ahiggins

Hello,

I have a few general questions about tank maintenance. I have a 10 gallon with two cherry barbs (I will be getting one more) and 4 neon tetras. I have a sponge attached to the filter and change the tank when the nitrates get too high. I keep the tank at 79-80 degrees and it is also well planted.

I am wondering if there is any easier way to change the water in the tank and clean the gravel without completely redoing the set up. The roots of the plants are hard to keep covered in gravel and I don't want to accidently harm any of this fish in the process. Should I be removing the fish when I do the water change? If so, will they be ok in some of the tank water without a heater (like in a bowl)?

A couple of snails hitched a ride on one of the plants I got and I was also wondering if they need to be controlled, population wise. I have only seen two but it looks like they may be breeding but I am not sure. Also, is a magnet sufficient to clean the sides of the tank?

I know this is a lot of questions but I really want to make sure I am taking care of my tank.

Thanks.

CoryMac

here link on how to maintenance your tank properly, oh & dont remove your fish from the tank that will put to much stress on them.

link:http://www.fishlore.com/Maintenance.htm

MrWaxhead

How much water are you removing on your water changes, you should only be removing 20 to 50% tops, so there is no need to remove your fish. Also if your well planted you basically just want to skim around the bottom of the tank around the plants and on occasion give the gravel a light mix with the vacuum tip. Don't mess around with the roots of the plants or you will shock the plant and it won't thrive, the roots will in themselves mix the gravel as they grow and move around.

And the snails are your call, I personally like having snails in my tanks, but you have to watch your feeding, if you overfeed your fish the snail population will boom. The only downfall to snails is if your fish are dropping eggs, I find the snails will find them and eat them. But you don't want any breeding in a 10 gallon tank anyway. And neons are not strong breeders to begin with, its rare that they do, and usually only in very very soft acidic water and if they are very content in there surroundings. And you don't have any room to add any fish that would eat snails, and I would not use any type of snail killer chemical personally. So if you want them out you are pretty much going to be picking them out by hand.

ahiggins

Thanks for your responses. I have been changing about 30% of the water every two weeks. I am glad to hear that I don't need to take the fish out for cleaning, and I was just wondering if I was cleaning it properly. I guess I have been, it is just crowded with all of the plants. Hopefully the snails won't get out of control.

Thank you.