Newbie with 2gal tank - cleaning advice?

[jfoust]

I posted most of this in the welcome area and it was recommended that I put it here too, so here goes! We have a small 2 gallon TopFin AquaScene aquarium. There are 5 fish in the aquarium... A Fancy Guppy, a Neon, two Zebra Danios and two Rasboras. Everyone has been getting along since the beginning of August.

We've do a 20% water change once a week and at that time we also clean the one decoration and two small fake plants.

The tank uses a UG filter and that's it. It appeared to be working well, but in the last week I started getting some pretty heavy algae buildup, so I decided it was time for a through cleaning. I borrowed a gravel vac from a co-worker but it was too big for our little tank, and I didn't get that much gravel clean before I had sucked out 1/2 of the water! So I transferred the fish and some water to the bucket we use for cleaning, then took the aquarium to the sink, dumped it all and cleaned the gravel by hand.

Everything is nice and clean now, but I'm wondering if I should buy a small vac, or if it's kind of pointless with a tank this small... Should I just do the dump and clean from now on? Also, how often should we be cleaning the gravel on a tank this small with a UG filter? Would it be best to get a vac and basically use it to suck out my 20% of water for my weekly changes? Any other tips and hints???

Thanks in advance! We're having a blast with the fish!
-Jeff

 

[LindsayBlum]

I hope you're having fun with your new tank!

I wouldn't necessarily dump and clean, because you will be removing a lot of beneficial bacteria, and it may be stressful on your fish. However, for a two gallon, using a vac is difficult. I would recommend you continue the partial water changes.

Have you been overfeeding your fish? That may cause your water to accumulate dirt, or even better, do you have your tank in direct sunlight?

 

[jfoust]

We're having a lot of fun with the tank! It's the first one I've ever had, and my 4 year old son has fun helping to feed and take care of the fish, so it's a win-win so far

I had read that dumping will remove the beneficial bacteria, so I didn't think that was the best way to do it, but it was the only way we were getting the funk out last night! The partial water changes were doing good for the last month and a half or so until the algae buildup started, and then there was no going back. I picked up a bottle of algae control stuff, so hopefully that will help there.

I've only been feeding them as much as they can eat in 3-5 mins or so, which I think is pretty close to right, but like I said I'm new, so maybe not! The tank is not in direct sunlight, but we had been keeping the light on 24/7, which probably wasn't helping! It's in my son's room and it's basically his night light, so we've gone to keeping it on in the evening and at night and turning it off when we leave the house in the morning. Hopefully that will help.

Thanks for the help!
-Jeff

 

[neilanh]

Get a small gravel vac. They make small ones, they're cheap, and it'll be a lot better in the long run for you.

You feed once a day? that's probably ok for once a day, but if you're feeding more than that it's too much and will build up. you've got a pretty high bioload for a 2 gallon tank, so it's great that your'e doing weekly water changes. Keep an eye on your water parameters, though. use the gravel vac and don't be afraid to go more than 20%. 50% weekly is very common around these parts.

did you cycle your tank prior to adding fish, or are you cycling it now?

As long as the tank isn't in direct sunlight, that might be okay to run your lights all night long. I'd consider getting a moonlight or something that would suffice for your son and allow the fish to be on a more regular lighting schedule, though. I don't know how them having light (albeit not necessarily direct) will affect them.

 

[jfoust]

Thanks Neilan!

I'm definitely going to nab a small vac. I looked online and saw that Petsmart sells some that are much more reasonably sized for my tank! Forgot to mention we do feed once a day, and only as much as they can eat in a couple of minutes.

I did let the tank run for a few days before adding any fish, and then I added the fish a few at a time. Don't know if that constitutes cycling or not, but that's how we got it up and running!

We can always plug the night light back in for my son and kill the tank light in the evening if that works better for the fish. I just figured if the light was going to be on that it might as well be on as a night light, plus he likes to lay in bed and watch the fish as he falls asleep. I'll have to look into the moonlight!

-Jeff

 

[neilanh]

Please read the article in my signature about the nitrogen cycle. It will explain the cycle and how it all works. With that many fish in that small of a tank, the ammonia and nitrIte will build up very quickly. Weekly water changes may not be enough in your situation. I'd hate for your son to wake up to dead fishies. Like I said, please read the article and we can answer any questions you might have. if you don't have a good test set (API master freshwater kit I recommend) then I'd suggest you get one. I know, I know, this is a lot more than you planned on getting in to, isn't it? Don't worry, it's not all that much.

As far as the light is concerned, I run my tank lights from 1:30 to 11pm. That way I get to enjoy them, then let the tank go dark for the night. A nightlight in the room won't bother them, so I'd recommend setting up your lighting schedule to do something similiar, this way he gets to enjoy them as he falls asleep, and the fish get a good rest period also.

 

[jfoust]

if you don't have a good test set (API master freshwater kit I recommend) then I'd suggest you get one. I know, I know, this is a lot more than you planned on getting in to, isn't it?

Thanks for the advice on a test kit. I've been bumming my co-worker's and it's about time to get my own I suppose! I also have two dogs and an old Corvette, so I'm way too used to things taking more time and money than I initially thought they would

 

[Purrbox]

Not sure which Gravel Vac you're looking at, but I can recommend Lee's Mini Self Starting Gravel Vac. I use it on my small aquariums and it works great.

 

[bluerose]

I just picked up a Lee's vac today and it works well- definitely get the mini with the small tube though (the mini comes with a wide tube or a small one)... the wide tube is almost too much for my 8gal.

yeah, pretty high bioload- i might only feed as much as they can clean up in a minute or two (what I feed my neons).

might want to consider a mag-float (they make cheaper versions too)- works great to scrape algae without getting messy. might also be VERY fun for your son to learn about the wonders of magnets!

 

[jfoust]

Well I went to PetSmart over the weekend to pick up some supplies and they were out of mini vacs, so I'll just have to go to the one near my work. Wish we had a legit fish shop over my way!

I did pick up the API Master Freshwater Kit. Everything tested pretty good, but the PH was just a tad high I think... I don't remember off the top of my head, but it was a tad higher than 7.0, like 7.2-7.3. Should I be concerned about that? The little bit of reading I've done seems to say that a constant PH is more important than dead on 7.0, and as long as it's not unusually high, I should be okay. The little API booklet didn't clearly say what was acceptable and what wasn't unless I missed it.

There was a little Ammonia, but also from what I read that can sometimes be the case in a new tank (just did a full scrubdown and total water change last Wesnesday). The booklet said partial water changes will help that, so I'm going to do daily 25% water changes and monitor the Ammonia closely over the next few days to see if that settles down.

Does my plan sound about right?

 

[neilanh]

That pH is fine, mine is 7.5ish and no issues. Just like you said, stable is way more important than target.

How much is a "little ammonia" that you're reading? Basically, if it ever gets to 0.5ppm, do a 50% water change. That's what I'd recommend.

 

[jfoust]

Honestly, off the top of my head I don't remember what the Ammonia level was! Thanks to Google I found an image of the ammonia card from the API kit and I think it was between a 0.25 and 0.50, so I did the water change. The change I did yesterday was about 35%, thinking I would do a few of those and see if it brings that level down.

BTW, that API kit is great! It's simple to use and easy to read, and they say it's good for 800 tests, so even though I had to pay $29.99 for it at PetSmart, it only works out to $0.03 per test and even if I test every day this one kit will last me over two years

Oh yeah, how often should I test? I was sort of thinking about doing it every time before I do my weekly water change, but I don't know if that's too much or not.

 

[bluerose]

Once the tank is cycled and holding steady once a week is good... and then test if your fish are acting weird or if something changes in the tank.

No such thing as too much testing! knowledge is power so they say

 

[neilanh]

Yeah, until your tank completely finishes it's cycle I'd recommend testing every day or two. After that, weekly should be fine, and once you get comfortable you can slack off from that too. Not recommending this, mind you, but I can't even remember the last time I checked the parameters in any of my FW tanks. lol. It's been at least since June.

 

[jfoust]

Wow I hope mine gets that stable!!! Thanks for all the advice! I'm sure I'll have more questions as I get everything settled in