Newbie needs some help!

[Bruno]

Hi. I just signed up today, and I need some help.

I have a 33 Gallon tank. It has a Heater, and I am using an AquaClear 150 and AquaClear Mini as my filters. It came with an undergravel filter, and I installed the plates, but never got around to using it. In my tank I have 3 Beunos Aries Tetras (They're the cheapest ;) ) 3 head-tail light Tetra's (Second Cheapest) a Clown Loach, most expensive ($8.99CDN) a Bengal Loach, 3 Dalmation Molly's, 5 Neon Tetra's, 3 Zebra Danio's and a Pl*co.

I know I probably have too many fish, but I am planning on moving my Tetra's to another tank.

Anyways, I find that my water colour turns a pee colour after a few days. I have done a 20% change and the water lasted 5 days before going yellow, anyways my last change was almost 40% and 2 days later my tank is starting to get that yellow colour.

I was wondering if maybe its the number of fish, or the colour of the food I feed my fish that could be doing it. Apparantly my combined filtration system is good for 50 Gallons, so I thought I was fine there. I also have changed the sponge in my filters too.

Anyways, any help?

Ty

[baileya74]

CONGRATS!!

First off... did you cycle your tank before you put your fish in. If not they are most likely going to die.
about the under ground filter. I prefer not to use that. It will be very difficult when it comes time to clean it.
About the water color. It may be the minerals in the water or you filter is not powerful enough.. that just a guess.

[TKOS]

Your filters are fine for the tank. The only problem fish I can see there is the clown loach. I know thye look tiny now but they can get to be 8-10 inches long and need company in the form of other clown loaches. The apparently grow slow so you probably have close to a year to figure out what to do with it. But you may never see him as they are very shy when they are by themsleves and are awsome hiders.


Do you have any driftwood in your tank? It is very good at colouring your water.

Even with a proper cycle your fish will still make it. But you must keep doing the daily water changes for th efirst few weeks to eliminate the ammonia and nitrite buildup that will kill your fish. Do you have test kits?

[Bruno]

I do the regular Cycle, and Condition my tank. I have had the tank for a bit and one fish got sucked up the intake from my Mini filter, and my first Pl*co died within days of getting it, although that I think I have that figured out. My first Clown Loach I had died as well, but I think it wasnt healthy when I got it. The currant Clown Loach I have now doesn't seem to fit its description. Yes it hides in the bull skull in the tank, but strangly enough it is a surface feeder at the moment. Its funny to watch the fish go upside down and try to eat. Its also very aggressive towards my Neons and my Danio's, and I think all my fish save for the Pl*co and the other Loach have learned not to go to a certin side of the tank.

I have three pieces of drift wood, they are fairly small. Do you think live plants would help this out?

Also what are your opinions on Moonlight Lighting for a tank? I made my own lastnight and it seems to work fine, however I don't know if it will make a difference in the fish. The only think I saw is that the fish where more active this morning.

Ty

[TKOS]

I don't know much about moonlighting. It would probably be good for more nocturnal fish.

Live Plants are always great. Simple ones like Java Fern, Java Moss, Crypts and Water Sprite can really help a tank look more natural and make fish feel more at ease.

[fishfood]

It sounds like tannins leaching from your driftwood. This should not be harmful to your fish but can be somewhat unpleasent to look at.

You can try removing the drift wood, boliing it in water several times until it pretty much stops leaching tannins. It may not stop completely. You can also leave it in the tank and wait for the leaching to stop but this make take awhile.

[Bruno]

I re-scaped my tank today, and I took out my drift wood, I didnt change the water as the last change was 40% about 3-4 days ago. The water went brown, and I ran a fish net threw it to collect the larger particles. Once I put all the driftwood back in and left it for about 5 hours the water is almost crystal clear. I noticed with the moonlighting that it has made the fish more active in the daytime, so maybe its a more natural condidition in the tank, however it runs on a 12V battery system at the moment so I can only have it on for a few hours. I am working on an improved system, after reading a few DIY articles.

Its actually a simple task, and the total cost for me was about $25 CDN. I also lucked out and was able to wire it into my existing hood, with only minimal modifications. All I did was drill 4 11mm Holes, and the lights I got from Radioshack snapped right into place and stay.

I am going to look into an LED system next, a 12V system with 4 lights can get hot, and even tho it works, isnt working as I had hoped, only 90% satisfaction.

Tyler

[hcuevas]

I assume you are cycling with the fish and let me tell you that probably many of them are going to die. Actually you put a lot of them without cycling the tank and you may have a system in chaos right now.

If you are changing your sponge .... you are eliminating your bacteria colonies required to fully cycle the tank. The most important colonies would be living in your sponge. Every time you are changing sponges the cycle will restart again.

I am not an expert. I am just giving clues. There plenty of more savvy guys here.

[Hoosier]

I'm new here as well, and I just set up my new tank probably about a month ago. Over a weekend my tank got really cloudy so I cleaned it real good (Before doing any research) I took out everything and ran it under hot water. I thought it was just that I was overfeeding them and it was the left over food that made it cloudy. Well, then I put all new water in and a few days later I had around 5 fish die. That's when I did research. Which is where I'm at now. I have a 29 gallon tank with the following dimensions... 30" Long, 12" Wide, and 18 3/4" tall. I have these following fish... 3 Fancy Guppies, 2 Dalmation Mollies, 2 Blue Gouramis, 2 Kissing Gouramis, 2 Fantail Gold fish, 5 Tiger Barbs, 1 Plecostamus, and that's all. I've been testing the water every other day or so. I tested it today and this is what I have. Nitrate is 40, Nitrite is 10, hardness is 300, Alkalinity is 180, and the pH is 8.4. I know this is pretty unhealthy to the fish so I need help on what to do. Is this signs of new tank syndrome, or cycling. And how do I reduce the hardness of the water I have. Please help me save my fish!! Thanks!

[TKOS]

First off do a water change of 20-30% a day for the first while. Any signs of nitrite in a tank means that there is cycling going on. Nevr clean out a whole tank as you know now. That will destroy all the good bacteria.


Second you have way too many fish and that is what was leading to a bacterial bloom most likely. That pleco will get to be anywhere from 1to 2 feet in length and the kisser will get up to a foot long as well. They really need a minimum of a 4 foot long tank (55 gallon min.).

Don't add any more fish and if possible I would see if you could take the kissers back, as they will become very aggressive in such a small tank, particularly with other gouramis in it.

Any nitrite above 0.25ppm is killing your fish, so do enough water changes to get it to an almost undectable level.

[Hoosier]

TKOS

Thanks for the quick reply. I am currently setting up a 10 gallon aquarium to put some of the fish in, so hopefully that'll help with the over population of the tank. I am also doing water changes everyday of around three to four gallons. Do you think that's enough? Also, should I test the tank everyday, or can I wait a couple then test it? The fish seem to be doing OK. They swim freely, and seem to be doing well for the water conditions. If there's anything else I should do, pleas let me know!

Thanks!

[TKOS]

As long as the water change gets the ammonia and nitrite levels down really low that is enough. With everyday water changes you probably won't have to test each time but I would test at least every other day to see how things are going. Eventually the levels will start to stay low when the good bacteria starts to gain a foothold. Make sure to never change the filter media. Just rinse it out every so often. Replacing it will start a new partial cycle of bacteria again.

When you set up the 10 gallon you will have to go through the same thing.

[Hoosier]

Thanks for the help! When I set up the 10 gallon, I can use some of the gravel form the 29 to start to help with a fishless cycle right? Would it be better to add some of the gravel, and maybe just 3 or so fish to help with this cycle. Now that I know a little bit more about this stuff, it seems to be getting easier! Partial water changes are now in my daily routine. But thanks again for the help, I appreciate it! If there's anything else let me know!

Zack

[TKOS]

Adding a cup of gravel from an established tank will help with cyclign the tank as you will start with a small amount of bacteria. A true fishless cycle though, is done with adding pure ammonia to a tank and can take around 3-4 weeks to complete. What you are talking about is a fishy cycle but at least with a boost of bacteria. You will be fine doing daily changes in the 10 gallon with adding a cup of gravel fromt he top layer of your old tank, though it hasn't finsihed cycling yet so make sure to keep those ammonia and nitrite levels low in both tanks.

[Hoosier]

Thanks. I'm doing the best I can. I had one die on me this morning when I got home from work. I had to give him to the porcelin (sp) God. (Toilet). But I'm tryin' the hardest to keep them all healthy!