My brother has a 55gal cichlid tank. Its been up and running for almost a year now. He runs a marineland canister with almost nothing in it. He puts carbon and ammonia remover in the center and cleans it only when it clogs up. He never changes the water and tops it off with tap water( no conditioner). I tested his water and its perfect. Can someone tell me how this is. I bust my but doin water changes and cleaning my filters. I just dont understand.
? for anyone that can answer
- Thread starter jbird79
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Esoteric Backbone
Aquarium Advice FINatic
jbird79 said:
Its sounds like his aquarium is pretty much self sustaining, only doing maintenance when needed and topping off when needed.
The no conditioner thing may be because he uses well water? Thats what i used to do when i lived off of a well
TenaciousTriggerFish
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jbird79 said:
My tank does the same thing maybe every few months I'll scoop some poop but my tank tests nicely and I never have problems like that
Esoteric Backbone
Aquarium Advice FINatic
jbird79 said:
Self sustained is a bit of a misnomer, because you may have to feed, top off the water or maintian equipment. In general it means everyting is in harmony.
Zimmanski
Aquarium Advice Addict
Can you tell more about the tank? Does he have live plants, what's his stock, that sort of thing? I've had the thought before to do a completely self sustaining tank, other than feeding. In theory you can under stock a tank with fish, they produce the ammonia which BB eventually turn into nitrates, then get a bunch of plants that suck up a lot of nitrates, then all you'd have to do is add water that evaporates
Esoteric Backbone
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Zimmanski said:
Is that the key? Under stocking, by how much?
Cynic
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My understanding is that while it is possible to achieve so called perfect water readings via the use of limited water changes this is an utter myth because the value of water changes is not limited solely to moderating nitrate levels, it is also valuable for a number of other chemicals/minerals that we do not test for but are vital to the long term health of a tank.
Zimmanski
Aquarium Advice Addict
Like I said, it's just a theory I had, never put into practice or much more than the basic thoughts. I mean, people stock the most basic ponds right? So if you did this on a CRAZY small scale I think it could work, Could with a capital C
His ammonia, nitrite and nitrate levels may test fine but if he has not done a water change in a year his water quality is nasty. And just a note, if he has to use an ammonia absorber in his filter then his tank is not doing well at all.
I actually have a so called "self sustaining" tank. It is a 10 gallon RCS only tank. I only run a sponge filter and top off water. It has around 100 shrimp in it (soon be to 60) an it has over 23 live plants along with a ton of java moss.
jlk
Aquarium Advice Addict
+1
I have to agree with Blert. A stable, cycled tank does not need band-aids such as ammonia absorbers. I strongly suspect that if he forgot to replace these that his tank would crash and would result in a tank of dead fish. I also think it will only be a matter of time before the tank does crash from lack of decent water changes. Its called 'old tank syndrome'.
In respect to ponds, most of us that have them actually do water changes on them, especially when theres a lack of sufficent rain. They require maintenance and care just the same as a tank does.
Pam is here
Aquarium Advice Activist
Maybe he does water storage like I do. After 24 hrs for the chlorine to clear, then add the water. I've never lost a fish.
Esoteric Backbone
Aquarium Advice FINatic
Pam is here said:
What about the chlorimine? That continues to be present in the water, unless conditioner is used.
Pam is here
Aquarium Advice Activist
Correct! it needs to age. I use no remover for chlorine. It dissipates in 24 hours.
Wyomingite
Aquarium Advice Freak
If he doesn't do water changes, then his water is not "perfect." What's the pH? Betcha it's pretty low, like in the 6.0 range or lower. I bet if ya tested for total ammonia, it'd be through the roof, even with the Ammosorb in there. Assumin' low nitrates since ya said the water is "perfect", ammonia is goin' straight to the ammonium ion. Not to mention the fish are livin' in a soup of pheromones, allomones, and a whole assortment of metabolic wastes that won't be absorbed by chemical media.
On another note, chlorine will dissipate from water; chloramines, however, will not. On the bright side, not all municipalities use chloramines for water treatment.
WYite
On another note, chlorine will dissipate from water; chloramines, however, will not. On the bright side, not all municipalities use chloramines for water treatment.
WYite
jetajockey
come get me tang police!
The ammonia absorber thing is probably not even an issue since it works like filter carbon, once it's full, it's full. There needs to be a comparison made here, though, because this kind of fishkeeping was commonplace decades ago. I even remember the bi-annual cleaning routine lol.
The issues that come up from a lack of water changes and maintenance (some of this has been mentioned already) is Old tank syndrome. As mentioned old tank syndrome is a combination of things, lack of nutrient export is a big concern and the eventual ph crash causes an ammonia rise over time, one that often proves deadly when the tank is given fresh water (and the ph goes back to a normal level).
The problems from lack of nutrient export are easily seen in nitrate related issues in an unplanted tank.
The issues that come up from a lack of water changes and maintenance (some of this has been mentioned already) is Old tank syndrome. As mentioned old tank syndrome is a combination of things, lack of nutrient export is a big concern and the eventual ph crash causes an ammonia rise over time, one that often proves deadly when the tank is given fresh water (and the ph goes back to a normal level).
The problems from lack of nutrient export are easily seen in nitrate related issues in an unplanted tank.
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