Topic: Tips & Tricks

[callen]

Everybody has different ways of cleaning a tank, feeding and making fish keeping in general a little easier.  Would love to hear what some of your tips and tricks are.

One of my favorites is when taking down a tank or need to get water out and your tank is in a place that is not close to a sink etc... is to use a wet/dry vac. The vac also comes in handy to suck gravel or sand out very quickly.  Just be sure to check the weight when filling the vac so you don't over weigh it enough not be able to empty it.  I learned the hard way 

Another tip...A great way to feed fry is to place the dirty floss from your filter in the tank.  The fry go nuts and just nip away at microorganisms and tiny particles of detritus.

[mrbigfish]

The floss tip is a great one thanks

[Tony]

excellent tips 

[Stormbringer]

cool tips 

[Gerry]

Love the filter floss idea for fry,,never thought of that for micro organisms

[Alex]

never leave green spot algae unchecked too long else a bloody swiss army knife may be useful!!!

Alex

[callen]

To get picky or finicky fish to eat add garlic to the food.  This not only enhances their appetite but will also boost immune system and help rid parasites.

You can use fresh pressed, jarred from the food store in it's own juices or you can get the stuff they sell at the LFS.

 

[Stormbringer]

heres a wee tip i use
preformed polyester pads often lose shape when rinsed out  and dont work very well in filter they are designed for after rinsing (ehiem 2128/2028) but if you give them a really good clean then dry them you can cut them up and use in other filters ( i use 2 old washed 1,s in my resun filter and cut them into strips for fluval + internal filters ) saves a few quid on the polyester pads for those filters 

[callen]

Good one Alan!

Here is my husbands favorite tip...when doing a water change hang one of these on the side of your tank to hold your beer 

[Tony]

lmao

[Gerry]

I like that tip best.

my tip is if your doing water changes add a length of garden hose onto your gravel vac and run it straight out the house or down a sink (assuming sink is lower than tank) or toilet, this saves buckets, to fill put you dechlorinator into tank turn off filters while filling and use a hose fitted onto house taps mix for right temp and away you go.

[wullie]

in smaller tanks with fry you can use glass marbles on the substrate which allows the fry to hide in the spaces it creates to get away from hungry tank mates or parents who like to eat there young.............
In salt water tanks, if you have quite agressive corals in your tank you can use old dead sea fans and use bits of it to "segregate or fence" around the agressors so that they cant reach the more delicate neighbours. you can get them cheap and if done properly,  looks quite natural.

[altaaffe]

Instead of using the pre-shaped fine filter pads I cut shapes from a Betta breeding mat at a fraction of the cost.

[Ezekial]

I like that tip best.

my tip is if your doing water changes add a length of garden hose onto your gravel vac and run it straight out the house or down a sink (assuming sink is lower than tank) or toilet, this saves buckets, to fill put you dechlorinator into tank turn off filters while filling and use a hose fitted onto house taps mix for right temp and away you go.

That's what I do, works well.

I buy my filter pads from a fabric shop.  Find a courser fabric for the first stage mechanical filtration and use quilt batting for a more fine mechanical filtration.  I spend about $3-$4 a year on filter pads this way.

[callen]

I buy my filter pads from a fabric shop.  Find a courser fabric for the first stage mechanical filtration and use quilt batting for a more fine mechanical filtration.  I spend about $3-$4 a year on filter pads this way.

Agree it works great and you can't beat the price.

When feeding freeze dried food always soak it in some tank water before feeding.  It will help with digestion and won't expand in the fishes belly that will cause issues.