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We have had a ten gallon aquarium for about three months now and am having a problem keeping the water clean and the water levels where they are supposed to be. It only has four fish in it...2 fantails, a tetra and a yet small algea eater that sticks to the sides and bottom of the tank. I suspect I am may be overfeeding or using the wrong kind of food but the water is cloudy most of the time. Can the filter cartridges be cleaned off and reused or do I have to buy new ones all the time. Right now we are cleaning it off about every other day as it gets full of greenish brown slime. We use reverse osmosis water in the tank as our tap water is unsafe. What do I do? Also, the little male tetra acts weird. Constantly darting from one end of the tank and back to the other...all day...every day. Has killed two female tetras by chasing. Any idea as to what's going on?

2007-03-26 03:53:44 · 6 answers · asked by Poohcat1 7 in Pets Fish

6 answers

Here's a few ideas that might improve things for you.

1. Yes, it sounds like you are overfeeding. Try to feed only what the fish will eat in 2-3 minutes twice a day.

2. As for the filter cartridges, clean them off by washing them in a bit of tank water when you do your weekly water change. Every other week replace the carbon (black rocky stuff) in the cartridge but keep the bag until it just falls apart or is to dirty to possibly clean.

3. You are probably slightly over stocked or you are nearing that point. Those two fan tails will each need about 15 gallons of space by the time they are adults so, be prepared to remove them to larger quarters or to trade them in at the pet shop soon. Personally I would suggest replacing them with more tetras. Tetras are schooling fish and the activity you see from yours is in response to not being kept in a group. Six or more of the same type will make a large enough group for them to feel comfortable and prevent excessive chasing.

RO water is not the best choice for your tank unless you are taking great pains to reconstitute it with appropiate minerals. You don't mention what makes your tap water unsafe, but odds are very good it can be made to be safe without great expense. I would suggest bottled, but not distilled water for your tank until you can investigate correcting your tap water problem.

You also mention keeping your water levels where they should be. If you are refering to pH, hardness, carbonates and the like the problem stems from the RO water. If you mean ammonia, nitrites and nitrates, the problem stems with the over feeding and potential over crowding. Either way, the above measures will greatly improve the situation.

MM

2007-03-26 04:40:47 · answer #1 · answered by magicman116 7 · 0 1

As already mentioned, you probably have ammonia and nitrite issues as the fantails will be very messy. The fantails also need a much larger tank (also mentioned). A single goldfish needs a 30 gallon tank and for each additional GF you need another 10 gallons.

What type tetra do you have? They generally prefer to be in groups of at least 3 and some will get very nippy in smaller groups. You said it had killed 2 tetras. Were they all the same species?

As for the filter cartridge, don't change it until it is in tatters. That is where 99% of your bacteria colony lives and when you change it, you start a mini-cycle again. Just rinse it in old tank water (not tap water as the chlorine will kill off the bacteria) each time you do a water change.

Since you have slime algae (probably blue-green which is almost impossible to get rid of), I think you are definitely feeding too much. A small pinch once a day is plenty. If there is still food in the tank after 3 to 5 minutes, you fed too much. Left over food also decays and creates ammonia, putting even more stress on your filter and bacteria colony.

2007-03-26 11:45:43 · answer #2 · answered by rdd1952 3 · 0 0

About every week or so do a partial water change, it helps keep the water clear....you could be using too much food, watch them the next time you feed them and make sure they are eating it and not letting it float to the bottom if they don't eat it all, don't put so much in there, and if they are not eating, change food......when you do a water change, don't forget to clean the filter, that might be why there is so much greenish brownish stuff on the cartridge...u can use tap water for the tank, just get some water treatment for it to make is safe for the fish....always make sure that the water temp is right for your fish.....the tetra is probably stressed, either from the other fish, or the water quality isn't good...get some water testing strips to check the PH and Alkaline, if they are off, put some correction stuff in it......well i hope this helps.
go to http://www.petsmart.com/ they have some really great tips on taking care of your aquarium.

2007-03-26 13:01:53 · answer #3 · answered by smilest_16_2002 2 · 0 0

Get a water test kit, sounds like you have high ammonia and/or nitrites. I don't know what kind of filter you have but reusing cartridges is probably not a good idea. I use marineland emperor filters with the bio wheels. They work for me. Get a larger tank. 10 gallon is probably not enough even for the 2 fantails if they are over 2 inches long or so. The larger the easier to maintain and keep the water quality good.

2007-03-26 11:02:22 · answer #4 · answered by Anonymous · 0 1

A good ratio of fish to tank is 1 inch of fish to every gallon of water. My guess is you are feeding your fish too much. They don't appreciate this, if you want to feed them more you should feed them way smaller amounts more often but I'd only do it twice a day.
Your tank shouldn't be slimy. If you don't want to spend the money on test kits as they can be expensive. You should fill about five empty milk jugs with water and let it set for a couple of days (or better yet buy the water). You need to do partial water changes to get the gunk out of your tank.
I don't recommend complete water changes because your fish will easily get stressed out and they may all die within a few days if you change everything.

2007-03-26 20:12:21 · answer #5 · answered by jaime 3 · 1 0

its the fantails, even just one by itself as a baby will make your water filthy in a ten gallon. get a big tank for the goldies or get rid of them and do small tetras in the 10 gallon. the sucker.. if its a pleco get rid of it. they get huge and poop a lot. theres a small oto catfish that would work in a ten gallon but not a pleco at all. the goldies need 20 gal for first goldfish and then 10 gal for each additional one.

2007-03-26 11:24:06 · answer #6 · answered by Anonymous · 0 1

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