Turning the Tank off? - Aquarium Advice

thresholdoftime · 05-27-2009, 11:05 AM

I recently started a 30 gallon tank after being out of the hobby for years. It's a freshwater tank with some Tetras and Danios (for now). I'm running a 40 gallon out of the tank filter, also have a power head at the bottom of the tank with a pump attached to add oxidation. It's not that the tank makes a lot of noise, but the tank is right near my bed and I'm one of those types of sleepers that cannot fall asleep with one little noise around me. So I've been turning the tank off at night, with the exception of leaving the heater plugged in obviously. So I'm wondering if this is safe to not have the filter and powerhead running for around 6-8 hours?

Also one other question I have about the choice of other fish to add to the tank.. I really love African Cichlids and bought a couple books on em to get started. Even though I love all Cichlids.... Anyways, I can't find anywhere that says what speicies could be safe to put in with the tetras and danios...Some sections of the books state that there are peaceful species but it never mentions exactly what they are....

lol one more question...if I buy like 4-5 clown loaches will they mess up my tank? is 30 gallons too small for that? with a rocky environment?

Thanks

underdog5004 · 05-27-2009, 11:51 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by thresholdoftime

I recently started a 30 gallon tank after being out of the hobby for years. It's a freshwater tank with some Tetras and Danios (for now). I'm running a 40 gallon out of the tank filter, also have a power head at the bottom of the tank with a pump attached to add oxidation. It's not that the tank makes a lot of noise, but the tank is right near my bed and I'm one of those types of sleepers that cannot fall asleep with one little noise around me. So I've been turning the tank off at night, with the exception of leaving the heater plugged in obviously. So I'm wondering if this is safe to not have the filter and powerhead running for around 6-8 hours?

Also one other question I have about the choice of other fish to add to the tank.. I really love African Cichlids and bought a couple books on em to get started. Even though I love all Cichlids.... Anyways, I can't find anywhere that says what speicies could be safe to put in with the tetras and danios...Some sections of the books state that there are peaceful species but it never mentions exactly what they are....

lol one more question...if I buy like 4-5 clown loaches will they mess up my tank? is 30 gallons too small for that? with a rocky environment?

Thanks

African cichlids are mainly very aggressive and territorial. Here are the cichlids I recommend for tetras and danios:
Kribensis
Bolivian Ram
German Blue Ram

That's about all I know about, and also the ones I keep. Well, I keep 'em with powder blue Gouramis, Blue Flame tetras, and a couple of bettas...they all seem to get along pretty well.

thresholdoftime · 05-28-2009, 10:08 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by underdog5004

African cichlids are mainly very aggressive and territorial. Here are the cichlids I recommend for tetras and danios:
Kribensis
Bolivian Ram
German Blue Ram

That's about all I know about, and also the ones I keep. Well, I keep 'em with powder blue Gouramis, Blue Flame tetras, and a couple of bettas...they all seem to get along pretty well.

Okay also I just looked up Kribensis and I really like those... Now lets say I got a few for my tank and they started to breed. They get agressive when they start breeding so would it be smart to transfer them to a smaller tank if that happened? I do have a 10 gallon that is up and running and empty.. I kinda thought I'd save it in case any of my fish had babies. Although, I'm totally clueless about what to do when breeding fish.

BigMike75 · 05-27-2009, 12:30 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by thresholdoftime

lol one more question...if I buy like 4-5 clown loaches will they mess up my tank? is 30 gallons too small for that? with a rocky environment?

Thanks

A clown loach can get up to 8 to 10 inches long. It takes a long time to get that long, and they are schooling fish. You really need a large tank for clowns, so I wouldn't try that.

meegosh · 05-27-2009, 01:50 PM

I would stay clear of other cichlids. They will most likely nip at your danio's tails. I have one clown loach that I got from a friend who was tearing down his tank. It has been quite a few months (6+ I think) and it has only grown about 1". Total the fish is about 3" long right now. He hides during the day mostly until I drop an algae wafer in our some flake food floats by him. My upside down catfish actually 'schools' with him. They are always side by side where ever they go.

As far as turning the tank off... I would leave your filter running. Your filter media should be submerged all the time in order for the beneficial bacteria to stay established. Killing the power to the filter usually makes the filter lose its prime and it drains into the tank. That means your filter media is drying up. I'm not sure how long the bacteria can survive in the air but that would be the only thing I could think of. Hope it helps!

thresholdoftime · 05-28-2009, 09:46 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by meegosh

I would stay clear of other cichlids. They will most likely nip at your danio's tails. I have one clown loach that I got from a friend who was tearing down his tank. It has been quite a few months (6+ I think) and it has only grown about 1". Total the fish is about 3" long right now. He hides during the day mostly until I drop an algae wafer in our some flake food floats by him. My upside down catfish actually 'schools' with him. They are always side by side where ever they go.

As far as turning the tank off... I would leave your filter running. Your filter media should be submerged all the time in order for the beneficial bacteria to stay established. Killing the power to the filter usually makes the filter lose its prime and it drains into the tank. That means your filter media is drying up. I'm not sure how long the bacteria can survive in the air but that would be the only thing I could think of. Hope it helps!

No my filter stays full of water while I turn it off... But thanks for all the suggestions. It helps.... I am really interested in getting a few rams. Are they hard to find? Expensive? Should I go by all the same rules that Cichlid keeping goes by? Same food? 1 male to two females? Okay thanks again.

meegosh · 05-28-2009, 10:00 AM

Well GOOD quality rams can be hard to find. You will most likely find Asian rams at your LFS which are doomed from the start. I bought two and they both died within two weeks. They are about $8 a fish. They are peaceful cichlids. I would recommend a pair or maybe two males. Give lots of cover and hiding places.

gzeiger · 05-28-2009, 02:45 PM

You should take some steps to keep that 10 gallon cycled ("running" isn't enough). Read the article titled Fishless Cycling at the top of the Getting Started forum for background info.

Really the best thing to do if you plan on keeping the small tank in reserve for babies, medication or quarantine is to keep its filter running on the big tank that has fish in it. You don't need to keep water in the little tank, but you do need a source of food for its biofilter. Fill the tank and move the filter over and it will be good to go.

mgamer20o0 · 05-28-2009, 03:39 PM

what kind of filter do you have? if it the hang on back type? is it the sound of water splashing or it just running? when was the last time you cleaned it?

thresholdoftime · 05-29-2009, 08:10 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by mgamer20o0

what kind of filter do you have? if it the hang on back type? is it the sound of water splashing or it just running? when was the last time you cleaned it?

thanks that is interesting. The small tank had the fish that the big tank has in it now. They are much more happy now with a much more spacous activitiy area to swim around in. around a 700 dollar spacous activity area

It's actually an Aquaclear 50, hang on the back type. It got really great reviews on Ebay and thats why I bought it. And I gota say it keeps my water crystal clear, with the exception of a power head keeping good water flow as well... but it's not really that loud at all. I'm just one of those really picky sleepers that cant have the smallest little light or sound around me when I'm sleeping. The only real concern I have is if the tank will get properly heated with no water flow while I turn the powerhead and filter off.... I know it's getting into the summer now here in Michigan; however, when we get into the winter years here in MI it gets dangerously cold.