Whats your method on water changes?

[Neuve]

Hey everyone. Just wanted to know if you had any advice on how to do water changes. I have 2 small 1 gal tanks and another 4 gal tank. On the small ones i keep bettas and on the "big" one i have some flame and blood fin tetras along with 2 angels, 3 corys n 2 algae eaters.

My q is. ¿Whats the less stressful way to do water changes?
Do you have any tecniques?
Thx
Pato

 

[Allivymar]

Hiya Neuve and welcome!

Before I vote, I really need to comment on your tank loads. A 4 gallon tank is WAY too small for any single angelfish, much less 2 plus corys and algae eaters and tetras! Its recommended to have around 10g per angelfish, they need lots of room because A) they get pretty big (3-6 inches tall!) and B) they need the space for those georgeous fins. Depending on what sort of algae eater you have, they could do ok in anywhere from a 10g (for a small group of otos) to having to have a 55g and larger (for some of the plecos, which will get around 2 feet long)! Plus, most algae eaters are major waste producers (think lots of poo) and need more tank/water to simply deal with the waste without spiking ammonia and nitrites. The 1g tanks are fine for betta tho

As for water changes, I think a siphon is necessary, as its VERY important to get the uneaten food and poo up from the gravel. Very difficult to do with a cup.

Now I'll go vote LOL

 

[e-cat]

poor fish, thats all i will say, ill bite my tounge on this one

 

[madasafish]

Good call E-Cat. Don't want to scare Pato off!

 

[An t-iasg]

Hi Neuve,
I had 2 bettas in one gallon bowls (they each had their own bowl, of course!) Now they are in a divided 5 1/2 gallon tank. When they were in their bowls, I used a small siphon hose. The siphon part was 6 inches long and 1 inch wide. The hose was about 3 or 4 feet long. This small hose would fit into their bowls, and it was very useful, as others have said, to sweep the gravel and remove all the uneaten food and fish waste.

 

[Neuve]

Fot e-cat and madas fish.
I Just went off to buy a ten gal tank. I knew there could be something wrong about my setup.

I started cycling it yesterday with some "charales" they are like the cheapest fish in the market and very hardy 2. They are usually bought as turtle food so Im guessing i wont fall in love for them lol

The 2 one gal tanks are also being cycled by the same fish, so i dunno how much to wait till i can move the angel fishes to the big one. About ammonia and nitrate i bought thi aquaclear AMRID just to help this poor little guys survive thru this period.

Um so my new question is, how much should i wait for the "charales" (spanish) to cycle my tanks?

Which ones should i move to the big one? Or which ones should stay? Lol or which ones could be on the 1.5 gal tanks?

Is it okay if the big tank gets direct sunlight?

Is there anything i can do meanwhile?

Do I have to bag my fish when moving them? or is there another method?

Do you have any other comments?

lol

thanx
Pato

 

[Allivymar]

Ok..lessee:

Best thing to do is test for ammonia/nitrites/nitrates. Once ammonia spikes and subsides, then nitrite spikes and subsides, and all you are registering nitrAtes, the tank is cycled. Could take anywhere from 2 to 6 weeks...is why its best to test because theres no specific time for a cycle. Btw, what are charales? What sorta fish? I'm curious

Move the angels; they need the room more then any of the others. Know they will probably need an even larger tank in the near future...figure around 20g. The bettas will do well in each 1.5g (one per tank). I'd add the corys to the angel tank and maybe one of the algae eaters (depends on what kind it is). You'll need to keep a VERY close eye on water parameters as it will be overcrowded. You'll also need to consider where the charales will go afterwards.

You'll probably want to avoid direct sunlight; it will make the tank temps fluctuate, and it will REALLY cause a prob with algae.

If the tank parameters are the same, you can just net the fish and put them in the new tank no need to bag em.

And the most important thing in this entire obsession..erm..hobby is PATIENCE. Not much you can do at the moment except watch your water parameters and water change.

 

[Neuve]

Ok cool. So, i looked up charales on the dictionary and found the species, but not the translation. Maybe youll have better luck. Its Chirostoma jordani (know its supposed 2b on italics). Theyre used as food for alligators, pirahnas, and mostly turtles lol. I got a bag with like 150 of em for six pesos, less than a buck. Theyre little babies, so im guessing that by the time they reach mature size ill have reached my cycling objective.

About temperature, these guys come from cold water, so i dont use a thermostate. They all do fine and by the time i turn the lamp on they all swim to the surface for a little heat @ night and by day they have the sun so...

About algae... Yeah i know, didnt thought of it as a huge factor since i had the corys and the algae eaters (they are chinese algae eaters).

By the way, should i get an undergravel filter for my 1.5 tanks? id like to lol (2 bucks each, (VIVA [made in] MÉXICO!!! LOL, plus I already got my oxigene supply set up so it would really be just lifting da gravel. (notice that i love arming and disarming stuff) I goss 3 charales @ each 1.5 gal tank so it would only be about netting them. They got like 1 inch of gravel so i think it do alright. (When I find out how to get digital pics of the tanks without da dazzling part, ill post them)

By the way, what brands do you suggest for me to buy test kits from them, (ill go with your choice if i find it) How much do you pay for one of those?.

Oh and im sooo sorry to say this but my bettas died! both of them, i think the big guy died from age, he was really big and suddenly his colors started to fade and then death came to get him and the young guy i think he died from stress. @ the market they gave it to me on a little, very little bag and refused to change it saying he didnt need more space... Made me so mad!!! But he was soo beautiful and i was determined to give him a better place. The symptoms were almost the same except that the young one didnt fade in color.

So that left me with 2 empty 2 gal tanks (turns out i decided to use the calculators and the approx capacities are 2 galons, 6 galons and 10 galons).

Now i want to do this right thats why I came up to the charales stuff. Moved some plants (not all) no the 10 gal tank so that they can regenerate and make roots and look preety lol.

So now im waiting... I could get like 7 tanks per week just to start cycling one per day and not get impatient.

Thanx Allivymar
Pato