Right advice for a new fish keeper with an inherited tank

[sabinas]

All the water testing still shows no ammonia or nitrite so I think I will be safe just to change once a week for the moment. But my son loves doing the tests, I have been a bit paranoid and not let him feed the fish yet as I'm worried he'll dump too much in, but he likes measuring out the drops and checking the colours against the chart.

I do have a few more questions:

Does it matter whether the water comes out of the pump over the surface or under the surface? Sometimes the pump unsticks from the tank wall and starts to slide down.

I read that you should remove uneaten food after 5 minutes but I can't figure out how I would get such tiny specks out of the tank? And will the shrimp survive on the fish food?

It looks to me like the snails crawl up the tank walls en mass at feeding time to get to the surface and eat the food, and the rest of the time they are a lot in the sand, does this seem right?

Thank you so much for your patience and all your advice!!!

 

[Aiken Drum]

You want the filter output breaking the surface and causing some agitation, which oxygenates the water. It's probably not going to matter too much if the filter slides down for short periods, but if we are talking a day or more you might have some problems. Add an airstone to oxygenate the water if you are concerned.

I'd look at removing uneaten food after 30 minutes. You can use a turkey baster to spot remove food from the substrate. But, if there is uneaten food then you are overfeeding. Shrimp will eat leftover fish food just fine. You could get something like Hikari Crab Cuisine that's more specific shrimp food. The snails will like that too.

 

[sabinas]

Thank you!! OK I will keep pushing it back up on top of the surface. But maybe an airstone is a good idea just in case it slips down and I don't notice for a while.

I watched them for half an hour after feeding this evening and I couldn't see any food left over by the end. But it looks a lot like the sand so there could still be some on the bottom. Which I guess is what the snails are living on. But I don't see how to clean it without hoovering up all the top of the sand.

I am feeding them this at the moment because it's what I found at the pet shop with a picture of my fish on it. It says one click for 5 fish but I only have 4, so maybe they are getting too much.

 

[Aiken Drum]

That food should be fine for your tetras. Feeding enough for 5 fish to 4 fish isn't going to be a problem and the snails will quickly clean up anything that gets to the substrate.