Question about aquarium filtration?

Question

I got some great replies about what to do with my fish tank, and I have some questions about those replies! I was told to use peat filtration. I would like to know how you do that? Isn't peat messy? I was told by Petsmart that I could use peat or driftwood. I chose driftwood because I figured it wasn't as messy as peat. Also, those of you who use baking soda...exactly how much is a "small" dose? I have a 36 gallon tank.

And one last question, are there any fish that pair well with angels? Any little schooling fish that can handle the Ph difference that the angels like?

Answer 1

There is no need to use Peat in a tank. What peat does is naturally acidifies the water lowering the pH. This is only needed if you want to keep fish absolutely require a lower pH.

In general I do not recommend that you use ANYTHING to change the pH of a tank unless you plan on keeping and breeding something like discus.

Fish require a stable pH and can live in a pH that isn't optimal for them without any problems.

In an aquarium it is very hard to modify the pH of a tank and keep it stable. A fluctuating pH is far more damaging to fish than the wrong pH.

Answer 2

You asked about baking soda, and peat / driftwood. Those will have OPPOSITE reactions. Baking soda will increase your pH and your carbonate hardness. With angels, I am assuming you want to decrease it. If you wanted to increase your pH and KH, how much baking soda you would use would depend on your tap water and how high you wanted your pH and KH - for my african cichlids, I use 1tsp per 10 gallons; but I have a tapwater KH of barely 1.

If you use peatmoss, boil it first, and it will sink (remove any floaters that refuse to sink). Get a second filter, but don't put any carbon in - fill the filter box with the boiled peatmoss and put an aquarium sponge overtop of that, instead of the carbon bag.

Driftwood works fine, too, but it's ability to decrease pH will fade in time, so you may need to replace the driftwood on a regular basis. (ie every few months, get a new piece).

How high is your pH to begin with? I succesfully keep and breed angelfish and my tapwater pH is a whopping 8.5! Please know that although a 6.5-7 pH is ideal for angelfish, that messing with the pH can rapidly kill them.
Last week, I placed a CO2 source in my 100 gallon angelfish tank. CO2 decreases pH. Any my pH dropped from 8.5 to 6 in a matter of a few hours. Most of my fish were fine, but two of my angels died. SO, all in all, a steady pH is much better than a fluctuating pH, even if the steady pH is not ideal.

Oh, CO2 is another way of decreasing pH. I suggest you DIY with a coke bottle. Get a 2 litre coke bottle, rinse it, drill a hole in the top that is slightly small than the diameter of air tubing. Cut the air tubing at an angle, poke it through the hole and pull it through (about 1-2") with pliars. Voila, perfectly sealed. Inside the bottle, put 1 cup of sugar, disolve with 1 litre of warm water, and add 1/2 tsp of baking yeast. Close the bottle and attach the outside end of the air tube to a power head or a CO2 airstone, and put it in the tank. DIY CO2 won't plummet your pH the way mine did (I got a carbo-plus stone which is much stronger) but it may decrease it by .5 - 1.5.

Little schooling fish are at risk of being eaten by angelfish .Angels can be expected to eat whatever can fit in their mouths. However, most adults tetras are adequately sized to not get eaten. I have adult neon tetras with my angels and they're fine - but my tetras are very big (about 2 years old and well fed on brine shrimp and bloodworms). I would suggest a school of cardinal tetras or lemon tetras.

How many angels are you planning on getting? In a 36 gallon tank, anything more than a pair is pushing it. I would suggest a breeding pair and a school of 8 tetras, OR a trio of angels and nothing else.

Answer 3

It sounds like you are just getting into fish aquariums. If you are just doing fresh water fish I would highly recommend reading this book about aquariums ( the simple guide to Freshwater Aquariums by Boruchowitz) most book stores have this book. It has a lot of use-full information in it. I used to do what everyone had told me on a lot of things and if you really don't know what you are doing you will kill your fish like I did. After reading this book I had started to do the things that he had said to do and now my fish are happy and growing to a good size. I believe that it will answer all of your questions.

Answer 4

Cat and the puppy shop are mendacity the a million inch in line with fish rule is surely old you cant shop 5 Tetras in a 5 gallon tank they want 20 gallons minimum and you cant shop 5 guppies in a 5 gallon tank iether they want 1p gallon minimum and the tank must be cycled previously having any fish google the thank you to cycle a fishtank and i8 ingredient the web pages called aquadvisor you are able to inventory you tank employing it