There are many ways to cycle an aquarium. This is far from an exact science and many things “work”. Some things can indeed speed up a cycle and some things slow down a cycle, but in the end, just about anything will “work”. Mother Nature is very flexible and forgiving.
Any water you can drink is fine for almost any fish. Plants are a little more touchy. The only time one can have problems is: So any sort of water treatment beyond chlorine conditioner is normally just a waste of money. But many want to know the options so here goes: Water Treatment in Depth […]
Newcomers to the hobby are bombarded in the fish store with all sorts of water treatments: conditioners, stress coat, pH adjusters, ammonia detoxifier, bacteria in a bottle, buffers, aquarium salt, ad. infinitum. Only a cheap conditioner is necessary. All the other products are simply scams.
There is a “rule” that says you need to change the water 50% every week and a 25% change twice a week with an aquarium. The only reason for doing water changes is to keep the nitrates down.
It is generally (but not universally!) accepted that fish will do better in an aquarium if some of the water is drained upon occasion and replaced with new clean water. A reasonable water change schedule for most hobbyists is: 50% water changes be done every one to three months
“Old tank syndrome” is a tank with: Low KH (80); Low pH (< 6.5, or yellow to yellow green on the API pH test kit); High nitrate (>80); High ammonia readings (>4); This article tells you what to do when your fish are dying!
Heavy Stocked Maintenance: ONLY if one has very heavily stocked aquarium with only moderate amounts of biofiltration one should read on. This analysis is very long and boring.
Both beginners and experienced aquarium owners often make a big mistake that stresses fish in their aquarium. They give their new filters a thorough cleaning at the end of cycling.
There are a host of YouTube videos emphasizing that it is essential to “deep clean” and “deep vacuum” the substrate of an aquarium at least once a week. We do NOT recommend doing this.
A continuous drip water change system uses permanent plumbing to continuously and automatically change the water in one or more aquariums via a 24/7 drip.
