I GIVE UP!

Do you have live plants in the tank too?

I have two 5 gallon tanks. One for quarantine and one for show. I don't have any problems with either of them.

The show tank has one male beta, a few pygmy albino cories, two amano shrimp and a heck of a lot of trumpet snails.

A flourite black sand bottom, moderate lighting 8 or 9 watt daylight flourescent, Loads of anubias, a few amazon swords, a bit of pellia (liverwort). OH_ and three moss balls that I want to put in a new tank I have an idea for that I can't afford to start and don't have any place to keep just now any way.

For a filter I use an AquaClear Mini 5-20 gallon variable flow filter layered with a sponge, charcoal bag, and ceramic macaroni. Appropriately scaled Marineland Glass heater.

It's been running very healthily ever since I set it up.

When I clean it, use the siphon to stir-up and evacuate the crud on the surface of the sand & out of the anubias mountains rooted on bog wood. I change out about 1/2 of the water in the process and use a few drops of PRIME as my water conditioner.

Your trouble with guppies might be Ph. I don't have the precise figures to hand, but live bearers like a bit of a higher Ph than most other fresh water dwellers.
 
Do have a filter on the tank? Heater? How was the "initial cycle" done?
 
My problem definately has to be that I was cleaning it thourougly (sp?) every week.. I feel really stupid admitting that, but that's what I have been told, repeatedly, to do.. Now I know better, lol. My tank is back to normal it seems, and I now know NOT to clean it like I was.. But.. Do I ever need to take everything out and clean it? I guess I am just lost on the cleaning techniques...
 
Yes, I have a filter and a heater.. by the way.. :)
 
Strawberri001 said:
My problem definately has to be that I was cleaning it thourougly (sp?) every week.. I feel really stupid admitting that, but that's what I have been told, repeatedly, to do.. Now I know better, lol. My tank is back to normal it seems, and I now know NOT to clean it like I was.. But.. Do I ever need to take everything out and clean it? I guess I am just lost on the cleaning techniques...
Click to expand...
No, dont take everything out and clean it. Water changes and gravel vacs are the only thing that needs to be done weekly. If your plants or decor get gunk or algae on them, you can rinse them in tank water.(same for your filter media) Cleaning in tap water will kill the good bacteria,so use declorinated water like the water you remove for a water change.(never use soap or anything like that)
 
no, unless you have a UGF you should never have to tear the entire tank down. (even with a UGF i dont think you have to take the tank down) once a week, use a gravel vac, and replace the water you took out with clean dechlor. water.
 
5 gallons still limits you to what you can keep in it though.
 
Strawberri001 said:
My problem definately has to be that I was cleaning it thourougly (sp?) every week.. I feel really stupid admitting that, but that's what I have been told, repeatedly, to do.. Now I know better, lol. My tank is back to normal it seems, and I now know NOT to clean it like I was.. But.. Do I ever need to take everything out and clean it? I guess I am just lost on the cleaning techniques...
Click to expand...

Don't feel too bad. My first tank was a 5g with a single Black Moore goldfish. I killed it by doing a complete gravel vac every week and changing the filter cartridge every 3 weeks. Those types of filters with the replaceable cartridges with carbon in them are complete garbage... every time you put in a new cartridge you essentially cause your tank to re-cycle, causing stress and harm to your fish.

Get a nice 5-20gallon Aquaclear Hang-On-Back style filter if you don't already have one and when the filter gets really dirty the only thing you have to do to it is shake the filter sponge out in old tank water when you do your water change. If you do that and keep up with your weekly water changes your fish should do just fine. Also, because I'm not sure if you already know this, make sure you are only putting de-chlorinated water in your tank. You can use tap water and add something like Prime to de-chlorinate the water before you put it in the tank.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
AquariaCentral.com
Top Bottom