CichlidFish.com - Fish That Think.

Well,
Is to much air bad? just not sure i think the answer is no but would like to know.
And the other is I have a siphon for when i do water changes and you can use it to clean gravel... I have a bottom layer of gravel and rocks on top of the gravel so my oscar or any other fish don't eat the gravel while pick food off the bottom of the tank... anyway my hose won't pick up all the crap that is on the bottom fo the tank and it gets all stirred up but i can't get it out should i go by a vaccum or is there a way that i can get rid of all the gunk on the bottom ?
Sorry if this doesn't make sense..

Thanks
Heavenshadow

If you scoop the rocks up with the siphon, then hold it vertical while your finger stops the flow for a second, the rocks will fall from the siphon while all of the nasty water will stay in. Then you can release your thumb and the dirty water will continue to flow out of the tank. Don't know if this helps...

Nova has the right idea. Just stirr up as much gunk as you can and siphon that water that way. You should be ok with doing that, the rest is also beneficial bacteria your tank needs to complete its cycle.

-S42K

yes you can have too much air, it can cause bubbles to settle on the gills themselves and irritates them, you should notice bubble clinging to the oscars bodies and on the glass... this would have to be a temendous amount of air, and probably only achievable through a strong powerhead/venturi setup. just a bubble wand will not give you too much air. I have 2 24" bubble wands running in my 80 gallon tank and havent noticed anything but good things.

Also a note about the gravel... the fish are supposed to "eat" it, the suck it up and then spit it out it is normal healthy behavior, and I see no benifits to keeping them from this normal instinct. You may actually be aggravating them since they would probably like to be able to. My oscars spend alot of the day sucking up mouthfuls of gravel and then spitting them out again. Again I think you are shooting yourself in the foot by not allowing them to do so as they eat alot of the "crap" that settles into the rocks when they mouth it.

Adam

The only reason my Red Devil mouths his gravel is to rearrange his territory and make new caves etc. If you do not vaccum your gravel you will have WAY to much waste and cause lots of ammonia. Its not just food particles that are left on the gravel.

-S42K

MY OSCAR HAS BUBBLES ON HIM..as wat u sayd. i have a bubble wand going the length of the tank and it isnt even full power..is like so small. the bubbles seem to cling on the body and get stuck in its slime.. should i get rid of the bubble wand?