new air pump sooooo noisy! help

[Smells fishy]

I have had my tank now for about 2 months and to start with we had a stingray filter which was included with tank etc. Then I read that you should have a bubbler, so I pulled the filter out a little so that it made bubbles, apparently that was wrong so have been out to buy an elite pump with all the goodies and oh my god sounds like we have a flippin generator running! It is terrible, I can't live with that noise!

How come when you go into the pet shop you see all these trnaquil tanks with beautiful bubbles and pure silence?

I am so annoyed I have spent so much time, energy not to mention money on this tank which was supposed to be relaxing and stress releiving and all I feel is completely stressed, frustrated and like a bloomin failure.

I am using all the suggested chemicals like safe water, safe guard, flora food etc etc, but I just can't seem to get it right.

I love my wee fishies but this is just getting ridiculous, first it was fungus, then mouth rot, anchor worms, had it all and I keep them so nice and clean, but not too clean because I know if you get rid of all the good bacteria then that doesn't help at all.....aaaaaah!

You go from reading you should do a partial water change every 2 weeks then someone else said every couple of days, I read not to change gravel then someone else says to wash it with bleach???? I mean come on??? What the hell???

Please someone give some good advice

Did have 1 fantail goldy, 2 black moors, now just the blackmoors as goldy got huge and he went to a nice big pond to live with other big goldy's.

It is a 60 litre tank, not sure what that is in gallons, has lovely live plants, gravel, few big pebbles and a little rocky cave.

*SICK*

 

[bmoraski]

as far as the noise goes ive read you can set it on a washcloth to dampen the sound ( a dry washcloth of course ! lol ).
and for water changes it depends on your tank size , stocking etc.
when i first started i was doing water changes every other day !
Yes cycled with fish in ! thats another story.
i personally do a water change once a week 25% to 50% and vacuum gravel.
believe me once you get things right it will be very stress relieving.
but its gonna take some time and patience.
and if you dont know what cycling a tank is check out MissFishys site.
MissFishy's Guide to Fish
hope this helps
good luck

 

[tropicalcrazy]

yeah my air pump was always loud until i put it on something then it took all the sound away. if its sitting on a wall or wood it will rattle and thats whats causing all the noise. on water changes i quit changing it all the time because i couldnt get the water clear. it was always so muggy. so one guy told me that i didnt need to change it that often at all. in fact what i do is i have a lot of humidity so it evaporates around 25% of the water every 2-3 weeks and i just put the chemicals in and top the water off and my tank is always crystal clear and the water is good. ever since i listened to that guy not to change my water so frequently i have had outstanding luck. i have never had a disease in my tank and every fish has always been happy and i have had tons of other tropical fish in there. the only time they werent happy when i was a newbie packing like 30 fish in that tank. but since then thru trial and error and lots of reading and different opinions i have decreased my fish amount i have got it perfect how i want it. now i just need to add some more accessories and a bubble wand to go across the whole back of my tank. i also clean all my filters about once every 3-4 weeks also to keep the water flowing good.

it can be very stressful and cost consuming at first but once your set up and all problems away it gets easy. hope this can help

 

[jo3olous]

yeah my air pump was always loud until i put it on something then it took all the sound away. if its sitting on a wall or wood it will rattle and thats whats causing all the noise. on water changes i quit changing it all the time because i couldnt get the water clear. it was always so muggy. so one guy told me that i didnt need to change it that often at all. in fact what i do is i have a lot of humidity so it evaporates around 25% of the water every 2-3 weeks and i just put the chemicals in and top the water off and my tank is always crystal clear and the water is good. ever since i listened to that guy not to change my water so frequently i have had outstanding luck. i have never had a disease in my tank and every fish has always been happy and i have had tons of other tropical fish in there. the only time they werent happy when i was a newbie packing like 30 fish in that tank. but since then thru trial and error and lots of reading and different opinions i have decreased my fish amount i have got it perfect how i want it. now i just need to add some more accessories and a bubble wand to go across the whole back of my tank. i also clean all my filters about once every 3-4 weeks also to keep the water flowing good.

it can be very stressful and cost consuming at first but once your set up and all problems away it gets easy. hope this can help

THIS IS COMPLETELY WRONG. WATER EVAPORATING does not count as a water change. harmful wastes does not evaporate with the water, it just builds up in the tank. If you want to actually remove wastes from your tank that are harmful to fish, you should be doing weekly water changes. The only way to rid of waste in your tank is to siphon it with a gravel vacuum.

Also if you cant get your water clear it's because you are going through a bacterial bloom. Also when you siphon water or add water it may temporarily get cloudy because you are stirring up all the crap in the gravel. It may get cloudy regularly if you did not clean your gravel before setting up the tank.

 

[jo3olous]

I have had my tank now for about 2 months and to start with we had a stingray filter which was included with tank etc. Then I read that you should have a bubbler, so I pulled the filter out a little so that it made bubbles, apparently that was wrong so have been out to buy an elite pump with all the goodies and oh my god sounds like we have a flippin generator running! It is terrible, I can't live with that noise!

How come when you go into the pet shop you see all these trnaquil tanks with beautiful bubbles and pure silence?

I am so annoyed I have spent so much time, energy not to mention money on this tank which was supposed to be relaxing and stress releiving and all I feel is completely stressed, frustrated and like a bloomin failure.

I am using all the suggested chemicals like safe water, safe guard, flora food etc etc, but I just can't seem to get it right.

I love my wee fishies but this is just getting ridiculous, first it was fungus, then mouth rot, anchor worms, had it all and I keep them so nice and clean, but not too clean because I know if you get rid of all the good bacteria then that doesn't help at all.....aaaaaah!

You go from reading you should do a partial water change every 2 weeks then someone else said every couple of days, I read not to change gravel then someone else says to wash it with bleach???? I mean come on??? What the hell???

Please someone give some good advice

Did have 1 fantail goldy, 2 black moors, now just the blackmoors as goldy got huge and he went to a nice big pond to live with other big goldy's.

It is a 60 litre tank, not sure what that is in gallons, has lovely live plants, gravel, few big pebbles and a little rocky cave.

*SICK*

Store tanks are often joint together as far as filtration goes, and everything is running behind the tanks so as a customer you do not see it.

You are using way too many chemicals, and since you are doing a fish-in cycle, chemicals usually just complicate things. I would stop using all those chemicals... NOW. The only chemical you need is a dechlorinator to add to the water you add to the tank when doing water changes.

Sorry to hear about all your diseases and troubles, it usually happens when you do fish in cycles, and many other reasons, such as unclean decor/tank prior to putting it in. The fish may also have been sick when you got them.

 

[tropicalcrazy]

jo3olous: i have so many bottom feeders in fact every fish in my tank feeds off the tank and the bottom so there is no bacterial build up. i have had my water tested a bunch and nothing bad has EVER happened. and tank is 1 1/2 established and been doing the same thing. i also run 2 55 gallon fillters, 1 on each side. it does stay really clean. now i do agree the recommended and I AM NOT RECOMMENDING (sorry didnt make that clear) anyone else to do it but thats what works for me. and i did forget once a month i do a 50% water change. i vacuum my gravel at that time but barely pick anything up. i dont vacuum so much because i have a lot of plant substrate down there and dont want to suck up a lot of it as this has happened to me before.

and on doing the water changes i also only use AquaSafe by Tetra and it declorinates the tap water quite well and i use FloraPride by Tetra every time i do water changes and fill water up.

 

[jo3olous]

jo3olous: i have so many bottom feeders in fact every fish in my tank feeds off the tank and the bottom so there is no bacterial build up. i have had my water tested a bunch and nothing bad has EVER happened. and tank is 1 1/2 established and been doing the same thing. i also run 2 55 gallon fillters, 1 on each side. it does stay really clean. now i do agree the recommended and I AM NOT RECOMMENDING (sorry didnt make that clear) anyone else to do it but thats what works for me. and i did forget once a month i do a 50% water change. i vacuum my gravel at that time but barely pick anything up. i dont vacuum so much because i have a lot of plant substrate down there and dont want to suck up a lot of it as this has happened to me before.

and on doing the water changes i also only use AquaSafe by Tetra and it declorinates the tap water quite well and i use FloraPride by Tetra every time i do water changes and fill water up.

Last time I checked fish do not eat poo and harmful wastes. you might want to research the digestive consumption at fish. I don't know a single animal that lives off of eating their own fecal matter. If you can prove this, well then I will blatently admit I am wrong.

 

[tropicalcrazy]

well ive watched the plecos and the gold algae eater eat it right up in front of me. i dont know how to prove this since i do not have a video camera. but they just dont live off that i feed them all once a day with a small pinch of flake food, some shrimp pellets, and 4 algae wafers. other than that my rock is clean and you can see nothing. also the 2 55 gallon filters i got collect a lot of crap too and it doesnt settle at the bottom. call me crazy but its true and this has been how i take care of my tank the last year and a half

 

[jo3olous]

well ive watched the plecos and the gold algae eater eat it right up in front of me. i dont know how to prove this since i do not have a video camera. but they just dont live off that i feed them all once a day with a small pinch of flake food, some shrimp pellets, and 4 algae wafers. other than that my rock is clean and you can see nothing. also the 2 55 gallon filters i got collect a lot of crap too and it doesnt settle at the bottom. call me crazy but its true and this has been how i take care of my tank the last year and a half

You cannot see everything with the human eye. If you could see ammonia, nitrate, and nitrite with your eyes you would freak up anytime the numbers went up the slightest bit.

Sure your fish are eating food off the bottom. THEY ARE BOTTOM FEEDERS. They will eat any leftover food that is missed. Algae also builds up everywhere on the tank, it's not necessarily a quantity high enough to be seen by eye, but yes algae and other micro-organisms do grow in the tank that you CANNOT see via naked eye.

If you don't understand, you don't understand. I just wanted to note that your previous information conflicts with proven information.

 

[tropicalcrazy]

You cannot see everything with the human eye. If you could see ammonia, nitrate, and nitrite with your eyes you would freak up anytime the numbers went up the slightest bit.

Sure your fish are eating food off the bottom. THEY ARE BOTTOM FEEDERS. They will eat any leftover food that is missed. Algae also builds up everywhere on the tank, it's not necessarily a quantity high enough to be seen by eye, but yes algae and other micro-organisms do grow in the tank that you CANNOT see via naked eye.

If you don't understand, you don't understand. I just wanted to note that your previous information conflicts with proven information.[/QUOTE]

i understand all this. all as im saying is have had water tested multiple times, do everything ive already stated, and ive never had a problem a little over a year now and it WORKS FOR ME.

 

[tropicalcrazy]

this also would probably contribute to why my tank has been the way it has been but ive had approx. 100 tiny snails in my tank since i added plants. ive been trying to get rid of them but havent been able to. i have noticed though that ive barely seen any lately within the last month. maybe 20 total thruout. and also never had a problem with ammonia either

 

[Smells fishy]

Hi all,

Thanks for replying and giving info.

I guess different people have different experiences and certain things that work for one person might not necessarily work for another hence why we have such great forums like this to share and find someone with similar probs.

I actually went into our local pets at home and asked them how they got their water so crystal clear, they said because as soon as a tiny bit of algae appears they clean it off and change the water so regularly that it never gets cloudy - hence no good bacteria either which explains why a number of their fish have diseases!! We always see some lying on the bottom or a few dead etc.

I am worried that one of you said I am using too many chemicals, I use the safe water to add the good bacteria and remove harful nitrates and amonia and then safe guard which you HAVE to use when doing a water change to make tap water safe, then a little flora food every 3 weeks or so. If this is really bad then it goes against everything I have read??

We took the bubbler back as I tried putting it on a cloth etc but it was still nowhere near acceptable, the filter just a tiny bit out of the surface seems to do the trick so I will stick to that I think as I have read that the bubblers are more for asthetics rather than doing any actual good for the tank.

I am going to do a partial water change every 10 days and hoover the gravel and see if in a little time that works for my tank.

I didn't want to start an arguement between people offering me advice, I appreciate you all taking the time to reply though.

 

[bmoraski]

THIS IS COMPLETELY WRONG. WATER EVAPORATING does not count as a water change. harmful wastes does not evaporate with the water, it just builds up in the tank. If you want to actually remove wastes from your tank that are harmful to fish, you should be doing weekly water changes. The only way to rid of waste in your tank is to siphon it with a gravel vacuum.

Also if you cant get your water clear it's because you are going through a bacterial bloom. Also when you siphon water or add water it may temporarily get cloudy because you are stirring up all the crap in the gravel. It may get cloudy regularly if you did not clean your gravel before setting up the tank.

i wonder if just topping off tank instead of water changes leads to Old Tank Syndrome.

 

[jo3olous]

Hi all,

Thanks for replying and giving info.

I guess different people have different experiences and certain things that work for one person might not necessarily work for another hence why we have such great forums like this to share and find someone with similar probs.

I actually went into our local pets at home and asked them how they got their water so crystal clear, they said because as soon as a tiny bit of algae appears they clean it off and change the water so regularly that it never gets cloudy - hence no good bacteria either which explains why a number of their fish have diseases!! We always see some lying on the bottom or a few dead etc.

I am worried that one of you said I am using too many chemicals, I use the safe water to add the good bacteria and remove harful nitrates and amonia and then safe guard which you HAVE to use when doing a water change to make tap water safe, then a little flora food every 3 weeks or so. If this is really bad then it goes against everything I have read??

We took the bubbler back as I tried putting it on a cloth etc but it was still nowhere near acceptable, the filter just a tiny bit out of the surface seems to do the trick so I will stick to that I think as I have read that the bubblers are more for asthetics rather than doing any actual good for the tank.

I am going to do a partial water change every 10 days and hoover the gravel and see if in a little time that works for my tank.

I didn't want to start an arguement between people offering me advice, I appreciate you all taking the time to reply though.

If you are doing a fish-in cycle, the bacteria will develop from the fish being in there. There is no need to cycle the tank x2 with other additives. I would say only use safe-start and other bacterial chemicals if you were doing a fishless cycle?

 

[jo3olous]

i wonder if just topping off tank instead of water changes leads to Old Tank Syndrome.

basically. When I first got my tank, I did this and trust me I wasn't doing my fish or my tank any favors.

 

[Smells fishy]

If you are doing a fish-in cycle, the bacteria will develop from the fish being in there. There is no need to cycle the tank x2 with other additives. I would say only use safe-start and other bacterial chemicals if you were doing a fishless cycle?

I have had the tank for about 3 months now, the safe water says it is an essential weekly treatment - is this not right then?

I add it to the fresh water when I do a partial water change along with the safe guard (making tap water safe) do I not need to be adding this then?

I have a decent filter an elite stingray is this enough to get rid of the nitrates/amonia along with partial water change?

I read that disturbing the gravel at the bottom upsets the good bacteria that have started to grow there, so if you clean it do I need to add the safe water (to boost good bacteria) or not? So confusing!

Sorry for all the questions!

 

[homebunnyj]

Okay... sounds as if the 'safe guard' is your dechlorinator... correct? If so, that is the one chemical you need. A dechlorinator neutralizes chlorine and chloramine in tap water. It is needed.

Your tank will develop a bacterial colony that will change ammonia from fish waste into nitrite, then into nitrate, which you remove by doing partial water changes. While these bacteria colonies are developing, you test the water daily for ammonia. The ammonia will rise to toxic levels and then gradually drop down to zero. Then nitrite will rise to toxic levels and drop to zero. Then you will have measurable amounts of nitrates in your water. Whenever they rise above 20 or so, you'll do a partial water change to keep them in check. Once your tank is cycled you will vacuum your gravel with every water change (i.e., weekly).

The 'essential weekly treatment' is a way to get your money. And BTW, don't fall for pH-adjusting treatments either. They do more harm than good.

 

[Smells fishy]

Thanks homebunnyj,

That is some good simple advice. Yes the safe guard is the one that removes all the chemicals from tap water.

I won't be putting in anymore of the other stuff then.

Thanks again.

 

[jo3olous]

Thanks homebunnyj,

That is some good simple advice. Yes the safe guard is the one that removes all the chemicals from tap water.

I won't be putting in anymore of the other stuff then.

Thanks again.

The dechlorinator should be added to the water you are adding to your tank yes. As for cycling, you have done a fish-in, theres no need for other bacterial supplements

 

[jo3olous]

Okay... sounds as if the 'safe guard' is your dechlorinator... correct? If so, that is the one chemical you need. A dechlorinator neutralizes chlorine and chloramine in tap water. It is needed.

Your tank will develop a bacterial colony that will change ammonia from fish waste into nitrite, then into nitrate, which you remove by doing partial water changes. While these bacteria colonies are developing, you test the water daily for ammonia. The ammonia will rise to toxic levels and then gradually drop down to zero. Then nitrite will rise to toxic levels and drop to zero. Then you will have measurable amounts of nitrates in your water. Whenever they rise above 20 or so, you'll do a partial water change to keep them in check. Once your tank is cycled you will vacuum your gravel with every water change (i.e., weekly).

The 'essential weekly treatment' is a way to get your money. And BTW, don't fall for pH-adjusting treatments either. They do more harm than good.

THIS. +1 *thumbsup2