PWC question

[new2betas]

I think I need to do a pretty big PWC on my 10g tank. I made a boo-boo a couple of days ago that really made my water look yucky. I wanted to make sure I had some shrimp left because they are so hard to find and I think my male betta has been snacking on some of them ....anyway....I went to look in my filter to see if there was any in there and I forgot to turn off my filter first and it shot a bunch of mess into my water. My ammonia and nitirites are still fine, it just made my water look a mess, cloudy, etc. If I want to do a large water change is it okay to leave my fish in there or should I transfer them to a tub first? I really hate to move them and stress them out, but I really want to fix this mess I made. Any suggestions? I have my male betta in there and three peppered cories.

[MisticX]

sugestion1
do NOT do a PWC at all ... water will settle in 1-2 days MAX

sugestion2
if your amonia, n-ites, n-ates are high, then yes do a PWC,
leave the fish inside and try to "hunt" the big dirt with the python
instead of doing ONE HUGE pwc, do 2 of them 12 hours apart.
after a bit of practice you will learn how to hunt the dirt with the python, and will get really good at it, then you'll only need a 20-30% pwc to do all the cleaning job.

IMHO, you should interfere in your tank the less possible, the more you get your hands in it, the more the fish are stressed, the more they are predisposed to diseases, the more they have a chance to die, the more you need to interfere in the tank.... all a vicious cycle.

let the tank settle by itself.

[new2betas]

Thanks MisticX! Will do! It has already been a couple of days though. I will wait a couple more and watch it. All the parameters are great though.

[MisticX]

i've read on several sites that sometimes fish enjoy having objects free float in the tank.

more of it, some fish put eggs on the surface floating objects

my zebras school plays with the dead leafs of my plants, right after they hit the air stream and start speeding, the zebras try to catch them.



if you REALLY want to put down all that extra stuff from your tank do something that i sometimes do too
take your fish net and place it over the air stream, that way all the big stuff will gather in the net,

THEN

stop the air stream for 6-12 hrs, all the small stuff will just deposit in the substrate, or in the filter.


trust me it works, i've done the infamous "forget to stop the filter" mistake 100 times

[MisticX]

oh, and BTW, you're always welcome new2betas.


*cough* keep posting betta pics though *cough*

[Purrbox]

In my experiance fish love water changes, and large water changes (50%+) are no exception. As long as you remember to treat with dechlorinator and match temps it shouldn't stress them in the least. Some fish are a bit skittish at first, but if you actually get in there an work on the aquarium on a regular basis they figure out that it's fine and may even investigate you while you work.

[new2betas]

Thanks, Joy. My betta doesn't seem to mind at all, but my cories don't seem too fond of it yet. The water still hasn't cleared as of today, so I will probably go ahead and clear some of it out. Would it be a good idea to take out the filter cartridge and shake it out in a bucket of tank water (providing I remember to turn off the filter this time)?? I am also a little worried that is where some of my shrimp ended up and I could possibly find some still alive.

[Purrbox]

As long as you are rinsing the filter cartridge in water that has been treated with dechlorinator (like the waste aquarium water) then there should be no harm in it. It's recommended that you just gently swish the cartridge in the water, and not scrub hard. This is especially good idea, if the cartridge is getting coated with muck from the aquarium.

[new2betas]

Thanks, Joy! This is exactly what I ended up doing this morning. I turned off my filter and put it in my rinse bucket. I swished it out a few times and low and behold there were some tiny crystal red shrimp in there. I reached over and quickly put them in my QT tank which now holds two female guppies and one ghost shrimp. I think my guppies ate them because I only see one of the five that I dropped in there. Will guppies eat CRS??? Dag gone it....I haven't even had those shrimp a week and they are pretty much gone, but a few. They are so cute, too!
Anyway....I think my rinsing the filter and PWC did the trick on my 10g....the water is clearer and the cories seem much happier than they did earlier. So, I think for me, it was the right thing to do.