What is the biggest myth I missed? I want to know!

@bluejazzboy

Ай бұрын

That bright coloured gravels, blue, pink, etc. are a valid choice!

@AquariumPolice

29 күн бұрын

@@bluejazzboy just so your eyes can burn when trying to see your fish

1. Definitely very important. Everyone says to let your tank cycle for a few weeks or months, but they don’t explain that you need to jumpstart it with fish food or used filter media (I personally like to use filter media. I did that when I had to set up an old tank of mine and transfer my fish over, and haven’t had any issues as far as I could tell) 2. So true about the filters. Filters circulate the water and trap debris, but they don’t actually remove the harmful stuff out of your tank 3. Verrry common and tragic mistake there. People put in the bare minimum effort to set up the tank then go overboard with cleaning it, when if you set your tank up right all you got to do is change out some of the water every week or two 4. “A lot of places will sell you a fish and don’t care what kind of tank you have.” SO true -.- And same for how it’s wrong to stunt their growth 5. Well said! Also algae is actually a good thing. As you mentioned it’s perfectly natural, and it can help to remove waste the way plants do (especially if you don’t have any) and the only real problem is that it’s an eye sore (and may outcompete plants). Adding something to eat it just creates problems with housing, caring for and cleaning up after them, compared to figuring out what’s causing the algae and putting a stop to it 6. Nothing to say there. Other than not only are they swimming through it they’re also *breathing* it, so it’s not just burning their bodies but also their gills, and that can’t be pleasant 7. Some fish are hardy enough to survive that, but that definitely doesn’t make it right. I really like that car analogy, great way of explaining it 👍

@AquariumPolice

Ай бұрын

Yes to cycle the tank def old filter media is top tier, or sponge filter. Even used plants. But if you don’t have access to anything like that. Drop some food in or something and it can kickstart.

@mattkrumm8141

27 күн бұрын

@@AquariumPolice if it's city water, treat it for metals and chlorine and wait 24 hours add biological additive wait 24 hours and then add a gold fish or guppy/platy/molly, they are very hardy. Were i live my water is perfect with no treatment. Tap to Reef with no Coral retraction.

I am retired and have been in the hobby many years, I was tired of sitting in my recliner watching propaganda on TV, so I got a part time job at one of those chain pet stores as an "aquatic specialist". It is so frustrating to have people come in to return dead fish that had bought there while I was NOT working. I ask the customer questions about their set up (size, how long has it been set up ect...). My co-workers will sell them anything! It is amazing to me how many people know nothing about the nitrogen cycle. When I try to explain it to them, they look at me like a deer in the headlights. Anyway, I just needed to vent. I enjoyed you video and subscribed. I wish all of the people thinking of getting fish had to watch it. THANKS

@AquariumPolice

11 күн бұрын

I’ve run into a few employees that give me a “shake my head moment” but I’m glad you are setting the example. They need to have like nitrogen cycle posters or something labeled and common aquarium lists in the pet stores. Majority of people just don’t know. A lot of my knowledge has come from reading and learning while doing and I’m still learning. Thanks for joining the community 🐠

Thanks man, thinking about making my first aquarium in a big tank I already have and your video popped up. Just a bit of youtube advice: think about using that chapter feature youtube has. Its good for the algorithm and helps with viewer retention. edit: Also you seem very down to earth. Would you consider making a video about notech/lowtech tanks? Thats really what I'm interested in the most, but I wouldn't want to be mislead and make a bad environment for the fish/shrimp.

@AquariumPolice

Ай бұрын

Thanks for the feedback! Honestly this KZread thing is still new to me so these features are confusing for me 😂. I will post time stamps in the descriptions and try and figure it out. Are you look for a build video or just in general? My shrimp tank is low tech walstad and I can def make a video. So let me know and I can tackle it in the next week. edit: apparently the timestamps is how you put them in lol!. I had them on KZread auto before haha. Thanks for the feedback/info!

@sarapocorn

12 күн бұрын

⁠​⁠@@AquariumPoliceThe timestamps/chapters are very helpful, thank you! I would also love to see that Walstad shrimp tank as I‘m currently in the process of setting one up myself (my first ever aquatic tank) and my research for that is what brought me here. Funnily enough, the nitrogen cycle is what made me get into wanting to keep aquatic plants and animals. I‘m a biology teacher and taught the subject to one of my classes around Christmas and it just fascinated me. It made me decide to set up my own Walstad tank. So I‘ve been researching everything BUT the nitrogen cycle since then and will be repurposing a 2.5gal bowl my mom used to keep a goldfish in, poor guy. I hope to use my shrimp tank to educate future students about the nitrogen cycle.

@AquariumPolice

12 күн бұрын

@@sarapocorn You are so welcome! I can for sure make a video about my tank! I actually have something coming up as well, all natural with some further hydroponics. Plants are a crazy thing for sure! Its super cool you will be making a classroom tank and the students will love it!

Other ways to combat Algae are to do with lighting1 try and position your tank away from natural light ie the sun is it hitting your tank through a window .2 Aquarium lighting . A lot of starter tanks have what i would call stadium lighting ,to much light for your requirements unless you have a planted tank keep lighting to a minimum a few hours in evening to view your fish

I'm in a municipality in Northern Sweden that has tap water that has been UV sterilized instead of added chlorine. So I don't need to treat it. Also, chloramine is more rare in Sweden compared to chlorine gas, so off-gassing works too. Just read up on your local tap water, most government tap water have detailed info on their websites.

@AquariumPolice

19 күн бұрын

that is really interesting. I wasn’t too sure how Europe and Asia worked for their water source. But very convenient nonetheless

@Korvmannen

19 күн бұрын

@@AquariumPolice If you go further south in Europe they have more additives like chlorine and stuff. You're even adviced to not drink the tap water in some places. I reckon it's connected to climate to an extent

@Dudelzack

13 күн бұрын

@@Korvmannen There is a EU map of where chlorine and chloramine are used in tapwater. Speaking for Germany and directly adjacent countries (Netherlends, Belgium, Austria, Denmark, Switzerland, Poland), we all have chlorine removed before the water is sent into the system.

I live in a suburb of Phoenix, Arizona. Our water does not have any chlorine or chloramine. Having said that, I still always check before adding water to my tanks just to be on the safe side but after 10 years, I have never registered any chlorine or chloramine in our city water.

@AquariumPolice

24 күн бұрын

Well, maybe saying every city in NA was an overstatement 😂.

If your tap water only has chlorine and not chloramine you can just leave the water in an open bottle or container for a couple of days and the chlorine will off-gas out of it and be safe for your fish. Of course, if you many or very large tanks it would still be more practical to use a water treatment.

I want to start two in ground tanks/ponds with shipping containers.. how many 55 gallon barrel "filters" do you need per 10k gallons.. something I am unaware of a formula for

@AquariumPolice

Ай бұрын

Ponds wouldn’t be my expertise. Generally you would want to run the water through the filter every couple of hours. So the size of the filter would have to equate with output capacity of the pump. So I can’t answer that and be confident. But I have seen people use 1 or 2 of those white water containers, they are 1000 Litre and they use those as their media holders. But ponds can be fixed with lots of plants, large rocks etc. so it all depends on your set up. Sorry I can’t be more help

@MandyJane123700

24 күн бұрын

Your bog filter should be 10-30% the size of your pond, depending on how many fish you're going to keep. There's a channel called Ozponds that has great advice.

Very valuable information which can save many fish lives! I always leave tapped water in open bottles for a week before using it for changing the aquarium water (the anti-chlorine agent is still a must of course). I would add that RO water needs to be remineralized before added to the aquarium to reduce the risk of osmotic shock. I consider the TDS meter one of the first things a new fishkeeper should buy after the tests for ammonia, nitrates and phosphates.

Great Chanell Aquarium Police, I am so pleased to have joined. Shout out from Australia

@AquariumPolice

19 күн бұрын

I’m glad to have finally made my way to a great place!

That's a really good video it explains everything very good if anyone is new to fish keeping *listen to this man*

@AquariumPolice

Ай бұрын

🚔🐠

@garg4531

Ай бұрын

Agreed, seems like he covered all the most common myths and mistakes

I used seasoned filter media and substrate from a long running tank…added some stability for the next 7 days to be sure …then stocked it very lightly. All is going great..but regardless I test for ammonia daily in the next 4 weeks, plus perform small weekly water changes.

@AquariumPolice

19 күн бұрын

That media filter 👌 the best. 👨‍🍳 that BB

@pattykake7195

19 күн бұрын

@@AquariumPolice 👍🏽👍🏽

Beat the cycle, use prime and Stability for the first 7 days. Test after 7 days and check to see if you're at 0/0/40. If you're not dose again for another 7 days and you'll be good to go. I've used this on numerous new tanks with zero deaths to any fish. Kaveman aquatics has a video about it

@AquariumPolice

14 күн бұрын

Seachem stuff 👌. Cooking 🧑‍🍳

"Won" Two goldfish at the HV Fair last night. Do I keep them in the container I got last night or put them in the 20 gallon tank I bought today (water conditioner added)? Should I keep them in the container for a week or follow the directions from Aqueon and release them into their new tank within 24 hours? I want my son's fish friends (as he calls them)to survive and thrive.

@AquariumPolice

9 күн бұрын

Since you are kind of stuck with two new fish. A fish in cycle is possible, just a ton more monitoring and daily work until it’s cycled. You’d just have to monitor the ammonia levels daily if you were to release them into the tank. If it were to spike it may be cause stress and kill the fish. If the container is small, it is probably about the same so you could put them in. Get some filters and there is beneficial bacteria in a bottle and throw it in there, water changes daily and vacuum up their waste. Not sure what you have for substrate or plants etc. Congrats on the new wins.

THANK YOU FOR THE INFO!! 😬❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️☮️🐡🐌

@AquariumPolice

17 күн бұрын

You’re welcome! Happy fishkeeping!

sucker fish clean up the tank is a myth?

@AquariumPolice

29 күн бұрын

Sucker fish eat algae. But they produce more waste. Waste is worse for your tank balance than algae. Algae will consume extra nitrates

@firstclassfish01

13 күн бұрын

@@AquariumPolicemany are carnivores

In my location we use surface water that is chlorinated, otherwise it is good. You only need to let it sit for a day to let chlorine out or even better pump air through it. There is really no need for chemicals, although it is somewhat more time consuming.

@AquariumPolice

26 күн бұрын

This is usually what I do my shrimp tanks with. In the winter the tap water is either Freezing or scalding hot. So I will a bucket up and let it sit for a couple days before to let the chlorine evaporate.

You can't use tap water if you're american, or if you are in another country that adds chlorine or chloramine. Plenty of countries do not do this and it is perfectly safe to use tap water. Check if your locality does so before you invest in something like an RO system for no reason if you don't need it.

You can't do in fish cycle, but how do you add new stock to the tank? any new stock will increase ammonia because of increased bioload

@AquariumPolice

17 күн бұрын

To cycle the tank, you want to introduce waste or an organic to create ammonia. Once there is a healthy colony of beneficial bacteria, it will reduce the amount of ammonia. If you ever put fish in a new tank and you notice the water is white and cloudy. That is a bacterial bloom. Live plants help considerably with reducing ammonia and nitrites.

good job thank you

Tap water is fine. On a slow drip system. But not on a water change. Dilution matters.

Well I opted to do what you said last we shouldn't, I'm a new fish keeper and looked at how to cycle my tank. I bought live plants and bio boost. Then I listened to someone explain the cycle, I decided to take their advice and go with using fish to cycle the tank. I was told that a new tank would probably lose fish, and using them to cycle it if any were lost then its same thing. Now I don't want to be the cause of a fish suffering if I can help it, but I was backed into a corner on putting fish in to cycle the tank. I weighed up all I could find about cycling a tank, and opted to buy Danios the hardy guys. We are now 11 weeks in and all 6 danios are still alive and just today I found babies!!!!!! I have also now added Guppies all male as didn't want breeding, we lost two of them, neon tetras, we lost one, cardinals all good, assassin snail and today a pleco. We do a 30% water change and hoover every week, and rinse the sponge filters once every four weeks. We use a magnetic glass cleaner, but don't bother cleaning the back glass. I didn't add all those fish at same time, we also test the water weekly. So far all readings are good, do you think we have gotten away with doing it that way or should we expect more issues? We are past the eight week cycle now, the plants are thriving is that a good sign?

@AquariumPolice

17 күн бұрын

Congratulations on your new set up! Danios are amazing fish! Fish in cycle is possible, but it is likely and expected of random ammonia spikes. As long as you are aware of that, you can take action like you said. The 30% is awesome and if you have plants it 100% assists in removing ammonia. Anytime you add new fish, just again monitor and make sure your fish are not acting out of character. If you see any fish rubbing themselves on the substrate or gasping at the waterline, then something might be off. Sounds like you have a good handle on it though which is awesome!

@user-xp1ce9hc7q

17 күн бұрын

@@AquariumPolice I will keep a eye out for the gasping or rubbing. I never knew how to spot a change in spikes, now I do, thanks.

The biggest myth I hate is people saying you need ROI or soft water. I have very hard water and have found that some types of fish respond better to it often growing bigger or getting better color then they do in softer water. You just have to know each type of fish and what they like.

@AquariumPolice

29 күн бұрын

💯 every fish is situational

@OriginalMindTrick

29 күн бұрын

Most people I know who use RO use it in planted tanks where softer water with specific parameters is key to optimal health and growth. If your tap water already is good there is no point but some have almost liquid rock out of the tap or the nutrient balance is off. If you have malawi cichlid or certain rainbow fish having harder water is beneficial.

@Adiscretefirm

29 күн бұрын

Most of the fish farms in Florida have pretty hard water and fry seem to grow faster

@AquariumPolice

28 күн бұрын

@@Adiscretefirm could be the temps as well. I’ve raised fry in 76 degree water and 72 degree water and the fry in the colder tank grew at a significantly slower rate.

@JTSBenefitsandBeautyofthePlant

21 күн бұрын

That is the truth, different species like different parameters....just remember to monitor GH.....Over time, if not addressed, it will leave your aquarium in a position where its difficult, if not impossible to sustain life. Thats where the RO water comes into play. Of course, you must get a feel for it as RO water itself will not sustain life.....its about "cutting" your water with it.

Here’s one that seems to a big taboo: Don’t use softened water. I use softened (with salt) treated tap water in my heavily planted 29 gallon low tech aquarium. Fish and plants are thriving. I know others that are doing the same. They’re just afraid to say it for fear of backlash.

@AquariumPolice

29 күн бұрын

Yes that’s a good one too. I think people sometimes over complicate things. If you can trial and error… without killing anything lol. Nothing wrong with that that

Biggest myth to Me is that you have to rinse your established filter media in tank water. You can absolutely rinse out your media or sponges under tap water as it takes long term exposure to chlorine or chloramine to kill off large amounts of beneficial bacteria. I would stress that this should only be done with a seasoned tank and filter not new tank or new filter. 😅❤

@Tomjarr1

16 күн бұрын

This is absolutely correct.

Add fresh chicken shit the day you put water in the tank ... boom nitrogen cycle jump started. I am in my 60's and my "tap water" was never chlorinated until the last 5 years.

@AquariumPolice

14 күн бұрын

This is crazy! But I love it. Great information

You can speed it up with biological additive.

I honestly have never cycled a tank before, this will be the first tank I have cycled, I keep very low stocking and a lot of plants which may have helped, but I use no additives and have never cycled a tank for more than a few hours, I've always kept a single beta in a 10+ gallon tank with shrimp and at least 5 plants to start, I'm not recommending this just my experience

@AquariumPolice

28 күн бұрын

If you can keep up on the ammonia levels it’s doable. But it is a silent killer. Low stocking def won’t create a lot of waste and if it’s well planted def helps.

@Toucccan

28 күн бұрын

@@AquariumPolice I've never done a lot of water changes, only if I had concerns about ammonia and water quality but even then only a small amount and added more plants, only happened a couple times, but if say if you're able and willing to accept the responsibility of the possibility of not being on top of it it's an ok thing, would not recommend by far and will not be doing what I always have this time, as it will be stocked a bit more. i appreciate your view on these things

Are you Canadian ?

@AquariumPolice

27 күн бұрын

Yes

filter and gravel should be offset.

@AquariumPolice

27 күн бұрын

Can you clarify what you mean by this?

@mattkrumm8141

27 күн бұрын

@@AquariumPolice Never clean substrate and filter media on the same week. Yes you should rinse filter foams for large organics but leave the other media for the next week. This is taking into account how dirty the tank is.

never cycled in my life no dead fish

@AquariumPolice

29 күн бұрын

Brother you didn’t even wait 7 days to cycle the earth. 🙏 🙌

I do fish in cycle, and i won't do it any other way. Not all plecos will eat algae. You can certainly rinse your filter media in tap water. It takes about an hour and twenty minutes to kill all your beneficial bacteria. Im sorry, but this guy needs a lot more learning.

@AquariumPolice

15 күн бұрын

lol watch the video and edit your message! 😂

@Tomjarr1

15 күн бұрын

Nope. I watched it twice. Couldn't believe what I heard.