Newbie introduction

[alcarinhwesta]

Hi all! I'm a brand new aquarist, so I'm probably going to need a lot of help and advice!

My name is Alcarin, for all intents and purposes. I'm in my late 20's, married, no kids. After bugging my husband for nearly 2 years for a pet, we decided to start an aquarium.

We have a 20-gallon (30"x12.5"x12.5") with an Aqua Clear Power Filter 50 (Capacity for a 20-50 gallon tank), and flourescent lighting.

We cycled our tank for two months with Blue Danios, now we have returned the Danios and have started getting our "real fish"

We have 2 Peppered Cories named Hame and Feldman (we plan on getting 2 more soon); 4 Cardinal Tetras named Inky, Blinky, Pinky, and Clyde; 6 Neon Marigold Platys named Mal, Inara, Jayne, Wash, Zoe, Simon, and River; and 1 disgruntled Nerite Snail named Mo.

We also have a live plant...that I can't seem to remember what kind it is, but it LOVES our tank. One small bunch from the store has yeilded 3 more bunches that have now been placed sporadically around our tank and are growing quite nicely and providing keen hiding spots for our tetras.

If you have any questions, I'll try to answer them to the best of my knowledge and if you have any input on our inhabitants, please feel free to comment. The only thing I will ask is that you don't question our stocking in our tank, I've already debated that issue and the consesus from multiple people, experts and hobbyists alike is that we are not overstocked and our fish look quite happy.

 

[roydooms]

Hi alcarin. Welcome to AA. The fishes that you have goes pretty well with each other

 

[alcarinhwesta]

Thank you! I hope to learn a lot from this forum, I haven't been a part of one for nearly 10 years, so I'm excited to be a part of a community again.

 

[Scalare]

Hi Alcarin, welcome to AA, this is a real friendly forum and if you check in daily and read the various threads you'll learn lots that way, and of course if you have any questions, there are lots of guys and gals here who can and will answer them for you. have fun!!.

Pete

 

[alcarinhwesta]

So, I've been getting a lot of different advice on pwc's. My husband doesn't want to do too many too soon because he's afraid of spoiling the biological content, but everywhere I look, I'm strong advice for weekly, if not daily pwc's. Help!!!!!

 

[AquaOne]

Alcarin,
There's a lot of options and varied opinions. Generally I do a 10% weekly 'pwc' and I have a 20g tank. This seems to work well, keeps fish-waste under control by using a gravel-vac style syphon. I clean the O/H filter media every water change too, finalizing by 'swilling-out' in the settled out-going water. Also worth a note not to refill with clean water direct into the filter media, I fill into the main tank so the filter isn't 'shocked'. The clean water is dechlorinated and stood for 1hr before refilling to tank. I temp-match to about 2deg above tank so when it's stood for an hour, the temp is within ½deg or so. I'm sure there will be other 'AA's that will comment about quantity or frequency, but this works for my fish (and me).
In my larger 195L tank, I have a massive filter that can cope with more like 300L, so a similar process for this too. It will make a big difference with the fish stock, because a greater bio-load needs more 'pwc'. If you don't have one, get a liquid test-kit and carry out tests so you can work out a good pwc routine.

 

[cmor1701d]

 

[carey]

Welcome to the forums! Great folks here as you're probably already gathering lol

 

[ejaramillo01]

So, I've been getting a lot of different advice on pwc's. My husband doesn't want to do too many too soon because he's afraid of spoiling the biological content, but everywhere I look, I'm strong advice for weekly, if not daily pwc's. Help!!!!!

Welcome to AA!!

I was in the same boat as your husband, I was concerned with messing the biological balance with the constant water changes, also my local fish store recommended me to do a partial water change monthly, no more.... Well I learned the hard way that that was not beneficial for the tank, I experienced different illness, high levels of nitrates, etc.

Now I do weekly water changes, like 30 to 40 % of the water, and that has been the best for my fish and the water quality of my tank!!! No issues at all with the biological media (remember the bacteria resides in the filter and gravel).

Conclusion: Start your weekly PWC as soon as possible, you will be fine.

 

[melosu58]

Welcome aboard. We are glad you found us here at AA.

 

[doublenerds]

Welcome Alcarin - I'm a newbie too and I need to warn you now....fishkeeping is just a tiny bit addictive

I totally love your fish names. You must be a child of the early 80's like me!

 

[alcarinhwesta]

I am, in fact, a child of the early 80's. However, I must admit that my husband came up with Cory and Tetra names. (Child of the 70's)