Longest time /without Vacuuming gravel ?
- Thread starter bmoraski
- Start date
Hey all , long time no see ! lol
i still have my tanks and lots of guppies. Also a ton off snails, thanks to putting in Hornwort in my 20gal. i didnt soak long enough to kill off snail contamination. Doesnt bother me anymore, i put lettuce in every once in a while to cut down the population. Since ive had the snails i havent vacuumed that much, maybe 3 times in the past 6 or 7 months. They plug up the vac, which can be a pain, but like i said i havent needed to vac. I do a 50% water change every 2 weeks, give or take a day. I just thought ide update this old post. Ive thought about cleaning tank and getting rid of snails, but the thought of cycling again gives me great pain ! lol
later......................
i still have my tanks and lots of guppies. Also a ton off snails, thanks to putting in Hornwort in my 20gal. i didnt soak long enough to kill off snail contamination. Doesnt bother me anymore, i put lettuce in every once in a while to cut down the population. Since ive had the snails i havent vacuumed that much, maybe 3 times in the past 6 or 7 months. They plug up the vac, which can be a pain, but like i said i havent needed to vac. I do a 50% water change every 2 weeks, give or take a day. I just thought ide update this old post. Ive thought about cleaning tank and getting rid of snails, but the thought of cycling again gives me great pain ! lol
later......................
Hello; Heavy planted tank and as stated by others, I do no vac the gravel. Approaching a year and a half now on current setup. Have gone much longer in the past. Not much free space between plants. Have MTS(trumpet snails) that move thru the gravel and consume extra food and stir the gravel. Try feeding less if you have a snail problem. Suspect overfeeding in the major cause of too many snails in many cases. Too many snails is indicator that the fish are not eating all the food. Fish need less food than many think.
Two goldfish show a stocking level of 210% on AqAdvisor - Intelligent Freshwater Tropical Fish Aquarium Stocking Calculator and Aquarium Tank/Filter Advisor
I know I posted this a long time ago but i went 2 years without EVER vacuuming my gravel. I chose selects fish and inverts to do the cleaning and I only fed once every couple days maybe once a day. I had plenty of bottom feeders. Never had an issue. Tank was clearer than clear and all levels were perfect and maintained a phenomenal environment. I selected certain plants and certain fish to have a full circle of life and balance and everything did something for the other and everything had a reason.
For my future 75g tank i want to get more into the planted side of things. Ive always wanted an oscar, and some beautiful plants, also will put my pleco in there. And with my snails being in my 20g, i figure the Oscar would enjoy them, lol.
Ive learned a lot over the past few years and i think im ready to add my feature tank to my den. I just dont want to add to much more work. lol
Anyway i enjoy my tanks as much now as i did in the beginning ( well more so now because i know what im doing. lol )
This may be the year i tell the wife and kids " Daddy is ready for his big tank, for christmas"
Ive learned a lot over the past few years and i think im ready to add my feature tank to my den. I just dont want to add to much more work. lol
Anyway i enjoy my tanks as much now as i did in the beginning ( well more so now because i know what im doing. lol )
This may be the year i tell the wife and kids " Daddy is ready for his big tank, for christmas"
Oscars and plants do not work together. Neither do heaters, filter tubes, and decor. If its in the tank they WILL move it where they want it. This is the only things in my Oscar tank and they still move these big rocks. Here is the link with pics. http://www.myfishtank.net/forum/photography-fish-forum/64073-my-oscar-pics.html . I really love my Oscars so I have extra heaters because they will break them. I am prepared for a bath when I open the top to feed them because the want me to get wet with them so they share their water with me. I expect to put the filter pick-up tubes back on at least twice a week. I also know I have to change 70 Gallons of the the 125 gallon tank weekly. I truly love having Oscars, why else would I do this.
I buy one plant a year for them. Its always one grown into a piece of wood like in the pic. Its the only ones that ever last more then a couple months because most of the roots are in the wood so they do not get damaged roots when my Water Dogs dig them up. Either way, I will never be without my Water Dogs!~)
I kept two oscars in a 125 gallon tank that was heavily planted with potted Amazon swords. They did not bother anything, nor did I ever have to replace their heater in the 8+ years I had them. I guess mine were unique, but it is certainly POSSIBLE to keep plants and oscars together. They would uproot any 'new' plants I tried to add, and would shred anything floating. Perhaps because the decor was there before they were added, they accepted them as part of the background. Perhaps because they were HUGE established swords that almost reached the surface.
Mine would dig in the gravel, move rocks and driftwood around, and if I dared plant new plants, I would find the plant shred and pieces of it outside the tank (they'd knock the lid up while holding chunks of it, to 'show me' that I wasn't allowed to change things in 'their' tank).
Just was my experience with Felix and Oscarette (yes, a pair, but no, I did NOT name them!).
Mine would dig in the gravel, move rocks and driftwood around, and if I dared plant new plants, I would find the plant shred and pieces of it outside the tank (they'd knock the lid up while holding chunks of it, to 'show me' that I wasn't allowed to change things in 'their' tank).
Just was my experience with Felix and Oscarette (yes, a pair, but no, I did NOT name them!).
They definitely have a ton of personality. Mine will bump the lid when they figure I have been home long enough without feeding them yet. I have never had heater luck with them. The last time one was broke I got the Idea of putting it under the gravel to hide it. Big mistake, I woke up to it pulled out of the gravel and broke. I guess it was a fun play toy to them. I think I am going to build a little corner guard with a piece of acrylic glued into two corners to cover the heaters. I must go through a 6-12 per year. I have tried the unbreakable ones but the play with them until they short out. The last unbreakable one stuck ON!!! Luckily I was home and noticed the light lit up every time I walked by. I never thought about putting plants in first. Thats a good idea OC.