Adding air to a 280

[Bobo8]

Hello!

I take care of these fish tanks for a business. Long story short the tanks are over stocked but I am doing my best to keep them under control. Right now they have 2 bubble wands but since they add feeders the fish constantly lift up the air stones. What is the best way to aerate a 280? I was thinking weighted airstones? Or airstones in ornaments? Here is a pic of the tank.
Also it is stocked with:
2 gar
1 clown knife
4 Bala sharks
1 common pleco

 

[rlederer]

What aerates a tank is surface movement and bubblers generally don't do much of that. So something to move the surface of the water is necessary.

 

[Bobo8]

Power heads?

 

[J.Mcpeak]

What do you hope to gain by adding air?
Normally overstocking isn't cured by aeration. Are the fish showing signs such as gasping at the surface........

Perhaps if overstocked a solution might be a better filtration system/method.
(Of course, only if rehousing stock is not an option.)
I think I see an fx6? Just about enough for a tank this size. I run 2 (fx5) on 210 gal tank.
What is the exact issue you're tackling?
Lift the filter return up to the air/water interface for a start! That V outlet looks to be 6-8" under the surface!

Edit, yeah so a bit more looking! I can see a sump too!)
Put your air stones in that?
My latest set up has air stones/heaters out of display tank.

 

[Bobo8]

Oooh okay. No the fish are not showing any signs of struggling. Currently there is an fx5 and an fx6 on this tank. Rehoming is not an option for them. Oh yeah good idea about the output nozzle I wasn't even thinking of that. So do you think I even need the air stones? I'm just paranoid since their tank is so over stocked and they do feeders as well. The sump is completely disassembled and not use able unfortunately.

 

[J.Mcpeak]

The only way I consider a tank to be under control.
If you can sensibly keep on top of the water parameters.
So, what are the parameters and what is the schedule you are paid to complete/maintain?

Two filters that size should be ok unless nitrate is running away from you.
A good deep substrate would be a good start. Judging from that picture it's barely 2"
If it isn't your money (and I guess it isn't), show the evidence, present your business case. If the tank isn't sustainable, make that clear in writing so you are not liable for stock loss. Get it signed off too!

Define precisely what you mean by "but I am doing my best to keep them under control."

 

[Bobo8]

That is definitely a good idea! They really do not know much about fish and have not listened to any of my advice thus far. I am paid to do 5 hours per week and there are 5 fish tanks so I usually do one per day. This is is my biggest concern. They also do NOT use water conditioner on the tanks. I have made my case and talked to them enough times and they will not budge. So I don't want to do too huge of a water change at once for fear of adding too much chlorine.
I haven't tested the water recently as they won't buy me supplies for an actually good test kit. But I will bring my one from home and give it a test. My best guess is the Nitrate is 100+ after a water change its likely 60+
I usually change 2 garbage bins of water which is about 40 ish gallons. So 80 gallon. Like I said I don't want to do too much so I don't add too much chlorine. But I'm not the complete expert so any advice is greatly appreciated. On this tank I try to clean the filters once per month each. As they get really dirty super fast. I add carbon and clear max to help with the algae. It's been about 6 months to a year since they added the bala sharks and knife and no real signs of illness or stress but like I try to tell them. Living and thriving are 2 different things. But since I'm young they think they know better than me even though they hired me .... to do a job that I can't properly do
. But anyway!! Any advice on how to improve things to the best of my ability would be great

thanks for your quick replies!

 

[Toad]

Honestly if someone hired me to do a job and refused to listen to my experienced advice I would tell them I could no longer provide services, if something goes wrong with the tank (and it will with their attitude) I wouldn't want to get blamed, especially if taking care of tanks is an actual business for you. But that's just me.

 

[Bobo8]

Yeah that's definitely true I'm just worried about the well being of the fish. If I'm not there who will take care of them. I know that's not a good excuse? I guess to do it but I would feel terrible if something happened when I left

 

[Toad]

I understand what you mean, I do. But you have spoken to these people multiple times and they don't respect you enough to listen. I don't think they'd hesitate to blame you at this point when something goes wrong. The only people at fault in this situation is them, and if it comes down to frantically trying to keep up with their disregard for the fish and yourself, or removing yourself from a unwinnable war and damage to your reputation, I'd say choose yourself, you deserve it.

 

[J.Mcpeak]

Honestly if someone hired me to do a job and refused to listen to my experienced advice I would tell them I could no longer provide services, if something goes wrong with the tank (and it will with their attitude) I wouldn't want to get blamed, especially if taking care of tanks is an actual business for you. But that's just me.

LISTEN TO THE TOAD!

There are no plants. Nitrate should be 0. The end.
60 I think is disgusting water! Even if there were plants, what is the number? 20-30ppm or something like that?
I change 225 litres out of 800 total normally, sometimes I double that to 550. At least once per year,really it's more. That's normal.......it takes more than one hour to pull two filters apart (fx5 and fx6, pretty much identical in this respect), remove the water (sink is 3ft away) and fill up (water is 3ft away), and refill.

1060 litres plus (20x2) max. water volume.
1110/4=277.5 at least per change!(73.3 us gal)
Ish, needs to be more precise! You could prepare 2buckets the day before? Then do four...... Use some of the hour from another tank.....

That is ignorant at best from them, age does not define wisdom.
That is the polite version.
If none of there education (self taught or otherwise) focuses on aquatic life how can they know? If they have no understanding of basic water chemistry...........

If you stay, cover your tracks! If you leave, keep photographic records to dispute any malicious comment or review you may receive.
In fact, the evidence could be used in your online gallery, I left this client because....
Then others will know you're actually good, and more importantly concerned.

Bottom line, if you're employed to maintain the fish and fail, it's your fault.

You need basic equipment. Inline pond de chlorinator........maybe coupled with a flow meter so you know when it has expired. That would be my approach if using tap water at these volumes. Tap water may have nitrate, so that leads to (potentially) costly nitrate removal units. Or simply more money required to balance this system.
Any remedy would cost them, they don't want to pay up.
I think it's a status symbol to them rather than any actual love of fish.
Wrong attitude.
Just think, when the fish mature, the problem will get worse. At the moment, it is not manageable.

 

[nirbhao]

I could see them considering purchasing water conditioner and test kits as your business expense. If they aren't paying enough to cover that, ask for a bit more. Those things really aren't that expensive.

If you go and no one takes care of the fish, that means that you aren't the one who will have to watch them die.

I'm so sorry you're in this position. This site has many good resources to help you improve your skills, so hopefully you're able to feel more confident in asserting yourself.

 

[J.Mcpeak]

Water conditioner is expensive when you're tackling one 280gal tank!
Plus there are others in the establishment. That would be a very considerable portion of the overall annual bill. Probably the biggest expenditure.......
That or fish food.

 

[Toad]

You can get a 2l bottle of prime for 50 bucks and it would last you over a year of weekly water changes at treating the whole tank (if you were using a hose to refill) per water change. It would cost them around a dollar a week over that time to treat the water. This isn't a money issue, it's a they don't give a crap issue. They are guaranteed to spend more on feeder fish than they would on treating the water. They have show you their colors and what is important to them. It's not healthy fish, it's being edgy.

Only you know what you can deal with and what you can't, but I hope you will extract yourself from this situation.

Also, if you are doing this as a business, use this as a teaching opportunity and write up a contract of sorts for future customers explaining you can not be held at fault for issues caused by going against your advice involving stocking/treatments (or lack there of) etc, and you reserve the right to refuse service for this as well.

This isn't just a fish issue but a service/business issue. Regardless of what you choose to do, we WILL be here for you

 

[nirbhao]

The 250 gram bottle treats 60,000 gallons of water.

It's a business expense.