26 Gallon Aquarium

Due to hectic home and work loads lately, I’ve been neglecting my 26 gallon aquarium. It’s been over run with duckweed (though it has been beneficial), algae, and the water level has been a bit low.

I haven’t been keeping up with the fertilizers, and I haven’t changed the water as often as I should, which is somewhat amusing, since my last post was about water quality.

My fish and snails are doing good, and most of the plants are still growing.

I just removed a bunch of duckweed a day or two ago, along with a bunch of string algae. I have tufts of algae on the substrate, mostly where I had planted dwarf hair grass. I don’t overfeed, and I can’t imagine that much fish poo being on top of the substrate for that stuff to keep growing like it does.

As it is, I’m still learning about this hobby, only being in it for about 2 years now.

I wrote a post a while back about tearing this aquarium down and starting from scratch. I still plan on doing that. Maybe if I actually set a date to do it and order the rest of the things I need it’ll actually get done.

Along with that, I still have to set my smaller aquarium up so my fish have a home while I finish the project.

I have all my aquarium maintenance stuff on my Google Calendar so I won’t forget what I need to dose and when to clean the filter, etc. I just need to adjust my schedule so that I keep up on it.

I’m also thinking about moving the aquarium out of my kitchen so I can enjoy seeing it more often.

I think some of the neglect comes from me not seeing it all the time. There’s plenty more places it could be than in the kitchen.

Do you neglect your aquarium(s)? Send me photos of your neglected aquariums, and let me know how you overcame the neglection. Send photos to beau at liening dot us, or upload them to your favorite photo sharing site and send a link in the comments.

Here’s some more photos of this aquarium:

Algae on filter intake



Substrate algae

More substrate algae

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!  =)

How often do you check your timers?

Here’s my weekly maintenance schedule:

Monday: 1/16 tsp Trace, 2 ml Fe, top off.

Tuesday: 1/16 tsp KH2PO4, 1/16 tsp K2SO4, 1/4 tsp KNO3.

Wednesday: 1/16 tsp Trace, 2 ml Fe, top off.

Thursday: 1/16 tsp KH2PO4, 1/16 tsp K2SO4, 1/4 tsp KNO3.

Friday: 1/16 tsp Trace, 2 ml Fe, top off.

Saturday: Clean aquarium glass with magnetic scrubber.

Sunday: 50% water change, prune plants, remove most of the duckweed, 1/16 tsp KH2PO4, 1/16 tsp K2SO4, 1/4 tsp KNO3.

My fertilizer dosing is based on the EI (Estimative Index). You can find more info on it here or here.

Once a month I do a partial cleaning of my cannister filter. The reason I only do a partial cleaning is so I don’t kill all the beneficial bacteria.

That’s about it for my maintenance schedule. You might think it’s a lot of work, but it really isn’t.

I’ve been working on a bunch of projects around my house. So much to do, so little time to do it.

That’s only a partial list of the things I need to do around here. There’s just too much stuff to do. I’ll post updates when there are updates. =)