dirty aquarium?

Question

i have a 10 gal aquarium with 7 fish: 2 iridescent sharks, 2 mollys, 2 goldfish, and a clown loach. the water is very murky, i have a filter and everything. i think im supposed to use aquarium salt and bacteria stuff or something. what am i supposed to do. and what are bacteria and aquarium salt for? thank you

Answer 1

OK FIRST OF ALL YOU HAVE TO MANY FISH IN A 10 GAL TANK. YOUR SHARKS ARE SUPPOSE TO GET UP TO 12 INCHES A PIECE AND THE LOACH IS A SCHOOLING FISH AND LIKES TO HAVE PLENTY OF ROOM WITH FISH OF ITS KIND AND GOLDFISH ARE A MESS THEY PRODUCE ALOT OF AMMONIA THAT WILL CAUSE MURKY WATER. SO WHAT I THINK YOUR OPTIONS ARE IS EITHER GET RID OF SOME FISH OR GET A BIGGER TANK. THEY ALSO MAKE SOME BIO TREATMENT THAT IS SUPPOSE TO HELP BREAK DOWN NATURAL BACTERIA IN YOUR TANK TRY WALMART OR LOCAL PET STORE.

Answer 2

To begin with, you have mixed brackish water fish (mollies), tropical fish (sharks and the loach) and cold water fish (the goldfish). This is not good. Two of the three types will suffer because of whatever water you have in the tank.

If you just set it up, the murkiness is because of the nitrogen cycle. All new tanks must develop bacteria that help convert the ammonia and nitrates to nitrites. This takes about two to three weeks. During this time you should only have ONE OR TWO fish in the tank. Too many fish = too much ammonia which will end up killing the fish. It is actually called "New tank syndrome."

If it has been set up for more than a month, you are probably feeding too much. This also produces ammonia as the uneaten food decays.

All fish benefit from a little salt (maybe a tablespoon per 5 gallons), but to keep mollies healthy you will need to add around a tablespoon per gallon. When you do that, you will stress out the other fish.

I reccomend getting rid of the goldfish first, they are filthy fish and need water at a temperature of around 65 degrees. They seem to poop more than they eat. Next to go should probably be the mollies. Take these guys back to the store, they usually will take them back, but won't give you anything for them. If you have the receipt, tho, they might refund your cash. The others should get along fine together and be OK in the same water at about 74-78 degrees (they are tropicals).

Clown loaches are touchy fish and will probably be the first to die from the water quality if it is not fixed. Never change 100% of the water though, if you do, then the nitrogen cycle has to start all over again.

Answer 3

Like I said on your other question... you have this tank overstocked and you need a larger aquarium with good filtration and frequent water changes. And get those goldfish their own tank.

The bacteria you're talking about is nitrifying bacteria used to "cycle" a tank. That should have been done before you even put any fish in the tank (or with just one or two hardy fish). I'm assuming you've already had those fish in there for a while, so you're past that point now. The cycle takes about a month, but if you've had fish in there for at least a month already, then that's already happening naturally.

Get a test kit and test for ammonia and nitrates. If either one is high, do a 20% water change, get some Bio-Spira and add it to the tank (follow the directions).

If it's a new tank, you can also add Bio-Spira to give the cycle a boost.

Make sure you use a gravel siphon to vacuum the bottom when you do water changes.

But most importantly... get a bigger tank!

Answer 4

You should be doing a partial water change weekly. This is what you need to do: Get 2 brand new 5 gallon buckets. You don't want to use one that has had stuff like cleaning solutions in it. These two buckets should only be used for cleaning the aquarium. You can choose to get aqarium salt or use NON-IODIZED table salt. Obviously the non-iodized salt will be a lot cheaper. Iodine will kill the fish so make sure it's non-iodized salt. get an aquarium brush. You will also need an aquarium vacuum. Basically it's a siphon for the fish tank. You may want to buy something that neutralizes chlorine and keeps the tank healthier.
Now that you have everything, here's how you go about cleaning the tank: The night before, Fill the bucket with water and add one tablespoon of salt for every ten gallons...in your case since you have a ten gallon tank, you'll add one tablespoon of salt to the bucket of water. If you bought the solution to get rid of chlorine, read the instructions about how much to add. My experience has been one teaspoon for my 15 gallon tank. Let the bucket of water sit overnight (this isn't necessary if you added the chlorine remover, but I do it anyways).
The next day, turn off the aquarium light and remove the hood. Take out any plants and decorations. If they look totally icky from algae, wash them in the sink with plain water and some non-iodized salt if necessary. Don't use soap! Also don't use a scrubby that has been used for other things.
Next, use the aquarium brush to scrub all the aquarium walls. Try to get behind the filter and the corners and move the rocks around a bit.
Now comes the rather annoying tough part. It might help to read the aquarium vacuum's instructions. Put your empty bucket on a table or chair next to the aquarium. You take one end of the siphon and put it in the tank and the other end into the bucket. Get some water in the siphon and lift it out of the water slightly. What you're trying to do is get the entire tube filled with water instead of air so it creates a vacuum and sucks out the water. It'll probably take you a few tries to get it to work. Next, suck out the water, try to avoid the fish. They'll be fine if you accidentally suck them out of the tank, but they won't be all that happy for an hour or so. Get in the rocks and try to vacuum up as much crud as you can. Once the bucket is nearly full, set it on the counter and let the debris settle a bit. That makes it easier to check to make sure you didn't accidentally suck up a fish. Once you're sure you have all your fish, dump the water. Before you add fresh water, take the newly clean plants and ornaments and put them where you want in the tank. Add fresh water and then you can put the aquarium hood back on and enjoy watching your happy fish swimming all around. The tank might be a little cloudy after you clean it, but it'll clear up in an hour or two.

Answer 5

Your goldfish are the culprits. Goldfish are very dirty fish and produce lots of waste. Aquarium salt is NOT recommended for this nor is anything for bacteria ( unless they have symptoms of infections; Ick for instance is small white sores or "dots" ). I would recommend changing the filter or cleaning it depending on the type. Also, go buy a siphon hose for aquariums. You just stick the large in in the tank tip it out of the water to begin suction and then stick it back under water. All of the fish waste and extra food gets under the gravel where the filter is no good to you. Use the siphone hose to clean this area and then refill your tank with clean water and if you have chlorine in your water, they do make a treatment for that ( 1drop per gallon ).

Answer 6

You have way too many fish. Your tank is big enough for ONE goldfish. That is why you have dirty water. The water is also full of harmful chemicals and they are slowly killing your fish.

You will not be able to clear up your water until you solve your overcrowding issues.

The bacteria keep the tank clean. They are part of the small eceosystem you have. There are way too many fish and so the bio-load is too much for the bacteria to handle.

Salt helps fish in a variety of cases- for the goldies it should be used as medicine. Your mollies should always have it in their water.

You also have cold water and tropical (warm water) fish. They don't mix.

If someone was doing the equivalent to dogs as what you are doing to those fish then they would be arrested for animal abuse.

Answer 7

For one, you have way too many fish for a 10-gallon tank. Irridescent sharks can grow up to 3 feet long and a single goldfish requires at least 5-gallons of water in order to thrive. And no, fish do not grow to their environment - they will out grow it and die prematurely because they don't have room to grow. Also it is not wise mix cold-water goldfish with warm water tropical fish....goldfish are highly prone to bacterial diseases and warm water promotes bacteria. Rule of thumb for a healthy tank is 1-gallon of water for every inch of fish.

Answer 8

it could also be the temperature of the water that is causing it to be murky... sometimes if the water temp. is too high it makes it easier for algae to form... try keeping the tank out of the sun or lowering the temperature gauge if you have one

Answer 9

Change a quarter of the water every day until clean and get a catfish.

Answer 10

It still has to be cleaned out regularly theres a kit you can purchase at wal mart or petsmart, also if you add a sucker fish it'll help keep it clean longer