Tank questions

[BettaGal]

This will probably come out looking tedious and proving I'm far from expert on fish tanks. I have a 10-gal tank with two live plants and one silk in the back. There are two caves for everyone. I have an airstone and a filter I know is too small but I can't really afford a new one right now and this one was already used. I got one dwarf gourami and Cory cats and a mystery snail and a nerite snail. I had a Cory cat die just a few minutes ago, and the gourami didn't waste any time trying to eat it, so it got cleaned up quick. I did a water change, about 50% ish. Now for the questions. Are corys territorial much at all? I can get another one to replace him, but the store I prefer stocks smaller ones than where I got the clan. I noticed a lovely line of white dots on the front wall of my tank, leading me to believe my nerite is a woman. Will these mess up my water more than it probably already is? I forgot my test kit at home, but the water was a tad green when I changed it. I'll do another water change tomorrow to kinda clean it up a little. I have an automatic feeder going. Should I add some of the granules I got to the flakes? The granules came as part of a quad food thing that had flakes, shrimp, and granules, and the granules sink pretty darn fast for slow sinking granules. I'll have more questions as these get answered. I'm sure of it. And if anyone answers that's really familiar with my tank as I've asked a million questions already, it was Spazzo that died. He was off anyway so I doubt it was water quality, and everyone else is fine.

 

[TidBitz]

Yes you can replace your cory with another they are group fish, though your Gourami may care they tend to go after smaller fish, I'd look for one the same size as your others seeing as he/she does not mess with those. I tend to vote against auto feeders due to me personally allways having cloudy water. They are a only when on vacation thing for me.

 

[NexVobis]

Yes you can replace your Cory as these fish do better when in groups.

 

[TidBitz]

Your water could be getting too much algae (green) from the feeder, too much light, or too much feeding if your water levels are fine. There is no telling what could have happened to the cory there is a possibility that he had a problem before you got him or he got too stressed during the transition from the store to your place. If your other fish are fine I would not stress about it.

 

[Pipedreamer86]

Corys are not territorial at all. They prefer company, lots of it. They won't care the size of the new Cory, and I'd suggest getting 2 more personally, unless your filter is REALLY too small. I don't think snail eggs are going to hurt your water. I also vote against the auto feeder but do suggest regularly adding sinking pellets for your cories.

 

[TidBitz]

I use shrimp pellets myself they love em as well as the other fish and snails.

 

[BettaGal]

I have the auto feeder because I just got back from a 3 day weekend and am leaving again Tuesday. I'll just leave it up a week and take it down when I get back. There aren't many eggs; just a lovely dotted line on the front. My mystery snail has a very gold spot on the back of his shell, but the rest is a dull, almost see-through ish gold. Is there a calcium issue in my tank? My gourami is rather peaceful, but doesn't take crap from anyone. With a smaller Cory or two, I doubt there will be a problem unless you count him maybe putting the feisty one in its place. Torch is a "gardener" as he is always pruning and babying the leafy plant. I added the plant food liquid stuff a couple hours before Spazzo clocked out and I changed some water. Do I need to re-add the stuff since I changed the water after adding it? My filter is a 1-3 gal one that has cartridges and suction cups to the wall. TetraCare made it, if that helps describe it. Can the plants cause the water to turn on me? Spazzo was always a little odd. He was the Free Willy jumper of the tank.

 

[BettaGal]

In the flash of my camera phone, his shell looks normal. Once he decides to position himself where I can see it again, I'll take a picture without the flash so you guys can see what I'm talking about. Do Cory cats seem to get depressed when a friend dies? Mine are kinda moping on the bottom not really hanging out together today. They'll move around some, but they aren't all happy. Health wise, everyone seems fine. Torch will occasionally rub his side on the bamboo leaves, but it doesn't seem like a parasite warning rub. He only does it one time on a rare occasion. I think he's either massaging himself or still playing with the plant. What makes the water go cloudy? I only notice it around the color changing LED light, but that's all the light I use.

 

[TidBitz]

The filter you are describing I know of used it in my betta tank, they work good in smaller gal but for a 10 not so good... it is basically just adding a little air to your tank thats it. And no to the plant question you don't want to add too much nutrients and live plants actually (can) help with the health of your tank. Sounds to me like you just don't have enough filtration.

 

[Pipedreamer86]

No where near enough filtration, or water movement, honestly I would say with nigh on 100% certainty that is the cause of the green water. When was the last time you checked water parameters. With only a 1-3 gal filter I'd say you would need at least once daily pwc. It sounds like your snail is sick also. That is not a good sign, and if your corys are listless that also is.not normal. I'd be testing.that water and doing some major water changes

 

[BettaGal]

I'll be doing another water change tonight. The Cory cats are moving around doing their thing, just not as much now that Spazzo died. They were all fine last night. I did what I could with the money I got, which ain't much. At least I have filtration. I got it turned up as high as it will go and I have an airstone in there too. What's up with my snail? The nerite is fine. Just the mystery looks weird. He needs a cool mysterious name. Poor dude ain't got a name.

 

[BettaGal]

Dracula woke up and Lurch is his lazy self. Do gourami's have a thing for plants? Torch is in love with on of my plants.

 

[TidBitz]

Males make nests out of leaves, twigs, algae what ever they can find to court their female. The nest is where they put the eggs to guard.

 

[Pipedreamer86]

Sounds like calcium with the snail. When u drop in sinking pellets do corys go mad? Does the gourami eat? Yes gouramis like plants, most fish do, but.I.agree my.gouramis showed particular interest. I understand money issues, believe me, but you REALLY need to get better filtration on that tank or it WILL crash, and since you.dont have your.test kit you.won't. See it coming to stop it

 

[BettaGal]

The Cory cats seem to prefer algae wafers to my granules for some reason. They will nibble the granules, but will wait for the wafer to soften up before tearing it to shreds and scattering it everywhere. They will eat a whole wafer. The gourami eats the flakes and some granules. I tried freeze dried baby shrimp I got in my handy 3-food container, and he wasn't real interested. He was probably mad I removed his fresh snack of freshly gone Cory cat. I did that after realizing that I was stupid and when I was doing something in the tank the feeder fell in and got clogged. That was Monday. Didn't realize it till last night when it didn't dump. I felt bad and gave them flakes and shrimp. Unless someone can find a super amazing deal on a filter, I really can't afford to get one right now. They cost more than my tank did in the store, and it was a fairly cheap tank. Cheaper than Walmart. I'm borderline fully broke and there are no jobs for a college student here. I've been looking forever. I won't have income till December and that's more for ridiculously priced textbooks. I currently can't afford to spend $30+ on a new filter at least until January. I do what I can, and I don't mean to come off like a hobo trying to tackle a hobby that's impossible for him to do. I will be getting my test kit soon, and my family knows I need it, so between the five of us, we should remember the darn thing. I'll take all the advice I can get, as I find great relaxation in my fish tank during my stressful college life and have no intention of letting everything go wrong.

 

[BettaGal]

What cheap ways can I fix the calcium issue? The gourami doesn't nest in the leaves - he cleans them, positions them, breaks them off when he doesn't like the looks of them, and guards it with his soul. As I type, he's cleaning the rocks around the base of it. I have sand substrate, but I put large aquarium rocks around the airstone and plants because my Cory cats like to unbury them. Is my gourami normal, or is he flat out weird? It's been like this since I planted it.

 

[BettaGal]

Does anyone know why my gourami was one day vibrating his dorsal fin? I saw him doing it one day and have never figured out what it was.