Water filter and water agitation

[Christy84065]

I see alot of advice saying that you want the water to be agitated or
broken to help with air cycling. But, I was wondering if the water
rippling is enough or sould I get the air stone? Currently I have a
whisper filter in a 10 gallon tank with 5 female guppies, 2 male
guppies and a common pleco. I also have one of the female guppies
doing the surface thing. You know where they stay right under the
water's surface not moving a whole lot and acting kinda careless. She
did go through the rough start that I got off to in setting up this
tank, but I thought she was out of the woods, she was doing so well
yesterday. The other fish are fine, infact they are all so well they
won't stop mating and have been for 2 days now the sick one was mating
like cray lastnight too. I have put stress coat in there. There is
salt 2Tbsp. She does not appear to be pregnant, or atleast if she is
she is very small. Please advise

[Little Black Bird]

"Christy84065" > wrote in message
om...
> I see alot of advice saying that you want the water to be agitated or
> broken to help with air cycling. But, I was wondering if the water
> rippling is enough or sould I get the air stone? Currently I have a
> whisper filter in a 10 gallon tank with 5 female guppies, 2 male
> guppies and a common pleco.

First to answer your question -- as long as you have surface agitation from
the filter, you won't need an airstone. You might consider one if your tank
gets VERY hot, since hot water holds less oxygen, but other wise your filter
is probably sufficient if you can see the movement of the water on the
surface.

As an aside -- That pleco is going to get WAY too large for your 10 gallon
tank. Trade him in while he's still small or else be prepared to upgrade to
a MUCH longer tank. Those guys reach lengths of around a foot if I recally
correctly -- and they poop everywhere!

Rachel

[Christy84065]

Now I have another question, my tank water actually feels quite cold.
Could it get too cold for my guppies? And what type of algea eater
would you suggest for my 10 gallon tank? That would go well with my
guppies ofcourse. Thanks

[Little Black Bird]

"Christy84065" > wrote in message
om...
> Now I have another question, my tank water actually feels quite cold.
> Could it get too cold for my guppies? And what type of algea eater
> would you suggest for my 10 gallon tank? That would go well with my
> guppies ofcourse. Thanks

Do you have a heater in your tank? If not, you really should have one.
Guppies are a versatile and hardy fish, but they do prefer temps in the
75-80 degree range. For a ten gallon tank, a 50-watt submersible heater is
fine. They are adjustable with a dial, usually. Some brands allow you to
set a particular temperature, others just allow you to nudge it warmer or
cooler. You can get them for around $20 or so at a pet store, or generally
cheaper online (www.drsfostersmith.com for instance). Ordering online,
you'll have to pay shipping, of course.

Get the submersible heaters, not the hang-on-back kinds. They're generally
of higher quality and more reliable.

To install the heater, turn off anything electric in your tank (like
filters, etc). Leaving the heater unplugged, stick it in the tank (yes, in
the water, they are submersible) and use the suction cups to place it on the
back wall of your tank, horizontally. I like to place mine somewhat near
the filter intake, that way the warmed water is dispersed throughout the
tank. If your heater is the kind that allows you to set a temperature,
set it now (around 78 for guppies is great). Plug your filter back in now.

Let the heater stay in the tank for a few hours while unplugged, so that it
adjusts to the temperature of the tank water. Then plug in the tank. You
should see a little orange light indicating that the heater is "on."
Monitor the tank and watch for the little orange light to turn off,
indicating that the heater has reached the temperature set by the
thermostat. If your tank water is not at the desired temperature, dial the
heater a little warmer, and repeat until the tank reaches your desired
temperature.

Along with a heater, you should also get a thermometer. Opinions vary about
the effectiveness of the stick-on-the-glass strip thermometers, and they do
make in-tank models. Your thermometer should be located on the opposite
corner of the tank from the heater, and should be placed so that it's easily
readable by you. A friend of mine liked to tie dental floss around his
thermometer and use that to easily lift it out of the tank so he could check
the temperature.

Algae eaters: generally speaking, these are NOT necessary in your tank.
Very few fish sold as algae eaters actually eat algae (plecos, for instance,
derive very little of their food from algae, preferring vegetables and some
plecos are actually carnivorous). If you must have an algae eater, ask your
fish store for an otocinclus catfish. (http://www.otocinclus.com/) These
are true algae eating catfish, but they're difficult to keep alive.

Rachel

[The Outcaste]

On Tue, 25 May 2004 14:28:50 GMT, "Little Black Bird"
> bubbled forth the following:

>For a ten gallon tank, a 50-watt submersible heater is
>fine.

I'd recommend no more than a 25 watt heater unless the tank is in a
really cold room. Less chance of cooking the fish.

My 25 Watt heater in my 10 gallon stuck on last week, room temp is 70
and the tank topped out at 82.7 degrees max. A 50 Watt heater could
have been disastrous.

For a very technical discussion of heat dynamics in an aquarium, check
out this page:

http://www.geocities.com/ResearchTriangle/Lab/2024/thermo1.html

HTH

Jerry

[NetMax]

"The Outcaste" > wrote in message
...
> On Tue, 25 May 2004 14:28:50 GMT, "Little Black Bird"
> > bubbled forth the following:
>
> >For a ten gallon tank, a 50-watt submersible heater is
> >fine.
>
> I'd recommend no more than a 25 watt heater unless the tank is in a
> really cold room. Less chance of cooking the fish.
>
> My 25 Watt heater in my 10 gallon stuck on last week, room temp is 70
> and the tank topped out at 82.7 degrees max. A 50 Watt heater could
> have been disastrous.
>
> For a very technical discussion of heat dynamics in an aquarium, check
> out this page:
>
> http://www.geocities.com/ResearchTriangle/Lab/2024/thermo1.html
>
> HTH
>
> Jerry

Small tanks are the most problematic to heat. They have a high glass
surface to water volume ratio (the higher the ratio, the more prone they
are to being affected by their ambient), and their thermal mass is
relatively low (so they tend to try to track any daily ambient
fluctuations). These two factors alone push them higher up towards the
5w/gal guideline. However, as Jerry points out, in a fail-on condition,
you will often roast the fish if you size the heater large enough to deal
with the fluctuations. Small tanks are also not practical for using
multiple smaller heaters.

Greg has an awesome site with very rigorous engineering (the link above).
Another site applicable to this topic is
http://www.kernsanalysis.com/HeaterCalculator.cgi, where you enter your
specific variables for a calculation to what fits your needs, but even
knowing your precise needs, you still have the associated risks with
small tanks. The best solution I know of is to go with a digital heater,
because these usually fail-off (analog heater contacts stick closed, but
digital heater circuitry blows open). hth
--
www.NetMax.tk