Newbie Questions

[Bill2183]

I have been gifted with a populated 55 gal tank. Water was removed to gravel level for transport. Some original water was returned when tank was set up. Tank has been up for about a month. Minor casualties from the move. I have never cared for a tank before so I apologize for any silly questions.

I have the following in the tank. One 4" red tail shark, One 4" catfish(not sure what kind), 6 neon tetras, one spotted cory cat, one glass cat, 5 zebras, one guppy, one platy.

I had a plecostomus(spelling?) but he died after 2 weeks. I am waiting to get another, but suddenly my Nitrites are high. I have some general maintenance questions.

How often should I gravel vacuum? Should I vacuum the whole tank or 1/2 at a time?

How long should I leave my light on? I know leaving it on too long will promote algae growth. I am more concerned with what is best for the fish. Will leaving it on or off too long harm the fish?

How often should I feed them? I have been doing it twice a day.

I have the following set up. An under the gravel filter with 2 550 power heads, one on each side of the tank, a hanging charcoal filter, 2 bubble stones. the water is kept at about 78 degrees.

I add a dash of salt about once a week.

Sorry this is so long. Any advice will be greatly appreciated. Please help before I kill again.

Thanks

 

[RogerMcAllen]

1. Get a good pic of the cat and post it on the forums of www.planetcatfish.com They can ID any cat you come across.

3. Without plants, lights are basically there to make the tank look good. The fish don't really care either way as long as you have them on a nice schedual.

4. Feed them as often as they can consume all of the food offered within a few min. You might need to get some sinking food for the cats if none makes it to the bottom.

Perhaps someone else can fill in the gaps and possibly point out any errors I have made.

 

[sweetsuvvyb]

Have you read up on cycling your tank? Are you doing water changes to keep those nitrite levels in check?

sorry to answer your questions with more questions...but knowing the tank cycle is probably the most important part of keeping your fish healthy and happy

 

[tkos]

Without live plants I would only have the lights on when you are around to see the fish. If the nitrites are spiking then you are cycling. Eventually you will hate the UGF as it will fail and cleaning will mean tearing the whole tank down. If possible try to save up and buy a canister filter. They are much nicer for a large tank like you have.

The salt is great for high nitrite levels as it can slow down the poisoning, but it can hurt some fish such as plecos and catfish (freshwater ones).

You probably have a pictus catfish.

You will be safe once the tank is established vacuuming every week the whole tank.

Cories love company. Instead of another pleco I would go for a few more cories and maybe a dwarf pleco (bristlenose is a great choice). And a few more neons would look really nice in there.

I feed my fish once a day and they are doing fine. Twice is okay but I would definately have one day a week where you do not feed the fish. Over feeding can lead to nitrite and ammonia spikes. And yes, get some sinking tablets for bottom feeders.

 

[Bill2183]

Thank you all for your input. It seems I am going to need quite an education. I have some questions.

Can someone briefly explain 'cycling' to me?

TKOS: How often should I clean my UGF? Why is a canister filter better? The only reason I have a UGF is because it came with the tank. I am also running a charcol filter that hangs on the back of the tank.

I was told I should vacuum about once a month. Based on everyone's replys it seems that I should do it more often. I had done it about 2 weeks ago, and removed about 10 gal in the process. How much water should be removed during this process?

Thanks to all in advance for their input.

 

[tkos]

I have never used a UGF. I have read time and time again though that eventually they will clog up and that means ripping the tank apart to clean things. The canister allows for lots of water movement and is much easier to clean. It has lots of room for media. With a UGF I suspect you should gravbel vacuum more often to keep things from getting too clogged. Also a UGF means no live plants as the roots will grow into the system and wreck it.

Gravel vacuum/water changes should take out about 20% of the water. Of course it also depends on what type of fish you have and how heavy the bioload is.

 

[Allivymar]

When we talk about cycling in these here parts *grin* we are talking about the nitrogen cycle.

Basically, fish output waste which is deadly to them (ammonia, a type of nitrogenous waste) in the form of respiration and digestion (breathing, pee n poo). Fortunately, nature has a way of removing the ammonia by something called nitrifying bacteria, and they LOVE to colonise fish tanks. They basically live on flat surfaces, such as the filter media, tank walls, substrate, plants, etc.

What happens is, once there is an ammonia source, one type of nitrifying bacteria moves in and starts converting ammonia into nitrItes. Takes a little while for enough bacteria to deal with ALL the ammonia. Thing is, nitrItes are ALSO deadly to fish. But mother nature to the rescue again, in the form of another nitrifying bacteria which eats nitrItes and leaves nitrAtes. Low levels of nitrAtes are fine to have in the tank (0-40 ppm is usually an ok range). Very little really removes nitrAtes other then water changes (there are a few things, but water changes are the best way). The whole deal can take from 2-4 weeks. In your case, I'm betting you had a partial colony already as you recieved a mature tank, so your cycle would be shorter then someone who started from scratch.

So by cycling your tank, we mean building up those bacterial colonies so they can deal with all the nitrogenous waste the fish put out, and the fish can survive in the water. Theres a great article on the cycle here: http://faq.thekrib.com/begin-cycling.html . It will fill in any details I missed in that not so brief explanation LOL

Its very important to use those ammonia, nitrIte and nitrAte tests regularly so you know what the levels are in the tank. If you discover there are nitrItes or any ammonia, a water change is needed to dilute those levels. I use the Aquarium Pharmeceuticals vial/liquid tests; they seem to be pretty accurate.

I also have a 55g. I do water changes once a week, of about 20-30%. Fresh clean conditioned water at tank temps is ALWAYS a good thing. I also gravel vac the tank entirely; however, I have whats called a Bio-Wheel, which is a wheel which has a VERY large surface area. Means I have lots of bacteria on the wheel. So if I vacuum the entire tank, I'm not removing so many of em that the tank starts to spike ammonia and nitrites. After water changes/gravel vacs, my tank tests read 0 ammonia, 0 nitrites and 5 nitrates. The nitrates usually go up a little during the week; around 10-15 ppm and then obviously are reduced with the water changes. I have never seen ammonia or nitrites in this tank as I moved everyone, the plants, the driftwood and the Bio-Wheel from my 25g.

 

[Bill2183]

Thank you all for your advice. This is my new favorite website.

Since it is apparent that there is much I need to learn can someone please recommend a good overall book on freshwater tropical tank care and fish? Something written for a beginner.

Thank you all again, you advice has been a tremendous help. 8)

 

[jsoong]

I am fairly new at this too. I pulled out some books from the library, but I find this comprehensive source on the web better:

http://fins.actwin.com/mirror/begin.html

This is the FAQ for the aquarium newsgroup, covers just about everything I needed to know.

 

[Allivymar]

Heh, the krib faq. One of the best out there! I often direct folks to pages there, as you can see by one of my previous posts; good choice jsoong