Aquarium Maintence

[jupitermadcat]

Hello everyone
I'm hoping to get good advice on Aquariums

I currently have a 55 gal freshwater tank with Chiclids

I have been paying a guy to come out every month at 40 bucks a pop plus 140 for a breakdown every 6 months or year i know stupid, i feel i can do this myself suggestions?

Thank you all

[Wild Turkey]

You should be changing at least 25% of the water weekly. Not monthly, and suck some of the crap off the substrate.
Test your water often. Other than that unless something goes wrong thats really about it. (in which case you can always come back for some advice on the problem).

I also do a little aquarium maintenance on the side, and i'll be the first one to tell you, its not worth it unless you are too old or disabled and cant do it yourself.

Good luck to you!

[jupitermadcat]

He is doing a breakdown as we speak so fire the guy? lol

[jupitermadcat]

What ph levels should i keep it at?

[Wild Turkey]

Lol yea id say give him the boot. If you arent really knowledgeable about aquariums, the "breakdown" might just be him wanting a little extra cash.

As for ph, leave it. Having a stable ph is much more desirable than a ph closer to what your fish is "used to" that fluctuates because you are trying to maintain it. Most fish will adjust to almost any ph, and the fish that you buy are tank raised anyways, so its debatable if the ph in their species profile is really more beneficial to them than a moderate ph (around 7). In the future, buy fish for the tank, instead of changing the tank for a fish, stability is everything.

Edit: what exactly does he do for one of these "breakdowns" not emptying the tank i hope...if so fire him for sure.

Another edit: I hope you answer soon, theres no reason to be tearing down the tank at all ever unless goes seriously wrong.

It seems like this kid is robbing you, and doesnt know much about aquariums.
If you asked me what you needed and told me you needed help. I would say you need to pay me 20 bucks per week to show up once a week and change 25% of the water. Nothing else unless something goes wrong or you wish to change something. THe guy not only is robbing you blind for something you dont need...(and is probably hurting ur tank and fish)but isnt even providing your tank with the maintenance it actually does need.

[Northernguy]

I agree with WT!
The only time you breakdown a tank is if you have a nasty disease that killed everything in your tank.It sounds like this guy is a scammer.Check your valuables as well!lol

Welcome to the Ultimate AC!
If you want to learn how to take care of your own tank start with reading the free e-book on the left!
We will walk you through anything to do with your tanks!

[jupitermadcat]

Lol yea id say give him the boot. If you arent really knowledgeable about aquariums, the "breakdown" might just be him wanting a little extra cash.

As for ph, leave it. Having a stable ph is much more desirable than a ph closer to what your fish is "used to" that fluctuates because you are trying to maintain it. Most fish will adjust to almost any ph, and the fish that you buy are tank raised anyways, so its debatable if the ph in their species profile is really more beneficial to them than a moderate ph (around 7). In the future, buy fish for the tank, instead of changing the tank for a fish, stability is everything.

Edit: what exactly does he do for one of these "breakdowns" not emptying the tank i hope...if so fire him for sure.

Another edit: I hope you answer soon, theres no reason to be tearing down the tank at all ever unless goes seriously wrong.

It seems like this kid is robbing you, and doesnt know much about aquariums.
If you asked me what you needed and told me you needed help. I would say you need to pay me 20 bucks per week to show up once a week and change 25% of the water. Nothing else unless something goes wrong or you wish to change something. THe guy not only is robbing you blind for something you dont need...(and is probably hurting ur tank and fish)but isnt even providing your tank with the maintenance it actually does need.

Yeah he broke it down

[Wild Turkey]

Yea definite fire him.
Did he clean the filter? if so How exactly? this could actually be a big problem.

[jupitermadcat]

He takes the 2 Cartridges rinses them and he actually refills the carbon adds more

[Wild Turkey]

He takes the 2 Cartridges rinses them and he actually refills the carbon adds more

Did he rinse them in tap water? or recycled tank water?(important)

You dont need to use carbon, most opt not to. Its good for removing meds and smells, but if you arent doing anything to do the tank or having any problems, i wouldnt use it.

Also charcoal becomes ineffective at about 3-4 weeks. So after that it is just (possibly) leaking what it has absorbed back into the water and is a suspected cause of hole-in-the-head in some cases. So if you do decide to use it, you need to replace it monthly.

[jupitermadcat]

I'd better watch him a Little closer i think he rinses then in tap water and he replaces the carbon in the filters with fresh carbon. no carbon? do they have no carbon filters for my system? i have a Aqua-tech filter system

[Lady Hobbs]

He is probably using the carbon due to lack of weekly water changes. Best to do weekly water changing and eliminate the carbon. You can use filter floss instead of the inserts but this is where all your bacteria is so don't remove it all at once or if you have two filters, only add floss to one and wait for a couple weeks to change out the other. You could also get a filter sponge and cut it to the size you want and use that instead of floss.

[jupitermadcat]

He says because there is very little carbon in the filters to begin with

[btate617]

u dont need carbon

[jupitermadcat]

I must say i am learning a lot here!thumbs2:

[jupitermadcat]

He is probably using the carbon due to lack of weekly water changes. Best to do weekly water changing and eliminate the carbon. You can use filter floss instead of the inserts but this is where all your bacteria is so don't remove it all at once or if you have two filters, only add floss to one and wait for a couple weeks to change out the other. You could also get a filter sponge and cut it to the size you want and use that instead of floss.

yes i have a 2 filter system

[jupitermadcat]

He is probably using the carbon due to lack of weekly water changes. Best to do weekly water changing and eliminate the carbon. You can use filter floss instead of the inserts but this is where all your bacteria is so don't remove it all at once or if you have two filters, only add floss to one and wait for a couple weeks to change out the other. You could also get a filter sponge and cut it to the size you want and use that instead of floss.

When you do weekly water changes what water do you use ,bottled water?

[Lady Hobbs]

Heck no. This hobby costs enough. :) I use tap water, add dechlorinator as I am re-filling the tank and do 40-50%. Get yourself a python water changer that goes from the tank to your kitchen sink and it's a piece of cake. Takes about 20 minutes tops.

I assume he is breaking down the tank to stir up the sand on the bottom and do a better cleaning. You also most likely have many rocks in there that he wants to clean under and around. That's fine. I do that do.

[jupitermadcat]

Yes since i have gravel there is a lot of waste and excess food that floats around when it gets stirred up

[Wild Turkey]

Heck no. This hobby costs enough. :) I use tap water, add dechlorinator as I am re-filling the tank and do 40-50%. Get yourself a python water changer that goes from the tank to your kitchen sink and it's a piece of cake. Takes about 20 minutes tops.

I assume he is breaking down the tank to stir up the sand on the bottom and do a better cleaning. You also most likely have many rocks in there that he wants to clean under and around. That's fine. I do that do.

I think hes emptying 100% of the water, Thats what i asked about ^
He isnt even doing weekly water changes. I say fire him :hmm3grin2orange:

If he is just lowering the water and stirring up the gravel thats fine, but it still doesnt excuse accepting money to not do weekly water changes.

100% agree on the tap water + dechlor

If you have excess food in the tank it means you are probably overfeeding, whats ur feed schedule like, what do you feed and how long does it take the fish to consume it?

[Gemini]

Oh wow. He's not doing the job properly!!!
I agree with Lady and WT.
Weekly water changes of at least 25%.
All you need is a bucket and a syphon. However, buying a python will save you sooooo much time and effort! I don't even have a real python - I use a large length of clear hose, I run it from the sink to the tank. I start the syphon, suck up all the poo, get into the gravel and get yucky out.
Then attach hose to tap, make sure tap is in tank, turn tap on, add water conditioner for amount of water, fill tank.
Tap water for sure!!! I would only use bottled water if I was trying to do a marine tank or something. But tap water with DECHLORINATOR!!!
Also rinsing all filter media in tap water is not good as it kills the beneficial bacteria.

[fraggle]

Agree with all that has been said, :). You should read the free aquarium book that is listed on the left, it really does shed some light on how and why you should should be doing what we are saying, LOL, it certainly helps to understand why you are doing something!

The chlorine in the water kills any bacteria that is in the filter (which is why there is chlorine in tap water to start with!), so when you clean the filter, just put some of the tank water in a bucket or something and rinse it in the tank water.

You can buy de-chlorinator at any pet shop, you just add what ever it says per gallon of water that you are adding, then you just use normal tap water.

The water changes should be done weekly, and the only thing you should really do monthly is rinse out your filter. You never use tap water or really scrub out your filter as the bacteria that grow in it are what eat the waste that the fish produce, so if you kill them off, the waste stays in the water and you'll kill the fish.

Get yourself a gravel vacuum. I'm assuming that your fishtank cleaner guy had one, otherwise it's a piece of hose with a wide end on it that you use to siphon out the gunk that is in the gravel, you can pick one of those up at any place that sells fish stuff.
I always use that to do my water changes each week, vac the gravel and take the water out at the same time, kills two birds with one stone!

This place really is a wealth of information, and they are all really really helpful, so welcome and enjoy your hobby!!!thumbs2:

[jupitermadcat]

I think hes emptying 100% of the water, Thats what i asked about ^
He isnt even doing weekly water changes. I say fire him :hmm3grin2orange:

If he is just lowering the water and stirring up the gravel thats fine, but it still doesnt excuse accepting money to not do weekly water changes.

100% agree on the tap water + dechlor

If you have excess food in the tank it means you are probably overfeeding, whats ur feed schedule like, what do you feed and how long does it take the fish to consume it?


I feed twice a day morning and evening how long it takes maybe 2 min

How much dechlor would you use?

[Northernguy]

It depends on which brand of dechlorinator you have.Most are a capful for 10gals.
You can add a bit more without any problems.

[Wild Turkey]

I feed twice a day morning and evening how long it takes maybe 2 min

How much dechlor would you use?
I would cut feeding to once a day and feed about half as much, so they fish consume all that is fed in less than 1 minute.

Dechlor as directed on the bottle

[jupitermadcat]

i feed them twice once in the morning and once in the evening it tales about 2 min i guess

[jupitermadcat]

I would cut feeding to once a day and feed about half as much, so they fish consume all that is fed in less than 1 minute.

Dechlor as directed on the bottle

Oh ok in the morning then