Clean, Clean, Clean!!!!!!!

[Mia427]

Hey Everyone!

I wanted to see what everyones thoughts are on tank maintenance.

I am a OCD clean freak to begin with, so when it comes to my tank, I'm just the same way.

Right now i am doing 50-60% water change Mon-Wen-Fri, 30-40% Water change Tue-Thu, And if need be, a 50% water change on saturdays. I use a Eheim quick vac every night to get left over food and poop :vomit: . I rinse out my canister filter once every 2 weeks. I do a full tank wipe down Mon-Wen-Fri, as well as pulling out any tank decor and giving it a rinse.

I really don't mind doing all of this since its for the health of my water babies, my question is, am i doing to much?! Or not enough?!

It is very time consuming, like yesterday for example. I worked late, bye the time i got home to walk to dogs, cook, dinner, shower, clean up after dinner, it was already 10:30:sleep: (my bedtime. Don't laugh i wake up at 4:30am for work) Well of corse i couldn't miss a water change....... By the time i got done doing a water change, rinsing tank decor, glass wipe down, cleaning up after my mess (spilled some water on the carpet. Shhhhh :roll eyes: ) It was 11:45 and i felt like a freaking zombie, looked like one to.......

It would have been a lot easier to just do a water change last night................

What are some of your water changing tasks?

[Elliots]

I have adult Disdcus. I change about 50% in my 150 gallon 3-4 times a week. I clean the glass as necessary. I never clean my drift wood. I do remove my plants as necessary, trim and replace them. It works for me may not work for you. If you do miss a daily water change that should be no problem to your fish.

[OC Discus]

If your tank is bare bottom, the glass surface houses some beneficial bacteria. With sub adults in a 55 g display tank, I wipe down once a week. I also use 400 ml of purigen in a reactor to remove waste from the water between water changes. My water stays pristine between weekly 80% water changes and nitrates never get above ten. My filters include two tetra whispers with bio sponges that get clean floss weekly. Also a magnum 350 with micron filter that gets cleaned bi-weekly, and 4 100 ml pouches of purigen that gets changed monthly. The fish have never been happier or healthier. I feed twice a day rotating six different foods. Flake or granual am and fdbw, shrimp, and plankton Pm. They wont be jumbos, but should reach 6". The largest is now 5" at one year old. I was ready to quit before finding a slightly more high teck way to change and maintain clean water.


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[musicmarn1]

oc whats the reactor you use? was going to put a bunch of purigen in my drip plate but might like to get a reactor

[adapted]

For a Purigen reactor I spent 50 bucks on one of these:

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B004I6U192/ref=oh_details_o05_s00_i00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

and it works nicely. The flow is pretty low, and you need to add some finer mesh at the top to keep the Purigen particles from escaping, but it holds a lot of media and includes a valve so you can dial in the right amount of fluidization. I use it with about 400 ml of Purigen and it gradually darkens to let you know when to replace or regenerate.

[Discusdude7]

I have had good results with using a simplicity chemical reactor. This was suggested to me by Joan (joanstone). I use a little quiet one pump to push water through it.

http://www.thatpetplace.com/simplicity-fluidized-bed-chemical-reactor?gdftrk=gdfV2226_a_7c268_a_7c6967_a_7c23883 3&ne_ppc_id=1463&ne_key_id=26451251&gclid=CJOchKOIh78CFXEF7AodYV0AVg

[OC Discus]

My reactor is simply a marineland magnum 350 with micron cartridge. 4 purigen pouches are loosely placed around the micron filter. The are lifted and partially fluidized, but I have 8 times the recommended amount for a 55 g tank.


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[YSS]

What size tank do you have and how many fish do you have in it? Wiping the tank three times a week overkill in my opinion. Once a week is more than enough. Once every two weeks should be fine as well. I never even thought of rinsing my tank decors... How dirty is your filter when you clean it? If it's not too dirty, you can reduce the frequency of your cleaning interval. Don't make keeping discus a chore. It doesn't have to be. Good luck with your fish!

[Mia427]

How does a reactor work? What do you hook it up to? I have purigen in my canister and i really like it.

[Mia427]

What size tank do you have and how many fish do you have in it? Wiping the tank three times a week overkill in my opinion. Once a week is more than enough. Once every two weeks should be fine as well. I never even thought of rinsing my tank decors... How dirty is your filter when you clean it? If it's not too dirty, you can reduce the frequency of your cleaning interval. Don't make keeping discus a chore. It doesn't have to be. Good luck with your fish!

I have a 90 Gallon with 8 Discus. My filter is dirty when i clean it, but not filthy. I think once every 2 weeks is on for that. But you are right, it dosent have to be a chore. In a way, i was kinda feeling that way...... Thats why i posted here :-)

[adapted]

How does a reactor work? What do you hook it up to? I have purigen in my canister and i really like it.

A reactor is just a container for holding media and allowing water to be pumped through it to fluidize the particles, i.e., have them tumble in the water so as to get the maximum exposure. This sort of reactor has to be connected to a pump which is typically valved down to get the right amount of flow.

[OC Discus]

Afriend is a member who posted elaborate instructions for making a reactor. You can probably find it by an advanced search on purigen reactor. Josie from Chicago discus also posted pictures of one she is using on a display tank. You can purchase media reactors at many of the online fish stores. The major concern is that the purigen beads are so small they pass through some of the screens.


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[Mia427]

I remember seeing Josie's video before i even had discus and i thought "Looks like a pain in the ***"..... Lol! Is there a benifit of using it in a reactor vs in the canister?
Im assuming it get more exposure when its used in a reactor....

[afriend]

Mia427

I have a 100g show tank with 10 adult discus along with lots of decorative items in it. Got tired of all of the maintenance required to keep it clean, so I started doing some research on how to reduce it about two years ago. What I came up with is presented in the Sticky section of "Filtration, Pumps, and Plumbing" section of the SD forum. (Presented in four parts.)

I'm absolutely amazed at how well this system works. Currently there is no tank maintenance required between once a month clean outs. The water stays sparkling clean, there is no algae or slime build up anywhere in the tank, and the feces dissolves and is automatically removed by the filtration system. Thus there is nothing to wipe down, no feces to syphon out, and the tank remains pristine clean. My water exchange system presently does a 30% daily exchange. I believe that this rate of water exchange, along with the filtration system provides an environment that is as healthy as 100% daily exchange and daily cleanout.

What I now have is a beautiful show tank and all I have to do is feed the fish and do some simple cleanup work once a month.

Paul

[adapted]

I will confirm that there seems to be much less buildup on the glass with Purigen. I almost never have to do a wipe down.

[OC Discus]

Paul. Did you change your decorations? If so how about some new pictures. Show us how your tank looks with your maintenance schedule.


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[afriend]

Paul. Did you change your decorations? If so how about some new pictures. Show us how your tank looks with your maintenance schedule.


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OC,

No changes to the reef or anything else, so I really don't have anything to add since I presented Part 1 in the Stickie. Thanks for asking.

How's your tank coming along?

Paul

[afriend]

What size tank do you have and how many fish do you have in it? Wiping the tank three times a week overkill in my opinion. Once a week is more than enough. Once every two weeks should be fine as well. I never even thought of rinsing my tank decors... How dirty is your filter when you clean it? If it's not too dirty, you can reduce the frequency of your cleaning interval. Don't make keeping discus a chore. It doesn't have to be. Good luck with your fish!

YSS,

Next time you get a chance, try removing your tank decorations and giving them the "sniff" test. This is accomplished by placing them close to your nose when they are still wet. Before implementing my filtration system, my decorations would smell awful. Now they still smell clean even after being in the tank for several months. Have often wondered how they smell to the fish.

paul

[OC Discus]

Paul. All is well. No change since our last correspondence. Thanks for asking.


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