plus I'm trying to downsize on the number of tanks.

I was given 8 African Cichlids that were rescues, they took over my 55 gallon tank and I had to move all my other fish except a pleco because of their aggression. They had babies and by the next year I had over 50 young cichilds. Had to remove everything from the tank to get them to stop breeding. I gave away as many as I could and the LFS ended up with the rest. I had made the mistake of setting the tank up for them with breeding grass and caves. I only wanted a few fry but they really can breed when they want to.

 

[vanalisa]

I would definitely recommend some siamese algae eaters. Amazing fish, especially when you have a group of them. They are constantly grazing and cleaning. He is a geophagus altifrons, best suited to larger aquariums, they can get big

One of my siamese and a yoyo loach
View attachment 98791

How big does the Siamese algae eater get full grown...how many would I need to get for them to be happy?

 

[vanalisa]

I concur with Colin's post above, but I am curious...what are these tests in this photo?

Amonia and nitrates.
The darker image is right up against a wall.
The other one is taken in a hallway with space behind it..

 

[Hayden93]

How big does the Siamese algae eater get full grown...how many would I need to get for them to be happy?

They can grow up to 6 inches and prefer to be in groups. 4 to 5 would be a good number, they enjoy grazing together I have noticed

 

[Byron]

How big does the Siamese algae eater get full grown...how many would I need to get for them to be happy?

Generally peaceful, this fish attains six inches and is suitable for the larger community aquarium (at least 4 feet/120 cm tank length) with other peaceful fishes such as barbs, danios and most loaches. A shoaling fish by nature, it does best in a group of 6 or more and a distinct hierarchy will be formed within the group.

The common name Siamese Algae Eater is regularly applied to several related but distinct species. The species Crossocheilus langei is the one most often encountered in the hobby as the Siamese Algae Eater [SAE]. The "true" SAE is actually Crossocheilus siamensis, a species initially described by H.M. Smith in 1931 as Epalzeorhynchus siamensis and moved by Banarescu into the genus Crossocheilus in 1986, and which has probably never been seen by hobbyists since the holotype [the specimen collected and used for the description] is the only one known. To further confuse, the fish described as C. siamensis by Smith was subsequently determined to be conspecific with a prior described species, Crossocheilus oblongus, so in fact there never was a C. siamensis as a distinct species, and the name now is a synonym for C. oblongus.

Confusion abounds with this fish, beyond the fore-going. There are several near-identical species within Crossocheilus, and they are occasionally seen in the hobby. Then there are two other fish often confused with the SAE, known as the False Siamese Algae Eater, Garra cambodgiensis, and the Flying Fox, Epalzeorhynchos kalopterus. The False SAE can be distinguished by the dark lateral band that ends at the caudal peduncle whereas on the subject fish this band continues into the caudal fin. The Flying Fox has white-edged red and black coloured fins, not clear fins as in the subject species.

Then there is the Chinese Algae Eater, Gyrinocheilus aymonieri, a fish that is sometimes offered as a SAE. It is much less desirable for several reasons and frasnkly is not a suitable fish fort most home aquaria given its size and generally feisty disposition especially as it ages.

This fish occurs in flowing waters and is intolerant of high nitrates and any build-up of organic waste, requiring clean, well-oxygenated water; it is an active swimmer and thus needs space. It will therefore be best in a river or stream aquascape having a reasonable current from the filter along with a substrate of gravel, sand and pebbles, with larger rocks simulating boulders and some bogwood added. As noted, it should be kept in a group of 6 or more so that the natural interaction between fish can be enjoyed.

Vegetable foods must form the bulk of its diet; protein foods will lead to health problems. Properly cared for, this species can live 10 years or longer.