Bad aquarium keeper?

[flitabout]

It depends on the plants you choose to grow. There are lots of beautiful plants, that are in the low category. Low light plants are anubias, anacharis, java ferns, java moss, crypts, swords and some vals. Java ferns and anubia like to be tied to driftwood and rocks. Crypts and swords like to be planted and are heavy root feeders so they need a root tab every 1-4 months depending on the type of root tab. Here are some low light plants. There're are more than just these but these may give you an idea of what you can do. Hardy-Low Light

 

[Candi1990]

I bought one plant. Lol we will see how it does!

 

[T1KARMANN]

I have had aquariums for about 3 years now. I have a 55, 40, and 2 -30's.

I do regular water changes, change filters when needed, clean gravel, and clean sides of tank and rocks monthly. HOWEVER i dont check levels and all that. I bought an expensive kit, tried it, couldnt figure it out and gave up. Thats been about a year ago. Am i a bad fish mommy does everyone here check level? I can look and tell when there is something wrong with the tank.. A few times i had to take the water and get in checked. But for the last couple of years i haven't had any problems and havent had to. My fish keep breeding so i think the conditions are great. What are your thoughts?

I never check my water
I can see the way my fish act if I have a problem

I have never understood why people have so many tanks I find it best to concentrate on one tank

 

[Toad]

I've never tested my water. I've thought about it but I keep up with water changes, don't really have any problems.

 

[Candi1990]

I never check my water
I can see the way my fish act if I have a problem

I have never understood why people have so many tanks I find it best to concentrate on one tank

My fish had babies and I had to buy a second tank. Then I wanted fish that couldn't live with them, and bought a 3rd tank, and THEY had babies! Ended up with 4 tanks and I love them!!! I actually want a 5th!!!! There is always a fish I like but don't have room for.

 

[Candi1990]

I never check my water
I can see the way my fish act if I have a problem

I have never understood why people have so many tanks I find it best to concentrate on one tank

For YEARS with 4 tanks I never did either. Now I hate I started very stressful and not very fun right now. Maybe it will be once the levels are right it will be fun again.

 

[LostInFish]

My fish had babies and I had to buy a second tank. Then I wanted fish that couldn't live with them, and bought a 3rd tank, and THEY had babies! Ended up with 4 tanks and I love them!!! I actually want a 5th!!!! There is always a fish I like but don't have room for.

Sure sign of a fish lover MTS multi tank syndrome

 

[T1KARMANN]

My fish had babies and I had to buy a second tank. Then I wanted fish that couldn't live with them, and bought a 3rd tank, and THEY had babies! Ended up with 4 tanks and I love them!!! I actually want a 5th!!!! There is always a fish I like but don't have room for.

All the fun is trying to make fish live in the same tank

If fish are mixed with other fish from young it may work


My 28" Asian arowana will not bother or eat small tiger fish even as small as 6" as he has grown up with them but if I put any other type of fish below 10" they are gone fast

Just never seen the point in multi tanks the amount of work involved mates it hard work with less time to sit and enjoy your fish

An extra 5 water changes per week after a hard days work takes a lot of the enjoyment out of the hobby

 

[Candi1990]

All the fun is trying to make fish live in the same tank

If fish are mixed with other fish from young it may work


My 28" Asian arowana will not bother or eat small tiger fish even as small as 6" as he has grown up with them but if I put any other type of fish below 10" they are gone fast

Just never seen the point in multi tanks the amount of work involved mates it hard work with less time to sit and enjoy your fish

An extra 5 water changes per week after a hard days work takes a lot of the enjoyment out of the hobby

I was okay with the water changes, the testing is a killer!

 

[trickshot3102]

I have had aquariums for about 3 years now. I have a 55, 40, and 2 -30's.

I do regular water changes, change filters when needed, clean gravel, and clean sides of tank and rocks monthly. HOWEVER i dont check levels and all that. I bought an expensive kit, tried it, couldnt figure it out and gave up. Thats been about a year ago. Am i a bad fish mommy does everyone here check level? I can look and tell when there is something wrong with the tank.. A few times i had to take the water and get in checked. But for the last couple of years i haven't had any problems and havent had to. My fish keep breeding so i think the conditions are great. What are your thoughts?

first, you are not a bad fish mommy! I used to have a 10 Gal and now I have a 40 and I have never checked the levels. I find that if you do water changes every week, everything will balance out. Even if you did spend the 20 bucks (I think its a bit pricey) it would only tell you to do a water change Its a good sign that the fish are breeding because I think it means that they are comfortable in the tank. As long as the fish are fine and dont show sings of ammonia/nitrite poisoning, they're fine Good luck and happy fishkeeping

 

[NDPTAL85]

Plant Update

I was okay with the water changes, the testing is a killer!

I wanted to give you guys an update on my experiment with plants. I got impatient waiting for the Pothos to take root so I added a bunch of Hornwort. Man does that stuff grow fast. In just 3 days time its already reduced my Ammonia, Nitrites and Nitrates to 0. That's lower than you'd get with tap water in most places!

I will make a separate thread on my own later with photos and more information but trust me, just throw some Hornwort in your tank and call it a day. Regular aquarium lighting is all it needs.

 

[LostInFish]

That's awesome, thanks for sharing I'm going to get some for my little tank

 

[Candi1990]

I wanted to give you guys an update on my experiment with plants. I got impatient waiting for the Pothos to take root so I added a bunch of Hornwort. Man does that stuff grow fast. In just 3 days time its already reduced my Ammonia, Nitrites and Nitrates to 0. That's lower than you'd get with tap water in most places!



I will make a separate thread on my own later with photos and more information but trust me, just throw some Hornwort in your tank and call it a day. Regular aquarium lighting is all it needs.

Please send me a picture just in case I don't see the thread put one on here! Thanks for the info! I out something in mine, daren't don't remember the name but the label said just burry it in the gravel, it's been a week and it's still there lol. Growing a little but not dead so I am happy with that! I will get some hornwort if I can find it!

 

[NDPTAL85]

Sure. Here you go!

It is the bushy looking group of plants.

 

[Candi1990]

I have to get some I love it!!!

 

[gilpi]

I have had aquariums for about 3 years now. I have a 55, 40, and 2 -30's.

I do regular water changes, change filters when needed, clean gravel, and clean sides of tank and rocks monthly. HOWEVER i dont check levels and all that. I bought an expensive kit, tried it, couldnt figure it out and gave up. Thats been about a year ago. Am i a bad fish mommy does everyone here check level? I can look and tell when there is something wrong with the tank.. A few times i had to take the water and get in checked. But for the last couple of years i haven't had any problems and havent had to. My fish keep breeding so i think the conditions are great. What are your thoughts?

Personally, I don't use test kits, had many different types of fish through the years (something like 30-35 years) and just recently purchased a pH test kit and hardly use it, I have an ammonia test kit I purchased 2 years ago when we thought we had a problem with our tap water, only used it a couple of times.

I am not saying to disregard or overlook the use and the value of tests kits, they do have their place, I just think too much time is focused on water parameters with no need to.

Regular water changes are the most important thing you can do to keep your fish healthy along with good filtration, diet and water temperature, basically that's all we can do to keep our fish healthy.

 

[Candi1990]

Personally, I don't use test kits, had many different types of fish through the years (something like 30-35 years) and just recently purchased a pH test kit and hardly use it, I have an ammonia test kit I purchased 2 years ago when we thought we had a problem with our tap water, only used it a couple of times.

I am not saying to disregard or overlook the use and the value of tests kits, they do have their place, I just think too much time is focused on water parameters with no need to.

Regular water changes are the most important thing you can do to keep your fish healthy along with good filtration, diet and water temperature, basically that's all we can do to keep our fish healthy.

I agree 100%!