am i overstocked??

[janeth0185]

ok i went to my local fish store yesterday to get my water tested.everything read fine.this sales lady seemed she had the biggest attitude in world and was explaining to me that my ph is waaay off the charts, which everytime i do get water tested there with other ppl and also in other pet stores they dont make a big deal about the ph and plus my fish seem fine and active.well anyways she started saying that my tank is overstocked.i have 1 dwarf gourami,2 julli cory catfish and 2 panda corys in a 10 gallon.can someone else tell me this is true or was this dumb sales lady right. oh and wanted to add this in here, i have brown algea in my tank which i clean but comes back.she said brown algea is fatal to fish.pffff i doubt this is tru cuz my fish seem healthy.any expierince with brown algea and is my tank really overstocked

 

[fort384]

I wouldn't call it overstocked if you are keeping up with water changes. What are the actual levels of ammonia, nitrite, and nitrate, and what is your pH reading?

Brown algae is most definitely not fatal to fish.

 

[janeth0185]

I wouldn't call it overstocked if you are keeping up with water changes. What are the actual levels of ammonia, nitrite, and nitrate, and what is your pH reading?

Brown algae is most definitely not fatal to fish.

yea.im always on top of my fish and do about 25-30% water changes once per week. my ammonia is reading .25, nitrite 0ppm and nitrates i believe she said 20.
ph is 7.8 which i believe is high, its always at 7.8 and wont go down.this sales lady said to buy acid buffer for the ph to go down.do u know of anything that works to make my ph go down that is safe for my fish

 

[fort384]

You do not need to worry about your pH. 7.8 is fine for your fish selections so long as it is stable. Buffering your water can cause way more problems than it can solve.

The 0.25 NH4 reading concerns me - it should be 0. How long has the tank been established and how long has the stock been in there? What is your maintenance schedule?

 

[Laser]

Don't worry about lowering your pH. It's fine, just ignore her. Fish need a consistent pH level. Don't buy any pH altering products. Also, your tank is not overstocked. Some would argue over having the corys in a 10g but you are not overstocked IMO.

 

[janeth0185]

You do not need to worry about your pH. 7.8 is fine for your fish selections so long as it is stable. Buffering your water can cause way more problems than it can solve.

The 0.25 NH4 reading concerns me - it should be 0. How long has the tank been established and how long has the stock been in there? What is your maintenance schedule?

yea im not sure why my ammonia is stuck on .25... ive had ammonia problems in the past.ive had my tank since th eend of may of this year.i was all new at this and i started of with the wrong fish GOLDFISH. well i ended up having serious ammonia issues around the time my goldies died around july.then i left my tank empty for about 2 weeks til ammonia lowered and then bought the dg and the julli corys( the beggining of august i bought them), and about a month ago i bought my panda corys. and til recently my ammonia has finally lowered to .25 which has been reading that for about 3 weeks or so. ive vacumed the gravel before but what can i do to make the ammonia levels read 0ppm?

 

[janeth0185]

Don't worry about lowering your pH. It's fine, just ignore her. Fish need a consistent pH level. Don't buy any pH altering products. Also, your tank is not overstocked. Some would argue over having the corys in a 10g but you are not overstocked IMO.

thanks.i really didnt think i was overstocked. this lady had such an attitude that i really didnt wanna listen to wat she really had to say.so ill just leave the tank as it is.i was sure the ph wasnt affecting them cuz they seem so healthy and active

 

[fort384]

What are you using for filtration on the tank? How often are you doing water changes, and how much water are you changing?

 

[...joey...]

ok i went to my local fish store yesterday to get my water tested.everything read fine.this sales lady seemed she had the biggest attitude in world and was explaining to me that my ph is waaay off the charts, which everytime i do get water tested there with other ppl and also in other pet stores they dont make a big deal about the ph and plus my fish seem fine and active.well anyways she started saying that my tank is overstocked.i have 1 dwarf gourami,2 julli cory catfish and 2 panda corys in a 10 gallon.can someone else tell me this is true or was this dumb sales lady right. oh and wanted to add this in here, i have brown algea in my tank which i clean but comes back.she said brown algea is fatal to fish.pffff i doubt this is tru cuz my fish seem healthy.any expierince with brown algea and is my tank really overstocked

From what I've heard I'd use a different lfs lol. Over stocking is a problem but if your fish are healthy parameters are fine and doesn't look crowed from the eye I'd finsish up by saying its your hobby your tank your money do what you want

 

[janeth0185]

What are you using for filtration on the tank? How often are you doing water changes, and how much water are you changing?

im using the aquatech 5-15 power filter ( hob filter) ( it came with the starter kit i bought),i do 30% water changes once per week....oh i never mentioned , my filter cartridge is looking gross, its growing this white fuzzy fungis stuff on it..i cleaned it with the tank water before but it grows back.and the carbon that it has is starting to grow the same thing..should i just change the cartfidge or what should i do, dunno if thats what causing my ammonia to not go down completly to 0ppm

 

[fort384]

Change the cartridge would be ok. Sounds like you have the right idea though, you don't want to do that too often if you can avoid it.

FYI carbon loses its effectiveness rather quickly (within a week to a month depending on factors)... you may just want to stuff some filter floss in there instead of buying carbon cartridges. You don't need to run carbon 24/7. It is good for removing meds or if you suspect you have a contaminate, but on a FW tank with common fish, it just isn't necessary.

 

[janeth0185]

Change the cartridge would be ok. Sounds like you have the right idea though, you don't want to do that too often if you can avoid it.

FYI carbon loses its effectiveness rather quickly (within a week to a month depending on factors)... you may just want to stuff some filter floss in there instead of buying carbon cartridges. You don't need to run carbon 24/7. It is good for removing meds or if you suspect you have a contaminate, but on a FW tank with common fish, it just isn't necessary.

ok so ill just change the cartridge and throw away the carbon then.ill go to the pet store and get filter floss.i dont know what filter floss is but do i need to keep replacing that filter floss often or is it a one time thing to just replace the carbon?

 

[fort384]

It is just like cotton pillow stuffing looking stuff. Only need to replace it when it starts to fall apart. Otherwise it can just be squeezed out in your tank water that you take out during water changes.

 

[janeth0185]

It is just like cotton pillow stuffing looking stuff. Only need to replace it when it starts to fall apart. Otherwise it can just be squeezed out in your tank water that you take out during water changes.

ok..thanks for ur help