Top ups

[Scaperoot]

  I've got a 10 gallon planted tank with a Betta, 4 pygmy Corydoras, and an adult Mystery snail. Due to the way the rack is set up, it's very hard to access the bottom of the tank with a vacuum and hose. I'm wondering if topping up every couple weeks, instead of vacuuming the bottom, creates a bad environment for the fish and snail. I test weekly, and so far (6 months) haven't found any traces of ammonia or nitrites. Nitrates are always pretty low (<20 ppm). The tank has a few Anubias, a couple swords, a banana plant, a Lotus, and is usually full of floaters (duckweed, frogbit). This was originally a quarantine tank for plants and fish, until we fell in love with a Betta and brought him home. Is there anything I need to look out for that the strips won't tell me? 

[Lennie]

I personally believe detrius sitting on bottom is not good especially for bottom dwellers, they constantly spend time and sleep in poop and decaying stuff basically. 

Also bettas are usually prone to bacterial infections and having fin issues. You would ideally top up with RO water too. Do you have RO?

Mystery snails poop like crazy. I have a mystery snail , 3 endlers, a betta and shrimp in a 50 Liter/13g tank and the amount of detrius accumulates is insane

[Colu]

As long as you have good circulation from your filter that shouldn't be a problem 

[nabokovfan87]

On 5/5/2023 at 11:52 AM, Scaperoot said:

I'm wondering if topping up every couple weeks, instead of vacuuming the bottom, creates a bad environment for the fish and snail.

 

Short answer is yes.  Check out the video above.

[Scaperoot]

Thank you to everyone for helping me 'see the light' on this. I'm grateful. 

[Monkeypoint]

On 5/5/2023 at 4:19 PM, Pepere said:

if you simply top up water that has evaporated minerals, water hardness and TDS will get higher and higher.

That’s what I was thinking. 

[Monkeypoint]

On 5/5/2023 at 3:09 PM, Lennie said:

I have a mystery snail , 3 endlers, a betta and shrimp in a 50 Liter/13g tank and the amount of detrius accumulates is insane

Eeek. I’m wondering if my 15 gallon is overstocked: 9 Ember Tetras, 1 Mystery snail, 2 Nerite snails, 1 Corydora, 1 Pleco, 5 Amano shrimp, a bunch of RCS (between 20 - 30 but some of them are still tiny babies).

The tank is very heavily planted. I test regularly - mostly for nitrates at this point. Ph is always at 6.8. I test for calcium every once in a while so I know when to add a Wonder Shell. Going by nitrate level, I’m doing 30% water changes roughly every 6 days. 

[Lennie]

On 5/8/2023 at 5:08 PM, Monkeypoint said:

Eeek. I’m wondering if my 15 gallon is overstocked: 9 Ember Tetras, 1 Mystery snail, 2 Nerite snails, 1 Corydora, 1 Pleco, 5 Amano shrimp, a bunch of RCS (between 20 - 30 but some of them are still tiny babies).

The tank is very heavily planted. I test regularly - mostly for nitrates at this point. Ph is always at 6.8. I test for calcium every once in a while so I know when to add a Wonder Shell. Going by nitrate level, I’m doing 30% water changes roughly every 6 days. 

Sounds okay to me. You seem to know what you are doing when it comes to maintaining your tank. As long as your fishies and snails are happy 🙂 

Shrimp barely have any bioload really, dw much about them.

Pleco is the only one I would be concerned just a lil due to their size. What pleco do you have? 

[JosephineThorne]

On 5/6/2023 at 3:53 AM, nabokovfan87 said:

 

Short answer is yes.  Check out the video above.

I love the video.

[nabokovfan87]

On 5/8/2023 at 7:08 AM, Monkeypoint said:

The tank is very heavily planted. I test regularly - mostly for nitrates at this point. Ph is always at 6.8. I test for calcium every once in a while so I know when to add a Wonder Shell. Going by nitrate level, I’m doing 30% water changes roughly every 6 days. 

Sounds perfectly fine to me.

 

 

On 5/11/2023 at 6:23 AM, JosephineThorne said:

I love the video.

Yes, it's such a well made one!

Welcome to the forums 🙂

[Monkeypoint]

On 5/8/2023 at 10:17 AM, Lennie said:

Pleco is the only one I would be concerned just a lil due to their size. What pleco do you have? 

Yes, I was wondering about that as well. I may rehome him. He’s a Bristlenose Pleco. Super cute. 
 

Everyone seems very happy. I added some Salvinia and Red Root Floaters recently. The shrimp love those things. It’s fun watching them graze upside down. I can’t believe how quickly Salvinia spreads although it’s so much easier to scoop up and manage than Duckweed. 

[Daniel C]

On 5/5/2023 at 4:19 PM, Pepere said:

if you simply top up water that has evaporated minerals, water hardness and TDS will get higher and higher.

This is true. I have very hard well water and I do regular partial water changes but two or three times per week I top off with distilled water to keep this from happening.