do regualr 10% water changes but have dufficulty in maintaining clear water seems to cloud up after a couple of days how long should I leave until it starts to clear.Tank not in direct sunlight, clean filter sponge with water i take out, not overfeeding, regulary remove algae.No longwinded answers please.
2007-01-13 02:35:49 · 4 answers · asked by jlb 5 in Pets ➔ Fish
thanx so far but please no longwinded answers.
2007-01-13 02:50:00 · update #1
There is no short answer. Many people ask for a goldfish bowl as an easy option for their childs first pet. This could not be further from the truth! Buy a bowl fill it with tap water put in a goldfish and feed it several times a day as it says on most packs of fish food and the fish will not last very long.
If the fish lasts more than 24 hours the bowl will quickly become a cloudy smelly dish of stagnant water. Keeping fish is really keeping water for the fish to live in! It should be filtered to keep it clean and any tap water used should have the chlorine removed before the fish comes in contact with it. Fish are quite delicate animals and should be treated as if they were the most precious thing ever and not as a cheap pet.
First thing you should decide is where you are going to situate your new aquarium, this could be any tank or bowl you want. Find a place that is not in direct sunlight, away from all sources of heat and is big enough to house the size of aquarium that you want. Please do not put it in the kitchen as vapours from cooking may adversley affect it.
When setting up a tank for the first time choose the biggest you can afford and the biggest you can fit in the place you have chosen, often I hear customers saying they wish they had got a larger tank. Make sure that the surface it is going on to is solid enough to take the weight. Water weighs 10lbs per gallon, a 36" x 15" x12" tank holds 20 gallons so this tank weighs over 200lbs with water and glass. Perhaps a purpose built stand might be an advantage. Place it near to an electrical supply, long trailing cables are not the safest of things. Remember you will have to do water changes so think about how you are going to get the water to and away from the tank. Plan thing before you go out and buy!
When you get you aquarium home clean it well with clean water and no detergents.
Place it in the position you have chosen and make sure this is where you want it before you do anything else. Happy? Then take you gravel or substrate and wash it well with clean water, making sure that there is no dirt left in it before putting it in the tank.
If you are using an undergavel filter place this in the tank first then put the gravel on top of it, making sure all the uplift holes are not covered with gravel.Then place all the electrical equipment in to the tank,ie. heaters & filters. Next put in the decoration you have chosen, plants, rocks or bogwoods etc. Put in a dechrorinator, then place a dish or plate in the bottom of the tank. This is so that when you are filling the tank with water from a hose or bucket nothing gets moved by the flow of water. Aim the hose into the dish and everything will remain in place. When the tank is full make sure all the plugs are dry before plugging them into the electricity supply. When this is all done switch on the electricity and check that all is running corectly. If this is a tropical tank leave it to heat up and check the temperature the next day.
PLEASE DO NOT RUSH TO PUT ANY FISH IN YET!
Leave the tank with every thing running for at least a week putting a very small amount of food in the water every day.This is to start a natural proces of maturation. First you need to create ammonia in the tank then this is comsumed by natural bacteria and nitrates are produced, this is what your plants feed off. When the ammonia is first produced the water looks like a little milk has been added to it making it very cloudy but not dirty. This will gradually dissapear and the tank will become gin clear.Then find a frendly aquatics shop that will do basic tests on your water for you, many like us will not charge for this service. First test is the ph or acidity level, this should be as near to 7 or neutral as possible for fresh water community fish or gold fish. The second test is for ammonia, this need to be as near to zero as possible. The third test is for nitrate, again this needs to be as near to zero as possible. If you water passes all these tests then you will be able to take a few fish home with you. Don't rush to stock your tank to capacity a too many fish at the start will over load the nitrifying bacteria with too much ammonia and you will loose all your fish. Wait and see how these first few do for a week or two before adding a few more. Allways ask advice on what sort of fish are compatable or which fish need to be kept with only one specimen ie fighters. The same process can be applied to any size of aquarium and maintenance is usually the same. I recommend cleaning the glass weekly. the filters fotnightly and a 25% water change monthly. This is for an average tank with low stocking levels, if your stocking levels are higher then this will have to be done more frequently. Feeding should be with small amounts once a day in the morning so that the fish have all day to comsume it and it is not left in the tank to cause problems. Over feeding is a common problem and will lead to high ammonia and nitrates which are deadly to all fish.
2007-01-13 02:47:04 · answer #1 · answered by stevehart53 6 · 0⤊ 2⤋
By cleaning the sponge everytime you clean the water, you are removing the bacteria spores that are growing in the sponge, which is defeating the purpose of the sponge to begin with. Try an undergravel filter to clean whats in the gravel and a powerhead or biowheel filter to get the stuff up top. Also, get a hardy fish breed like danios or platies to help cycle the water faster. I have a 55 gal. tank and it took 90 days before I would put anything big in the tank. If you are keeping gold fish that is your problem - they are dirty fish. I would suggest getting something different if you don't want to consistently clean and clean the tank.
2007-01-13 03:55:51 · answer #2 · answered by Another Nickname 3 · 1⤊ 0⤋
What size tank and what type of fish?
2007-01-13 02:44:48 · answer #3 · answered by Skittles 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
please go to bettachris fish forum: http://www.fishroom.proboards106.com/index.cgi
He or other member can help you.
2007-01-13 02:39:43 · answer #4 · answered by ballerina_kim 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋