[Alicyn]

I know this must be an amateur question since I haven't seen it posted anywhere yet, but I'm afraid I'm killing my fish. What do I do with this green water?

I had a beta fish in a 1g tank...no problems. My uncle gave me his 10g tank, which was swimming with algae and one little minnow looking fish. I removed the fish, rinsed out the tank and gravel and filled it up again. (i now know, this was my first mistake.) I put on the heater and filter and added my beta and the minnow looking fish (mistake #2). Minnow fish died within 30 minutes. Beta lived on and seemed happier in a bigger tank. I bought two mollies and added them along with a decorative castle in case they needed to hide (mistake #3 and #4). All three fish are getting along great, but the water is getting greener and cloudier by the hour. I've turned off the light hoping this would help.

How do I fix this or start over the right way?

 

[Lupin]

Hi and welcome.:wave:

This has been posted ages ago. A lot of points have been covered.
http://www.fishforum.com/viewtopic.php?p=31808

What are your water parameters? Buy API Master Freshwater test kit and test your ammonia, nitrites, nitrates and pH. Post the figures afterwards. High ammonia is the most probable suspect.

How did you clean your tank? I hope you did not use any chemical agents especially soap.

 

[Alicyn]

Thanks for your quick reply. Water parameters? I don't know, but will buy a test kit. I went into this completely blind. Someone bought my daughter a betta for her 3rd birthday and now I'm in over my head. I've learned a lot from the article you suggested, but I'm still unclear as to how I should fix this. This is what I deduced:

1) MASSIVE WATER CHANGE: remove a lot of water from the tank and add new water??

2) BLACKOUT: cover the tank with a dark trash bag for a week or so?

3)MASSIVE WATER CHANGE: after the blackout period, change the water again as in step 1?

Does this sound right at all? I should mention that I don't have any live plants in this 10g, but I do have 3 fakes.


What is the risk of simply removing the fish, siphering out the water, cleaning all the ornaments, adding new water, water conditioner and then, the fish?

I hope my processes don't offend any of you, but I am completely ignorant on the care of fish, but do want to make this work.

 

[FDStation152]

A complete breakdown and scrubbing of the tank like that would mean you are once again starting off with an uncycled tank.