Wolfgang8810

i have a 10 gallon tank and i do regular water changes (30%) weekly but i was wondering how often should i vacuum the gravel? i haven't as of yet but i have a blue crayfish and a red tail shark who usually scavenge the bottom. so my real question is when and how often should i vacuum the gravel?

COBettaCouple

we use flat marbles instead of gravel but clean the substrata weekly before doing a water change.

Neville

i perform 25% water change every week and wash my gravels once a month. my tank is a 10g piranha tank.

capekate

• I do a 25% wc weekly in my community 29gal tank and vacumm then as well.
• I do a bi weekly 30% wc in my 10 gal betta tanks
• I do a weekly 50% wc and vacumm in my 55 gal tank.

sgould

I vac half the gravel each week in my tanks.

Wolfgang8810

thank you all ill make sure to get a syphon its beedn a little more than 3 weeks so id say its about due for some cleaning. maybe thats why my nitrite is high.

M

Wolfgang,
Is this a new tank that hasn't cycled or an established tank? What are the nitrites at? Just curious..... Your tank sounds interesting, especially the blue crayfish.

GOOD LUCK!

-M

Isabella

I personally vacuum the gravel (with poking it all the way to the bottom of the tank) with every water change, meaning every week.

Wolfgang8810

ive had my tank for close to a month the amonia has gone down and im waiting for the nitrite go start to fall but its at 1.0 im worried but im taking all the precautions to keep my little guys healthy and happy. rthtey will be moving to a 55g soon i know its a bit over stocked for what they will eventually grow to but as of now there inches to gallons is 11:10

COBettaCouple

what are you using for your tap water conditioner? I'd recommend Prime, it will help protect your fish from the highh levels.

Wolfgang8810

I'm actually using prime i also have a ammonia and nitrite detoxifier so I'm hoping it should be comming down soon

COBettaCouple

great! hope the readings come down soon for you too.

sgould

Prime is an ammonia and nitrite detoxifier, as well as a conditioner. If you are using it, you really do not need to to use others as well.

Wolfgang8810

thanks that acutally saves me money lol but i have a 2.5 gallon tank that is being cyckled now and im thinking of trying to breed guppies in it is this a god idea or even possable?

lilsoccakid

its very possible, but the tanks to small for guppies. u would only hav room for 1 fish in it

Tazmiche

hiya, 2.5 g WAY to small for guppies never mind breeding. Have you had Guppies before?

I have 6 male guppies, with one oto ( other died last week) and 2 armarno shrimps. I think my tank works out at 25ish US gallons. With guppy behaviour ....that is nuts..and always horny!! i'm keeping the tank heavily planted and sticking with lo bio types.

May i ask why you would want to breed them anyway? i thought of having females too but decided not to.

Tazmiche

oh and forgot, i vacum each tank once a week. on larger tanks i rotate cleaning front part and back weekly, less stress to fish they hide in the 'safe part'. Water changes as often as needed, test 2/3 times a week

Wolfgang8810

i have most semi aggessive fish and i wanted somthing pretty and shiny breeding seems like it would be exciting lol

Wolfgang8810

if not guppies what would be shiny and petty that could hold out in a 2.5 gal ?

sgould

If you want quantities of fish...not much of anything, unfortunately. The rule of thumb is 1" of adult fish per gallon of water. By that guideline, 2.5 gallons is only going to be adequate for 1 small fish.

Wolfgang8810

would a beta do ok in it?

capekate

A betta would be great in a 2.5 espcially a female. I had one in mine and it had plenty of room to swim around. I wouldnt want to put a male betta in a 2.5 tho, they are a little larger.

Wolfgang8810

cool so maybe a female beta im cycling now and ive heard that its faster to do it without fish how should i do it? what is better for the fish and about how long might it take?

Cody

well i usualy use the gravel vacum when i do clean it and the water it takes with it is the water change

capekate

Well for the most part, a cycled tank is ideal. Im sure there are a lot of folks here that will debate the issue on this but.. Ive never had any problem cycling a tank with a betta in it. It seems that they are more hardy than other tropical fish in that regard. Since they seem to be able to live for so long in bowls that are not cycled, that putting one in a 2.5 tank that is not cycled shouldnt be a problem. My three bettas have all been put in uncycled tanks and are doing fine now, tho the tanks have all cycled. Just make sure you do water changes regularly your betta should be fine.
If you plan on cycling your tank fishless, you can start by dropping in fish flakes every twelve hours to start the nitrogen cycle. It should take about 3-4 weeks that way. You would have to do water tests to see what your ammonia, nitrate and nitrite readings are to determine your cycle. Its a good thing to take tests anyway either with fish or not. If you do get a betta in right away, and you do a wc of 50% once a week. cleanning up the gravel at the same time, you should do ok.
good luck! ~ kate