Fiferjanis
Aquarium Advice Apprentice
Ok, I started putting fish in my 75 gal. Tank back in March, and it's finally cycled. Ammonia, nitrites, etc. are 0. Nitrates, however, are now showing that yeah, there's poop and I over feed (5ppm).
Question 1:
Besides cutting back on food, should I only be doing a 20% tank water change once a week? Vacuuming in between? How frequently for thorough cleanings?
I did a thorough cleaning of half the tank this weekend, and it was disgusting. I figured I'd leave the other half for two weeks from now, and alternate the two sides. After cleaning, the fish seemed a lot more sociable, but that could be because I kicked Old Man Loach out of his swamp shack while cleaning, so in his awakened state, he finally noticed he has some loach buddies to play with now.
Question 2:
That's my other concern... Everything talks about keeping the sand really clean because of sensitive loach barbels and whatnot. What is the concern here? Infection? Eating poop? It would help to know the reasoning behind some of these "dos" and "do nots."
Question 3:
Also, besides messy tank, how bad is over feeding? I have some platties that are really pregnant and/or obese, but the males I've had in the tank even longer just don't eat as much and aren't as big. And my goulden gourami is a pig, but from what I understand, that's typical. I rotate their food around so they have lots of variety and lots of veggie "cleanses" so they don't get stopped up... It that sufficient?
After dealing with ammonia and stuff, though, I feel like I should be changing water and cleaning every day, even though it looks clear and levels are more or less normal.
Question 4:
What numbers should I watch for with nitrate readings?
Question 5:
If I put a power head to suck up the poop in the dead-spots and redirect them to filters, would that put too much crap in the "air", or should I just keep diligently vacuuming those sections?
Stats: 75 gallon, freshwater, fake plants, 1 balloon Molly, 4 platties, 1 golden gourami, 2 pearl gouramis, 3 Australian rainbowfish, 1 boesmani rainbowfish, 1 green tiger loach, 1 clown loach, 1 Yoyo loach. Some aquarium salt, pH ~ 7.4, kH 50-100, softened water, 77-82 temps, ammonia 0, nitrite 0, nitrate 5ppm, fluval 506 canister filter and aqueon HOB 55 filter, black aquarium sand substrate... Yadda yadda
Question 1:
Besides cutting back on food, should I only be doing a 20% tank water change once a week? Vacuuming in between? How frequently for thorough cleanings?
I did a thorough cleaning of half the tank this weekend, and it was disgusting. I figured I'd leave the other half for two weeks from now, and alternate the two sides. After cleaning, the fish seemed a lot more sociable, but that could be because I kicked Old Man Loach out of his swamp shack while cleaning, so in his awakened state, he finally noticed he has some loach buddies to play with now.
Question 2:
That's my other concern... Everything talks about keeping the sand really clean because of sensitive loach barbels and whatnot. What is the concern here? Infection? Eating poop? It would help to know the reasoning behind some of these "dos" and "do nots."
Question 3:
Also, besides messy tank, how bad is over feeding? I have some platties that are really pregnant and/or obese, but the males I've had in the tank even longer just don't eat as much and aren't as big. And my goulden gourami is a pig, but from what I understand, that's typical. I rotate their food around so they have lots of variety and lots of veggie "cleanses" so they don't get stopped up... It that sufficient?
After dealing with ammonia and stuff, though, I feel like I should be changing water and cleaning every day, even though it looks clear and levels are more or less normal.
Question 4:
What numbers should I watch for with nitrate readings?
Question 5:
If I put a power head to suck up the poop in the dead-spots and redirect them to filters, would that put too much crap in the "air", or should I just keep diligently vacuuming those sections?
Stats: 75 gallon, freshwater, fake plants, 1 balloon Molly, 4 platties, 1 golden gourami, 2 pearl gouramis, 3 Australian rainbowfish, 1 boesmani rainbowfish, 1 green tiger loach, 1 clown loach, 1 Yoyo loach. Some aquarium salt, pH ~ 7.4, kH 50-100, softened water, 77-82 temps, ammonia 0, nitrite 0, nitrate 5ppm, fluval 506 canister filter and aqueon HOB 55 filter, black aquarium sand substrate... Yadda yadda