New member with some Questions

[Antheia]

Hello,

I found this website while browsing the internet and I thought I would post my questions because I have had a lot of trouble with my aquarium, and I still remain having some difficulty.

I have had my tank for about 4 and a half months. In the beginning I was having a hard time cycling my tank and preventing my PH from dropping to uncontrollable levels. It seemed the "good" bacteria was not establishing very well because my tank was cycling for 2 months and my PH kept prolonging the process because out of nowhere it dropped to an unreadable PH level on my cards. In desperation because of the terrible water quality and fish dying off I decided to try SafeStart by Tetra (was very skeptical at first). This product seems to work like a pro. After just 48 hours, my water was no longer cloudy and all of my tests were perfect. Now, I am running into another issue; slime. Also, the water seems to have a green tinge to it (it is not cloudy, its crystal clear) The slime builds up on the filter, and the interior glass is very slick. I have to clean the filter weekly because I do have moss on a piece of drift wood that the fish love to nibble on and the create floating particles in the water.

My maintenance on my tank includes weekly partial water changes, and monthly filtration changes. I have two filters in my filtration system, and I stagger the changing of each filter each month so I constantly have "good" bacteria in my filter

I have read that over feeding can cause slime, but I am certain I am not overfeeding because I feed my fish every other day, and I only feed what they can eat before it reaches the bottom of the tank.

Could over stocking cause slime? I think my tank may be over stocked. I currently have 13 fish in my tank, my biggest fish being a datnoid at around 3inches. I have had the same fish in my tank now for about 2 months.

Any ideas would be great.
Thanks

 

[Khazmachi]

Hi and welcome! You say you might be overstocked. Let's get some more information from you and hopefully we can help get to the bottom of your problem. What size is the tank? What exactly are all the fish you have in there? Is the tank planted? If so are you using fertilizers, what is your lighting? Also what do you have in it for decor, something wrong there could be causing your pH to fluctuate

 

[Oohitsae]

First of all, WELCOME TO AA! It's good to see new faces around here!

Where exactly is the slime located? Is it on the filter or outside I the water? If so that could be the water evaporating and causing algea or it could be decaying plant matter. I'm sure there are other possibilities, those two just come to mind first.

I'm worried about the pH, there has to be something causing the drops. Are you using co2, peat, or do you know what type of driftwood it is in there?

The filter change schedule also worries me. You don't have to throw the pad out until it's falling apart. The charcoal/carbon should be replaced monthly if you are running it (not necessary), but the pad itself is where all your benificial bacteria grows and removing it can cause mini cycles. Just rinse it off every month during water change days in old tank water and you'll be in good shape.

I don't think over feeding is a problem since you mention that you make sure not to feed more than they can eat, and at that only feeding every other day. But you could possibly be overstocked. What is your tank size?

Hopefully I've helped answer some of your questions.

 

[Antheia]

My tank size is 26 gallons. Honestly some of the fish I do not remember the names of them, but here is what I do have; Datnoid (2.5in), Catfish (4.in), Blue Graumi (spelling may be wrong)(1in), larger Graumi (2in), 3 gold tetras (1in), 3 red fish about the same size as the tetras (1in), bumblebee gobie (1in), Clown Loach (2in), Koi Angelfish (3in), German Blue Ram (2in), Clown Plecko (3in). The sizes are approx. The tank doesn't look crowded, but I have read that there should be 1in of fish for every gallon in the tank.

My tank has mostly fake plants; I have a skull head, a tree trunk with air pump (oxygenating water), and a cave. I have some fake plants also. The driftwood I am not sure the type, it was in a big bin in the aquarium store. I have had it in the tank for 3 months now. I have live moss wrapped around the driftwood.

The reason I have changed the filter is because they get VERY dirty very fast and when I remove them it is virtually black and when I just rinse the filter it remains a very dark color. I thought by alternating each cartridge change it would be better than changing both at once.

I cleaned off some slime from the filter yesterday (cover of the biowheel), and the biowheel is turning brown and a little slimy. The interior glass at and below the water level is slimy.

I just tested my water last night; 0 Ammonia, 0 Nitrites, 20ppm Nitrates, 0 Phosphates, 6.4 PH level. Since I have a live plant, I used a live plant safe buffer to boost the PH level last night. I have not been using CO2 lately because I have been having a difficult time keeping the PH steady.

I hope this gives you all the information you need.

 

[Antheia]

Here is a picture of my tank.

 

[NYgiantsRP]

Well right now you aren't overstocked because a lot of your fish are still growing. You NEED to do some serious research about your fish. It is spelled gourami. The biggest problem is the datnoid, it can grow over 10" and will not be suitable for a 29g or with the current stock. Also the clown loach belongs in a group of at lest 3 and need at least 75g. The "catfish" also worries me. Most catfish don't belong in a 29 unless it cory cats. D you know what kind f catfish it is?

You don't need to get ride of the filter pads because they are brown. There it a lot of beneficial bacteria in the pads that are good for your tank.

 

[Antheia]

Yes, I know some of the fish can get rather large, but I was told the datnoid is a slow grower and we got one of the smallest ones in the store. Also, the personality was irresistible. The catfish was my mans idea Lol! He is not gigantic, but I anticipate him getting rather large. The store did not have a description of him so I am not sure what kind of catfish he is. I can take a pic and post it a little later. When he gets a bit bigger I can trade him in for a different fish. The clown loaches were bought on impulse because of the color. After I had bought one and brought it home, I did some research. Though they do well with their own kind, the one I have seems to be doing well with the other fish in the tank. I was thinking if he started not doing well I would just take him back. Though the fish variety is odd, they all do well together.

If I am not overstocked, I wonder why my tank is slimy? I had a fish tank years ago and I never had the issues I have had with this tank.

 

[azmodan]

They are all doing well together... for now. As they continue to grow then problems will begin to arise, unfortunately. I'd look to rehome one of the gouramis and the datnoid sooner rather than later. Also do you know what sort of bumblebee goby you have? In terms of the slime issue how long do you run your lights for? Got a close pic of the slime?

 

[Oohitsae]

The slime is algea. What kind of lighting do you have? I'm assuming it's either strong, or you run it a lot.
My tanks get it fairly bad too, all over my plant leaves and along the filter. It's something that happens pretty often you may be able to use some sort of algea stuff to fix it up if you don't have any inverts.

As for the fish, I'd bring the datnoid and loach back ASAP unless you plan to upgrade in the near future. While the datnoid may be a slow grower it is still pretty active and needs more space than a 26 offers. The loach is a schooling fish, they can always do "ok" by themselves, but they aren't truly thriving unless with others of their own kind plus they get pretty big and need a 75 gallon aquarium to live properly. You will get attached to both fast which is why I suggest rehoming before that happens.

You aren't overstocked at all though, yet. You will eventually be if you keep the current stock like it is. Especially with there already being a clown pleco and angel in there.

Last thing, why were you running co2 without anything other than moss (live) in the tank (that was mentioned atleast)
That could have definitely been the initial cause of the algea since there were no plants other than moss to use it up

 

[Mebbid]

+1 to everyone for their advice. It's easy to get attached to the fish.. I bought one recently that I didn't research and didn't know I couldnt care for... Well about $100 later I now have a happy fish and an unhappy wallet