A few clean up question and 1 wondering question

[gate113]

Ok. So as of today my 16 gallon bow front tank makes a month. I have 7 panda corys, 3 serpae tetra, and 2 sunset playys. A heater, bubble wand, and a bio wheel filter.

Here are my few clean up questions: (If you cannot answer them because you have something bigger than a 16 gallon tank then just make an estimated guess )

Q1: I do a 10% water change & gravel vacumm every two weeks. Is this good?
Q2: When should I replace the blue filter pad (The blue pad that is inside the filter box)?
Q3: When should I replace the bio wheel (The wheel that spins when the water shoots out the filter)?
Q4: When should I clean the decorations I have in the tank? I have 4 fake plants, a Castle, and Wizard I like to call Gandalf.
Q5: When I do clean these decorations, do I do them all together or like one every week?

Ok now for my Wondering question........"DRUM ROLL"

Q6: I was thinking, what do fish eat when they are in the rivers, oceans, lakes, streams? Its not like God drops down fish flake food? I was just wondering. What would my Tetras eat if they were in the wild? lol silly question i know...but i was wondering

[DavidDoyle]

1- No it is not enough. Do weekly water changes of 25-40%. Vacuum some part of the tank each week.
2- When you do your water change, rinse the blue pad in tank water in a bucket. When the cart starts to degrade- usually in a few months, replace it.
3- Only if it falls apart.
4- Never if possible. If they get all crudded by algae, then you may want to clean them in a bleach dip. However, this will also kill the beneficial bacteria living on them.

I am curious what your water tests out at (ammonia, nitrites and nitrates) as that many fish in a tank being cycled can be an invitation to disaster.

Fish in the wild eat all kinds of things- microscopic organisms, fish eggs, bugs and their eggs, worms, algae, each other etc etc.

[fishfreaks]

1. i would do atleast 10 % a week.
2. i agree with david doyle
3. you should never have to replace the biowheel
4. you dont have to clean the decorationg, just the gravel

[gate113]

Thank you again for all your help

[Peligrin]

Once you get some algae you can look into getting a small pleco (rubberlip, bristlenose or butterfly (if you can find one) are good). They'll help keep the decorations and tank walls clean. It'll even eat the algae off the gravel (it's kind of neat to watch them suck all the algae off them spit out the rock ). You'll still have to vacuum the gravel, though, to get rid of waste.

[Jason_S]

a couple of ottos would be much better suited to such a small tank than even the smaller species of plecostomus. a bristlenose will grow to 4-6" which is way to big for a 16 gallon.

[madmatrixz3000]

yeah plecos would not have too great of a time in a 16. It is too small for their size and their hunger. 1 pleco can keep a 72 gallon bowfront clean of all algae!