i got a 10 gallon fish with just one Oscar in it and every 3 days my son has to clean it out i got a bottle of the clear stuff you put in the tank after its cleaned out but 3 days later he's having to clean it again so if anyone can help solve my problem i would appreciate it very much and again i want to thank everybody for their answers
2007-02-05 17:04:43 · 8 answers · asked by rebelady28379 7 in Pets ➔ Fish
There are many reasons that may be leading to your tank's cloudy water. Novice aquarists make a few mistakes when initially setting up their tank. The first two are properly cleaning the tank and cleaning the gravel.
How long has your tank been set up? When your son cleans the tank, does he only remove 20% of the water?
To clean the tank, first off you need a scraper or a sponge. This is to clean the inside glass. You will be surprised how much stuff gets stuck to it even when it looks clear.
A gravel syphon then can be used to remove all the debris from the bottom of the tank and gravel, up to your 20%.
Prior to adding your new water to the tank add your dechlor. If you are using tablets, get rid of them and get a good liquid dechlor like AquaNova +. Add aquarium salt. Now you can return this water to the tank. Be sure also, filters are either washed clean or changed. (you may also want to clean the filter itself.
Also, be sure the filter can handle the 10 gallon tank. sometimes filters for a specific size tank are not powerfull enough to handle waste from certain types of fish. I would recomend going up to a 20 gallon filter on your 10 gallon.
Also, be sure to check your water quality with a test kit or by taking it to the pet store.
Good luck
2007-02-06 04:36:28 · answer #1 · answered by danielle Z 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
First off, the reason that the aquarium is getting so dirty is because it is too small for that size of fish. I'm surprised that you are getting by with only changing the water every three days. With this set-up, you may need to do water changes every day. Also, you never remove all of the water from the tank. I know it sounds strange, but water that is clean to us is unhealthy for fish. The water needs to cycle in order to be healthy. Constantly removing all of the water never allows that to happen. Cycling is where the ammonia is removed from the water and beneficial bacteria begins to grow in the gravel and filter. All you need to do with water changes is siphon the gravel, remove only about 25-30% of the water and rinse the filter in the old water that you removed from the tank. It's okay. All of us made these same mistakes when we started out too. It's part of the learning process. Read up on how to do water changes and what cycling is all about. It will all make a lot more sense to you after that. Also, you really need to consider a larger aquarium. Good luck and have fun!
2007-02-05 17:30:51 · answer #2 · answered by Venice Girl 6 · 1⤊ 1⤋
OK, you are only supposed to have 1 inch of fish per gallon of water. How big is the fish and how often are you feeding him? He should only get enough food so he consumes it in five minutes. Oscars are messy. You probably need a better filter and a bigger tank. If you are changing the water that often the biological filtration never gets a chance to kick in. Take a water sample to the pet store and see if they can test it for you, to see what's wrong with it....
2007-02-05 17:15:09 · answer #3 · answered by Jo 3 · 2⤊ 1⤋
Oscars grow a minumim of 10inches, so they need at least 30 gallons so they can swim and turn around. I would recommened upgrading your tank. If you are feeding him live fish the tank will be messier and it should only be one fish per day per Oscar.
I would also suggest a gravel vacum if you do not own one already, then alls you would need to do is gravel vacum every so many days. Please upgrade your tank soon, if not your Oscar could possibly die. Even though they are not growing on the outside, their organs still grow no matter what.
2007-02-06 03:17:58 · answer #4 · answered by Isadora Marie's Mommy 4 · 0⤊ 1⤋
Oscar need a minimum of 30 gallons. You need a bigger tank.
2007-02-05 17:19:15 · answer #5 · answered by talarlo 3 · 2⤊ 1⤋
buy a water filter that can manage that tank and a few snails eat most of the grimy stuff that get all over the glass
2007-02-05 17:09:41 · answer #6 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 1⤋
U prolly need to invest in a gravel vacuum...also get an algea eater fish..or a snail........hope i helped!!
2007-02-05 17:10:27 · answer #7 · answered by Seth B 1 · 0⤊ 1⤋
Hope this helps!
2015-05-02 12:53:47 · answer #8 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
you need a good filter!
2007-02-05 17:44:22 · answer #9 · answered by pitbull bruno 1 · 0⤊ 1⤋