General freshwater setup/maintenance Q's

Kengel

Kengel

AC Members
Nov 8, 2009
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Hey, so now that I have my tank functionally running, I'm looking for ways to make things run smoother...First of all, what do you use to keep cords and wires inside the fish tank out of your way with...will a pet store have suction cups or something of the like so my air tube won't be in the center of the tank? Is a gravel-vac supposed to siphon gravel, or do you just suck up water directly above the gravel to get the old food/fish dump up? And lastly, why do air pump boxes tell you to position the pump 1 ft. above the tank? Is this a rule you actually have to follow? Thanks for reading.
 
The most important question you asked involves the air pump - It needs to be above your tank because if you turn it off/unplug it/your power goes out and the pump is below your water level, it will siphon the water out of your tank, and you'll find a big mess! You can also buy 1-way valves at pet stores to add to the line so that you can store them anywhere without fear of starting a siphon if you need to turn the pump off.

What cords do you have in your tank? I don't have any, but I keep my heater vertically on the back wall.

With gravel vacs you actually push it all the way into the gravel and then pull it back up. You should see a nice cloud of *stuff* that come out, and the gravel should fall back down (don't hold it for too long). When you're done, just neatly resmooth the gravel surface. The vacs leave little piles.

Good luck with the tank! What do you have in it?
 
Yes..you will find suction cup holders for cords and air line at your pet store.
 
trigiver01 said:
The most important question you asked involves the air pump - It needs to be above your tank because if you turn it off/unplug it/your power goes out and the pump is below your water level, it will siphon the water out of your tank, and you'll find a big mess! You can also buy 1-way valves at pet stores to add to the line so that you can store them anywhere without fear of starting a siphon if you need to turn the pump off.

What cords do you have in your tank? I don't have any, but I keep my heater vertically on the back wall.

With gravel vacs you actually push it all the way into the gravel and then pull it back up. You should see a nice cloud of *stuff* that come out, and the gravel should fall back down (don't hold it for too long). When you're done, just neatly resmooth the gravel surface. The vacs leave little piles.

Good luck with the tank! What do you have in it?
Click to expand...

Thks Rbishop, and cords in my tank: the air line of course, my thermometer is a digital screen with a wire that runs inside the tank to actually find the temperature. I figured about the water coming back, do the boxes say 1 ft above the tank just so they can't be held accountable for anything? Right now I have a Bala Shark, 2 Angels and 2 Platties.
 
I would say they just don't want you to siphon your tank and not have to explain the physics behind the reason. Of course, if you don't follow their directions they're conveniently innocent of responsibility for anything that goes wrong... :/

Bala sharks look pretty cool, though I've never had one myself.
 
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