Few questions: Shrimp, Filter Media, Cleaning Sand?
Hey guys,
Local trip to Petsmart today, initially to get a new background for my fish tank. I wanted to get a dark / bright (dark background bright foreground) display for my tank so that I can contrast the sand with everything else a little better. I'm also hoping it will have the appearance of making my fish appear brighter and more colorful. While there, we also picked up 2 things:
Ghost Shrimp
New Filter Media
For starters, I got 5 Ghost shrimp. I'm waiting to see if they become fish food for any of my existing fish, though I hope they don't. If they do, they're cheap and I'm not going to fret the loss. They did come from another fish tank (that looked fine) at PetSmart, but is it possible that the shrimp could harbor some disease that could pass to the fish? I think I'd honestly be in tears if I lost mine... one of the "playing with fire" symptoms of not having a QT Tank.
Secondly, I got new media for my Rena SmartFilter, which is called Bio-Chem Zorb... Initially I thought this did something different than the one I got with the device, however I believe this is the same, so I don't have to worry about media doing different things.
1) Is there a guide that explains what kinds of media do what? I know there's media out there with activated carbon, and other types of things... was looking for an explanation, and when to get what in what circumstance.
2) When I made the change to sand, I kept the old filter media, as well as a stocking with old gravel in it for 1 week. Everything appears to have been fine. I would like to change the filter media now... can I just replace it? Do I float the old media at the top of the tank (how is this done?) for another week while the new media acclimates to the bacteria?
Also, my biggest concern right now is siphoning sand... Do I have to put anything on top of my siphon so I don't worry about kicking up sand? How far should I hold the siphon from the sand, so I will get the dirt and not sand? Will the dirt come off of the sand very easily? Do I have to disable my filter first?
Thanks guys
Hey guys,
Local trip to Petsmart today, initially to get a new background for my fish tank. I wanted to get a dark / bright (dark background bright foreground) display for my tank so that I can contrast the sand with everything else a little better. I'm also hoping it will have the appearance of making my fish appear brighter and more colorful. While there, we also picked up 2 things:
Ghost Shrimp
New Filter Media
For starters, I got 5 Ghost shrimp. I'm waiting to see if they become fish food for any of my existing fish, though I hope they don't. If they do, they're cheap and I'm not going to fret the loss. They did come from another fish tank (that looked fine) at PetSmart, but is it possible that the shrimp could harbor some disease that could pass to the fish? I think I'd honestly be in tears if I lost mine... one of the "playing with fire" symptoms of not having a QT Tank.
Secondly, I got new media for my Rena SmartFilter, which is called Bio-Chem Zorb... Initially I thought this did something different than the one I got with the device, however I believe this is the same, so I don't have to worry about media doing different things.
1) Is there a guide that explains what kinds of media do what? I know there's media out there with activated carbon, and other types of things... was looking for an explanation, and when to get what in what circumstance.
2) When I made the change to sand, I kept the old filter media, as well as a stocking with old gravel in it for 1 week. Everything appears to have been fine. I would like to change the filter media now... can I just replace it? Do I float the old media at the top of the tank (how is this done?) for another week while the new media acclimates to the bacteria?
Also, my biggest concern right now is siphoning sand... Do I have to put anything on top of my siphon so I don't worry about kicking up sand? How far should I hold the siphon from the sand, so I will get the dirt and not sand? Will the dirt come off of the sand very easily? Do I have to disable my filter first?
Thanks guys
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