Planted Aquarium Water Quality

Posted on April 18, 2010 by Beau

One of the most important aspects of any aquarium is water quality.  Different species of fish, invertebrates, and even plants need specific ranges of water quality.  When you clean an aquarium and perform a water change, you generally use a water conditioner.  Water conditioners remove and/or neutralize harmful chemicals and metals, such as chlorine, ammonia, copper, or even selenium.

Water Changes

When I clean my aquarium, I generally start by removing any algae off of the glass.  I then siphon out 50% of the water (after I turn the power off to the filter, heater, lights, and CO2).  I then prune my plants, and remove any other algae that might be present.  I then add the amount of conditioner prescribed by the bottle label to the aquarium.  After that, I fill the aquarium up with water.  Then I turn the filter, heater, lights and CO2 back on.

Testing the Water Quality

Having a successful aquarium requires good water quality.  A good way to ensure you have good water quality is to test your water.  There are many test kits out there.  These kits can test a wide variety of parameters, such as pH, Carbonate (KH), General Hardness (GH), Nitrite (NO2), Ammonia (NH3 & NH4), and Carbon Dioxide (CO2).

When I’m following my aquarium maintenance schedule, I test my water once midweek, and do a 50% water change every Sunday.  If my water parameters are off, I do a partial water change and re-test.  If the second test is in range, I wait until Sunday for my regular water change.

Causes of Bad Water Quality

There are many causes of bad water quality.  Your aquarium might be overstocked, or you might not have a regular maintenance schedule, or an inhabitant may have died and you haven’t seen it yet.  Whatever the cause, you can have great water quality in no time.

Suggestions for Great Water Quality

  • Make a routine maintenance schedule (and stick to it)
  • Weekly water changes
  • Clean your filters
  • Test your water parameters regulary
  • Watch the behavior of your inhabitants

Did I miss anything?  Do you have any suggestions?  Let me know!  =)

Popularity: 10% [?]

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Tear Down Plans for 26 Gallon Aquarium

Posted on March 31, 2010 by Beau

I would really like to tear down my 26 gallon aquarium and start from scratch. I want to move the fish and snails to my 20 gallon aquarium (which I would need to setup), remove all plants, driftwood, and substrate.

I want to give the glass a thorough cleaning. I will be replacing my red flourite substrate with natural soil plus a sand cap.

What I already have:

    26 gallon aquarium
    Fluval 205
    Hydor Koralia Nano Powerhead
    Sand banks for raised areas
    Driftwood
    Fish

Things I still need to purchase:

I want to make a better moss wall, covering the whole back of the tank, using magnets to hold it in place. My current moss wall is mostly a failure. It only covers about half of the back wall and growth is sporadic.

I will probably try the “dry start” method, to promote fast growth before I fill the aquarium completely with water.

You might think I’m converting to an “el natural” tank, but I’m staying high tech. I’ll be using the same lighting, same filter, same pressurized CO2, and adding a power head for more circulation.

I still need to plan out what plants I’ll get this time, and also plan out the aquascape.

I’m keeping the same fish, except eventually I might get rid of the Chinese algae eaters and replace them with a couple otocinclus. I’d also like to get a few zebra nerite snails. I love my neon tetras, but I only have 7. I might bring that number to 10, I’m not sure yet.

I’ll have to get everything I need before I start this project of course. And then I’ll have to setup the 20 gallon aquarium and cycle it before I move the fish and snails over.

I also need to figure out where I’m going to put the 20 gallon. Not much room in the kitchen right now. Maybe I’ll put it in my office for the time being. I’ve been planning an “el natural” setup for this one, so I’ll probably set it up the way I want it so I won’t have to redo it after I’m done with the 26 gallon.

So that’s the plan. What do you think?

Popularity: 12% [?]

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No Carbon In My Filters

Posted on March 24, 2010 by Beau

I’ve read a lot of discussions on various forums on whether activated carbon should be used in a planted aquarium.  Some people say it removes all fertilizers from the water column, some say it only removes iron from the water column.  Personally, I don’t use activated carbon in my aquarium.  I have enough plants, beneficial bacteria, and mechanical filtration that cleans my aquarium very well, and that’s if I also keep up on my water change schedule.

In theory, a heavily planted tank with plenty of water circulation and plenty of mechanical/biological filtration, you shouldn’t need to use chemical (carbon) filtration.  In my filters, I use mechanical (sponges and pads) and biological (ceramic noodles, bio-balls) filtration.  I also have a few blue mystery snails, and 3 Chinese algae eaters.  In my opinion, if you have a good combination of plants, water circulation, mechanical and biological filtration, water changes, and a good cleanup crew (fish, inverts), you’ve got it made.

There are a few reasons I would use activated carbon in a planted aquarium though.  Sometimes when new driftwood is put into a tank, the wood leaches tannins into the water making the water murky.  Activated carbon removes the tannins from the water.  I would also use activated carbon in the first few weeks of setup,  if I were using a soil-based substrate, to help control the amount of excessive nutrients leaching out of the soil.  Carbon is also good to use to remove medications from the water.

Do you use activated carbon in your planted aquariums?  Why or why not?

Popularity: 9% [?]

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Daylight Saving Time and Aquariums

Posted on March 14, 2010 by Beau

As much as I hate Daylight Saving Time, it’s a good time to check your aquarium timers. Over time, mechanical timers loose their accuracy. You should be checking them monthly to make sure they’re accurate, but today is a great time too.  You’re already setting your clocks forward, why not check your aquarium timers while you’re at it? I have three mechanical timer strips for my aquarium, and they don’t stay very accurate.  I’d love to replace my mechanical timers with digital timers for the accuracy.

How often do you check your timers?

Popularity: 5% [?]

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February’s Most Popular Pages and Posts

Posted on March 3, 2010 by Beau

I’ve been getting lots more traffic to my blog since I started writing more about my aquariums, so I figured I would start highlighting my most popular pages and posts.  I use two analytics sites, Google Analytics and Woopra.  So here they are, February’s most popular pages and posts.

From Woopra:

From Google Analytics:

Popularity: 4% [?]

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