Describe your schedule

[medge00]

I'd like this to be more than the basic, 'how often do you do water changes' question. Frequency of water changes is an important issue, but there is, in my opinion, so muh more that goes into it. Discus require more water changes that most tetras, a 75 gallon with mostly plants and some apistogrammas is much different than a 75 gallon with one ginormous (that's gigantic + enormous) oscar and a plec. Factors include: plants or no? ferts or no? fish load? type of fish? how often do you feed? what do you feed? etc etc. i hope y'all are as interested in this thread as I am.

so i'll start! I'm listing my tank specs/fish load only because its not in my signature...

tank: 20gal long, 60 watts, diy co2
Plants: tons and tons
Fish: (3) cories, (4) cardinals, (1) loach, (1) temporary black molly
Feed: 2-3 times a week. I rotate and mix the following foods: Omega flake, omega veggie flake, frozen brine shrimp, frozen blood worms, algae wafer, shrimp pellet.
Fertilizers: Iron, potassium - once a week... flourish - twice
Water Changes: 20% once a week, vac once a month


ok, your turn!

 

[Toirtis]

What....for all 52 tanks?!?

 

[DanW0007]

haha, seriously, how do you manage that?

 

[Toirtis]

haha, seriously, how do you manage that?

A few at a time... Really, I just make sure I do about 10 each day, that way within a week I can get 70 tanks changed...works out to about once each 6 days for each tank.

 

[mattrox]

I try 30% twice a week. My tank is about 76 gals and planted lightly. I have 3 Rams, 3 Apistos, 5 Cories, 3 Otos and 2 Bristlenose. It will get tetras and more plants and maybe more cories too when the budget allows.

When I had Discus in the tank bare bottom I did 30% daily most days and when busy 40 3 times a week. This was because I was growing them up and feeding heavily. I had to move because of work so they got almost fully grown before I had to go.

 

[TomK2]

Well, I do a 20% water change two or three times a week. In the past I was such a bad overstocker, overfeeder, and rarely did water changes. I knew it was bad, so I set up some plumbing, pumps and a holding tank in my "new" house. It is now painless and fun to do a water change.

I vacuum the gravel once a month.

I plan on servicing my fluval 404's every two months (one each month at gravel vac time). By servicing, I mean rinse/clean the prefilter sponge, rinse/clean a basket of ceramic mechanical, and change the basket that has filter floss for finer mechanical filtration. Two baskets of bio-media will be left alone.

I feed once or twice a day, what the tank can consume in about 3 minutes, some gets down to gravel, but thats what the pleco and cory's are for. once a week the pleco gets an algae wager, once a week the bottom feeders get a few shrimp pellets.

So far, after 3 months of running, I have pH=7.8, NH3=0, NO2=0 and NO3 between 0 and 5ppm.

I am going to add a school of 6 tetras (?type?) and one spiney eel, maybe two more juvenile angels in the future.

 

[Fishyfanatic]

tank: 150 gal
Plants: tons and tons of plastic plants
Fish: Lake Malawali Cichlids
Feed: 1-2 times a day. I rotate and mix the following foods: Flake, Veggies, frozen brine shrimp, frozen blood worms, algae wafer, freeze dried blood worms, tubiflex worms.
Water Changes: 25% once a week, vac once a month

 

[medge00]

hehe, no, not for all 52 tanks please. choose an example tank! I've got 3 tanks, I used the one that takes the most time.

 

[ChileRelleno]

75gal
Oscar get a fed 2-5x per day, small portitions & never the same thing twice, Plec gets veggie every night, I often spike his food with algae tabs and/or carnivore sticks for extra protien.
Full water chemistry test weekly, NH3, NO2, NO3, PH, KH and GH.
NO3 gets tested twice a week.
20-30% PWC & GV twice a week.
Rinse filter media & media box weekly.

10 gal's
Bettas get fed 1-2x's daily.
Full water chemistry test weekly (same as above)
20-40% PWC & GV every other week average.
Rinse filter media & media box once a month.

 

[Blucat]

Tank: 24 gal
Plants: Light, two swords and an aquatic palm
Fish: Two dwarf gouramis, 1 female betta
Feed: Pinch of flake every day
Water Changes: 25% once a week, gravel vac once a week

Q: I noticed that most only gravel vacs once a month. Is it bad to do gravel vacs once a week?

 

[FancyGuppyGuy]

For starters heres my feeing schedule.

Feeding schedule for fish 2 months and older. ( 3-4 feedings daily )


Mon: Vita-Pro Flake, Spirulina Flake, Freeze Dried Brine Shrimp.

Tues: Daily Flake Mix, Brine Shrimp Flake, Freeze Dried Tubifex Worms.

Wed: Brine Shrimp Plus Flake, Earth Worm Flake, Freeze Dried Beef Heart.

Thurs: Vita-Pro Flake, Spirulina Flake, Freeze Dried Brine Shrimp.

Fri: Daily Flake Mix, Brine Shrimp Flake, Freeze Dried Blood Worms.

Sat: Brine Shrimp Plus Flake, Spirulina Flake, Freeze Dried Beef Heart.

Sun: Daily Flake Mix, Brine Shrimp Flake, Earth Worm Flake, (Treat)


Treats: Powdered Earth Worms, Crushed Salmon Roe, Crushed Krill, Live Baby Brine Shrimp, Bloods Worms.

Live Baby brine shrimp a couple times a week.





Feeding schedule for fish 2 weeks and older. ( 4-6 feedings daily )


Mon - Sun: Baby Brine Shrimp, Mike Reeds Fry Food, Crushed Daily Mix Flake.

Mon, Wed, Fri: Spirulina Powder.

Tues, Sun: Crushed Freeze Dried Beef Heart.

Thurs, Sat: Freeze Dried Tubifex Worms.


Note: If Live Baby Shrimp cannot be fed then replace with Mike Reeds Fry Food/Decapped Brine Shrimp Eggs.





Feeding schedule for New FRY. ( 6-8 feedings daily )


Mon - Sun: Baby Brine Shrimp, Hikari First Bites, Azoo Artificial Artemia, Spirulina Powder.

Mon, Wed, Sat: Finely Crushed Freeze Dried Beef Heart.

Tues, Fri, Sun: Finely Crushed Daily Mix Flake.


Note: If Live Baby Shrimp cannot be fed then replace with Azoo Artificial Artemia/Decapped Brine Shrimp Eggs.

 

[FancyGuppyGuy]

tanks and water changes,

All water gets 1 drop of tap water conditioner per 2 quarts and 1/4 teaspoon aquarium salt. Temperature is measured with a digital thermometer to within .5 degrees.

no plants

29 gallon w/flourescent hood
200W heater
UGF w/ Dual Powerheads 340 GPH
HOB filter with Sponge on the intake 180 GPH
Maintenance weekly vaccum and water change
4 females guppies 2 1/2 - 3 months old.
3 Stud males 2 1/2 months old
5 female fry 4 weeks old
1 small pleco
1 flying fox

10 gallon w/flourescent hood
100W heater
UGF w/ Power Head 170 GPH
HOB filter w/ Sponge on the intake 140 GPH
Maintenance weekly water change and vaccum
3 female Guppies
1 male Guppy
1 rubbernose pleco

10 gallon w/flourescent hood
50 W heater
HOB filter with Sponge on the intake 140 GPH
Maintenance twice weekly water change and vaccum
15 guppies 2 1/2- 3 1/2 months old
40+ 1-2 week old fry in breeding net
8 male fry 4 weeks old
1 cory cat

2 1/2 gallon w/ flourescent hood
25W heater
UGF air driven 16-20 GPH
HOB Azoo palm filter w/ Sponge on the intake 16 GPH
maintenance twice weekly water change and vaccum
1 female pregnant 3 1/2 months old

2 1/2 gallon w/ flourescent hood
25W heater
UGF air driven 16-20 GPH
HOB Azoo palm filter w/ Sponge on the intake 16 GPH
maintenance twice weekly water change and vaccum
1 female pregnant 3 1/2 months old

1.6 gallon
25W heater
UGF air driven 16-20 GPH
maintenance twice weekly water change and vaccum
1 female pregnant 3 1/2 months old

 

[BrianNY]

To answer your question Blucat, it's fine to gravel vac weekly. That is assuming your tank is fully cycled and you aren't disturbing the roots of your plants.

Desribe my schedule? I have 13 tanks and ten of them contain discus. Two are heavily planted. I probably spend as much time cleaning sponge filters, sponge prefilters, HOBs, and cannisters as I do on wcs.

All but one planted discus tank are barebottom. I feed 2 or 3 times a day. Tetra bits, frozen blood worms, frozen spinach are the morning feeding. The evening feeding is always live blackworms. I go through 2lbs a month and fly them in from California.

Am I nuts, or what?

 

[funwiththefish]

Tank: 55 gal
Fishies: 1 adult and 1 juvenile severum, 1 rusty cichlid, 1 young catfish
Plants: Mostly plastic, but some live: 2 medium swords, small bunch of microswords, a few bits of duckweed
Food: Twice daily, pellets/flakes/bloodworms ** I've never heard anything good about Tubifex worms. Apparently they're scraped from some muddy riverbank and are teeming with diseases. Just what I've heard. That's why I stay away from them.
Waterchanges: about 10% weekly. My tank is just newly established, so I take out a bit more depending on my parameters.

Q: I noticed that most only gravel vacs once a month. Is it bad to do gravel vacs once a week?

--I do vacuum once a week, just not my whole tank. Usually about a 1/4 of the tank, or whatever I can get vacuumed in the time it takes to get my 10% water out.

 

[Fluff]

I currently have 11 tanks. But only 7 of those are fw. I do 35-30% waterchanges weekly. I gavel vac about half the tank each time. I do filter maintenance once a month. My tanks are lightly planted so I don't dose anything and the fish get fed once a day with the addition pellets and disks at night for the plecs and cats every other day.

 

[Mazdaman]

20 gal with plastic plants
pwc 20% once a week and gravel 1/4 once week.
The plants that are in the section that os being vaced will be pulled from tank and cleaned with tank water and some good ol fashioned elbow grease.
clean filter media and filter once a month or more if needed.
feeding is once a day and is flake, fozen brine shrimp, blood worms and pellets
test for ammonia and nitrite twice a week and ph and gh once a week (just before water change)

 

[Blucat]

Speaking of cleaning and all that, can magnetic tank scrubbers be used for acrylic/plastic tanks?
Cuz, I will get some plecos and otos in the future, but in the meantime, the algae looks terrible.

 

[RoK]

I see you guys saying things like "25% once a week, vac once a month". I always do a gravel vac when doing water changes, do you use a gravel vac but just not vacuum the gravel when doing the water changes or what?

 

[Jchillin]

(see sig for tank specs)

I do 20% PWC once a week (including a light gravel vacuum)
I do a complete maintenance (25%-30% PWC...heavy gravel vac and filter cleaning and media exchange/cleaning) once a month.

Feedings:

Flakes (twice a day for 5 days)
Freeze dried brine shrimp (once out of the remaining 2 days)
Tubifex worms (the remaining day)
Algae wafer (once every other day for Sailfin)

*Note: During the monthly maintenance, may move some tank decorations around and remove any excess algae that Sailfin can't get at.

 

[Punkymom]

75 gallon:

Occupants - 1 Large Oscar, 1 Jack Dempsey, 1 Pleco

I have been changing 20-25% of the water about every other day give or take a day sometimes in between. I vacuum the gravel (usually 25%) every time I change water. Oh, I should hope there's no live plants in this one 8O

20 Long:

Occupants - 1 Dwarf Gourami, 5 Von Rio Tetras, 4 Cory Cats

Tons of live plants, 2 65 watt bulbs (one of them only runs 6 hours out of 12 that they are on), Red Sea CO2 system with a stronger airhead on it...

This tank is almost a first for me and is still in the testing stages as far as where my chemicals balance...so far this is what I've been doing - 50% change once a week, Add trace elements and all other chemicals except fert. Day 2, add fert. Day 3, add needed nutrients, day 4, add fert, so on a so forth with a topping off about mid week...like I said this one is touch and go...

30 gallon

Occupants - 4 Goldfish (one Red Cap Oranda, one Lion Head, one Black Moor, one Ryukin

I know this is slightly over stocked for a 30, but as soon as I move (sometime this year) these guys are going in my 55 and everything in my 20 is moving over to my 30...I'm changing 40-50% once a week with these guys with a slight gravel vac...there's not much to vacuum right now...haven't had them that long. Plastic plants BTW

Oh geez I forgot about feedings...I'll post that tomorrow...I'm really sick and need to get to bed...