In the fishtank world, mine doesn't rank at the top of the list or the bottom. It's bigger than the typical WalMart model, but not as big as some of the giant fabricated tanks I've seen here and there. At the pet store, 135 gallons is about as big as you can get, and I've got one in the basement. I built the stand you see here too, but that's a totally different (and much longer and frustrating) blog entry. Today I'm talking about how to take care of the fish without taking up all of my time.
The year is 2003, and I'm a newly single guy with a big fishtank that I've never maintained by myself. I don't want to put my friends on the hook for helping me do this every month, so I've got to come up with something. Back then, I was more of a margarita man than a bourbon man, so a different recipe was in order.
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| WFM ingredients |
12 oz Hose Cuervo Gold
6 oz Grand Marnier (I'm not rich, just did a lot of traveling back then and hit the duty free stores)
6 oz lime juice (Real Lime is the best)
36 oz tap water
1 cup sugar
Instructions: Mix alcohol and lime juice and pour in pitcher. Put sugar and water in blender for a couple of minutes. Pour in pitcher. Serve over ice. WARNING: THESE ARE STRONGER THAN THEY TASTE.
After a couple of margaritas, I had it all figured out. Man, this was going to be easy. Here's what I ended up buying at Lowe's: garden hose, faucet attachment for garden hose, wood vise, plastic tubing (5/8" ID), small clamp, giant tub (kegger size).
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Note the clamp and 20' hose on the siphon
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The main issue for a water change is draining and filling 50% of the water from the aquarium for every water change (>50 gallons). With a lot of big fish, you really need to do this monthly. The only assembly task I had for the job was removing the 6' tube from the siphon and attaching a 30' hose to the end with a clamp.
Here are the steps I now use to change the tank water:
• Put down towels, take off lights and hoods, power down filtration
• Pop the drain out of the basement shower (I use a small screwdriver)
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| Siphon hose drains down the basement shower |
• Take out rocks/decorations from half of the tank, put in kegger tub (also useful at parties)
• Put plastic tubing from siphon down shower drain
• Siphon out water. Note: Make sure that the hose stays down the drain or you'll have a big fish poop mess (this really happened one time)
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| Siphon the water out of the tank |
• Put rocks back in. Sometimes it's good to assemble the rocks in a different way. The fish think they're in a new place, and they get a little less territorial.
• Clean any other filtration gear you have on the tank. I have 2 Fluval 404's
• Scrub algae off the tank with a brush. You can save time by buying a smart plecostomus (one that likes eating algae). I've had smart and dumb ones, and unfortunately, the only way to gauge intelligence is to dump one in the tank and see if he eats algae off the glass.
• Unscrew the aerator from the sink, and put on the garden hose adapter. Attach hose.
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Garden Hose Attachment for faucet
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• Run garden hose from faucet to tank. Use wood vice to hold hose in tank. Keep your eyes on this hose, too. An error can cause a small flood in your basement.
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| Wood vise holds the hose to the tank |
• Mix hot and cold water together to make the new water the same temp as the existing tank water.
• Put chemicals in the tank as the water goes in. I have 10 gallon tick marks on the side of the tank to make this easy.
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Tick marks every 10 gallons on
the right.
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• Put hoods and lights back on. Fire everything back up
This job takes me a bit less than 2 hours every 3 months. I've also got a few more tips from the guy who's been in the business for 20 years.
• Use good chemicals to treat tap water. Never skip this step or you'll have dead fish on your hands. If you can't remember if you treated the water, take the risk of treating it twice. Amquel and Novaqua are my favorite tank chemicals. I buy these from http://www.bigalsonline.com/. I put an extra teaspoon of Amquel (dechlorinator) in just for good measure. I probably don't need to, but it makes me feel better.
• Never change you tank when the water company is flushing pipes. The water company flushes out pipes with chemicals about twice a year in my area. My water smells like chlorine when they do this, but you can also call the water company and ask.
• How often to change? The more fish you have, the more you need to change water. Also, the more you feed, the more you need to change. I feed every other day, and have about 30 tiger barbs in the tank (about 1" each). You can go all the way up to 2 inches of fish per gallon in the tank if you want to change frequently. I change water every 3 months, and my tiger barbs are perfectly healthy.
• Over filter. I have enough biological filtration for roughly twice the size of my tank. Canisters are much better for the fish than undergravel. Fluval 404's are my favorite brand, and they do mechanical, biological, and charcoal filtration.
• Prime canister filters. To prime the Fluvals after cleaning, hold the exit hose out of the water when you fill them with water. That way, a big air bubble doesn't form.
• Oxygenate water. Use bubble wands with an air pump to help oxygenate the water. Bubbles keep the top of the water agitated and allows oxygen to be absorbed into the water. Bubbles also make your tank look cool.
• No electricity? Outdoor stores sell an aerator for use with minnow buckets, so your bait will last all day off a D battery. When we have power outages, I have a BC plan (Business Continuity). My fish are happy about this one (they've already survived one ice storm this way).
• Sick fish? If your fish get sick, have your water tested at the local pet store. Most of the time, fish get sick because you're not taking care of them. Yes, I said it's your fault. The best way to avoid sickness is keeping the level of toxic chemicals in the water down (change water enough) and having enough biological filtration.
• New tank? On a newly commissioned tank, add fish slowly. Better yet, start out the nitrogen cycle with some feeder goldfish. I put about 10 of these guys in a new tank to get it started. They usually all die before the cycle gets started. Any survivors can go in your buddy's goldfish pond.
I really enjoy having the fish tank. With a good maintenance plan, the fish stay happy, and you don't spend all your time keeping them that way.
Read this article to see how our outdoor goldfish make it through the winter.
Read this article to see how our outdoor goldfish make it through the winter.
