Rate My Fish Tank

Sat Mar 20, 2010 10:21 pm GMT   Reply      

That's a serious analogy.. :)

"so unless u trained your fish to jump in the toilet, shit , flush n return to your tank" <---- You forgot about wiping.. :D

Sun Mar 21, 2010 2:26 pm GMT   Reply      

lol

Wed Mar 24, 2010 12:36 am GMT   Reply      

well the reason you may be able to go without a water change is your tank is 500 Liter or approx 125 gallons, that is, there is less likely a chance of problems in such a spacious environment.

Nevertheless, practically 0 nitrites is not good enough, must be 0 nitrite ppm ALL THE TIME...40 ppm is not too bad, should be about 25 ppm especially considering you have fake plants (real plants can absorb some of the nitrates).

the reason for a water change is equivalent to the moving waters of the ocean, streams and/or rivers. The water is constantly never the same. So with a water change by us humans we move the water about plus we add new atoms to the water with other nutrients.

But I do agree that what experts say is best is not always best. I use all natural sunlight regulated by mini blinds, and with a little pruning of algae once a week, the tank is doing impressively well.

If you tank is by a window, you may run a hose into the tank and siphon the water out the window then add water conditioner into the tank during the interval (I did this for some time at the other house, but recently we moved (again)). This time I have the tank in the west window instead of the south window, more sunlight. The ecosystem is flourishing much better.

So I understand lostlast. It is very true, some things the so called experts say is utterly wrong. One other example, I never ever vacuum the tank. Ammonia is always 0, nitrite 0, and nitrate between 25-30 ppm. Experts - ha!

But a water change, this is a habit we must all get into. It's just best. Let us know how things are going, I am always open to learn new ideas or new processes in our tanks.

Thanks for the thread

Thu Mar 25, 2010 4:51 pm GMT   Reply      

@ yasherkoach- there are always exceptions in this hobby, very few things are set in stone. IMO the "experts" know this, but the common beliefs you find online are focused for the more general hobbyist. A tank will often function fine w/o gravel vacs, they are suggested because I tank usually runs better and is more stable when it is gravel vac'ed. Just remember the exceptions. Like it is not helpful to vac a well planted tank.

I also have a tiny tank that holds about a gallon of water. It is unfiltered, unheated, and has only ever been topped off. It has been running extremely well for much longer than the OP's tank. Its never had its water tested. It has a couple snail, cherry shrimps, and occasionally a young male endler.

40ppm of nitrate is not all that high, but you should be doing WC's in your tank. A tank normally becomes very unbalance without water changes. You can develop what is called Old tank syndrome. Just because (IMO) your NO2 and NO3 are fine does not mean you tank is. Phos is not of real issue either IMO. Your water hardness will be slowly increasing, keeping hard water in a tank will ruin(go ugly) it much faster than normal through lime and calcium build up. Fish are deprived of key trace minerals that they would normally absorb from the water. It can also effect their osmoregulation system. It is important to approach a "old" tank carefully, it often develops paramaters very diff than tap. Doing a large WC can shock the system. ect ect ect....

What is important is how much higher your nitrate is compared to your tap. With only 10 fish in a 125gal you have a light stocking level. I would not expect you to see much in the terms of high nitrate, phos, and other common parameters. With your stocking levels you would be fine doing water changes once every 2-3 weeks. If you increase your stock, you should increase your water changes.

Sat Mar 27, 2010 4:23 am GMT   Reply      

Finally back to report. Few more posts to read, cheers again all. Did a gravel vac as well as water change, about 30%. Nitrates already down to 10ppm. Going to leave it for a bit now. Give it a monthly test and see how it goes. I'd say you're right; it's a lightly stocked tank for its size. In the end I'm only interested in keeping the Mangrove Jack. They "apparently" can't get along with any other fish and "supposedly" spend most of their time hiding as juveniles. yaaaah right.

Wed Mar 31, 2010 12:08 pm GMT   Reply      

Sounds like a very touchy subject for some. "water changes are very important" would suffice and a link explaining why. It might seem like an arrogant question but some of these replies are even worse. People don't ask unless they really don't know or unsure. From experience, the only way i know to cut down on water changes is having more filters and canisters at best. But then again, you would have to clean all your filters on regular basis. Look for DIY filters like sumps and such. I'm trying to make sumps for all my tanks.
Well, good luck on your tank.

"Only geniuses ask questions"