7 Year old Tank

[itiwhetu]

I thought I would share this with you. This is Nancy's Tank I set it up for her 7 years ago. It is 250 Liters. It has two internal filters. A bank of four Florescent light tubes that run 10 hours per day. The fish are all between 5 and 7 years old.

This tank has never had:
Any Chemicals, dechlorinator or anything put in it
Any Fertilizer
Any Medications
It gets a 25% water change once a week from the town supply, cold water, garden hose. Its base has never been touched ( it has never been vacuumed ).
The plant is periodically cut back to make room for the fish, this photo was taken just after a big dung out.

 

[Fishmanic]

Who's Nancy? Is the tank in your house?

 

[itiwhetu]

Who's Nancy? Is the tank in your house?

The tank is in Cromwell where I used to live. Nancy is a 70 year old friend who came to me because her fish kept dying. I set this tank up and told her what I wanted to do. She has always followed my instructions. The fish in the tank she bought off me and has never bought anymore. That is why there seem to be some gaps. There is a 5" redtail shark in there somewhere as well.

 

[LostBear]

I'm surprised that a cold water change hasn't caused any problems - but the tank looks fab and if what you say is right, I'm impressed!

How long is the light on each day? That's very lush plant growth.

 

[itiwhetu]

The light is on for 10 hours. There is two grolux tubes ( pink) one blue, one cool white. If water changing with cold water at 25% the total temperature drop is only about 3-4 degrees, which is just enough to perk things up.

 

[mbsqw1d]

Whats a "big dung out" ?

 

[CassCats]

My water changes are also always a bit colder than the current tank temps. Except on baby tanks. A couple degrees is actually perfectly fine.

Its often needed for certain species to spawn as well

 

[goldfish_is_orange]

Impressive! Those plants look like they're healthy, too. Good on you, mate.

 

[itiwhetu]

Whats a "big dung out" ?

A "big dung out" is when you reduce the plant volume considerably to allow for new growth

 

[mcordelia]

very pretty tank. looks lush and healthy

 

[LostBear]

The light is on for 10 hours. There is two grolux tubes ( pink) one blue, one cool white. If water changing with cold water at 25% the total temperature drop is only about 3-4 degrees, which is just enough to perk things up.

Thanks!

How do you control algae growth?

 

[LostBear]

My water changes are also always a bit colder than the current tank temps. Except on baby tanks. A couple degrees is actually perfectly fine.

Its often needed for certain species to spawn as well

I hadn't realised this - I worry myself skinny trying to get the new, clean water as close to the old stuff as possible.

 

[itiwhetu]

Thanks!

How do you control algae growth?

The more plant you have in a tank the higher the oxygen content and the less algae you get. Lighting is always done on a tank by tank basis. No two tanks are alike and a lot of factors come into play judging the correct amount of light.