Paul1792
Aquarium Advice Freak
I would appreciate any advice that you may have regarding my tank. I decided to ask before I have problems. After dealing with blackbush algae (now cured thanks to this forum) and being stupid enough to put neons in with goldfish ….. which of course disappeared, please provide me with any adice on care to keep me from having future problems. My setup:
38 gallon, HOB Aqua-Tech 30-60 filter (300GPH). Tank is 32 months old and I switched from goldfish to tropicals on August 1. No real plants but lots of “silk” plants + driftwood. The tank is stocked as follows:
2 x albino cory (very small)
5 x black neons
8 x neon tetra
5 x Harlequin Rasbora
5 x Serpae Tetra
5 x white cloud
5 x Red Eye Tetra
2 x Platy (Red Wagtail).
Fish are all healthy and happy looking and acting right now. The water is crystal clear with no smell. I had it tested yesterday at Petland …. with the good “drops” and it was Pristine. I keep the tank at 75 degrees.
Potential issues I see are:
Fish/Corys: According to aqadvisor.com, I am "maxed out" at 102% of capacity on fish and the only advice they give me is that albino cory do best with 4. Fish “expert” at Petland said two is fine. I plan to stick with two.
Water Quality: Tap water here in 32563 (Midway Water Supply, Gulf Breeze FL) is horrific. To keep the tank clear and within normal bio limits, I have to buy gallon jugs of spring water so water changes cost $$. Despite aqadvisor telling me I need to do 30% weekly, I plan to do 20% biweekly water changes (including gravel vacuum). Thus, I need good testing supplies. With my goldfish & Pleco combo …. I used Walmart’s Jungle Quick Dip test strips …… doing 20% bi weekly …… (¼ the changes aqadvisor recommended) and water was always clear and tested fine. Should I use a better test strip …… and if so, which one? Or … should I be using the more sophisticated liquid/test tube method? [Note: if tests show water degraded ….. I’ll just suck up the $$ costs with more water changes. ]
Filter: This goes along with water quality. I know my filter is a WalMart "el cheapo" but I got it after an emergency breakdown. I plan on upgrading to an AquaClear70 or something like that someday ..... but would I better off to just go ahead and replace it now ???
Feeding: I feed using a “floating ring,” alternating with TetraMin and API flakes twice daily and Hikari frozen brine shrimp twice weekly. Fish devour all food … especially the brine shrimp. Only problem: the API flakes seem a bit too “fine grained” so I turn off the filter during feeding but some still goes to the bottom for the corys. Should I ditch either or both of the TetraMin (mediocre quality) or API (too fine) and go with something else??
Thanks for your input and tips !!!
Oops one more thing ....... is there a tutorial on how to post pictures to this forum?
38 gallon, HOB Aqua-Tech 30-60 filter (300GPH). Tank is 32 months old and I switched from goldfish to tropicals on August 1. No real plants but lots of “silk” plants + driftwood. The tank is stocked as follows:
2 x albino cory (very small)
5 x black neons
8 x neon tetra
5 x Harlequin Rasbora
5 x Serpae Tetra
5 x white cloud
5 x Red Eye Tetra
2 x Platy (Red Wagtail).
Fish are all healthy and happy looking and acting right now. The water is crystal clear with no smell. I had it tested yesterday at Petland …. with the good “drops” and it was Pristine. I keep the tank at 75 degrees.
Potential issues I see are:
Fish/Corys: According to aqadvisor.com, I am "maxed out" at 102% of capacity on fish and the only advice they give me is that albino cory do best with 4. Fish “expert” at Petland said two is fine. I plan to stick with two.
Water Quality: Tap water here in 32563 (Midway Water Supply, Gulf Breeze FL) is horrific. To keep the tank clear and within normal bio limits, I have to buy gallon jugs of spring water so water changes cost $$. Despite aqadvisor telling me I need to do 30% weekly, I plan to do 20% biweekly water changes (including gravel vacuum). Thus, I need good testing supplies. With my goldfish & Pleco combo …. I used Walmart’s Jungle Quick Dip test strips …… doing 20% bi weekly …… (¼ the changes aqadvisor recommended) and water was always clear and tested fine. Should I use a better test strip …… and if so, which one? Or … should I be using the more sophisticated liquid/test tube method? [Note: if tests show water degraded ….. I’ll just suck up the $$ costs with more water changes. ]
Filter: This goes along with water quality. I know my filter is a WalMart "el cheapo" but I got it after an emergency breakdown. I plan on upgrading to an AquaClear70 or something like that someday ..... but would I better off to just go ahead and replace it now ???
Feeding: I feed using a “floating ring,” alternating with TetraMin and API flakes twice daily and Hikari frozen brine shrimp twice weekly. Fish devour all food … especially the brine shrimp. Only problem: the API flakes seem a bit too “fine grained” so I turn off the filter during feeding but some still goes to the bottom for the corys. Should I ditch either or both of the TetraMin (mediocre quality) or API (too fine) and go with something else??
Thanks for your input and tips !!!
Oops one more thing ....... is there a tutorial on how to post pictures to this forum?
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