Goldfish and pleco problems

[matt36]

Hi all. I am new here. We have a 10 gallon tank that used to house just one regular goldfish. It was a feeder fish that has grown to about 5 inches and our daughter loves it. We've had it about 3 years now. It always did fine as long as we cleaned the tank regularly. About 1 month ago, we bought a small plecostamus (about 2 inches long) and since then the tank has been continually filthy. It's green and cloudy, and you can't even see the back of the tank. Initially I thought it was the algae wafer food they gave us for the pleco, so I stopped using it (he seems to eat fish flakes). I have done 20-30% water changes with some results, but overall the tank is pretty bad and I dont want to have to change half the water every week. Does anyone have any suggestions? I don't want to get rid of the pleco.

Also, the goldfish seems to have developed 'dirty' fins. The back of all her fins are brushed with black coloration which I assume is dirt, but I'm not sure. It started about a week after the pleco was introduced.

Thanks in advance.

Matt

 

[snickle]

The green coloring to the water is algae. I would suspect you have way too much waste going on. Both the goldfish and the pleco generate alot of waste.

Test the water, I suspect you will find the ammonia levels are too high.

You can't keep them both in that tank. Even the goldfish alone is too much for that tank size.

 

[monkey_toes]

You need a bigger tank, pronto. A 55g is probably the minimum to hold both of those fish as adults. And when you say "cleaned the tank," what does that procedure entail?

 

[zazz]

The green coloring to the water is algae. I would suspect you have way too much waste going on. Both the goldfish and the pleco generate alot of waste.

Test the water, I suspect you will find the ammonia levels are too high.

You can't keep them both in that tank. Even the goldfish alone is too much for that tank size.

agreed.
If you seriously dont want to get rid of the pleco, I am afraid you may be looking forward to changing close to 1/2 the water every week in a MUCH larger tank. I have never kept a pleco, but I hear they are Extreme waste producers. I know Goldfish are. A 55G may seem huge, but I can't really see it working in anything smaller. There is a tool called a python that makes water changes much easier. maybe google search it. The beloved goldfish could live many many more years and I think that in the long run,you will be happy to have gotten the bigger tank now.

 

[Mgamer20o0]

like others have said the tank is to small. plecos can grow over 2 feet long. they also need more to eat then just algae. another thing is pleco is a tropical fish and goldfish is coldwater which means they should be kept in different temps.

have often do you do water changes and how much? goldfish and plecos are dirty fish. they should have the water changed 50% every week if not more.