Help on fish tank please?

Question

Hey everyone i'm a new owner of fish and the first two fish i got, they died in three days cuz of that white moldy stuff on their body. First question is, what is that moldy stuff?
Second question, I cleaned out the tank water halfway and put in new water but then the next day, the whole tank was green. It wasn't algae at all. The glass was clean but the water was soo cloudy and green. Can anybody tell me whats wrong? Please reply ASAP, i don't want any more fishies dying. :'(

Answer 1

Actually the green water is algae. It's a type of single cell algae that lives in the water that way. It's caused by too much nutrient (usually fish waste and uneaten food) in the tank and too much light. Clean the tank well including the gravel once a week as you remove and replace about 25% of the water. Keep the light on only when you are there to enjoy the tank and no more than about 10 hours a days max. Doing this will bring the green water under control within a few weeks tops.

The moldy stuff you saw on the dead fish was fungus and probably grew on the fish after they died. I would need lots more details about your tank before I could even guess why they might have died.

MM

Answer 2

Hello, you poor kid. I remember it all to well, wqhen we got our first tank and all I had was this same thing, and got upset that the fish died in days and it seem we was always cleaning the tank and buying moer fish (CHEAP FISH )
Well. one of the things was to get a bigger tank and better filltation . We have a 55 gal. tank fron a little 10gal. tank. anyway We needed bottom airfiltion ( 2 on each side) 2 large air stones down in thr front and a largefiklter that hanges in the back and it uses a 20,30,60 blue filtter . BUT please do this first, and this is very important. When starting up any size tank. get everything you need like the salt ,the PH up and down,Balance starter, Clear. water - ( it is in a small bottle, and all this can be found in your Wal- Mart or where they sale fish tanks. and pets store too. and at least 11/2 2inches deep stone. in the bottom be sure to wash stones before adding to the tank; this to will help . also you got to add bactrera this is a must Also call Biozyme Now DO this !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! set up your tank ( any size) as if you were to be adding your fish. add all the stuff in the water and run the tank for days the longer the better. NO FOOD.. it takes a while to clean the tank and your water . thru all the filttlers. after a few days check the back filtter and see if it needs clean. if so run hot water through it many times. put back in the fillter and run your tank some more. when your water stays clear and not green or cloudy. then, try cheaper fish to start out with . , and only feed small amounts once a day only. this is how we did ours and we have a good tank for serveral years and have to only clean it fully every 6 months to 1 year. I hope this has been so help and good luck LINDY

Answer 3

The white stuff was most likely a fungus or columnarius, a sign of poor water quality. The green water could be euglena. This could have come from the water from the fish store, if you just poured the fish out into the tank... you should net the acclimated fish out of the bag and throw out the water they came home with.

You did not specify what type of fish that died, also you did not specify the tank size, I am guessing that is was proably a delicate species, as opposed to a hardy starter species.

In a new tank the nitrogen cycle is not established, meaning that there is not the necessary bacteria to break down the Ammonia & Nitrites into less harmful nitrates.

There are a few species of fish that can easily handle the ammonia & nitrite spikes of a tank in the process of cycling. These are called "starter fish" Zebra danio, ghost shrimp, do well in a tank in it's early stages. You should start with 2-3 starter fish, change 25% off of the top of the water every other day for about a month. After that you should change about 25% of the water using a tank siphon to clean the gravel every week.

You could also research fishless cycling, which can speed up the process because you can keep the tank extra warm without fish in it. It is a bit easier as you dont have to worry about fish dying in the process, but you have to look at an empty tank for 2-3 weeks. You will need a source of ammonia, and a water test kit to monitor the progess of the cycle, once ammonia, nitrite are at 0 ppm and the nitrate reach 40 ppm do a 50% water change, and you are ready to add fish. You want to keep the nitrate under 40 ppm in a fresh water tank.

Stock your tank slowly, and it is also a good idea quarrantine new arrivals for a few weeks to make sure they are not bringing any pathogens into the tank.

Some fish are delicate & require the tanks chemistry to be "just so" any deviation will cause the fish to die.

Do some research about the fish you like, learn what thier ideal envorinment is, then do your best to provide that enviornment. Good Luck!

Edit: adding benifical bacteria such as "cycle" will not be of any use in cycling an aquarium without a source of ammonia for it to "feed on" Nitrifying bacteria need 2 things to flourish in your tank, they need air & ammonia. Air is provided by the filter running, and ammonia must be added, you can do this several ways, you can add plain unscented ammonia every day, you can sprinkle fish food in the tank every day, or you can toss in a piece of cocktail shrimp...one piece is usually good for the whole process...this is for fishless cycling... If you are interested in this process please research it. Most of us mean well but we are only human & sometimes we forget crucial steps...

Answer 4

the cloudiness was most likely from a bacterial growth spurt. dont worry, it will go away soon. the bacteria that is growing helps to prevent the build up of ammonia. So this is good bacteria.

The green water is most likely from algae. the best thing to do is buy filter floss. it is very fine and traps the tinest particals, if you use the filter floss with some aqua clear (helps particls to clump) the green water should disappear soon. you can get both at a local fish/pet store.

the modly stuff was most likely a fungus. To treat fungus, I use Pima fix for basic stuff. It really depends on the type of fungus, however this is a good general cure and it doesnt hurt the good bacteria.

From now on, when you do water changes, do like 20% changes, this helps to clean the tank, however it doesnt remove a lot of the good bactieria.

you should also be checkin gyour water quality to insure that all the levels are at the right place, for example, (and this depends on the fish) guppies are good at a temp fo around 77 F, pH of 7.0-7.5, ammonia, nitrate, nitrites 0.

ask your pet store what pH/temp is good for the fish you want.

note: algae can also be in the water and not the sides of the tank, i recently had to go through the above procedure with my tank.
a lot of fish keeping is being patient,especially at the beginning.
dont worry though, you will be fine and you may lose fish, cause sometimes fish just die. i have had my tank for a few years now and have lost several fish, some to unknow causes and others to illness.

Answer 5

Hello.
The "moldy stuff" you are describing sounds like a fungus. When fish get stressed, and have poor water conditions, this makes them susceptible to infections, fungal, bacterial and parasitic. I would do a complete water change and not add any fish for at least a week. That is just my advise regarding the infection that killed your fish.
Did you cycle your water before you added fish? If your water had spikes in amonia or nitrites, it can be very harmful for your fish..setting them up for illness or killing them outright, depending on your levels.
The green color in your water sounds like an algae bloom. Aagain, it sounds to me like your water quality is not where it should be.
I would do a complete water change. I would add some beneficial bacteria and test for nitrites and amonia the following day. I would keep testing daily until the amonia and nitrites are zero. Keep adding your bacteria for the recommended amount of time. Once your water tests ZERO, then you can gradually ( one or two at a time) add fish.
If you still have a fish or fish living...I would treat for fungus with an antifungal treatment..it is likely they will get it too if you do not start treating now.
HTH

Answer 6

ans to mouldy stuff on body its got be white spotss ,add (white spot aqua treatment)posibble separate fishes 4 a few days in a pail .
ans to green tank try (greenaway /water treatment) or add a UV light a must .
if your filters are not good ,add stones and sand at bottom of tank will keep fishes healty

Answer 7

That white mouldt stuff is probably ICH(ick) it is a fungus that attacs a fish's nervous system litterally eating it. it is highly contaigous and if you still have fish in their treat them with ich madicine( makes water blue green )
Sounds like you have tomany fish in the tank for just starting it.
You need to cycle your tank for some time befor you go and add fish to it. this cycleing promotes good bacteria growth that break down harmfull amonia(cloudy water),nitrates and nitrates wich are from fish poo and left over food rotting in the gravel.
to do this you need to put water in tank and enough tap water conditioner to kill chlorine etc. and I suggest "CYCLE"(a Hagan product name) this put GOOD bacteria into the water run the filter(new one) for atleast 24 hours . then only add 1/2" of fish per gal.of tank water. after a month you can add more fish to the tank(upto 1" of fish per gal.of tank) plant(real live ones) also help with keeping the ballance of a tank as they filter out nitrates and produce oxygen.

Answer 8

if you leave the lite on for a hour thats why the water is green to fix that promlem turn off lite and you can get water conditoner