few of my newbie questions

[jarnism]

I tried searching but that didn;t work out all too well.
Anyway, here are my questions

Does the filter stay on all the time? (evening? feeding time? etc etc)

Does the air pump stay on all the time?

what about the light?

Question about the heater... Temp of the aqarium at this point stays right around 76 and goes up slightly during the day... Should I Still use the heater if the temp without it is just fine?

Are my fish behaving normal? they are little black skirt tetras. When I first put them in they stayed together all the time, now they are all to their own just chillin around the middle of the aquarium just cruisin around. Actually one is in the corner, one in the middle and another behind the ornament usually.


Also when feeding them, they dont come up to get the food they just kinda eat it from the middle of the aquarium except a few times they might swim all the way up.

Okay thats about it.

my setup:

29 gal tank
3 black tetras
aquafilter 50
some 150 watt heater that I will be replacing soon

 

[talloulou]

Does the filter stay on all the time? (evening? feeding time? etc etc)

Yes. Some people turn the filter down for feeding but I've never found that to be necessary. As long as you are feeding very small amounts the fish should get the food before it's sucked up the filter.

Does the air pump stay on all the time?

I keep mine on all the time.

what about the light?

I keep my lights on apx 8 hrs a day.

Question about the heater... Temp of the aqarium at this point stays right around 76 and goes up slightly during the day... Should I Still use the heater if the temp without it is just fine?

I'd definitely use the heater. It will keep the temp stable. I keep my tanks around 78 degrees.

Are my fish behaving normal? they are little black skirt tetras. When I first put them in they stayed together all the time, now they are all to their own just chillin around the middle of the aquarium just cruisin around. Actually one is in the corner, one in the middle and another behind the ornament usually.

They are getting use to their new home and as they get more comfortable they will be out and about more.

How new is your tank? Did you cycle it before putting the fish in? You need to have a testing kit and check ammonia, nitrites, and nitrates. I'm guessing the tank is probably not cycled yet and so you will have to do more partial water changes until your cycle is complete. A cycled tank will have 0 ammonia and 0 nitrites.

http://testing.aquariumadvice.com/article_view.php?faq=2&fldAuto=21

 

[justrelax]

welcome to aa! black skirts are fun fish to start with. i just started this hobby myself a few months ago and my first fish were black skirts as well. fish school when they feel insecure or threatened, so it's a good thing they're starting to independent of each other. i started with my tank at 79 degrees but have since lowered it to 76.5 to the appearant satisfaction of all it's inhabitants. everyone seems to be a little more active. like talloulou said though, keep the heater plugged in regardless, it will only come on if it needs to. if your room temp drops 10-15 degrees during the night it could lower the tank temp and stress out your fish, so having the heater ready to go will prevent this.
DEFINATELY look into the cycling threads around the sight. you'll find tons of usefull info posted in them. and of course any questions, just ask! everyone here is super helpfull.

 

[Squirt0170]

I think it can be normal that the fish don't go to the top to eat... that's all mine would do when I first got them.... They would wait for the flakes to fall and then they would eat it as it was falling. After they were used to the tank.. some of them will go to the top and some will still wait for it to fall.

 

[jarnism]

Typical Cycle using fish.

Ok the following is only a guide and only by testing with a kit that does Ammonia,Nitrite and Nitrate you will know the true state of the tanks progress.
Start by doing "no" water changes for about 2 weeks by which time the Ammonia level should be comming down with nitrite levels spiking. Then do about a 20% water change. Then after about another 2 weeks of no water changes the nitrite should be declining with nitrates starting to rise. If all goes well you should be able to start regular 20 to 30% water changes. (During the cycle feed the fish sparingly to avoid a bio overload effect) A fully cycled tank will read Ammonia 0,Nitrite 0,nitrate under 40ppm and under 20ppm or lower is best. If your using fish that you want to keep and they start showing signs of severe stress you can do 5 to 10% weekly water changes (More in real bad cases) This will naturally lengthen the time it takes to cycle the tank considerably.Also adding aquarium salt (or non iodized cooking salt) at a rate of 1 table spoon per 5 US gallons (about 20litres) of water will help will help reduce the effects of nitrite toxicity.

The actual time it takes can vary a lot as temperature,ph,whether or not you use gravel,filter media from an established tank and other factors can play an effect on how fast or slow a cycle will finish.

Also note that a tank doesant have to be new to restart a cycle. This can be caused by too much off a water change too often, overloading a tank with too many fish, using certain medications will kill off the nitrifying bacteria needed to keep the tank healthy.


does that sound like a good way to cycle?

my amonia level is high and the other two seem to be aright

 

[Menagerie]

:smilcolros: Welcome to AA, jarnism!

does that sound like a good way to cycle?

No. Please provide a link to the source of the information above.

Start by doing "no" water changes for about 2 weeks by which time the Ammonia level should be comming down

Fish are harmed by high ammonia levels, it burns the gills. Some fish, including your tetras are hardy and may show no response to high ammonia levels or high nitrite levels; however, that is a harsh way to cycle a tank. The way described above does not include nearly enough PWC. Yes, PWCs will increase the length of the cycle, but it greatly reduces the stress on the fish. The best way to cycle is without fish and is described in How to cycle your tank with out the use of fish. Since you already have the fish, it is up to you to do the necessary water changes to lessen the stress and prevent premature death.

 

[Guest]

Please do not follow the tank cycling advice above! Many great articles on AA on cycling fish, and fishless. Not dooing water changes, ESPECIALLY when you have fish durig your cycling process is not a good idea as Menagerie explained.

Also talloulou covered a good deal, but I have one more to chime in. If you temp. is fluctuating try and keep it stable at the highest temp. In other words if you can't possibly keep your tank stable at 78 degrees, but you can at 79, go with 79. Stability is very important.

As far as the air pump, extra aeration can never hurt so it's up to you unless you ever get into heavily planted tanks and then it may be needed at night (only in MO)

 

[tropicfishman]

the only time the filter should be off is during a water change ( so you don't loose suction ) and obviously when you clean the fitler itself, some people find it handy to turn it off so the current doesn't move the food from the less aggressive fish, that way the food is easier to get for them, I leave mine on so it pushes the food down to the gravel for my bottom and mid dwellers who are to lazy to fight for there food.

Its a good idea to leave your air pump on all the time, it creates extra oxygen for the fish, aggitates the water for better gas exchage, and looks nice IMO, the only time it should be off is when your running CO2 in whihc you would want it off in the day time and on in the night time so the fish don't suffocate.

About the heater, I leave mine plugged in but in the off posistion on the temp rage knob, my water stays about the same as yours so I don't worry about it, you could take your time and constantly adjust the heater until it gets to the point where its stable, but that can take forever sometimes lol

your fish are fine also, the reason they grouped at first was because they were scared of the new enviorment, this usually goes away after a couple days, its perfectly normal for them to be out cruising around on theie own, about the feeding, its also normal, I think of it like this, would you ratehr have someone bring you your dinner or go and make it yourself? lol