I am new and seeking knowledge!

Hi there,
I am Neleono and i have been in to fish from a young age but only in the past year have I really gotten into it. I remember having fish as a kid but i'm sure i was doing something wrong because just looking through these forums, i have no idea whats going on. I have a 29 gallon tank that i bought about 6-8 months ago. It has a heater, a filter, a large structure, a moss ball, and a few plants (all live). I also have an air-stone that runs most of the day. I do monthly maintenance (deep cleans) and normal hose cleaning weekly. I use an "Aqua safe +" declorinator, an "easy balance" conditioner (all made by tetra). I change the filter every 2-2 and a half months. I feed them with TetraMin tropical flakes, and i give my algae eater tetra PlecoWafers on occasion. When it comes to fish, I have a Sunburst Platty (About a year old, inch and a half in length, no health concerns) another Sunburst Platty ( About 4 months old, about an inch long, no concerns) a painted sunburst platty (Almost an inch long, 4 months old, dosnt eat much and isn't growing) and lastly, a Micky mouse platty (Inch long, 4 months old, no concerns). I also have an algae eater (3-4 years old, 3-4 inches long, very shy). Sorry that was kinda a lot, just wanted to give as much room to criticize as possible. Please tell me everything im doing wrong or should be doing and please don't hold back, i want the best for my fish. Also, any suggestions on helping the painted platty as he is very small and not eating well would mean the world. Thanks, Nele.

Stats of the tank:
Nitrate: 15
Nitrite: 0
Hardness: 150
Chlorine: 0
Alkalinity: 140
pH: 7.3 (a bit high, pH decrease all got used up so more is on the way)
All of these stats were taken about 12 hours after a water change is that affects anything.

Welcome to the forum, Nele! I'm also a newbie, so don't take my word for it, but I think you already have a very good setup

Did you forget to put the ammonia levels? Our forum experts would be interested in that.

Oh yeah, ammonia is 0, thanks for reminding me!

Hi and welcome to the forum

Sounds like you have most of the basic under control and good work, keep it up.

Just one or two minor points you mention you change th filter every 2 - 2.5 months, what do you mean by this exactly?

Ordinarily you never change the filter at all, just the filter floss stuff needs to be changed on a regular basis but otherwise the sponge media, ceramics and bio media is left well alone except for rinsing the sponge media in old tank water to clear it of gunk to help flow through the filter, don’t wash it under the tap.

And all those are kept in the filter until the sponge is literally falling apart and the ceramics begin to crumble easily, those takes years before that starts to happen.

Don’t believe the hype from manufacturers that filter media has to be changed, this is a marketing gimmick to try and get more money from you by selling more of their product unnecessarily.

And you say your pH is a bit high at 7.3 pH and you use some sort of stuff to decrease the pH.

To be honest, your pH is perfectly fine and it’s not high at all, just about perfect, so there is no need to and in fact we recommend not to use any chemicals or otherwise to increase or decrease pH as this is likely to have a detrimental affect on your livestock.

The less chemicals we add to the tank other than dechlorinator/tap safe, the better for the livestock

Keep up the good work

Hi! thanks for the info! i meant by changing the filter that i replace the little cartrage in it like the little fabric cloth square that goes in the filter.

Neleono said:

Hi! thanks for the info! i meant by changing the filter that i replace the little cartrage in it like the little fabric cloth square that goes in the filter.

Click to expand...

That's exactly what @Ch4rlie was referring to. My first tank also had a filter with a very specific cartridge, which had to be replaced every few months. It will cost you a lot in the long run.
There are filters where you can put in some filter media which will last for years. As mentioned above, you only have to change the floss, the rest just needs a bit of washing from time to time.

For my case, I didn't need to buy a new filter. I bought some filter media/bags, a big sponge and a roll of floss. Then I cut the parts to the same size as the cartridge. So depending on what kind of filter you have, maybe you can do the same.

OOw thats neat, ill be sure to look into it!

Yes, that’s a decent tip to save money and much better value imho. Loads of the manufactured branded filter cartridges are way overpriced.

So easy just to cut out a section of filter floss that’s the same size and shape as your filter or your current filter floss cartridge and simply use that and every week or every filter maintenance just simply throw out the old floss and put in a new one.

Aquarium filter floss roll is easily bought online, just be sure it’s aquarium safe floss, not the floss that’s used for pillows and duvets etc as they will have been sprayed with fire retardant chemicals.

Here is an example from Amazon, they come in all sorts of thicknesses and lengths, just go for a thickness that’s a similar thickness to your current cartridges.

So do i just cut it in to squares that fit the filter size?

Yep, simply cut to size, rinse under the tap, pop into filter, job done.

Note it’s quite important to rinse the new filter floss before adding to filter as it’s likely to have some dust and debris from the cutting at factory otherwise will all that will go into your water column making a bit of a unsightly mess

Do i keep the filter cartrage in there or get rid of it completely

That’s up to you really, you could maybe take out the filter media from the cartridge itself and maybe use that for the new filter floss to put into.

If not, then chuck the cartridge and fill in the space with new filter floss.

Hard to know exactly without seeing the filter myself.

Can you tell us exactly what is inside your filter - just carbon cartridges, or cartridges with something else?

just carbon cartridges i think, heres a link to the product exactly

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B084QJM18W/?tag=ff0d01-20

OK, what I would do is make a slit in the cartridge and empty out the carbon. Then rather than filter floss, get some sponge (any make) and cut it down to the size if the cartridge. Hold the sponge and the cartridge bag tighlty to gether and put them in the filter. If there's more than one cartridge do one now and one every month. Sponge is a better home for the bacteria that filter floss as that will disintegrate fairly quickly. Sponge will last for years and only needs washing in old tank water taken out during a water change.


As the others have said, don't use any chemicals to alter the pH. Hardness is more important for the fish than pH. And I'd stop using Easy Balance as well. It implies you only need to do water changes every 6 months which is not true - water changes need to be done every week.