Re: 5gal Hex-bio wheel-Betta & Cat or 2 small fish & Cat?
- From: Gill Passman <gillnospamat@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Tue, 29 Nov 2005 20:59:34 +0000
ko57 wrote:
Thanks for your input, Gill-
I'm waiting to introduce any fish, keeping an eye on the heater-plugged in and unplugged, how it relates to our fluctuating temperatures day & night. So far, inside today, no house heaters-it's moderate at 74 degrees, the tank heater's not plugged in and hood light off the water was 74 also. About half an hour ago I plugged it in, barely nudging the lever, it hadn't come on and if so not right away, so at least it does have an off or close to that setting. About 74.5 degrees now, nudged the lever a bit more. If I put it to the arrow that it suggests my tank the first night got up to 84d, so I unplugged it.
I realize the water especially in the smaller tanks might need more careful maintenance. Gill, can you give me an idea of how much and how frequent your water changes are? I'm wondering if you do something like 20% once a week for say 3 weeks then at the fourth week maybe a larger percentage? Any tips on this would be appreciated also. I got my equipment at WalMart; I've seen testing strips that include the ammonia, nitrates, nitrites, ph and perhaps a couple of other things on one strip that I can order off the web if Wal doesn't have that. I wanted to get those little strip thermometers that go on the outside glass-about $1.49-for a quick look, and noticed they have the gravel vacs, so will probably stop in this evening.
I notice that gravel dust looks like it's on the surface of the water like a "pool", maybe slime?? Doesn't cover the top totally but it's floating-I'd definitely say from the gravel. I'll check the filter inlet tube, I don't think it would be clogged but... Do you think the vacuum would clear that and the dust that settled on the rocks? If not I guess I'll take everything out & do a final rinse with anti-chlor added to my rinse water. When I got the kit, I noticed the blue filter packs were out of stock. I'll probably order a supply of those to hold me over.
I read where tetras might want cooler water-74-76 or so, where as I believe the bettas can have a little warmer water, perhaps not so much an issue in the summer. I think the tank will be fine in the summer, the ac is opposite the wall of the tank, I can turn vents toward or away as needed. I am leaning toward a betta, just need to get the tank water right and take the plunge.
Thanks Gill, your comments opened my eyes a bit more, the bettas are cute, they are playful, I just would want to keep it healthy. If you have any more advice, especially about your water changing routine I'd love to hear about it, I'm sure that would be helpful to a few of us newbe's out here.
Best regards,
ko57 in s.e. Louisiana, where the weather seems to change every 5 minutes
Basically I have a weekly maintenance routine on all the tanks....the betta tanks get around a 15-20% change once a week. The water is treated for chlorine/chloramine and heavy metals....this is no different to the way I treat all of my tanks unless there is a specific problem. A 15-20% change on a small tank though is a lot quicker to do than on one of the 47.5UK gall tanks :-)
On the dust problem, I would say almost certainly it is coming out of the gravel. As you have no fish as yet it might be worth taking it out and doing a few more rinses....I'm a little bit fanatical on rinsing my gravel before putting it into a new tank mainly as I see a little bit more effort at the start gives better results....I do know others that are not so fanatical that still get very good results as the dust settles....very much how you feel about it and how important it is...
The temp control in these small tanks is forever worrying me but then I look at the fish and see that they are happy and content and wonder if I worry too much. In the summer when it gets really warm I vent the tanks by leaving part of the hood open - you get a bit more evaporation but I compensate by doing an extra water change if nec (I don't top up as this just concentrates minerals etc....).
In terms of heating, I just checked my two betta tanks that are in the same room within a couple of feet of eachother...the heater was on briefly in Boris's tank next to the back door but off in Bob's tank which is further into the room. In the summer, unless we get a chill evening, I don't expect either heater to come on...they are just there to stop any wild temp fluctuations especially as the house cools considerably at night at this time of year when the heating goes off at night - this is more to keep a constant minimum rather than heat the water up to a max. The best bet is to set the thermostat to the optimum temperature required by the fish that you chose and just watch for any over heating and address as necessary. That way you ensure that they do not get chilled....
Gill
In UK where the temp has suddenly dipped from 15C to around 2C max in a few days...sneezing like anything - got my winter cold :-(
.
- References:
- 5gal Hex-bio wheel-Betta & Cat or 2 small fish & Cat?
- From: ko57
- Re: 5gal Hex-bio wheel-Betta & Cat or 2 small fish & Cat?
- From: Gill Passman
- Re: 5gal Hex-bio wheel-Betta & Cat or 2 small fish & Cat?
- From: ko57
- 5gal Hex-bio wheel-Betta & Cat or 2 small fish & Cat?
- Prev by Date: Re: Baby Bettas - Day 6
- Next by Date: Re: 5gal Hex-bio wheel-Betta & Cat or 2 small fish & Cat?
- Previous by thread: Re: 5gal Hex-bio wheel-Betta & Cat or 2 small fish & Cat?
- Next by thread: Re: 5gal Hex-bio wheel-Betta & Cat or 2 small fish & Cat?
- Index(es):
Relevant Pages
|
