Coldwater fish!!!!

[eric1986]

Have got a 46 litre fluvel edge tank,
Would love some help on what to stock and what not to stock, I have 1 fantail goldfish 4 platys 1 small catfish. They all seem happy just water a bit cloudy doing water changes to combat this.
Any help appreciated!!!

 

[aquandrew]

what kind of catfish? the goldfish is going to outgrow the tank pretty quickly and platies are not coldwater fish.

 

[Rivercats]

We have the same Fluval Edge and I hate to say this but the goldfish has to go. They are coldwater fish and excrete copious amounts of waste. They also grow very quickly and the amount of ammonia they produce is hard on any other fish, even ones suitable to be kept with them. The filter is super tiny and can't handle this type of fish. Now I again hate to say this but 4 platies isn't good either. They too have a higher bioload and with the filter on the tank pollution is going to be a huge issue. What type of catfish do you have? Dwarf or Pygmy Cory cats and Oto cats are about the only ones small enough for that tank. It's tall but has a small footprint no leaving much room for any bottom dwelling fish.

In our Edge we have 5 male Endler's, a docile Betta (only because he super mellow) and 5 pygmy cory cats along with 2 nerite snails.

Nano fish are your best bet or smaller fish like neon tetras or harlequin rasboras.

 

[eric1986]

Thank you for the help, I feel this boils down to miss leading info from lfs. They advised me on the fish I have put in so a little upset/annoyed.
The catfish is a dwarf so at least he will be ok in there.
Will post some photos later to show the extent of cloudiness.
Just hope the goldfish stays alive while I find it a new home.
The one good thing is the goldfish is still only small.

 

[Rivercats]

Lesson learned the hard way unfortunately. If you see fish you like write down the names and research them before buying. Then you don't get stuck with fish that aren't suitable for your tank. Remember stores are in business to "sell" and often times (not always tho) employees aren't very knowledgeable about the fish they sell.

 

[eric1986]

Agree with you there will be doing massive research in the future. You just expect people to know what they are talking about in your lfs. Am slowly getting water clearer with water changes 20% at a time, but sadly still realise most of my fish will have to go :-(.

 

[eric1986]

Water changes in full flow starting to come clearer, would anyone recommend love plants to help with oxygenation.

 

[eric1986]

Meant live plants lol

 

[Rivercats]

With the lighting on it (since we have one) you could do Crypts and Dwarf Chain Swords. Water sprite also does quite well in that tank.

 

[eric1986]

Probably sounds a silly question do they plant directly in to the gravel?

 

[Rivercats]

Yes they get planted in the substrate and need to have a root tab put under the plants as they are root feeders.

 

[eric1986]

Hi again had my water tested tonight at my lfs, they said the only bad reading was the ph level all the rest were ok, he said I live in a poor water area with high chlorine.
He said to leave it for a while and let it stabilise.
Any other suggestions would be nice?

 

[Rivercats]

What exactly was your PH and other readings and did he use strips or a test kit with chemicals? All you need is to treat tap with a product such as Prime to neutralize Chlorine and such. I'm not sure what he meant by stabilize.

 

[eric1986]

He used chemical testing set, didn't give me a reading for ph said it was high. I have been doing daily water changes that his what he told me to stop and give the tank time to settle. I use nutrafin aqua plus in my tap water.

 

[eric1986]

Just a quick update had my water tested today again and water is fine levels are good.
But water is still like this photo.



I have now got a air stone in to help with oxygen which looks good. I asked for a bit of advice at my lfs about colour of water.
I was advised it may be due to having my led light on for to long. I admit I have had it on for 12 to 14 hours a day.

Any suggestions?????

 

[Coursair]

Reduce lighting to 6 hours a day. Get a cheap timer.

 

[Rivercats]

That is a green water algae bloom and reducing light won't help and if left untreated will eventually deplete all the oxygen from the water no matter what you do. Leaving the light on is just speeding that process down!

With a bloom that bad you need to use a UV sterilizer to kill it off which in this case might take a few days. Yours is very bad! This is the unit many on the forum have used with success... Green Killing Machine Internal UV Sterilizer with Power Head at PETCO.

I can't stress this enough.... turn the lights off and leave them off!!!

Cover the tank, every inch of it to block all light from getting in, top, sides, and bottom. No light, no looking, not even for a quick peek. Leave the tank for 3 days. Your fish will be fine. Do this while waiting for your UV sterilizer which I strongly suggest you get even with this black out. I honestly haven't seen an algae bloom this bad in a long time.

After the 3rd day black out do a HUGE water change, like 75%. All that dying algae is going to cause a big ammonia spike which will hurt the fish.

Once it's gone stop running the light that long. No more than 8 hours, period. Put the light on a timer so it can only run that long. This is not good for the fish and how can you enjoy a tank full of green water.

 

[eric1986]

Hi

Am based in the uk so won't be as easy to buy the uv steriliser. Would rapping it up well be good enough? Or is there any chemicals I can use?

Thanks for your help clearing this up has been baffling me lots.

 

[Rivercats]

A blackout "might" work but as I said absolutely NO light can get in even from under the tank and I'd do it for 4 days since it's so thick. Then follow the directions I gave you above and no peeking! The tank has to remain absolutely blacked out.

Never use chemicals as they can be very dangerous for the tanks inhabitants.

 

[eric1986]

Took your advice got it totally blacked out, am going to feed at night when pitch black.
One question though would you leave the air stone running?
Thank you again for your help just want to enjoy my tank again.