tank problems

[gunner]

Hello to all,

I have a 55 gallon tank. In it, a walking catfish(20in.long), A tiger oscar (6in), a common oscar(5 in), a sevrum (3 in), a jack dempsey (4 in), an angelfish (3 in), and a pleco (12 in). About a week after changing the water, it starts to turn yellow. I have cut back on the food, but that doesn't help. I have ordinary plastic plants, a plastic ferret tube and regular gravel. Any suggestions??

Thank you, Sue

[OrionGirl]

Way, way overstocked. Cutting back on food won't help when there are just too many fish in the tank.

You need to upgrade and split those fish up into bigger tanks. Weekly or twice weekly changes will help in the short term, but not for very long. Have you tested the water for ammonia/nitrite and nitrate levels?

[Matt W]

The yellow tint is from a build up of fish waste and probably a buildup of uneaten food.

You have way too much of a fish load in that tank. Even with a single oscar in that tank you would need to do weekly water changes. To keep the water at an acceptable (read non toxic) level for your fish, you should be doing water changes every two days.

The best solution is to get the fish load in your tank correct. Return some of those fish to the fish store for credit or get more tanks. First order should be to get that walking catfish out of there. It is already way to large for a 55....

[tricksterpup]

Gunner,
Yes, you are way to over stocked for that tank, plus the fish you have will out grow that 55. An Adult Oscar will get up to 10-11 inches in length and the standard tank 55 gallon is 48x13x20, so 13 inches in length will not be very much room for the fish to turn around in. I am in agreement with Orion Girl, you will need to split the fish up into larger tanks. In the grandscheme of things, a 55 gallon isn't really that big of a tank.




jim

[Matt W]

I just read your profile and it says you are a stay at home mom of 9! You are used to making the impossible work, but I don't that this tank stocking is possible even for you! :D

[gunner]

I can't take any of the fish back to the store. The fish are pets belonging to my various children. They all have names, and taking them away would be like getting rid of my children because they are getting to big. I will definitely have to get another tank and split them up. I split up some fish before and I lost two fish. Before the 55 gallon I had a 30, so when I upgraded, I separated my fish into the group in question now and the cichlids. Max, the largest of my cichlids died slowly, and I swear it was because of my moving the jack dempsey into the big tank. The other cichlids were beating him up so I thought it was better for him. As you can tell, my fish are very important to me, I have raised them from babies. Stitch, my walking catfish, was 2.5 inches when I bought him. So my best bet will be to buy another tank.
What is a good size one for the catfish. I have seen how big they can get!!!

Sue.