Re: My aquarium observations and experiences
- From: fish lover <aywhere@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Mon, 14 Nov 2005 19:45:01 -0500
On Mon, 14 Nov 2005 12:38:39 GMT, Joe Barta <jbarta@xxxxxxx> wrote:
Hmmm... Interesting post.
You do have some valid points. I like to do a 30% water change every 3
to 4 days. I have the discus and they kind of demand more water change
as far as I know.
I have a timer for my boubbler. It only turn on at night every other
hour, when the plants are not producing oxygen.
I also have a heater all year around because the discus require about
84 Fto 86 F
>Thought I'd take the time to jot down a few thoughts, observations,
>experiences and conclusions for posterity. In the last couple years
>I've learned a lot about my aquarium. I suppose I'm still learning,
>and by no means an expert, so feel free to ignore my ramblings or
>point out where I'm hopelessly clueless.
>
>In those last couple years I did a lot of searching and reading of the
>web and these newsgroups to either look for a solution to a problem or
>just for general knowledge. I found a lot of information... some of it
>quite useful. Hopefully what I may have to offer would be a useful
>addition.
>
>My current setup: Simple 55 gallon freshwater tank with plants and
>fish. Plants usually the garden variety cheapo pond plants... hornwort
>and ancharis. Fish currently a medium sized Oscar, a small Jack
>Dempsey and a big old Australian Red Claw Crayfish. The bottom is
>covered with about 2-3 inches of cheap home center gravel (about 1/4"
>- 1/2" pieces.. needed serious rinsing before putting in the tank). I
>have a Fluval filter pump used primarily to move the water around. In
>the winter I use a heater, and without the circulation, the water
>tends to stratify with the top being very warm and the bottom being
>icy cold. Other than the pump and heater (used in winter), and a
>thermometer, there is no other equipment in the tank. No bubblers, no
>filters, no chemicals, no fertilizers, no nothing. And yes, you read
>that right, no bubblers whatsoever.
>
>And keep in mind that my comments are limited to a plant AND fish
>setup. NOT plants only or fish only.
>
>
>Plants
>=================================================
>Boy did I have trouble getting plants to grow strongly. I think I can
>save a few people a lot of trouble if I sum up the solution in one
>word... LIGHT. By far the most important thing is enough light. Plants
>really didn't take off until I bought a 4 lamp, high output T-5
>fluorescent fixture. Truth be told though, that might have been a
>little *too* much light.
>
>
>Light
>=================================================
>Surprisingly, it would seem that there is such a thing as too much
>light. And it would seem that different plants do better at different
>light levels (and at different times of the year maybe). One simple
>way to vary light intensity is to raise the fixture above the tank.
>The greater the distance the light is from the top of the tank, the
>less intense the light from the plant's perspective.
>
>Currently I have a hanging chain setup that holds my fixture approx
>15" above the tank. Lowering the fixture down to the top of the tank
>cause the plants to push down in the tank and actually seem to hinder
>their growth. Actually, I'm thinking about raising it even further
>just to see what the effects would be.
>
>
>C02
>=================================================
>Yes, plants need carbon dioxide to grow. That said, plants can only
>use so much and fish are big producers of C02. I did the whole C02
>injection thing... using a really cool "yeast in 2-liter pop bottles"
>setup. The C02 would come in through a fine airstone and get blasted
>around a diffuser. Quite a goovy setup I put together. Friends would
>stare in awe at my tank as I explained how the C02 was generated, then
>diffused into the water... little bubbles swirling around.
>
>The bad news is that at least in my experience... IT WAS ALL FOR
>NOTHING. Didn't do a damn thing as far as I could tell. What did
>really have an impact on plant growth? LIGHT. The past year or so my
>tank has had no outside sources of C02 and the plants are booming.
>
>
>Algae
>=================================================
>I've come up with some ideas about algae and plants, and while my
>notions suit me thus far, and seem to match my observations, you must
>keep in mind that I'm no plant expert and I may have no idea what I'm
>talking about.
>
>That said... think of algae as a lower plant. Lower as in more
>primitive. Think of regular aquarium plants as higher plants... more
>evolved. Futher, think of the higher plants as better able to extract
>nutrients out of the water. Given a limited amount of nutrients in the
>water, the higher plants will get most of the nutrients and the algae
>might get a few leftover scraps.
>
>Note the key phrase above is "limited amount of nutrients". Let's
>suppose you were to increase the amount of nutrients in the water.
>What would happen? Well the higher plants would consume as much as
>they could. (And keep in mind that since both light and C02 are also
>required for plant growth, any deficiency in either would limit how
>much nutrients the plants could use.) Whatever nutrients are not
>consumed by the higher plants, the lower plants (algae) are free to
>make use of.
>
>So in a tank with excess nutrients, both the plants and the algae are
>growing. Question, where does algae grow? Answer, on everything...
>including your higher plants. As the algae grows as a thin furry film
>on your higher plants, it hampers the ability of those higher plants
>to grow... which means they grow less... which means they consume less
>nutrients... which means there are more nutrients left over for
>algae... which means more algae grows on your plants... and so on...
>and so forth. Before you know it, you're not growing plants... you're
>growing algae.
>
>So, where do these nutrients come from? Well, mostly from fish poo.
>You feed the fish, then shortly thereafter they squeeze out some
>nutrients. The more you feed the fish, the more nutrients they poop.
>My Oscar is always hungry. I could feed him his fill and an hour later
>he acts like he's half starved. Truth be told, I LIKE to feed him. I
>like to see him chase after feeders or attack earthworms. It's pretty
>cool actually. And as he eats, he poops... and that can be a problem.
>Think of fish poop as algae food. Have an algae problem? Cut back on
>the fish feeding.
>
>
>Fish feeding
>=================================================
>Everyone knows you have to feed your fish every day. And everyone
>knows that if you leave town for a few days you have to make sure that
>someone comes over to feed your fish or they might die, right?
>Hogwash. Pure, unadulterated bunk.
>
>I'll let you in on a secret... I'm lazy. I can be neglectful. There
>have been times I have have gone WEEKS without feeding my fish. I
>don't know what they lived on... but they lived on something... well,
>let's at least say they lived. I do know my crayfish was making a good
>meal of the anacharis in those lean times. He would eat the stems and
>leave leaves littered about. Both my fish and the crayfish will
>happily eat frozen corn when they're hungry. I told the girl at the
>fish store that I have an Oscar that eats corn and she thought both me
>and my fish were nuts. Never heard of such a thing. I'm sure if Oscar
>had a choice between a juicy worm or some corn, he'd eat the worm...
>then eat the corn later ;-)
>
>The whole point is this, I think aquarium fish are like a lot of
>people... way overfed. And like people, it's only when we get a little
>hungry that we will eat whatever is available. And like many people,
>we could probably do with a lot less food... and maybe even be better
>off for it.
>
>
>Disease
>=================================================
>Never had to deal with a fish disease. I'm naive enough to think I
>must be doing something right. Or maybe just lucky or have unwittingly
>stuck to hardy fish.
>
>
>Oxygen/air
>=================================================
>Everyone knows you need to have a bubbler in your tank or your fish
>will die, right? More bunk I think. I think it would be more useful to
>say that fish need oxygen. If there are no plants in the water I
>suppose the fish demand for oxygen might outpace whatever oxygen gets
>into the water. Plants respirate mostly the opposite of fish. Fish
>take in oxygen and expel carbon dioxide. Plants for the most part do
>the opposite. Plants use carbon dioxide and expel oxygen. Nice little
>symbiotic relationship between the fish and the plants. Each uses what
>the other gives off. And it works pretty well if everything is in
>balance.
>
>How do you know if your fish are not getting enough oxygen? Pretty
>much the same way you'd know a human isn't getting enough oxygen...
>heavy breathing. If a fish is strongly sucking in water and his gills
>are opening widely and strongly... he is "out of breath" so to speak.
>Most likely the oxygen content in the water is too low. In a tank with
>large amounts of growing plants, more than enough oxygen is present in
>the water. My tank hasn't had a bubbler for an awfully long time and
>the fish are breathing very very easily.
>
>
>Chemicals/fertilizers
>=================================================
>When I go to the fish store I see a lot of little bottles...
>treatments, supplements, conditioners, fertilizers, softeners,
>hardeners, thinners, waxers, buffers, uppers, downers and other
>assorted indespensible shtuff. I have to admit, I did buy a bottle of
>plant food once that was supposed to promote vigorous plant growth by
>supplying various trace elements and micro-nutrients. Too bad it
>didn't contain a really bright light too... at least then it would
>have been useful to me ;-)
>
>Now surely, for many, all those little bottles and tablets serve a
>useful purpose. But I have another idea. I have this fanciful notion
>that Mother Nature has a way of providing for all those trace elements
>and micro-nutrients. Feed a little bit of worm to a fish, and he poops
>out a little bit of micro-nutrients in addition to all those macro-
>nutrients. Futher, keep a clean healthy tank, and you'll probably have
>clean healthy fish.
>
>
>Cleaning
>=================================================
>Maybe once a week I take a green scrubby pad and clean the front and
>sides of the tank to remove the little bit of algae that accumulates.
>I leave the algae alone on the back. The back of my tank is painted
>black on the outside so I have no cool graphics that need to be seen.
>
>I use a nifty siphon/hose setup to suck water out of the tank, then
>add water straight from a laundry tub faucet. I use one of those
>gravel sweeper things on the end of a hose. Sucks up debris without
>sucking up gravel... works like a charm. Normal weekly water change
>would be drain about 1/5 of the water and refil. I'm convinced that
>regular water changes is one of the best things you can do for the
>health and cleanliness of your tank.
>
>Luckily, I picked a good spot for the tank the first time. Sort of
>near a laundry tub that's lower than than the tank and NOT on carpet.
>No way I would EVER have a 55gal tank sitting in my living room on
>carpet. To me it's a horrifying thought. If I dig into the tank, I
>like to dig into it... and water ends up on the floor. If I spill or
>drip water, I either just leave it, or mop it up. What would I have to
>go through on carpet? And the sipon/filler thing is a blessing. Don't
>even want to think about carrying buckets back and forth.
>
>I've also gotten into the habit of smelling the tank. Hold your face
>near the top of the water and take a good whiff. When the tank is
>clean and healthy and has algae under control, there is practically no
>smell. If there is an excess of waste, rot or algae, there is a
>particular "fishtank" smell. Hard to describe beyond that.
>
>
>Summary of important points
>=================================================
>* The most important thing needed for vigorous plant growth is plenty
>of light (but have a mechanism to vary the intensity).
>
>* Cut back on fish feeding to control algae growth. Cut back on the
>number of fish if necessary.
>
>* Bubblers are not needed if plants produce enough oxygen to satify
>fish needs.
>
>* Smell your tank as an indication of health and perform weekly 20%
>water changes.
>
>
>
>Well, that's all I can think of for now. Hopefully someone will find
>it useful and of course I'd welcome coments.
.
- References:
- My aquarium observations and experiences
- From: Joe Barta
- My aquarium observations and experiences
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