Is it ok?

After finding out exactly what it is you have in there, you can probably bring them to a local fish store (LFS) and see if they'll unload them for you. They may even give you store credit. If they will not take them, go to another store.

There seriously are too many fish in the tank..... I would think that gourami needs some space in there, especially if there's another in there with him (hence the eggs). I'm thinking the gold looking fish may be sword tails, platies or mollies. I hope they are at least.....

the catfish is probably a definite no no for the tank, a lot of the fish from the cat family get pretty big and with the size comes their appetite.... as well as some of them being a bit more on the aggressive side... this one sounds to me like it may be a red tailed black shark or rainbow, either way, I wouldn't have one in a 20 gallon..... I prefer 55+ and up for those guys with a few little caves for them to reside in.... You can go to www.planetcatfish.com, click on th catfish, then cat-elog, then common names so you can sort through and find out what he is.....
 
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Nothing like being dropped into the middle of something, huh Matt?

Here's my $.02: Research.

It sounds like this tank was in this condition when you got it so it can probably handle a little more time (and I'm talking days or weeks here not months) for you to take a crash course in fish keeping. There's a ton of information right here in this forum if you use the search feature and although the information seems overwhelming the basics aren't that difficult to pick up.

I would do nothing drastic like removing fish or overhauling the tank until you have a much better idea of what you are doing. Read up on cycling first as someone mentioned earlier. Its your first key to understanding the chemistry and balance that occurs in a tank.

In the mean time, you can clean the tank through a gravel vacuuming/water change. If you don't have one already, pick up a gravel vac. You can find them at any fish shop for under ten bucks. It has a 12-18" long 2" wide tube at one end (you can find different sizes but that about average) and is attached to 6 or so feet of smaller diameter tubing. Also, pick up a brand new 5gallon bucket at the hardware store. Wash it out with just water and mark it somehow. This is now your water changing bucket. Use it only for water changes and never let it come into contact with chemicals.

You can use the gravel vac to syphon water and debris out of the tank. I wouldn't tank out more than 50% of the water at a time and I wouldn't do that more than once a day. When you add water back into the tank, try to match the temperature of the water from the tap with the water in the tank. This becomes more important the more water you change at once. Also add a some dechlorinator (like Prime) to the water unless you are absolutely sure it contains no chlorine.

I think your tank is overcrowded and its likely you have some fish that are really inappropriate for a tank that size. Start by trying to identify the fish you have and checking out what their adult sizes should be and what type of fish they can get along with.

Tom
 
Thanks for all the help guys, I'm going to read this forum tommorow :)

Well right now, I've changed some water, tried to get rid of some snails and I've turned the light off.

Here's a realy dumb question, but I could do with the help.

1) If the light is on ALL the time, will it change the water green (The water started to go green)

Thanks :)
I'll let you know how I get on.
 
Unless you have live plants the only reason to have a light on in the tank is for you to see the fish. Yes, the light will encourage algae growth if you leave it on all the time. Get a cheap timer from Walmart. You can get some with multiple on/off times so it can turn on when you wake up, off when you go to work, on when you come home, and off when you go to bed.

Tom
 
tomm10 said:
Unless you have live plants the only reason to have a light on in the tank is for you to see the fish. Yes, the light will encourage algae growth if you leave it on all the time. Get a cheap timer from Walmart. You can get some with multiple on/off times so it can turn on when you wake up, off when you go to work, on when you come home, and off when you go to bed.

Tom
Click to expand...


never thought about that.. I've got one :)

Thanks
 
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