Liopleurodon
Aquarium Advice Newbie
I'm sure this is a tired topic, but
I neglected my tanks for a few weeks. My sister was getting married and I had exams and I just fed them but didn't do much else. Previously, I'd been very good about doing frequent partial water changes.
I live near Toledo (where we've had major microcystin algae problems and so our water has tons of chlorine and my local fish shop recommended using 2-3 times the amount of treatment.) I trust these guys - they are a legit shop - not a big box store and have been around a long time.
ANYWAY, I really neglected my tanks and so when I did clean them, I'm sure I took out WAY more water than I should have. I even pumped some out, let the debris settle out and put some of it back in because I didn't want to completely cycle the tank but I wanted to vacuum out all the excess food and poo.
Overfeeding has ALWAYS been a problem since my kids want to "help" feed - but previously, I was just syphoning out 3-4 gallons every 5-8 days and replacing it. I have a filter rated for a 40 gallon tank and an air pump with a big air stone and my tank seemed to do well. My fish grew well and seemed healthy (well, the ones that didn't get eaten)
I took all my fish out and put them in a separate containter and vacuumed the heck out my tank. A changed the filter a few days later since I know you aren't supposed to change the filter the same day you do a water change.
So now I'm worried that I've really messed up the nice little ecosystem I had by overcleaning and wonder if I should have just done water changed every few day until I got it clean again.
My PH and Alkalinity are low but the other numbers look ok and the fish SEEM ok and the water looks clean and clear and smells normal (like fish but not stinky or unpleasant.
(We have really hard water so I have some drift wood in the tank - and that was the dirtiest of all. I took those out and washed them really well and then let them soak in heavily treated water before I put them back in.)
Other than the treatment for the chlorine, I don't use other chemicals in my water.
Did I screw up my tank? is there a way to know (other than all my fish dying?) what should I watch for? Did I just basically cycle my tank and now should just watch it and do frequent small water changes or do I need to take more aggressive action. I really don't want my fish to die.
I neglected my tanks for a few weeks. My sister was getting married and I had exams and I just fed them but didn't do much else. Previously, I'd been very good about doing frequent partial water changes.
I live near Toledo (where we've had major microcystin algae problems and so our water has tons of chlorine and my local fish shop recommended using 2-3 times the amount of treatment.) I trust these guys - they are a legit shop - not a big box store and have been around a long time.
ANYWAY, I really neglected my tanks and so when I did clean them, I'm sure I took out WAY more water than I should have. I even pumped some out, let the debris settle out and put some of it back in because I didn't want to completely cycle the tank but I wanted to vacuum out all the excess food and poo.
Overfeeding has ALWAYS been a problem since my kids want to "help" feed - but previously, I was just syphoning out 3-4 gallons every 5-8 days and replacing it. I have a filter rated for a 40 gallon tank and an air pump with a big air stone and my tank seemed to do well. My fish grew well and seemed healthy (well, the ones that didn't get eaten)
I took all my fish out and put them in a separate containter and vacuumed the heck out my tank. A changed the filter a few days later since I know you aren't supposed to change the filter the same day you do a water change.
So now I'm worried that I've really messed up the nice little ecosystem I had by overcleaning and wonder if I should have just done water changed every few day until I got it clean again.
My PH and Alkalinity are low but the other numbers look ok and the fish SEEM ok and the water looks clean and clear and smells normal (like fish but not stinky or unpleasant.
(We have really hard water so I have some drift wood in the tank - and that was the dirtiest of all. I took those out and washed them really well and then let them soak in heavily treated water before I put them back in.)
Other than the treatment for the chlorine, I don't use other chemicals in my water.
Did I screw up my tank? is there a way to know (other than all my fish dying?) what should I watch for? Did I just basically cycle my tank and now should just watch it and do frequent small water changes or do I need to take more aggressive action. I really don't want my fish to die.