Do you really have to clean your tank?

fishdude

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Do you really have to clean your tank every week. And what if you don't have a backup tank where do you put your fish. I'm really confused and I am new at this and i'm getting fish in August. What 3 should i get for my aquarium a johanni cichild, a snail, A krib, a african frog, or a black angel? Please answer. :huh: :blink: :S
 
Tank maintenance is extremely dependant fishdude. Your water, tank size, substrate, filtration, type and number of fish, plants, even where in the house the tank is. After a tank cycles, scheduling maintenance just has to be worked out. You shouldn't clean everything all at once but come up with an alternating plan to vacume the gravel one week along with a water change, rinse algae of fake plants or rocks the next week with a water change, then filter maintenance the next week with a water change, ect. Some tanks can go for a month between water changes, some need water changed every other day. The answer to your primary question, normaly, is "No".

The first few weeks of a new tank's maintenance is tricky though. My method of cycling is letting a new tank run with no fish for 2-3 weeks, then testing its parameters. If everything is ok, then add one or two hardy fish and continue to test parameters, as often as possible. Do 25% water changes if ammonia or nitrite increase by more than .5 a point over 24hrs. I do not endorse any cycling agents or ammonia ridding compounds. The tank needs ammonia to cycle, but it needs to be kept at levels the fish can tolorate. Same with nitrite. When nitrite levels reach zero, you can settle into a maintenance routine.

Any time you add fish or live plants, the tank needs time to adjust. It sort of has to "re-cycle", but it doesn't take long. IMO, the most important long term parameter is nitrate level. These bacteria are the least toxic to fish, but they are still toxic in high concentration. Your water change schedule will depend on how fast nitrates build up. pH should also be taken under consideration when working out a water change schedule. The pH of water fluctuates more the longer it stays in the tank, depending on how hard your source is, and what type of substrate or rock decor you have. Change water often enough to maintain desired pH. (Obviously you need to check the pH of your tap water.)

There is a lot to proper maintenance, and as I said, most of it depends on your situation. As for what fish... check your tap pH. If it's close to 8.0, then go with the johanni cichlids. If it's closer to 7.0, go with the Kribs or angels. Of course any of those fish have requirements we'd need to discuss, but that's for later.

So... to simplify things for you, go get a pH test kit and test your tap water. I would stay away from the dry-tab test kits if I were you. Not that they're any less reliable or anything, they're just a pain in the butt. Get one of the doc wellfish kits by aquarium pharmaceuticals. If you can't find a wide-range kit, get a normal kit and a high-range kit. Don't get the deluxe kit in the wide blue box, your paying for pH adjustment chemicals in that one and I wouldn't recommend adjusting pH. The best thing to do is pick fish according to your tap pH. Once you know your tap pH, you can pick fish and get the right equipment from there. :)
 

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