What to do ????!!!

[MiamiFishy]

Hey fellow aquarists, its been a while since my last post.
Sorry Im still working on getting that digital camera to post some pics of my 29 gall tank.

I got 3 problems that I need help with...

1. My tank has develop this veil-like, membrane if you will of some sort of algae. It has attached itself to the rocks, some of my decor plants ( plastic...sorry) and glass. Even my filter intake has some of it. Its not hair like, at least it doesn't look hairy, more like a small piece of paper, like a membrane or veil that swings with the water current. I have tried to python it out, yet it has a strong hold on what ever it sits on.

2. Since I moved all my original 4 zebras and 2 corys to their new tank ( this was about 3-5 months ago?) I have only lost one zebra and my females have laid eggs down, now I have about 15 zebras all getting big and look healthy and happy. This is the problem, my one big "White Shark" female zebra seems to be so happy that she keeps laying eggs, so I have about a dozen zebra fry all over and under the gravel.
I have used a lenght of plastic tubing with O2 hose to syphon some out, yet I cant vac my gravel to remove all the uneaten food.

3. I definitely need to vac my gravel, give it a good jank at that white algae, but since I have a Phyton vac, if I use it, what ever fry and eggs are in the gravel will die since my cold water has low pressure, I use hot water and cold water to get the required amount of vac ...

So you guys see my dilemma here, I need to vacuum the gravel, but, if I do it, I would be killing my fry, ( which with the above mention plastic tubing and hose I have been able to rescue some 10 or more fry...yet its very hard,...and I can only get the ones on the edge of the gravel- close to the glass. I know there are more in the center! )- But If I don't vac soon that algae will take over the tank, and as it is, all that waste and algae are starting to change my water pH. HELP...What to do!!! I don't want to have my little fry become sardines a la steam! nor a algae soup!

All your help and advice will be taken very dearly serious!

Tank specifics:
Tank size: 29 gal Fresh Water
Light: One fluorescent original stock 32? light tube/
Filter: Penguin 350b ( with four media and two bio-wheels )
Air: air stone hanging from the right side, air line in gravel tube for a nice gentle bubble wall.
substrate: gravel small medium size
Decor: two large concentrations of plastic decor on sides of tank, 3 ring bridge on centre.. media size leaves bush behind bridge covering intake.
( sorry, cant remember the names for the plants.. like snow flakes with a string thru the middle stuck one on top of the other???? )
pH: 7.4-7.2?
Hardness 3 ? ( means, it takes 3 drops of solution to get from blue to orange?)
Ammonia: 0.0 0.5
Nitrate: 0.0 ? ( sorry I might get this two confused on the spelling .the bi product of the ammonia bacteria.)
Nitrite: 10 - 20 stable ( the bi product of the above producer bacteria )

I hope you guys understood that last part... I seem to always get my Nitrite and Nitrate order confused.
Thank you in advance for all your suggestions and kind advice! my fry and buddies will thank you!

 

[YuccaPatrol]

Yes, it does sound like you have nitrite and nitrate mixed up, but I understand you.

NitrIte comes first, then NitrAte.

Your problem boils down to all the uneaten food that is rotting and causing some sort of bacteria/fungus to grow in the tank.

I would suggest backing off on the food for a week. It is actually ok not to feed fish for many days. I go on vacation for 2+ weeks and instruct my house sitter NOT to feed the fish anything so that I can minimize the nitrogen wastes that will accumulate over that long period of time.


When there is no excess food, that gross stuff in your tank will go away on its own.

I mean it. Don't feed your fish for a week, do a large water change to decrease the nutrient levels in the water, and then feed very tiny amounts for the next 2 weeks and the problem will go away.

The fry will find little bits of algae and micro-organisms to eat so they will not starve and your larger fish will be just fine for the brief time without food.

 

[MiamiFishy]

Thank you YuccaPatrol

I have been cutting back on the food, to ones a day and have kept the light off, with the execption of a small LED Moon light that comes on at night.

Thanks !

I would really like to get rid of that algae think, but how to remove it and safe the fry that gets sucked up ??? Men is this thing giving me a headacke!!!!

 

[joannde]

Is not feeding the fry really a good idea ??? I think the fry need to be fed or else they would die - which is what MiamiFishy is trying to avoid.

Miami - do you have a regular gravel vac (ie: non-Python ?). A small one (for a 5 - 10 gal tank) might be the solution - just spend some time schooching the little guys out of the way and vac up as much of the gunk as possible.

While your schooching them around you might be able to get them into a breeder box (it has small wholes to let the little fish in and keep the big fish out.

Good luck and keep us posted !

 

[Ky'smommy]

i think that if you didnt feed the babies everyday they would die. and i heard that your supose to be feeding fry constantly.
you can also get a small grow out tank. with a sponge filter and heater and be done with it.
its easier to clean and you will be cleaning it everyday since they are eating alot and the tank really wont be cycled.
or a breeder net will do fine.
but if she keeps laying eggs you will want something better for them.
my dad had over 500 babies with his last batch i took him to get all he needed for his fry.
and it costed maybe 100 dollars canada and thats with a tank, filter, air pump , food and heater.
but if your really not looking to breeding them then thats not an option for you or unless you just want an excuse for a new tank

 

[Stretch]

Why are you worried about vacuuming with the Python using hot water? If it is vacuuming, hot water is not going into the tank.

 

[MiamiFishy]

Thank you guys for all your replies.

The thing is this, the 29 gall with the gravel substrate and the fry hidding in between the rocks has develope some kind of algae, looks like a white membrena or veil. Ok, now for the dilema... That algae or what ever it is, is attaching itself to the gravel, and some decor plants and bridge. So far so good right. Ok the problem now, I need to vacum the gravel, right?!, right!, but if I vacum the gravel, I wont only be taking out the gunk, but the fry hidding in the gravel. If I use the pythom vac, what ever it picks up will end up going down the drain in the kitchen which is the only faucet to which the pythom can get connected to. Since the Kitchen sink has a very low pressure of water on the cold side ( do to a water filter attached to it ) I use a combination of the cold water and HOT water to vacum the tank. So you can see my problem here???
What ever the pythom vacums out of the 29 gal tanks gets a nice HOT water bath treatment before going down the drain. So my delema is how to vac get the gunk out and at the same time safe what ever fry gets sucked up the pythom..see.

I was thinking of buying some PVC parts at the local HomeDepot and using one of the 5 gal water bottles I use to add water, to create some sort of hook up for my real WET-DRY VACUM CLEANER and use the tank as a mid point catch for the water and the fry to stay put.... but I was hoping for a less complex and cheaper method....

mmmmm... this is going to be a longggg process... ow well...no pain no game!!!
Ill keep you posted guy as to what I end up doing! wish me luck, I defenetly going to need it.

 

[joannde]

Just get a small regular gravel vac and empty into a bucket first - you can do 5 gallons at a time and catch the escapees into the bucket. Once you start vaccuming I'd bet alot of the babies would move out of the way anyway ......

To refill you could go from the python to the bucket, mixing hot and cold to the right temperature before adding back to the tank

this is the way it was done before the Python was invented

 

[MiamiFishy]

Thank you JoannDE
Long Live the KING! Ahja Ahja!
Yeah I guess that would be a less complicated solution than my Vacum attache!...but I wanted to build the vacum thingy... just kidding.

Thank you again, I'll try that...I will only need to go by HomeDepot and get a wooden dowel... so to help with the small vacum...

Ill keep you guys posted.

 

[Stretch]

Thank you again, I'll try that...I will only need to go by HomeDepot and get a wooden dowel... so to help with the small vacum...

Just stick your hand in there...that's the way it was done before the wooden dowel was invented!