Fishyfanatic
Aquarium Advice Addict
My little 10 gal tank has been causing me headaches. I don't think that it is overstocked, but it seems like it is a "nasty" tank. The filter is always filled with gross slimy gunk. When I do gravel vacs, there is alawys slime being kicked up and the water going through the vac is normally green/brown. The water looks crystal clear until I do a gravel vac. I know that I broke the Cardinal rule of fish keeping today.
Two weeks ago I replaced the activated carbon cartidge because I had rinsed it off so many times that the pad was stained brown. Normally I don't even touch the filter, but this week I was going to clean the sponge. So I took out the sponge and cleaned it. When I was putting it back in I noticed that the activated carbon pad was covered in slime. So I took that out and cleaned it as well. I was looking over the tank and noticed that the gravel needed to be vac'd so of course I did a gravel vac. After doing that the water was nasty with slime floating around. So I filled it back up and did another partial water change (bout 20%). I filled the tank back up and it had slime floating everywhere. I just turned off the lights and let it be.
What is the problem? Why is the tank so nasty with slime? I have nver seen a tank like this before until I got my 10 gal. Could it be the snails? I don't feed the fish that much food. I feed them once a day about a pinch. About once every other day I will drop in 1/2 of an algae wafer. Am I overfeeding? The Nitrates were outrageously high a couple weeks ago at 160. I couldn't believe it! The 10 gal has never been this difficult before until recently. What am I doing wrong? I am thinking about taking the molly back to the lfs but he is so beautiful. He's a sailfin that is orange, black, and white and the tail is spotted with green and blue.
Two weeks ago I replaced the activated carbon cartidge because I had rinsed it off so many times that the pad was stained brown. Normally I don't even touch the filter, but this week I was going to clean the sponge. So I took out the sponge and cleaned it. When I was putting it back in I noticed that the activated carbon pad was covered in slime. So I took that out and cleaned it as well. I was looking over the tank and noticed that the gravel needed to be vac'd so of course I did a gravel vac. After doing that the water was nasty with slime floating around. So I filled it back up and did another partial water change (bout 20%). I filled the tank back up and it had slime floating everywhere. I just turned off the lights and let it be.
What is the problem? Why is the tank so nasty with slime? I have nver seen a tank like this before until I got my 10 gal. Could it be the snails? I don't feed the fish that much food. I feed them once a day about a pinch. About once every other day I will drop in 1/2 of an algae wafer. Am I overfeeding? The Nitrates were outrageously high a couple weeks ago at 160. I couldn't believe it! The 10 gal has never been this difficult before until recently. What am I doing wrong? I am thinking about taking the molly back to the lfs but he is so beautiful. He's a sailfin that is orange, black, and white and the tail is spotted with green and blue.