How long does your PWC take?

[MonkeyMonk86]

I feel so handicapped... My PWCs take forever. Today, it was 5 hrs. for a 29 gallon tank. The water part took only maybe 1/2 hr with a python, but the rest took the other 4 1/2 hrs. Vacumning the sand took at least an hour. Removing, sozzeling deco and wiping took awhile, so did replacing it.

I was using phosguard due to reminant brown algae, and got tiny amount of black beard algae due to no phosphorus. So, I've been treating with Excell and that is why I remove and examine everything.

Also, I found it easier to deal with the remnant brown algae by letting it have a little bit of space and not removing it all as one article I read suggested. It's definitely more preferable to the black algae.

Ok, so how long does everyone else take for PWC's to their display tank?
( Size tank and amount of time?)




(Friend of Bill W., One day at a time)

 

[BBradbury]

Tank Cleaning

Hello Monk...

Whoa! That's a lot of work. I just remove and replace a lot of tank water every week. Roughly 90 minutes per week. Still use the old "bucket" method. By keeping the water clean all the time, I find I don't have to vacuum, service the filtration or test the water very often. In fact, I've been changing so much water, I've essentially skipped the vacuuming and the testing. If you remove a lot of water and do it often enough, there's no time for the water to foul, nothing toxic stays in the water very long, before I remove it.

As for algae, it doesn't grow well if there aren't enough nutrients, like nitrates to sustain it. I remove most of them when I change out the water. The aquatic plants use the remaining nitrates more efficiently than algae and use them as soon as they're available in the water, so algae has nothing to live on.

B

 

[dalto]

A water change on a 29g would take me about 10 minutes for a 50% change. It takes me about 20-30 minutes to do a change on my 200g tank.

What are you doing that it takes an hour to vacuum the sand? I am usually just sucking up the stuff that sits on top.

As for the algae, once you get that under control you shouldn't need to remove and wipe down your decorations. I have almost never done that.

 

[ScotJudd]

60g tank, heavily planted, 50% water change with bucket takes 30 minutes max. Filter clean takes 15 minutes when required. Occasional removal of a dead leaf and front glass clean 10 minutes.
A good tank with regular small amounts of maintenance is the key. Don't be a slave to your tank or you'll stop enjoying it.


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[dragon14]

5g, maybe 10-20 minutes.
10g, around 20-30 minutes.

 

[MonkeyMonk86]

Ok. So, I am aquaticly handicapped. Yes, I'd like more real plants. And, last week I found a pretty snail free one ( that was 3) only to find out it's not a true aquatic plant and will fail in the long run. It was Kyoto.

Thought all the tube plants were aquatic.

My vac is lousy and the pellets are heavier than the sand. Generally, I don't have to vac much, but today I fed the fish b4 putting on my near glasses and having coffee. So, I knew it best to PWC and vac. It was only 5 days since last PWC.

I have OCD. So, I think that has something to do with the task taking so long.

Thank you all for replying!

I repack my groceries in the parking lot. All my laundry is folded to one size. My spices are alphabetized. My presidents on the bills all have to face one way.... and, I fight hoarding... OCD is a bummer sometimes.

(Friend of Bill W., One day at a time)

 

[MonkeyMonk86]

Bbradbury, can you post a pic of your danio tank? I'd like to get a better understanding of how much to plant and what type. Thanks! ( I would have messaged you, but I get "can't receive messages." When I've tried. )


(Friend of Bill W., One day at a time)

 

[Mebbid]

Bbradbury, can you post a pic of your danio tank? I'd like to get a better understanding of how much to plant and what type. Thanks! ( I would have messaged you, but I get "can't receive messages." When I've tried. )


(Friend of Bill W., One day at a time)

Bbradburys tank is overgrown with plants. Soo much that they only allow a tiny amount of light to get past the floating plants and cuts off the vast majority of swimming room. Works great, but the majority of people dont like that setup.

As for water changes, it took me half an hour to change the water in a 40b, 55g, and a 10g using a python. I dont bother vaccing the sand, but only because I keep fairly high flow at 10x the tank volume per hour. Most detritus doesnt settle and I dont have any algae issues.

 

[FWFishTanks]

2.5 gallon: 5 minutes bucket method
10 gallons 10 minutes bucket method
75 gallon: 40 minutes aqueon water changer/python

 

[trennamw]

I took a really long time doing mine yesterday. I was having a rough day and didn't want to do it at all but once I started it was calming and meditative. I put a few hours into a 29 and a 3.

If several hours works for you, more power to you! Your OCD may work well for your aquarium in some ways; I bet you don't procrastinate as much as many of us do, and let things go.

I don't ever get anything up with the gravel vac because I have a lot of scavengers: the 29 gallon has 10 ghost shrimp, 4 Laos Pygmy multi striped loaches (tiny things with very little bioload), and I've done some research and decided to welcome pond and Malaysian trumpet snails. The MTS don't get into huge populations without over feeding and eat dead plant material, and they till the substrate. The pond snails are few and far between due to the loaches, I've only ever had one get bigger than a pea.

I know the natural reaction to snails is to try to eradicate them, it wasn't easy to change my thinking on that one.

Have you tried Otocinclus? They eat brown algae, I've had them clear several square inches in a day. They are delicate but I ask the store how long they've been in, don't buy ones that arrived less than a week ago, and then drip acclimate them when I get them home. Following this method I've never lost one, even bought from PetSmart.


Sent from my iPhone with three hands tied behind my back.

 

[Delapool]

Mine takes about an hour and half, another hour if mucking around with plants. Sometimes I don't know where the time goes but it is with buckets to take about 40gal outside to the garden.

 

[MonkeyMonk86]

I wanted and almost bought 2 oto, but I spotted a red sore on one of them and declined the purchase. ( That was same day and same store where I bought the false julii with the VHS.) Entirely possible those oto's had the start of VHS, too.

I'd love 2 true oto and you are right on target with the slowest possible drip for those guys. I've read many are lost when transferring them.


(Friend of Bill W., One day at a time)

 

[Eggheadfish]

I find that breaking up the maintenance helps. I scrub the insides one day, do the plants another day if needed (all plastic), I suck up detritus with a turkey baster every other day and then do my water change and media cleaning at the end of the week. It helps reduce the time. I have three tanks now so I try to stagger activities
Also, if you're finding that there's a lot of junk on the bottom (seems like a lot of vac time) maybe you're over feeding if it's food matter. Just a thought, I have no idea. Good luck!

 

[Doomsday]

What does pwc mean?


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[dalto]

What does pwc mean

Partial Water Change

 

[shellyx]

On my 55 gallon i do 50% clean including algae scrub, i use buckets as well and it takes me a hour and a half.
My 16 gallon takes me around 45mins.

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[TomK2]

Actual water changing takes less than 5 minutes on my 55 gallon. I have a strainer connected to a pond pump connected to tubing and pvc that empties into a utility sink. Then i have a plastic 30 gal garbage tank with heater and airstones with a pond pump in it, connected to tubing connected to a strainer in the tank. One switch is water out, the other switch is heated dechlorinated water in.

Python for vacuuming twice a month. Water changes twice a week.

Not a fanatic, i just had an unfinished room with a utility sink directly behind the tank. Never got around to running a spigot to the holding tank to fill it.

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[Tolak]

MM86, you're going to hate me & my bare bottom 29's with overflows for water changes. Vac the bottom, one minute, 3/4" bore hose, 5 gallons out. Hang a hose for water changes, runs in at 4 gallons per minute, 16 gallons in is 4 minutes. 5 minutes total per 29. I can knock out five with filter cleaning in a half hour, this is why I don't do decorated show tanks any more.

 

[Mebbid]

You could just do a drip water change system and never have to worry about water changes again.

 

[dragon14]

You could just do a drip water change system and never have to worry about water changes again.

What's a drip water change system?