Weekly Tank maintenance

Was suggested that it would be helpful in particular to new members/pleco keepers that we had a thread that describes the tank maintenance/water change regime that we do every week for our plec tanks.

I know a lot of members have more than one tank, so the best idea would be to just one tank as an example.

To include

photo of tank(if poss)
inhabitants
size of tank
filtration
what is feed every week
dechlor
temp
ph
plus the water changes that are done, filter maintenance and gravel cleans every week.


Ill add mine tonight:yes:

once a week? errr lol

100L fry growout tank


inhabitants: lots of hypan fry & breeding group of cory sterbai
size of tank: 100L
filtration: Eheim 2224 External, Under Gravel filter
what is feed every week: crushed tetra prima, earthworm pellets, hikari carnivore wafers, algae wafers, tetra doromin
dechlor: Prime
temp: 28c
ph: 7.4
water changes: 10% water change every day/other day. Gravel cleaned during change. Filter is partially cleaned using old tank water every 6ish weeks

Here is my Trigon 190 (Guess that means 190 litres.)


W/c - 2 buckets -about 10L - every 3 or 4 days, larger 40%- 50% change maybe once a month.
w/c is approx 50% treated tap water and 50% RO water.

tank contains bogwood, mix of plants, caves and rocks

fish: 2 blue phantom plecs, 1 peppermint plec, lots of different cories, endlers guppies, cardinal tetra, pink tetra, and one mountain minnow
might have a couple of upsidedown catfish, not seen them for ages.

temp: 22-24 degrees - room temp, no heater but will in winter
-plan to keep about 20-22C

filtration is small internal filter ( backup) and the internal jewel heater with larger pump than standard fitter ( 1000/lph)

Inhabitants: L190, L027C, L088, L262(2), L091, SAE, Emperor Tetras, Diamond Tetras, Corydoras delphax, Corydoras schwartzi, Pelvicachromis sp. Blue fin

Size of tank: 180ltr

Filtration: Juwel internal, uprated powerhead(1500lph) Fluval 405, Koralia 2

What is feed every week: Courgettes, Micro granuals, Tetra Prima, Sinking pellets, algae wafers, earthworm pellets, bloodworms

Dechlor: Prime

Temp: 26ºc

ph: 6.6

Water changes:30% every 7 days with sand cleaning at the same time

Filter maintenance: When flow slows, normally 1 filter every 8 weeks or so

I do clean my filters honest. when i move the tank

water changes every 2 days 10% on any tank


I do find with low feeding and keeping stock down the filters never need cleaning

Regards Lip Lop

Inhabitants: Breeding pair of whiptails plus fry, 4 Black cories plus eggs, 5 L104, 14 billion cherry shrimp (or there abouts)

Tank size: 3 foot tank (around 100lts i think)

Filtration: Eheim 2236 external, Fluval 3+ internal

Temperature: 24c/ 78f

PH: 7.4

Dechlorinator: None, these are kept in rain water

Feeding: Once daily with: spinach, algae wafers, tetra min flake. plus fresh veg added daily, either blanched lettuce leaf, courgette or cucumber.

Water changes: 25% every 2 to 3 days.

Filter maintenence: External roughly once every 4 months, internal once weekly





Inhabitants: Red head geo fry to grow out (anywhere from 80 to 200), L014, L025, L048, L065 x2, L091, L114, L273

Tank size: 2m, 700ltrs

Filtration: tetratec ex 1200, FX5

Temperature: 26c/ 82f

PH: 7.6

Dechlorinator: API stress coat

Feeding: 3 times daily with tetra prima, tetra min, bloodworm, chopped mussel, algae wafers or prawn

Water changes: 25% every 2 to 3 days.

Filter maintenence: each filter roughly once every 3 months





Inhabitants: 3 adult, 3 sub adult Red head Geo's, 3 adult L075, 6 panda cories

Tank size: 240ltr

Filtration: Juwel internal, upgraded to 1500ltr/hr powerhead

Temperature: 26c/ 82f

PH: 7.6

Dechlorinator: API stress coat

Feeding: twice daily with tetra prima, tetra min, algae wafers, bloodworm, chopped mussel. twice weekly given either prawn, courgette or cucumber

Water changes: 40% every week to 10 days

Filter maintenence: 2 sponges cleaned every week

Inhabitants:1 gold Gourami,3Lf danios,3 Emerald Cats and 1 ABN

Tank:75 ltr or 20 gallon

Temp:78 degrees,25.5 cel

Filtration:Under gravel

Feeding:Flake and Micro wafers and Sallys frozen shrimp brine for the Gourami,danios and cats.Assorted Veggies,Tetra Wafer Extreme and Wardley Wafers for the ABN.

Dechlorinator:Start Right Powder

Water Changes:Certain spots daily,around 10%,Gravel gets done every other week.

I would like to add,i keep records of these things by markings on a Calender.For Newbies keeping plecs,keeping track of such things will help keep your tank healthy.As we plec keepers know,they put out alot of waste.

Tony_s said:

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just had a quick look at your pic, nice tank but does it not worry you that the legs on the stand are angled and dont look too strong :huh:, 75L of water plus all the other stuff in the tank and on the shelves is a lot of weight for thos 4 legs to deal with. just my opinion

st24rsap said:

just had a quick look at your pic, nice tank but does it not worry you that the legs on the stand are angled and dont look too strong :huh:, 75L of water plus all the other stuff in the tank and on the shelves is a lot of weight for thos 4 legs to deal with. just my opinion

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Its proper old school furniture Kev. Hand crafted and made to last, Not that Ikea/MFI crap that is all the rage nowdays.

The dont make them like they used to

thegeeman

Nice tanks

Hi all,
Intersting post, I've just admired Irene's, Scatz and Johnny70's tanks, very nice, and some good fish. Johnny70 did you know that Pelvicachromis "Blue fin" has been scientifically named in a new genus? It's now officially "Enigmatochromis lucanusi".

Reference is:
Lamboj, A. (2009). A new dwarf cichlid genus and species (Teleostei, Cichlidae) from Guinea, West Africa. Zootaxa. 2173, 41-48.

cheers Darrel

Thanks for that Darrel, I didn't know that, another Latin name to learn :wb:

st24rsap said:

just had a quick look at your pic, nice tank but does it not worry you that the legs on the stand are angled and dont look too strong :huh:, 75L of water plus all the other stuff in the tank and on the shelves is a lot of weight for thos 4 legs to deal with. just my opinion

Click to expand...

Not worried at all Kev,the stand is solid oak.Even the all the joint supporters are made of Oak.The thing was heavy even after i gutted all the internal things out of it.This was at 1 time a Hifi stereo unit.

Thanx for the compliment on the tank.

Wow. Johnny's freaking tank looks amazing.

yes i agree it looks great, love all the plants.
I like lots of plants but fish will eat or damage a lot that I try.

Inhabitants:Common plec, 3 adult and 2 baby ancistrus cf cirrhosus, 1 L104, 14 harlequin rasboras, 4 amano shrimp.

Size of tank: 262 Litres

Filtration: fluval 4 internal, tetratec 1200 external

What is feed every week: various types of algae wafers and veggies plus granule food for the rasboras

Dechlor: Prime

Temp: 26.5c

ph: 7.6

Water changes:20% twice a week with quarter of the tank gravel clean

Filter maintenance: fluval 4--almost every week. tetratec 1200--once every 3 or 4 months unless flow has dropped too much

Hi everyone
I've got 2 400 litre tanks
I've been using R/O water for quite a while now together with mineral additives, at first the Kent stuff and lately the Dennerle remineral +
Seems really good KH is stable at 2 a bit low but it does not drop over time
I use enough to get the TDS to 200 and the pH is stable at 7
I change 40% of the water weekly
I make up a double stength solution using the Dennerle minerals and R/O water a week in advance in a clean water butt and mix it with warm R/O water and add to the tank.
Pete

Rio 400L #1
Juwel internal filter with sponges
Tetratec ex1200 flled with sintered glass rings
Fluval 4 plus internal just for mechanical dirt removal
Lots of java fern
sand on bottom
1 Royal Panaque
1 Sultan fully grown
1 L147 fully grown
1 vampire plec
Yellow congo bleeding heart and yellow tetras, Black ruby barbs and guppies


Rio 400L #2
Juwel internal filter with sponges
2 eheim ecco externals and one hydor filled with sintered glass rings
2 Fluval 4 plus internals just for mechanical dirt removal
Lots of java fern
gravel on bottom
1 Gibby about 8 inches
2 Royal Panaques
striped barbs and guppies

Thank you everyone that has added tanks, very detailed especially for new peeps.