What To Add To Water Weekly And At Water Changes?

[mike_nofx]

I'd like to know what to add to a tank to keep it running good and healthy.

Currently i do this:

Weekly i add stuff called 'bio booster' its made by aristopet Aqua Master. On the bottle it says its concentrated beneficial bacteria, and it removes toxic ammonia and nitrite.

Every 2-3 weeks i do a 15% water change, and to the new water i am about to add to the tank i add a conditioner, its a blue powder. And bio booster to the new water and existing water.

This is all i add to my tank (besides food), is there anything else i should be adding to my tank to keep it healthy? Is this brand of bio booster any good?


Previously i also adjusted the PH of the new water i was about to add (as my tap water is quite alkaline). i did this by using the acid powder which came with my PH test kit. I have since stopped doing this from advice of people on this forum that adusting PH in this way can do more harm than good.

Thanks in advance

 

[dwarfgourami]

I just add dechlorinator, when I do my weekly water change, and sometimes a bit of plant food. (

If the tank is cycled, and not overstocked and you are not overfeeding, the bacteria in the filter should be enough to keep ammonia and nitrites under control. I change 25% of water weekly to keep nitrates down, and to freshen things up a bit. When it is very hot I do it twice a week in the cory tank, as they can be sensitive to bacteria.

 

[nmonks]

I'm with dwarfgourami on this; I add very little to the water put into the aquarium. For the sake of discussion, I'll offer a few opinions on the most popular additives.

Dechlorinator: Essential. Make sure you have one that removes chlorine and chloramine. Most do, but check anyway.

Filter bacteria additives: Other than during the first few weeks of an aquarium's life, these are at worst pointless, and at best only marginally helpful. These won't do any harm, but in a properly maintained aquarium you don't need to keep adding new bacteria.

Filter aid: Usually useless. Thus stuff clumps together silt particles, making it easier for filter floss or sponges to sift them out. While very effective if you've just added new sand or gravel, after a couple of weeks all the silt will have settled out anyway.

Blackwater extract: Sometimes useful. Dark-coloured water is beneficial for some fish, either to make their colours stronger (e.g. neons, cardinals) or to cut out light and encourage the fishes out (e.g. mormyrids, climbing perch). For most community tanks, blackwater extract doesn't serve much purpose, and will cut out light, making growing plants more difficult.

Aquarium "tonic" salt: Completely and utterly pointless. If you're keeping fish that need brackish water, like mollies or gobies, get marine salt. Soft water (e.g. neons, corydoras) and most other freshwater fish (e.g. goldfish) certainly don't need salt and can be harmed by it.

Plant food: Sometimes useful. Up to a point, the fish wastes fertilise the plants with things like nitrate and phosphate. Mineral ions are in plentiful supply in laterite and pond soil, if you've used those in your aquarium. If you are growing plants, then it is sometimes useful to add mineral ion rich additives to the water, but rarely, if ever, will this compensate for plants that are not thriving because of poor soil, water chemistry, or subtrate. Get those things right before worrying about adding plant food to the water.

Cheers,

Neale

 

[cujoho78]

All i do is make sure the fresh water i add every 2 weeks is the same temperature as the tank water and then i add dechlorinator. My water is clear and the fish are healthy. I believe that less chemicals, and more fresh water is the way to go. Cheaper too.