Im scared to change anything?!

[DarkAcid]

O my girlfriend and I got a fish tank, let it settle and put fish in it (as you do) and the water quality was always off (normally high nitrate (2 and 3) levels so changing the water lots and lots to try and keep it down and we lost a few fishes about 8 babies and and the mother Molly , now the tank has got "dirty" (brown colouring on rock feature, glass and brown in the filter) but according to the water test kit the water is **** near perfect should I clean the filter? Can we add fish? It's a 19lt tank in the bedroom if you need anything else please ask - Chris

 

[Mebbid]

First, the brown stuff is a growth of diatom algae. It's perfectly normal to have in the tank and will usually grow itself out of existence once all the available silicates are used up.

Second, pretty much the only fish that can fit in a tank that size happily is a betta and some shrimp. Mollies need a 115 liter or larger aquarium as they are a large fish. Check out Aquarium Fish: Tropical Freshwater Fish and Saltwater Fish for Home Aquariums to check stocking levels for fish.

Cleaning the filter is generally done monthly by rinsing it off in old tank water during a water change.

 

[DarkAcid]

I don't know if there mollies then there only about 1 inch long maybe 1 1/4 at tops but I spoke to the fish guy and he said there is enough stock room for a few more little ones there all quite small fish

 

[Mebbid]

I don't know if there mollies then there only about 1 inch long maybe 1 1/4 at tops but I spoke to the fish guy and he said there is enough stock room for a few more little ones there all quite small fish

Of course the fish guy is going to say that. He is trying to make money It's far too common for people that work in a lfs to give false information to make a sale

Check out AqAdvisor - Intelligent Freshwater Tropical Fish Aquarium Stocking Calculator and Aquarium Tank/Filter Advisor to put in your tank size and play around with stocking levels on the tank.