some newb questions

[JDH]

Hi everyone.

I have a few questions: (My tank is 29gal (US) and i have 5 Zebra Danio's in it, and they've been there for just over a week)

1. How often should i change my filters? I have a sponge filter, a charcoal filter and that other filter with the white color stuff in it, i forgot what it's called.

2. This works in with question #1. If i don't need to technically "change" my filter that often, then should i be cleaning them? And if i should be cleaning them, how often should i do that? And should i use tank water to clean them?

3. I have all the water treatment stuff that my LFS told me to buy (as usual lol). How often should i be treating the water with the various treatments? Which treatments should i actually be using, and how often? I know that i need to use the stuff for the chlorine when i change the water, so that part is under control.

4. How often should i do a 30% water change?

5. I've been doing some reading on here already, and if i'm not mistaken it says to wait 8 weeks before adding new fish after just starting out. Is that correct?


Thanks very much for the help.

 

[fishaholic]

#4. You should do a 30% water change once a week if you want your fish to be happy.
#5. I don't think 8 weeks maybe just 4 or something.

 

[a1wonder]

1. You should rince the spong in old tank water (from a water change) once a week, change the charcoal and ammonia reducer maybe around once a month or whenever they are used up

2. I usually clean my filter maybe once every two weeks or whenever it looks dirty (somtimes longer) if I notice an algae build up in the pipe or it doesn't seem to be pushing alot of water through I usually unplug the filter and bring everything over to the bathroom sink. Taking out the sponge and other media that you have in your filter I usually wash the filter container and pipe itself in normal tap water and just make sure not to get any tap water on the filter media. After washing them out I make sure they are very dry (shaking and toliet paper ) and then plop the media put it back on the tank and put some tank water back into the filter and plug back in takes me usually around 5 mins tops to do each one.

3. what treatment junk did they tell you to put in the tank. I say junk because most of the time it is all you need for a simple fresh water tank is some declore and maybe a small tad of aquarium salt. My local fish store told me to buy product to make my ph the prefect 7.0 but this can cause more harm than good to you fish as ph swings are deadly.

4. I'd recommind doing a 10% water change each week 30% is a bit much I certainly would do at the very most no more than that a week or you may restart your cycle

5. IMO no just simply wait until your tank is cycled. You can speed up the cycle of your tank by doing a few things using gravel from an already cycled tank, using the filter or filter media from an already cycled tank or doing what I did an added some baterial starter.
Now I don't want to be flammed and what worked for me may not work for you but I had my tank cycled in two weeks (maybe a week and a half) and then a gradually added fish in (maybe two per week) and to this day have not had a single death in that tank or a second ammonia spike.
I personally did a fishless cycle the first thing I did was purchase a filter which I had running with another one in my ten gallon for a week to get the biowheel started up. I added ammonia to the my 33 then to bring the level to around 2 I then added a product which I purchased from Petland called Stress Free which is a baterial starter and applied the apporperate amount to the tank and used as directed until the end of the month. When the tank levels read zero ammonia which took around 9 days a waited a few more days before adding my first fish. As mentioned after that point i added fish gradually after that and have yet to have any problem besides ick in the tank.
But don't take my word as rule do your own reading up and you'll come to your own concultion.

 

[a1wonder]

#4. You should do a 30% water change once a week if you want your fish to be happy.
#5. I don't think 8 weeks maybe just 4 or something.

In responce to fishaholic:

3. Your fish will be happy doing a 10% water change a week as well there is no magic number that will work for everyone but I do know for a fact that lots of water changes can lead to a second cycle in your tank (another ammonia spike which could kill your fish).

4. If you could explain yourself more throughly it can help remove futher questions as why 4 weeks and not 8

 

[yhbae]

There's no fixed rule for the amount of water changes and the frequency, but I tend to use 30% weekly as the baseline. If the tank has low bioload, I do less, if it has more, then I do more.

Normally, you don't need to use any media other than sponge itself. active carbon and ammonia remover is not only not needed, they will probably get in the way if you are cycling your tank. Just fill your filter with only sponges, and let it cycle before adding the first fish (assuming you are doing fishless cycling). I only clean mu sponges once a month, and that seems to be enough for me...

As for chemicals, again, you don't need much - just a dechlorinator and (if you have chloramine in your water) chloramine remover. Call your local hydro company to find out if you have this in your water. No other chemicals are needed. Don't use pH changing chemicals.

Hope thif helps.

 

[JDH]

Thanks very much for the help.