Gross tank

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Fishyfanatic

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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.
 
did the maintenance get away from you for a while? Seems like a gradual accumulation of waste that might take some gravel vacs and water changes to clear up. Say a gravel vac every two weeks for 3 or four times, and some PWC's in between? In the absence of a heavy bioload and overfeeding, I would think that the very high nitrate level would indicate that you need to do water changes and gravel vacs more often. Feed what they can consume in two or three minutes, once or twice a day, trying not to have any food get down to the gravel.

I am a bit of an overfeeder myself. When I had some poorly feeding fish I really overfed, which, BTW, did not make them eat better. Just bumped up my nitrates. You might also want to do an ammonia and nitrite test to make sure your biofilter is doing OK.
I would skip water conditioners that have slime coat enhancer or aloe in them for a while too.

I bet it will clear right up with some more water changes and gravel vacs. There aren't many problems that can't be helped this way :D
 
oh, and is there the possiblility of a dead snail or snails decaying somewhere in the tank?
 
I have checked, but haven't found any dead snails. The Ammonia and Nitrites are 0. It was just the Nitrates that got pretty high up there. We normally do monthly water changes but have increased it to every two weeks (matching the 29 gal water change schedule). The 10 gal usually doesn't get as much attention lately because the 150 is such a time consuming tank. But now that the 150 is cycled, I will be able to pay more attention to the 10 gal.

In regards to feeding the snails, I have found it kind of difficult. I have heard that I should drop in a piece of an algae wafer and they will live off of that. I do this about every other day and haven't seen a snail eating on the algae wafer except for once. In the 5 gal, it just sits in the bottom of the tank for days unless I take it out. Are they just eating off of the algae in the tank?

Also, this is a TOTALLY unrelated question but, how do ghost shrimp reproduce? One of my ghost shrimp has what looks like little green balls in its stomach. Could it be eggs or just food or waste?
 
Fishy, feeding snails is easy. They do eat everything including left over fish food, algae...and the ummm...you know.

You can supplement their diet with blanched carrot slices. They absolutely love em'. My have "fought" over them (try to imagine snails trying to possess one - if you can't, check my gallery).
 
do they really eat the "ummm...you know" 8O ? my 2 platies seem to produce a lot of that and a snail would certainly help!
 
So maybe it's not the snails producing the slimy stuff? My snails have always been pretty active, crusing around all over the tank, even over each other. I'll try to carrot thing. Do I just toss in 1 slice of carrot per every two or three days? Will the Tetra's and molly also eat it? My molly is such a pig. I'm suprised that the tetra's are even still alive. As soon as I drop food in, that molly is at the top of the tank, eating every last piece of food. So basically I can stop dropping in algae wafers for the snails? All they ever do is turn into mush.

Also, I have 3 ivory snails in my 5 gal hex. They aren't eating algae. Are they supposed to be fed something different? I got them to help control the algae, but all they are doing is cruising right over it, not eating any of it.
 
Fishyfanatic said:
Also, this is a TOTALLY unrelated question but, how do ghost shrimp reproduce? One of my ghost shrimp has what looks like little green balls in its stomach. Could it be eggs or just food or waste?

Those likely are, as you suspect, eggs; if they're fertilized before they descend to the abdominal pleopods, they'll eventually develop into minute drifting zoae, and from then on to benthic post-larvae.
 
I'm trying to find the shrimp that had the little green balls in her stomach. She still has them in her tummy. How long until they are released?
 
Those likely are, as you suspect, eggs; if they're fertilized before they descend to the abdominal pleopods, they'll eventually develop into minute drifting zoae, and from then on to benthic post-larvae.
Which would mean that they aren't likely to grow up in a tank environment?
 
How many snails do you have? I usually put in a slice for each one (generous on my part) but it has to come out if not completely consumed in a day. You don't have to do the same if you have a significant number. No, your fish will not eat it but cats will gnaw on it if they find it. :D
 
I have 6 apple snails in the 10 gal. 2 of them are rather large. So if I would toss in maybe 4 slices and see if they eat it? Do I need to cook it before hand like I do the peas for the cichlids?

What color will the eggs be when they are released? There are about 4 or 5 little clear/white things on one of the pieces of decor. It could just be air bubbles though.
 
3 would be fine. The carrots need to be blanched (dropped in boiling water for a minute) before adding. And don't worry, they will eat it. Trust me. They may not finish it but they will consume as much as they can.
 
Thanks Chillin! I will definately try that tomorrow. The only vegs that we keep in the house are the ones for the fish. We normally don't eat at home, it's hard cooking for only 2 people. I'll pick some up tomorrow.
 
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