Eww, yucky poo poo

[eSUng15]

Okka...but how would it look like to take off 20%? thas pretty much what i meant..

 

[heresmike]

Okka...but how would it look like to take off 20%? thas pretty much what i meant..

Well that's not really clear either! What do you mean by "how would it look like to take off 20%?"

 

[nutter]

Discus tank, %50 water change every day ( warm airated dechlor )

community tank, %40 every sunday with gravel vac and i never get algae

 

[ajhainey]

It would look like 20% was taken out??? 1/5th of what was in there?

If you had a 100 litre tank it would mean taking out 20 litres....etc etc etc...

Is that what you mean? I'm so confused....

Clutching at straws now but if you mean you don't know the size of the buckets etc you are using there is another way - you can measure with a ruler (stay with me - I've not cracked up..honest..) Measure your tanks height from about halfway up the gravel to the top of the water. Divide that by 5 - mark a line at that distance from the water surface on your tank. When you have siphoned out that much water..its 20%...If you want to you could mark every 10% then you'd always know how much you where changing...

I think that works anyway - but its late here so I reserve the right to change my mind in the morning....

aj xx

 

[csr mel]

why change the lights?

according to ge, the maker of my aquarium light, my light should last for 20,000 hours, or 4.5 years if used 12 hours a day.

so why would someone change a light every 6 months?

 

[eSUng15]

ajhainey - thanks! yea i know how much to change...i didn't want to change to little or too much of the water,,

 

[eSUng15]

one more thing..when i add water from tap, does it have to be like pH checked or anything? lemme Knoe please so i won't kill my fish

 

[heresmike]

You definitely need to dechlorinate the new water before adding it to the tank. If you keep up with regular weekly water changes, you shouldn't have to worry about different pH levels (or whatever) because it won't have a chance to change much between maintenances.

However, do I understand correctly that you've never done a partial water change in 6 years? Or do you completely change the water now and then? The reason I ask is because you want to be careful about changing their water conditions too rapidly. This could cause stress to the fish. So, you might want to go with 10% weekly water changes for awhile 'til the tank water conditions match the tap water conditions more closely, then keep up with 20% changes weekly.

Hope this helps!

 

[eSUng15]

well im 14, and i first got my tank at 8. My dad ususally "knew" what to do most of the time, so he cleans the tank anc takes care of it most of it then I did cause he thought I was too small. So untill, now I've been tryin to convince him to tell him that I know how to take care of it but he dun really seem to want me to cause he afraid Imma kill the fish. And imma be honest....My tank isss toooo dirty..this like a nightmare tank..soo much algae. And i checked the pH this morning and it was like way below the average level 7.0...it was a 6.0....that pretty much means that me and who ever in my family feeds the fish too much. I would clean the tank myself right this instant but my dad thinks Im going to mess up..but once the tank is clean, I got all the information I need to take care of it..it's like starting all over again for me..hah..and it's kinda werid how my fish still survive this water..i got live bearers so i should have it like at 7.5 or somethin so It can like spawn.

 

[Phantom Thief]

There is nothing wrong with pH6, what you need to check is ammonia, nitrite and nitrate.

P.T.

 

[eSUng15]

yea thats what i was thinkin...i usually keep my pH at a steady level but this time, it kinda tripped..aye is there a way to test if you could put like rocks you find into a tank to see if it's good or not? I got a whole bunch of rocks near my "garden" that were brought from these beaches that we just put so it make our place look a lil "nicer"..it's been there for some 3 years now an I was thinking of using it in my tank..i heard about this Vinegar test where you put like vinegar on the rock and if it bubbles, don't add it to the tank..I also heard boiling the rock should help take of any toxins or what not...true??

 

[Phantom Thief]

Yup, both is true. If it bubbles after you put vinegar, then its not safe. And boiling will remove most bacteria and anything else you don't want in the tank.

P.T.

 

[Fiddlesticks]

Weekly vaccum and partial wc every week. Filter monthly, and clean algae off the glass about 3 weeks to a month.

 

[eSUng15]

alright thanks for the tips and stuff!