HI! Can someone tell me what kind of fish this is???

[coyotegrrl74]

Hi, I'm taking over care of my boyfriends neglected aquarium, which I believe is maybe a 40 gallon aquarium. I'm trying to clean it up without killing any of the fish, so I'm doing some research. I did already scrap some of the algae off the walls, but not all of it, and I changed part of the water (it was green) and cleaned out the filter. We bought a new airstone as well, and the water is now crystal clear but there is still a lot of algae on the back wall and the gravel. I'm scared to change things too much too fast, but so far the fish seem to be doing fine. Can anyone give me some advice on cleaning the algae off the gravel (should I bother, or just get new gravel?) There is one small catfish and one Pleco, maybe 8 inches long, if I remove all the algae will it hurt them? there are three goldfish, 2 are about 1 1/2 to 2 inches long, and the other is maybe 4 inches long, and a BIG silver fish that I have no idea what it is. Can anyone tell me? Also, I want live plants but my boyfriend won't let me add some, someone give me a good reason that will convince him to let me add plants. Also should I add snails? Thanks!!!

This is a pic of the silver fish if anyone can tell me what it is:
http://i177.photobucket.com/albums/w230/coyoteblu74/DSC00038.jpg

Any advice or good websites for beginners are welcomed :)

[archer772]

Looks like a TinFoil Barb

[Chrisinator]

Looks like a TinFoil Barb

:iagree:

[GulfSaratoga]

welcome, and nice tinfoil

[coyotegrrl74]

Looks like a TinFoil Barb
Thanks I'll google that and see if I can find some pictures :)

[Jerzboi]

Welcome!

Looks like a red-fined tinfoil barb

[Reframer]

There is a ton of advice right here, you can read the stickies and search the forum. You can remove some of the algae on the glass with an algae scraper or mag float. It is not necessary to remove it all and the pleco needs it for food.
When you clean the filter, do not replace the foam pads inside, just rinse them out in a bucket of water from the tank. If you use regular tap water it will kill all the good bacteria and then cause the ammonia to rise in the tank and that will hurt your fish.
You should change about 40% of the water and do a gravel vac 1 time a week with water that is the same temperature and treated with water conditioner. Never use soap to clean anything.
Do some reading on the nitrogen cycle and that will help. Turning the lights off for a few days, feeding less, and changing more of the water will help kill the algae.
There is a link on the top of the site under conversions where you can enter in your tank measurements to see what size tank you have.

[coyotegrrl74]

My boyfriend has test strips for his hot tub. Since I'm already worried that I've messed up the water, I used one in the tank just now. The reading I got was:

Total cholrine: very low
ph: about 7.2
total alkalinity: very low
total hardness: 500

I didn't use any sort of water conditioner when I changed the water. Am I in trouble and if so how do I fix it?

[Rbishop]

Welcome to AC!

[The Zigman]

You'll need to get a test kit made for aquariums.

I would recommend an API Master Freshwater kit.
they are $20 from www.Kensfish.com (http://www.Kensfish.com)


Are you adding dechlorinated water to the tank? if you add city water directly to your tank, the chlorine in it can kill your fish. If you have a well, you're probably Ok. if you have city water, you'll need to treat it with something like Prime.

[Reframer]

You need to buy a water conditioner or dechlorinator to get the chlorine and chloramine out of the water. Some brands are Prime, Aquasafe, stress coat, Amquel, novaaqua. You can get them at the petstore or stores such as walmart. Using water straight from the tap will hurt your fish, so try to get it as soon as you can and then do another water change. Do you use well water or city water?
When was the last time you guys changed the water in the tank?

[knight4th]

yea very nice red-tail tinfoil barb, tell him the live plants will let him be lazier :)

[coyotegrrl74]

You need to buy a water conditioner or dechlorinator to get the chlorine and chloramine out of the water. Some brands are Prime, Aquasafe, stress coat, Amquel, novaaqua. You can get them at the petstore or stores such as walmart. Using water straight from the tap will hurt your fish, so try to get it as soon as you can and then do another water change. Do you use well water or city water?
When was the last time you guys changed the water in the tank?

This was the first time the water had been changed in a LONG time, probably more than eight months. I vacuumed the gravel and changed about 1/3 of the water, I didn't use a water conditioner but I will go and get some tonight. We are on city water. So far the fish seem content even thought I'm probably doing everything wrong. We didn't change anything inside the filter, just rinsed what was there and added a big airstone. I'm going to get the measurements of the tank tonight so I can find out how big it is as well.

[Reframer]

We applaud your effort. Continue with the water changes and gravel vacs at about 20% a day for 1 week, then keep to your 1 time a week water changes. Since it has been 8 months, then lets change the water a little bit a day so the fish do not get shocked and die from the clean water.

[coyotegrrl74]

Thanks for all the advice I will continue to research, hopefully the fish will survive the process. They survived my boyfriend so they must be tough...

[LeahK]

Can anyone give me some advice on cleaning the algae off the gravel (should I bother, or just get new gravel?)

Just wanted to add, in response to the above, that you should not get new gravel. The current gravel contains a portion of the good bacteria that help keep your tank healthy. You don't want to throw it out.

And, algae may not look pretty, but it's good for water quality. Plants are also good for water quality. Tell your bf that plants will compete with the algae for nutrients and thus slow the algae growth.

[coyotegrrl74]

Just wanted to add, in response to the above, that you should not get new gravel. The current gravel contains a portion of the good bacteria that help keep your tank healthy. You don't want to throw it out.

And, algae may not look pretty, but it's good for water quality. Plants are also good for water quality. Tell your bf that plants will compete with the algae for nutrients and thus slow the algae growth.

Thanks, I had already decided not to clean all the algae off the walls so i will just keep the gravel as it is and keep vacuuming it. I really want to add some plants but he (the bf) tried that before and when they got loose and floated around they annoyed him and he threw them out. I think I will buy some that I've seen in pots and use suctions cups to keep them down so he can't complain. Now I have to go research plants...

[excuzzzeme]

Regular maintenance should be weekly water change of about 30%. The tinfoil will grow large and will outgrow your tank. You need a tank in the 75 gallon range since you have goldfish as well. I recommend you add a second filter to help out since goldfish are a bit messy. You can't over-filter a tank. If anything, the added filter will circulate more water making for more water contact surface with O2 in the air.

You are smart by doing things is little steps and are to be commended for it. Each week clean one end panel well from the algae. When you have done the ends do approx 1/3 of the back glass weekly until all glass is clean (front and back).

[coyotegrrl74]

Thanks I will do that. I'm not sure how big the tank is yet but I'm going to find out tonight, we might get a larger one soon since the tinfoil and the pleco both seem to be still growing.

[coyotegrrl74]

Does anyone have any suggestions for what sort of plants I should get? So apparently I have a red-tailed tinfoil, a pleco, some sort of very small catfish, and three goldfish. I've been told that when there are plants in the aquarium the tinfoil barb moves them around and uproots them. Suggestions for what kinds of plants to get and also how to keep them in place (suction cups?) Also will plants help keep the ammonia down or possibly make it worse?

[XanAvaloni]

Coyotegrrl, what kind of bulbs do you have and what wattage are they? And what's the distance between them and the top of the substrate? The plant experts (which I am not) will want to know to advise on specific plants that would grow best with your setup.

Speaking just in general though I would suggest you start out with big plants, Amazon swords or something like that. Then get some good sized rocks (2-4 inches around, say), quartz or granite (avoid limestone). A landscaping store or Lowes type store should have rounded river rocks, which would be perfect. Then place your plant as close to the back wall as you can, and put the rocks as close to the stem as you can manage--probably two or 3 per plant at least.

Assuming the fish are digging them up rather than ripping them out bodily, this should block them from being able to do so. Maybe put a few smaller rocks, or marbles or similar sized objects, around at random if they like to have something to dig up/push around.

Rocks are an attractive landscaping element in their own right. Best of luck. :)

[coyotegrrl74]

the tank is 13 inches deep, and has (2) 15 watt soft white florescent bulbs that go all the way across the top of the tank. I also just found out it is a 40 gallon tank. I think the fish was just rooting around or bumping into the plants rather than ripping them out. I have watched them push the small gravel around looking for flakes so bigger, heavier rocks would probably keep them from moving the plants. Thanks!!

[LeahK]

Also will plants help keep the ammonia down or possibly make it worse?

Generally speaking, plants make water quality better. They absorb both ammonia and nitrate, and some research shows that they prefer ammonia: http://www.aquabotanic.com/plants_and_biological_filtration.htm

I have heard that rotting plants can contribute to ammonia problems. However, I have also heard that ammonia is largely the result of protein breaking down, and plants are made of much less protein than fish waste, so plants actually produce very little ammonia even if they're rotting.

Floating plants might be the best, in your case, because they'll be closer to the light source, thus they'll grow more quickly and absorb more ammonia from the water. And, if they're already floating, it won't really matter about the barb uprooting stuff :)

[coyotegrrl74]

lots of good ideas, I hadn't considered floating plants. I will have to make a trip to the pet store tomorrow (payday) and see what I can afford to do. Thanks!!

[XanAvaloni]

CG, try the Marketplace section here. In fact this person:
http://www.aquariacentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=219565

has all sorts of plants for sale at the moment, along with snails and shrimp and some driftwood. And he has great pictures, so you can get an idea of what things look like and what their right names are even if you decide to buy locally.

For floaters, riccia or guppy grass might be possibilities. Do not, for the love of God, get something called "duckweed" or you will never be rid of it until the end of time, once you realize what a pest it is and try to exterminate it from your tank. :)

(although you said you had goldies; they might eat it and keep it under control in that respect. Operative word being "might"...I think fish are like people, if they don't grow up eating something it is often difficult to get them as adults to see it as "food." )

[LeahK]

I really like hornwort. You can google it to see pictures. It's kind of feathery looking. You'll see a lot of pics where it's stuck in the gravel, but I find that it grows best floating.
Anacharis is also good.