MamaSueD
Aquarium Advice Apprentice
Hi, I inherited my 33 gallon tank about 9 months ago. I would like to apologize for this long post but I feel you need to know the background and my experience with the tank so you can help me.
I have the following fish in the tank (all came with the tank except for the larger snails)
1 Bala Shark (approx. 7-8 inches long & 8+ yrs old)
1 Angle Fish (approx. 5-6 inches & 8+ yrs old)
1 Siamese Algae Eater (approx 4-5 inches, no age given)
2 Reg Zebra Danios (2-3 inches, no age given)
4 Long fin Zebra Danios (2-3 inches, no age given)
5 Snails ( I can't think of names but ones that don't multiply fast- 1/2 -1 inch) These were added by me 2 at first and 3 more after the Plecos died)
Several tiny snails (1/8-1/4 inch) I have no idea what kind these are. These came with the tank.
Until 2 wks ago I had a Plecos (i believe it was a Long Fin Plecos) that was approx. 7-8 inches long.
When I inherited the tank, it was running a filter similar to the Aqueon Quiet Flow filter. However, it was an ancient filter and the actual filters had not been cleaned often at all. There was no air bubble system, black sand was used in place of stones, and I believe Java Fern attached to driftwood ran the entire length of the aquarium down the center. The tank had been set up for at least 8 years so the tank definitely had cycled. The person I received this tank from never, as far as I know, checked any of the levels such as nitrites, nitrates, ph or ammonia. At least that was what I was told by him. There is also a florescent light across the top, wattage I do not know. I was given with the tank Aquarium Salt & APT Tapwater conditioner and told how much of each to use. I was also given Tetra Fish Flakes and told to feed approx a 1/2 TBS each morning. Water changes were to be made once a month and filter changes were not mentioned at all. The Java Fern was so large you could barely see the fish swimming and the Siamese Algae eater I did not see but twice in the first six months I had the tank. I was also given an old heater but told that it was optional and he had not used it for quite sometime, so I have not used it as of yet.
I bought and started to run, when the old filter quit working, a Marineland C-220 canister filter about 3 months after I received the tank.
Because I could not see the fish in the tank, I removed two of the five Java Ferns that were in the tank about a month after starting to use the Marineland filter. I replaced these with some ornamentation, simple but with hiding places. Approx. a month after that I removed another of the ferns because the filter kept getting clogged with the pieces of leaves that somehow kept getting broken, or eaten I supposed, off. I added a third ornament, some floating vegetation, and a bubble maker ornament. The tank was doing fine until about two months ago when I first read about testing the water and bought a testing kit. The levels were fine according to the stips I used except it did read that the water was a little harder than it should be. I was told that since the tank had been established so long, it was not wise to try and add any other fish. The more I read about freshwater aquariums and the fish I had in my tank, the more I became concerned about my tank. So I bought the APT master testing kit.
I have tested the water over the last month and tried to do the water changes to remedy my numbers but to no avail. Here is where they have been and where I have them to as of tonight.
1st readings
Ph 7.8
Ammonia .25
Nitrites 0
Nitrates 80
Temp: 70.9
Readings 4/16/16
Ph 7.8
Ammonia .25
Nitrites 0
Nitrates 40
Temp: 71
I have been changing the water 1/3-1/2 once a week. I stirred up the sand and tried to get the excess food and waste out of it but this has not been easy. I cut down on what I fed the fish a long time ago because of the uneaten food I could see once the plants were removed. Until I removed them I could not see but a small line of sand in the front of the tank. I have cleaned the canister filters once a month with a water change and per the instructions of the unit for replacing the filters and charcoal.
Here is where I need help.
1. What do I need to do to get rid of the ammonia and lower the ph?
2. I have some sick fish-my long fin danios.
1. I have noticed over the last several weeks that the fins of the long tails seem to be getting whiter especially along the edges but other than that they ate and swam as usual.
2. The Plecos started acting funny at times, he always came out during the daylight even from the beginning but he seemed to sit still in one spot a little longer than normal about three days before we found him dead. He had eaten the day before he died and other than being slightly sluggish as described seemed fine. We just found him at the bottom of the tank one morning.
3. Since he died, one of the long fin danios fins have been getting brown and rusty looking. He swims and keeps up with the others and he is eating still. However, tonight I noticed the other danios picking on him and chasing and hitting him. Another of the long fin danios was swimming with fins sticking straight out from its body, swimming in a circle and sticking to one spot in the tank. That fish and one other one had a light purplish color at the point where the tail fins and the back fins connected to the body.
What I have done so far.
I took the three fish and put them in a different 10 gal tank I have had set up for about a month and to make sure it was cycled enough, I added the safe start by Tetra to the water as well as adding StressZyme.
I did my regular water change tonight in the big tank, with my usual conditioning, used StressZyme this time, and used Tetra Easy Balance.
I noticed that as soon as I did the water change and put them in the other tank, the fins of the two did not look so purplish anymore. It is the one with rust colored fins that I am really worried about even though other than the color of his/her fins there seems to be no real problem with it. I will take pictures tomorrow and add to this post if I get the chance. The ones I took tonight did not turn out well at all.
I would appreciate any advice I can get with these problems. I am new to this but have come to love these fish.
I have the following fish in the tank (all came with the tank except for the larger snails)
1 Bala Shark (approx. 7-8 inches long & 8+ yrs old)
1 Angle Fish (approx. 5-6 inches & 8+ yrs old)
1 Siamese Algae Eater (approx 4-5 inches, no age given)
2 Reg Zebra Danios (2-3 inches, no age given)
4 Long fin Zebra Danios (2-3 inches, no age given)
5 Snails ( I can't think of names but ones that don't multiply fast- 1/2 -1 inch) These were added by me 2 at first and 3 more after the Plecos died)
Several tiny snails (1/8-1/4 inch) I have no idea what kind these are. These came with the tank.
Until 2 wks ago I had a Plecos (i believe it was a Long Fin Plecos) that was approx. 7-8 inches long.
When I inherited the tank, it was running a filter similar to the Aqueon Quiet Flow filter. However, it was an ancient filter and the actual filters had not been cleaned often at all. There was no air bubble system, black sand was used in place of stones, and I believe Java Fern attached to driftwood ran the entire length of the aquarium down the center. The tank had been set up for at least 8 years so the tank definitely had cycled. The person I received this tank from never, as far as I know, checked any of the levels such as nitrites, nitrates, ph or ammonia. At least that was what I was told by him. There is also a florescent light across the top, wattage I do not know. I was given with the tank Aquarium Salt & APT Tapwater conditioner and told how much of each to use. I was also given Tetra Fish Flakes and told to feed approx a 1/2 TBS each morning. Water changes were to be made once a month and filter changes were not mentioned at all. The Java Fern was so large you could barely see the fish swimming and the Siamese Algae eater I did not see but twice in the first six months I had the tank. I was also given an old heater but told that it was optional and he had not used it for quite sometime, so I have not used it as of yet.
I bought and started to run, when the old filter quit working, a Marineland C-220 canister filter about 3 months after I received the tank.
Because I could not see the fish in the tank, I removed two of the five Java Ferns that were in the tank about a month after starting to use the Marineland filter. I replaced these with some ornamentation, simple but with hiding places. Approx. a month after that I removed another of the ferns because the filter kept getting clogged with the pieces of leaves that somehow kept getting broken, or eaten I supposed, off. I added a third ornament, some floating vegetation, and a bubble maker ornament. The tank was doing fine until about two months ago when I first read about testing the water and bought a testing kit. The levels were fine according to the stips I used except it did read that the water was a little harder than it should be. I was told that since the tank had been established so long, it was not wise to try and add any other fish. The more I read about freshwater aquariums and the fish I had in my tank, the more I became concerned about my tank. So I bought the APT master testing kit.
I have tested the water over the last month and tried to do the water changes to remedy my numbers but to no avail. Here is where they have been and where I have them to as of tonight.
1st readings
Ph 7.8
Ammonia .25
Nitrites 0
Nitrates 80
Temp: 70.9
Readings 4/16/16
Ph 7.8
Ammonia .25
Nitrites 0
Nitrates 40
Temp: 71
I have been changing the water 1/3-1/2 once a week. I stirred up the sand and tried to get the excess food and waste out of it but this has not been easy. I cut down on what I fed the fish a long time ago because of the uneaten food I could see once the plants were removed. Until I removed them I could not see but a small line of sand in the front of the tank. I have cleaned the canister filters once a month with a water change and per the instructions of the unit for replacing the filters and charcoal.
Here is where I need help.
1. What do I need to do to get rid of the ammonia and lower the ph?
2. I have some sick fish-my long fin danios.
1. I have noticed over the last several weeks that the fins of the long tails seem to be getting whiter especially along the edges but other than that they ate and swam as usual.
2. The Plecos started acting funny at times, he always came out during the daylight even from the beginning but he seemed to sit still in one spot a little longer than normal about three days before we found him dead. He had eaten the day before he died and other than being slightly sluggish as described seemed fine. We just found him at the bottom of the tank one morning.
3. Since he died, one of the long fin danios fins have been getting brown and rusty looking. He swims and keeps up with the others and he is eating still. However, tonight I noticed the other danios picking on him and chasing and hitting him. Another of the long fin danios was swimming with fins sticking straight out from its body, swimming in a circle and sticking to one spot in the tank. That fish and one other one had a light purplish color at the point where the tail fins and the back fins connected to the body.
What I have done so far.
I took the three fish and put them in a different 10 gal tank I have had set up for about a month and to make sure it was cycled enough, I added the safe start by Tetra to the water as well as adding StressZyme.
I did my regular water change tonight in the big tank, with my usual conditioning, used StressZyme this time, and used Tetra Easy Balance.
I noticed that as soon as I did the water change and put them in the other tank, the fins of the two did not look so purplish anymore. It is the one with rust colored fins that I am really worried about even though other than the color of his/her fins there seems to be no real problem with it. I will take pictures tomorrow and add to this post if I get the chance. The ones I took tonight did not turn out well at all.
I would appreciate any advice I can get with these problems. I am new to this but have come to love these fish.