Tank cleaning questions

[Baldrick]

Hi all,

I'm still trying to get the hang of maintaining our 3 month old 20 gallon tank and I have some questions.

We've got 2 Dwarf Gouramis, 4 Zebra Danios, 6 Neons, 2 Ghost Shrimp, and 2 Peppered Corys. I realize we're on the upper edge of how many fish we can have, but the reputable LFS says we're fine.

I've been vacuuming about once a week, but the amount of dreck in the gravel is pretty substantial. I'm still getting the hang of not over feeding. I vacuum until I've removed about 30% of the water, but there's still plenty of nasty stuff left. I have less than 1/2" of gravel.

My questions are, how much of a water change can I do at one time without stressing the fish? How often can I do it?

Also, when vacuuming, I stir up quite a bit of stuff from the gravel. How bad is this for the fish? If it's not too bad, can I stir up the gravel to suspend the pollution and let the filter take care of it?

And lastly, how much of a difference would a better vacuum make. Right now we use a small Petco self starting telescoping type. Would the Python with larger hose and the wide oblong opening help or would that remove water too fast to be effective in a small tank?

I know it's a lot of questions, but any help would be great.

Thanks.

 

[rich311k]

You can change as much water as you want, as long as the replacement is same temp and KH. You are well stock but not over the top. Maybe go to 50% changes with vacs. You should be fine. How often do you feed?

 

[tropicalfish]

I think you should increase the vertical distance between the siphon bucket and the tank. If it is not possible, then something else will have to be worked, say like a longer hose. Basically, the longer the hose and vertical distance is, the more suction you will get, but that also means more water taken out at a faster rate. Spend more time in the gravel than removing water, Dig deeply and slowly, and go around the whole floor. Do Not drag the tube, but pick it up and brush it around, so dirt can be moved and then sucked in. Do not take out more than 50% of water.

 

[Baldrick]

We feed twice a day. I feed a bit of flake food, a bit of Freeze Dried Blood Worms, and a wafer for the Corys. I try to not let anything hit bottom (aside from the wafer), but sometimes it can't be helped.

Aren't large water changes stressful for the fish? When my Swordtails were dying of Ich, my fish lady asked if I've done a water change recently. I said I did a 40% the day before and she was like "Whoa, that's a big water change". We didn't go into it any further, but I took it as though it was too big.

Any info on how bad the suspended pollution is for the fish?

 

[rich311k]

As long as the water is the same, you can not change to much water. In the wild in a river the water changes every minute of their lives. Fish will thrive in clean water.

 

[Zagz]

I agree, I have done 75% pwc's on several occasions and my fish love it. The important thing is to make sure temps are the same and you add dechlorinator.

 

[mr funktastic]

i do 50% a week. fish go nuts for it and they are wayyyyy happier when i do it. like everyone mentioned though make sure u balance the water temp. u can be 1 or 2 degrees of but try to get as close as possible. i stoped vacuuming after i went with eco-complete but when i did vacume i always sucked up alot of gunk. nothing to really wory about. its normal. and i always kicked up alot aswell and the fish never seemed to care.