Silly Questions…

[funkymonk1984]

I know people say no question is a silly question so here it goes…

1) when adding tap safe conditioner to your tap water the dosing says xx amount per litres of aquarium water. My aquarium is 123l am I measuring the dosing on that amount or the amount of water in changing eg. 50% = 60ish litres. I’ve never been 100% sure.

2) when rescaling with one tank what would you do with your livestock because it’s difficult to catch/remove them, don’t like stressing them out. Also when I move even one rock so much mess kicks up into water I can’t see what I’m doing. So ideally would want to lower water level substantially or I tend to remove rocks leaving tank to filter mess and hard scape outside of the tank but the problem I have is that some of my livestock won’t leave the wood/rock holes (dragon stone)

3) liquid fert dosing. I have the fluval flex 123l with the stock led. I only keep easy graded plants and it’s heavily planted/established. I dose flourish once a week according to bottle guidelines but would prefer dosing daily. Is that considered a complete supplement and I could simply dive dose by 7? I do a 50% water change every week to 1.5 weeks depending on work schedule. I was wondering what recommendations people had for ferts on a low energy tank and successes they’ve had. I also plant flourish root tabs throughout substrate.

4) recommended aquascaping tools. ADA is out of my price range but I have cheap scissors and tweezers currently and they aren’t great for maintenance or planting. What do people use that are affordable but good quality?

5) removal of hardscape. I want to remove a tree stump from my tank but my pleco has set up home in it. When I see him out in the tank I try to remove it but he sees me coming and returns. This battle has been going for weeks and I am losing! Any advice on this? I’ve tried luring out with cucumber etc but no luck.

6) I’ve also made some stocking mistakes in my earlier days. E.g the pleco mentioned. Now I’ve been educated I want to keep less, smaller shoaling fish that won’t eat plants or dig up substrate/carpets etc. should I just return these to my LFS if they’ll take them? It’s very much community only but now I know far more about what I’m doing I wouldn’t have got some of the fish I have. They are happy and looked after with no issues of husbandry (because they are all community) but i am probably close to stocking level for size of the tank and as mentioned have issues with plants being damaged/ uprooted etc

 

[rdk1402]

1) ....the amount of water in changing eg. 50% = 60ish litres. Provided conditioner is really needed to begin with. Depends on your tap water.

2) I'd turn off/dim the lights and take the hardscape out first and let the fish in the tank for another day. The following day, I'd lower the water line and start rehoming the fish. Keeping the lights off for a few days, is perfectly fine for plants.

3) You'll get all sorts of answers on this forum. My take on low tech / energy fertilizing: a little extra nitrates and potassium, and a little less extra magnesium and phosphates, all via the water column. That's it. All else comes with water changes and natural decomposition in the tank. And any mineral-organic complexes that occur are made available with help of soil microbes; fertilizing an aquatic planted tank is really simple in my opinion, unlike cultivating crops on land.

I believe Seachem Flourish is low in nitrates and phosphates, probably suitable for tanks with lots of fish (food), or with the claim that it is algae-proof. Seachem is very fond of selling products....
Hence, I wouldn't use Seachem Flourish. Much too expensive for what is required. Find something with NPK (nitrates, potassium, phosphates) on the label. Perhaps some Epsom salt (magnesium) also, and you are good to go.

4) Loooooong scissors and tweezers. I have no idea what brand I have..

5) Stump and fish in one move from one to the other. That's what I would do. Make it fast. Keep your hand in front of the hole...

6) Sorry, can't answer. I dislike community fish tanks for different reasons to begin with.

 

[funkymonk1984]

1) ....the amount of water in changing eg. 50% = 60ish litres. Provided conditioner is really needed to begin with. Depends on your tap water.

2) I'd turn off/dim the lights and take the hardscape out first and let the fish in the tank for another day. The following day, I'd lower the water line and start rehoming the fish. Keeping the lights off for a few days, is perfectly fine for plants.

3) You'll get all sorts of answers on this forum. My take on low tech / energy fertilizing: a little extra nitrates and potassium, and a little less extra magnesium and phosphates, all via the water column. That's it. All else comes with water changes and natural decomposition in the tank. And any mineral-organic complexes that occur are made available with help of soil microbes; fertilizing an aquatic planted tank is really simple in my opinion, unlike cultivating crops on land.

I believe Seachem Flourish is low in nitrates and phosphates, probably suitable for tanks with lots of fish (food), or with the claim that it is algae-proof. Seachem is very fond of selling products....
Hence, I wouldn't use Seachem Flourish. Much too expensive for what is required. Find something with NPK (nitrates, potassium, phosphates) on the label. Perhaps some Epsom salt (magnesium) also, and you are good to go.

4) Loooooong scissors and tweezers. I have no idea what brand I have..

5) Stump and fish in one move from one to the other. That's what I would do. Make it fast. Keep your hand in front of the hole...

6) Sorry, can't answer. I dislike community fish tanks for different reasons to begin with.

Thanks for this. What I meant was I’m removing the wood to add to a stock pile of hardscape materials and not to another tank. I only have the 1 tank. Hence why it’s difficult to rescape or make changes. Water gets cloudy when I disturb the substrate (clay based soil). The piece of wood (stump) I want to remove always has the plec inside attached and can’t get him out. Very frustrating. I think for rescaping I’m best to remove as much hardscape and plants as possible, leave lights off and filter on to give it time to settle. Gently move the substrate to where u want it and build the scape I like outside on a cardboard cut out (kind of a diy dojo) then place it back in tank to then replant?

 

[tam]

1. Generally, if you change water by filling a bucket up with new water, then dosing, then transfering the water into the tank you would dose the bucket for the amount of water in the bucket. If you refill using a hose going straight from tap to tank, then you dose for the volumn of water in your tank when full.

2. It really depends what you are doing, lowering the water level, then moving things and refilling ie. doing in during your water change has the benefit of you are freshening up the water after you've disturbed everything.

3. It's fine to split it by 7. There are other fertilisers but I wouldn't rush to change if your plants are growing well.

You could try offering other cave choices and see if he changes spots.

Ask your LFS - they may take them back, some may give you store credit depending what they are. It's really down to you how you deal with fish, some people swap out fish quite often, others will always have the odd random fish as they'll commit to keeping anything they've bought.

It might help to post a full tank shot and a list of your current stock. Something might be resolvable in other ways if you like the fish otherwise.