boy my shopping list keeps getting bigger. But it will make my tank a better place for the fishy to live. I want to do an oto but my son gets to pick the fish. Any fish that don't do well with an oto I should know about?
Newbie looking for good advice on small planted tank.
- Thread starter Kildarra
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In my 5 gallon, I have a theo hydor 50 watt. You can submerge it, so a nice thing you can do with it is set the temperature, and then put it in horizontally so its not as much of an eyesore.
I would avoid the little heating pads that they sell though. Those things are junk.
I would avoid the little heating pads that they sell though. Those things are junk.
An oto might work, especially since they are a bit too fast to catch, even if the betta or d.g. has a bad 'tude. You have to be sure they always have a bit of algae though, or a small bit of blanched vegetable such as zucchini or cucumber so they don't starve if they can't find enough algae.
I was thinking about doing algae wafers for the oto. If that would work. When I get plants and fish do I take the fish filter cartridges out of the filter and run them without those in it. It would still have that little piece of black stuff in it.
Crepe
Aquarium Advice Addict
A 1-20 solution of bleach to water will kill any pathogens. The safest way is using potassium permanganate as mentioned by Heath above. Becareful though, certain plants like java moss die in chemicals like those.
Crepe
Aquarium Advice Addict
1-20 Bleach is good for any equipment and rocks. Potassium permanganate will treat your plants. You can also use 1-20 bleach on your plants. But don't use it on delicate plants or non-vascular plants like java moss.
2-3 minutes in 1-20 bleach then another hour or so in clean non-chlorinated water will get rid of all the algae on your plants as well as any snails, protozoans, or other pathogens. It should be safe. My LFS uses bleach. However, bleach can cause melting of the leaves. So you might not want to do it if you want a nice leafy tank right away. Don't ever go above 3 minutes, because by then the plants would have soaked up too much bleach and are kaput.
2-3 minutes in 1-20 bleach then another hour or so in clean non-chlorinated water will get rid of all the algae on your plants as well as any snails, protozoans, or other pathogens. It should be safe. My LFS uses bleach. However, bleach can cause melting of the leaves. So you might not want to do it if you want a nice leafy tank right away. Don't ever go above 3 minutes, because by then the plants would have soaked up too much bleach and are kaput.
You don't have to take the filter out. If it uses that black activated carbon, that stuff is only active for about a week or so before losing its effectiveness. Every time you do a water change, just rinse the filter in the water you took out, then put it back in. The only thing you'd have to worry about with carbon, would be if it was still active and you were using fertilizers.
One way to test if a rock is safe for your aquarium is to drip some hydrogen peroxide on it. If it bubbles, its probably not a good idea to use it. Another way to test if the rock will be ok, is testing your water with a test kit (pre-tank), then put the rock in a bucket of that water for a week. At the end of the week, test the water again. If there aren't any drastic changes, chuck the rock in the tank.
thanks heath I will try that with this rock I found in my garden in the dirt. I will clean it up first and get all the dirt off of it first and then test it with the peroxide. If it don't bubble I will soak it for about a week and then test.
We can help you save even more money! You don't actually need to change the filter cartridges as often as they say (they usually say about once a month). Just be sure to rinse off any gunk in the water you take out for water changes, and use the pad until it starts falling apart. If you also have something like a small bit of sponge or foam in your filter, this will help keep your bacteria alive when you eventually do need to change them.
Crepe
Aquarium Advice Addict
If you collect rocks/wood. You should bake or boil them for about 20 minutes to make sure they are clean.
If there are any cracks in the rock, thats usually a good place to drip a bit of the stuff. All we have rockwise around my house is the gravel used for driveways, and that stuff is chock full of calcium, and does bad stuff.
Ok so I found two rocks in my garden today I washed them both off with a toothbrush and then I boiled them. I dripped peroxide on them in the beginning before cleaning and they bubbled but after cleaning they didn't bubble. My brother said they was sandstone so I could use them. I read on another forum that if you use vinegar and it bubbles not to use them so I did that as well and no bubble action so I boiled them again for 20 more minutes and I ran some of my tank water over top of the rocks and let it collect in a bucket that was clean and tested the water with those dip test strips everything came out fine. I haven't put them in my tank yet. I put them in a bucket of water with conditioner in it so I think I will let that soak for a few days to see if anything changes. Still no like finding driftwood around my area. Anything that I can use instead of driftwood? But still have the same effect
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