help with coldwater tank

[jase55uk]

hello there

i am a newcommer here but am hoping everyone can help me i have a coldwater tank with shubinkins in it i have a

King British

i have just used to test the water with and i get

ph = 6.8
kh mg/I = 50
gh mg/I = 250
nitrate = 25
nitrite = 0

and no ammonia

the problem i am having is what seems to be green streaks on the inside of my tank i do water changes once every 3 days or so and this is the only problem i am with my tank the fish seem happy enough.

i am confident its not too many nutrients in the water as i only used the tapsafe on water changes and the waste control every month or so which seems to help with the waste i am moved my tank to water it is now incase its the light through the windows that is causing this as it not only gets on the sides of my tank is small to medium streaks but gets on the outside of my filter on my castle inside it and over the top of my airstone and the gravel i wont deny that i am a sort of a beginner but have had the tank up and running since bout feb time give or take so it should be cycle by now right and i no longer get the green spots on the inside as i used too.

i do have a gravel cleaner but i will be honest i still see what seems a bit of waste under gravel could that be making it worse ? i read somewhere that its a good idea not to remove all the rubbish from gravel but obviously it does need cleaning.

i have a filter but havnt replaced it since i got the tank a year or so ago is there any kinda pads i put in my marina filter that would help me at all ?

any help would be grateful as i am at a loss tbh and its driving me mad tbh lol

ps i dont have a massive amount of money to spend on it as i have a 2 year old daughter and wouldnt really go down well with wife if i spent lots of stuff either lol

 

[AngelFishGirl]

hello there

i am a newcommer here but am hoping everyone can help me i have a coldwater tank with shubinkins in it i have a

King British

i have just used to test the water with and i get

ph = 6.8
kh mg/I = 50
gh mg/I = 250
nitrate = 25
nitrite = 0

and no ammonia

the problem i am having is what seems to be green streaks on the inside of my tank i do water changes once every 3 days or so and this is the only problem i am with my tank the fish seem happy enough.

i am confident its not too many nutrients in the water as i only used the tapsafe on water changes and the waste control every month or so which seems to help with the waste i am moved my tank to water it is now incase its the light through the windows that is causing this as it not only gets on the sides of my tank is small to medium streaks but gets on the outside of my filter on my castle inside it and over the top of my airstone and the gravel i wont deny that i am a sort of a beginner but have had the tank up and running since bout feb time give or take so it should be cycle by now right and i no longer get the green spots on the inside as i used too.

i do have a gravel cleaner but i will be honest i still see what seems a bit of waste under gravel could that be making it worse ? i read somewhere that its a good idea not to remove all the rubbish from gravel but obviously it does need cleaning.

i have a filter but havnt replaced it since i got the tank a year or so ago is there any kinda pads i put in my marina filter that would help me at all ?

any help would be grateful as i am at a loss tbh and its driving me mad tbh lol

ps i dont have a massive amount of money to spend on it as i have a 2 year old daughter and wouldnt really go down well with wife if i spent lots of stuff either lol

to AA!
First of all, I would have suggested to post this in the coldwater section. Maybe a mod can move it for you.
Your nitrate is a little high. 20 should be the max. If you are still seeing crud on the bottom in the gravel, you should consider taking it out for a deep clean and leaving bare bottom, or doing a water change to get EVERYTHING out of it.
Only a little bit of your BB lives within the gravel. It is just fine to remove all of it - your tank will not mini cycle unless you remove all of it out like I did at one point.

What is your stock?

 

[jase55uk]

only have 3 shubunkins in it i do need a bit more water in it but without the tapsafe stuff i cant put more in

how exactly do i do a deep clean of the gravel ? might sound silly but have always used my gravel cleaner

never knew i could just leave it bare bottom if i decide to do that how exactly do i go about getting the gravel out without emptying the tank ?

sorry to sound so dim but is a bit new to me lol

 

[jase55uk]

another Q i have is how accurate is the king british kit i linked ? i get the feeling its not too accurate by some of the nitrate readings it gave me

 

[AngelFishGirl]

another Q i have is how accurate is the king british kit i linked ? i get the feeling its not too accurate by some of the nitrate readings it gave me

I've never used it before, so I couldn't say. Sorry. Someone else will need to chime in on that. I personally use the API brand. They are the most trustworthy for me when it comes to test kits.

What is your tank size? I don't know much about goldfish, but I believe it's 30 gallons for one, and another 10 gallons per next one.

But those types of goldfish may like comets and may need a pond. I'm sorry. I don't know enough about goldfish to give you decent answers. Someone else should chime in soon and help you out. If not, let me know and I will google some information for you. let me know

 

[AngelFishGirl]

only have 3 shubunkins in it i do need a bit more water in it but without the tapsafe stuff i cant put more in

how exactly do i do a deep clean of the gravel ? might sound silly but have always used my gravel cleaner

never knew i could just leave it bare bottom if i decide to do that how exactly do i go about getting the gravel out without emptying the tank ?

sorry to sound so dim but is a bit new to me lol

As far as cleaning the gravel, be prepared for a mini cycle.
My gravel was previously used by koi and goldfish, and were not washed good enough. Nitrate was crazily over 180.
I did a 75% water change and that brought it way down, but I had to do another 25% or so to bring it to 20. Since your nitrate isn't so high perhaps it won't mini cycle.

This is what I did. I removed 50% of the water using the gravel syphon. Then, I put my fish into 5 gallon buckets. After that, start shoveling the gravel out with a plastic child's sand scooper. Once it's all out, take out another 25% of the water to remove all of the gunk. Then refill and acclimate the fish to the new water after using water conditioner.

Your tank may mini cycle with all the new water, but as long as you keep up with water changes as your stuff spikes up, you will be fine.

 

[jase55uk]

i think i have a 24 lt tank as i really dont have room for anything bigger what that is in gallons i am not sure i really dont i know the fish i have are the stupidly small size as i didnt want anything like 3 - 4 inchs cos of the size of the tank my father in law has something like a 35 - 40 lts with 3 shunbunkins in and hes had no probs at all with his water etc.

since i have moved my tank away from where it was it seems alot better with what i thought was the green alage on the side i get paid tonight so am gonna do what u suggested with the gravel and with the water change i am hoping that makes a differance

i am hoping that no1 gives me a hard time over the tank size as i honestly cannot get a bigger one in house atm ....... u know what its like when u have a 2 year old lol