Hello,
I've been on this board before, for not being able to cycle a tank and other beginner problems...
You guys have helped so much, and hopefully you can shed some light on these new problems I'm facing.
Well, to begin I have a 10 gallon tank, with and AquaClear 30 filter.
The tank started off with guppies and 2 clown loaches. All my guppies have died, one after the other one, over a matter of months. I've lost them all. They all died similarly, by just wasting away. Nothing major. Just as if they got weaker and weaker. Some I would find stuck to the filter opening, some would stay in the corner on the top of the tank for few days, and then die, some would develop a hump and then die, some would become smaller and smaller, even transparent almost, some would just disappear and then I would find them dead behind decoration...
Then I tried to change fish and I got 3 mollies. Two have died already, over the course of, say, a month. One more is left, and I feel bad for her because I feel she will die too.
The two clown loaches, instead, have grown, and, knocking on wood, seem doing ok. They've been in this tank since the beginning (February/March).
Let me give you some details about the tank. I've moved it closer to a window, and I'm thinking I will move it away from it, since the algae is sooo out of control, it's disgusting. I'm dreading having to clean it today. I mean I've seen strings of algae (it used to be just a little).
Is algae dangerous for the fish?
Next, I've bought a little vacuum pump, that doesn't seem to be doing the job right, as it just stirs things around but doesn't really pick them up.
Any good suggestions on a cheapish vacuum?
My gravel is medium in size, and I have not changed it since the beginning. Should I change it?
The filter only has a sponge and the white rocks for bacteria to grow in it. I'm not using the carbon since I've read here that it's really not necessary, but my water smells bad and I'm thinking I should use it again.
What are your thoughts on carbon?
I was thinking that maybe the fish were dying because they needed more oxygen, so I bought a bubble bed, one of those tubes you put down at the bottom, and it's about maybe 6 inches long. I've attached to an air pump, the lowest setting one the sell, but I get this feeling that the bubbles it creates might be too much for the fish to handle. They look (especially the clowns) not happy when the bubbles are on, so I feel bad and turn them off at night (I figure they can sleep better in quiet water).
So now I'm torn, is this bubble bed good for them or not? Do they need extra oxygen? Is it my imagination, or the bubble bed makes the water dirty faster?
I have a big castle in the water (ok, maybe a bit too big for this size of tank), and it has turned into the clowns home. They rarely come out of there, one a bit more than the other, and of course when I'm not around. Is this ok? I've read it's good that they have a hiding place, but they really live in there more than out. And is there such a thing as a TOO big decoration for the tank? Can it hurt the tank?
Lastly, my water levels. My pH is low, about 6.4. I've been able to have no ammonia nor nitrites. But nitrates are always a problem. I do 25% water changes every week but always get high nitrates readings, in the 40s.
And now that I really have only 3 fish in there, it actually looks like the water has deteriorated. It's as if the tank just gets worse and worse, no matter what I do, and no matter how many fish in there.
Oh, one more thing. Is it normal that every thing in the tank now looks full of algae and green, should I wash the decorations and the fake plants, and strip them of this slimy coat they have?
Please guide me in the right direction, what am I doing wrong, and what should I be doing different, and what should I start doing that I am not doing?
Thank you!
Elisa
I've been on this board before, for not being able to cycle a tank and other beginner problems...
You guys have helped so much, and hopefully you can shed some light on these new problems I'm facing.
Well, to begin I have a 10 gallon tank, with and AquaClear 30 filter.
The tank started off with guppies and 2 clown loaches. All my guppies have died, one after the other one, over a matter of months. I've lost them all. They all died similarly, by just wasting away. Nothing major. Just as if they got weaker and weaker. Some I would find stuck to the filter opening, some would stay in the corner on the top of the tank for few days, and then die, some would develop a hump and then die, some would become smaller and smaller, even transparent almost, some would just disappear and then I would find them dead behind decoration...
Then I tried to change fish and I got 3 mollies. Two have died already, over the course of, say, a month. One more is left, and I feel bad for her because I feel she will die too.
The two clown loaches, instead, have grown, and, knocking on wood, seem doing ok. They've been in this tank since the beginning (February/March).
Let me give you some details about the tank. I've moved it closer to a window, and I'm thinking I will move it away from it, since the algae is sooo out of control, it's disgusting. I'm dreading having to clean it today. I mean I've seen strings of algae (it used to be just a little).
Is algae dangerous for the fish?
Next, I've bought a little vacuum pump, that doesn't seem to be doing the job right, as it just stirs things around but doesn't really pick them up.
Any good suggestions on a cheapish vacuum?
My gravel is medium in size, and I have not changed it since the beginning. Should I change it?
The filter only has a sponge and the white rocks for bacteria to grow in it. I'm not using the carbon since I've read here that it's really not necessary, but my water smells bad and I'm thinking I should use it again.
What are your thoughts on carbon?
I was thinking that maybe the fish were dying because they needed more oxygen, so I bought a bubble bed, one of those tubes you put down at the bottom, and it's about maybe 6 inches long. I've attached to an air pump, the lowest setting one the sell, but I get this feeling that the bubbles it creates might be too much for the fish to handle. They look (especially the clowns) not happy when the bubbles are on, so I feel bad and turn them off at night (I figure they can sleep better in quiet water).
So now I'm torn, is this bubble bed good for them or not? Do they need extra oxygen? Is it my imagination, or the bubble bed makes the water dirty faster?
I have a big castle in the water (ok, maybe a bit too big for this size of tank), and it has turned into the clowns home. They rarely come out of there, one a bit more than the other, and of course when I'm not around. Is this ok? I've read it's good that they have a hiding place, but they really live in there more than out. And is there such a thing as a TOO big decoration for the tank? Can it hurt the tank?
Lastly, my water levels. My pH is low, about 6.4. I've been able to have no ammonia nor nitrites. But nitrates are always a problem. I do 25% water changes every week but always get high nitrates readings, in the 40s.
And now that I really have only 3 fish in there, it actually looks like the water has deteriorated. It's as if the tank just gets worse and worse, no matter what I do, and no matter how many fish in there.
Oh, one more thing. Is it normal that every thing in the tank now looks full of algae and green, should I wash the decorations and the fake plants, and strip them of this slimy coat they have?
Please guide me in the right direction, what am I doing wrong, and what should I be doing different, and what should I start doing that I am not doing?
Thank you!
Elisa