# New Tank advice...be gentle !



## RaT

Hi all

I have just joined up to this forum, and have found some useful info already.

I have got a Superfish Aqua 65 tank, which came complete with a heater and an internal pump/filter (aqua 200), and air pump/stone.

On the advice o the local aquatic shop, the tank has been set up with the gravel (supplied with tank), and live plants, filter is running as well as heater and separate air pump. Initial water treated and tetra safestart added, as well as plant food. Have been told this should be Ok hopefully after about a week to potentially add first fish. (after water tested of course).

My question is how often should the filter be rinsed out and how often changed?
I believe there are some chemicals/crystals within the filter (charcoal etc I guess?). 
Advice seems to vary everywhere you look. Shop insists that once water has stabilised and fish added slowly, as long as water tested regularly, (which they will do) that the filter will only need rinsing (in old tank water) each week, and changing about 6 weeks. Plant food added every day, and tetra safe added when filter is changed. (and new water obviously treated when added)

Any advice?

Thanks in advanced


----------



## Fishyfins

hey there, welcome to the forums ^^

nice to see people asking questions before getting fish, its the right way to do it, so well done 

first off, i will say that it is highly, highly unlikely that the tank will be ready for fish after just a week. this is often said by aquatic shops to help drive up sales. dont worry about it, almost every new fishkeeper is told this, so its hardly your fault for beliving them. ill just, if i may, set you straight on what you should be doing, instead of leaving you to fall into the shops trap. basically, after a week, the water will always come back that it is safe to fish... because there is nothing in there yet to start the cycle!

ill try and explain. basically, how the filters in the aquarium work, is that bacteria grow on them. these bacteria literally eat the chemical waste the fish produce through their biological processes. fish excrete ammonia (which is highly toxic) into the water, and the bacteria eat this and release nitrITE (also highly toxic). more bacteria then feed on this nitrITE and excrete nirATE (mosty harmless), which is then removed through water changes. the problem is, the bacteria wont begin to grow unless there is a source of ammonia in there to feed it. in a case like yours, that means that the cycle wont begin until the fish are added and the bacteria can feed. as it takes time for the bacteria to develop, this exposes the fish to these harmful chemicals for what can be quite a period of time, usually 2 to 3 weeks. in that time, although the fish may look fine, it breaks down their immune system, leading to a slow death over perhaps several years through repeat infections and ill health.
Its generally accepted these days, and seem as a buch better method, to do what we call a fishless cycle. this means adding a source of ammonia and growing the bacteria artificially before adding the fish. a good guide/FAQ about it can be found in the following link. i would implore you to read it 

Frequently asked questions on fishless cycling | Features | Practical Fishkeeping

Now thats out of the way, ill answer your filter questions. generally speaking, the filters dont need cleaning/changing often at all. in fact, cleaning and replacing to the level you have been advised there can do serious harm to the bacterial colonies the filters need. what i would do is squeeze the sponges out in old tank water once a month or two just to get rid of the solid waste build up on them. do this to often as say, and you end up destroying the vital bacterial beds. eventually, the pores will get blocked up, so they will need replacing. in the case of soft filter pads and wool, this is usually about every 6 months, in the case of ceramic medias, perhaps replace 50% every year or two. you shouldnt have to replace them more frequently than that, and is again another ploy made by shops to sell you more stuff. also, if it is indeed carbon in the filter (the black stuff), then remove it and replace it with a good ceramic media. this is a throwback to the 60s when it was commonly used. but with todays technology, we know that it has a saturation point, usually reached within a couple of days, after that it will expell all the waste instanty back into the waer and become useless. carbon is nowadays only used as an emergency quick fix when something goes wrong, or to remove things like medications from the water. to be added and removed in a short space of time.

so i hope this helps you, and good luck with the tank


----------



## RaT

Thanks for that excellent reply.....it amazes me that all the aqautic shops I have spoken to, go along the lines of setting up the tank, treating the tap water initially (for chlorine etc), wait a day then add the 'bacteria' 'start' i.e. tetra safe start (which all the shops said was better than other brands!). I can fully appreciate they are trying to sell some products, including one or two small fish after about a week, but the fact that they all have said the same thing to me, (4 different aqautic shops). When I have said about the fishless method they all said not needed nowdays, yet I have yet to come across anyone on a forum such as this that would suggest the shop method! 

Once the tank is up and running, the bacteria will be living in the filter material. If as you say you replace it after about 6-8 months, what happens then to the bacteria...most of it will be gone or are you relying on what is in other parts of the tank (plants etc) to keep it going and repopulate the new filter?

Regards


----------



## holly1

Tetra safestart works,but you add it when you add the fish,otherwise the bacteria has no waste to feed off,and will die back.
Ive started up 2 tanks using this.Full tests carried out after use,and all levels were normal:thumbsup:
I dont know,or care how it works,but it does


----------



## Fishyfins

sorry, i can see where i caused confusions XD

most filters have 2 or 3 active components within them. ceramics and wool pads being the usual type. in a filter with both of these for example, you would change only the wool pads every 6 months, leaving the ceramics in place, as thats where most of the bacteria lives. when it comes to replacing ceramics, then you need only replace 50% every 1 or 2 years, leaving the other half in place for the bacteria, as well as the wool if its there. if the filter contains only wool, then thats pretty useless, as its a very poor bacteria bed, so should be replaced/part;y replaced with ceramics. as long as you dont change 100% of the media at any time, the bacteria will survive and recolonise the new stuff quickly.


----------



## Yomper

aah fishyfins a man who knows his stuff. everything his said is true. some good aquarium shops would have given you his advice but the more commercialised ones don't.


----------

