Okay, this will be a bit long, but I have tons of questions. We entered this venture the way lots of people did...7 year old daughter won two gold fish at a carnival. The next day, I went and bought a 1 gallon aquarium with a small filter, some gravel and goldfish food (already down $30 for two "free" fish). I read everything I could find, treated the water, let them adjust to the water temp, etc. before we put them in their new home.
One of the fish died (rather quickly...she never seemed to eat). To appease the child, we went to the store and bought three more goldfish and an algae eater for the tank. Slowly, the goldfish started dying off. I did MORE research and found out that we had overstocked the tank...great...off to the store I go and we buy a 10 gallon aquarium, more gravel and rocks (now we're up to about $100). I added the last remaining goldfish and the algae eater. Three days later, we lost the last gold fish. At this point, we decided to give up on goldfish (I have since learned that our water naturally has nitrates in it since we live in the country, and goldfish just don't do well with nitrates). Anyway, we let the tank cycle for over a week with nothing but the algae eater in it.
We then went and purchased five neon tetras, four male guppies, and a blue male Betta (for the one gallon tank). The betta lives all alone in his little tank with few problems. However...
We lost one neon shortly after we bought him. Found him sucked up to the filter, poor thing, but we think he may have been sick. Anyway, the rest seemed to be okay. Did water tests daily, and I thought the nitrates/nitrites were leaning toward high, but weren't dangerous. Suddenly, the guppies began to get holes in their tails and some looked ragged. They started hanging around the filter where the water pours out, and slowly they started dying. The neons seem to be doing okay.
I went to a pet store and had the water tested. Turns out the pH was a high, so I got stuff to lower that. I saw a couple guppies in the store with the same type of tail problem as ours, and the girl at the store diagnosed fin rot and gave me antibiotic capsules. We went home and followed all instructions to clear up the problem.
Now, the water is a nasty brownish color. The treatment is done and I've replaced the carbon in the filter, and the color of the water seems to be improving. However, now my algae eater is having major issues.
He was a very quiet, laid back fish...mostly hid underneath stuff and lived with his mouth on the bottom of one of the fake plants. Hardly ever moved. Yesterday, he seemed to cop a serious attitude. He started chasing the last male guppy all over the tank. We have an airstone that blows bubbles up the back of the tank. He was swimming really fast in a circle up the side of the tank through the bubbles and then back again.
Today, my husband called to say it looks like he is swimming to the top and then swimming so fast toward the bottom he's slamming his head in the gravel. I've been reading on this board that algae eaters (I think ours is a golden one -- he's brownish/tan with a faint black stripe down his side) tend to get aggressive and if you notice this behavior you should get him out of the tank. The question is -- what do I do with him? We don't have a fish store locally (I bought all these at Walmart -- hey...give me a break..I didn't know) so I know I can't return him. I can't put him in with the Betta...please don't tell me I need to buy ANOTHER fish tank to put this fish in.
So, my two questions are:
What do I do with a Golden Algae Eater with attitude and mental illness?
How do I clear up the brown water in my tank now that the antibiotic treatment is done?
And finally, I want to get a catfish once we deal with Al the Algae Eater. Will they do okay with tetras (we're thinking of some other species of tetra) and guppies?
Oh...I did put 1/2 teaspoon of aquarium salt in the tank with every cycle I did. Maybe that's the problem with Al?
One of the fish died (rather quickly...she never seemed to eat). To appease the child, we went to the store and bought three more goldfish and an algae eater for the tank. Slowly, the goldfish started dying off. I did MORE research and found out that we had overstocked the tank...great...off to the store I go and we buy a 10 gallon aquarium, more gravel and rocks (now we're up to about $100). I added the last remaining goldfish and the algae eater. Three days later, we lost the last gold fish. At this point, we decided to give up on goldfish (I have since learned that our water naturally has nitrates in it since we live in the country, and goldfish just don't do well with nitrates). Anyway, we let the tank cycle for over a week with nothing but the algae eater in it.
We then went and purchased five neon tetras, four male guppies, and a blue male Betta (for the one gallon tank). The betta lives all alone in his little tank with few problems. However...
We lost one neon shortly after we bought him. Found him sucked up to the filter, poor thing, but we think he may have been sick. Anyway, the rest seemed to be okay. Did water tests daily, and I thought the nitrates/nitrites were leaning toward high, but weren't dangerous. Suddenly, the guppies began to get holes in their tails and some looked ragged. They started hanging around the filter where the water pours out, and slowly they started dying. The neons seem to be doing okay.
I went to a pet store and had the water tested. Turns out the pH was a high, so I got stuff to lower that. I saw a couple guppies in the store with the same type of tail problem as ours, and the girl at the store diagnosed fin rot and gave me antibiotic capsules. We went home and followed all instructions to clear up the problem.
Now, the water is a nasty brownish color. The treatment is done and I've replaced the carbon in the filter, and the color of the water seems to be improving. However, now my algae eater is having major issues.
He was a very quiet, laid back fish...mostly hid underneath stuff and lived with his mouth on the bottom of one of the fake plants. Hardly ever moved. Yesterday, he seemed to cop a serious attitude. He started chasing the last male guppy all over the tank. We have an airstone that blows bubbles up the back of the tank. He was swimming really fast in a circle up the side of the tank through the bubbles and then back again.
Today, my husband called to say it looks like he is swimming to the top and then swimming so fast toward the bottom he's slamming his head in the gravel. I've been reading on this board that algae eaters (I think ours is a golden one -- he's brownish/tan with a faint black stripe down his side) tend to get aggressive and if you notice this behavior you should get him out of the tank. The question is -- what do I do with him? We don't have a fish store locally (I bought all these at Walmart -- hey...give me a break..I didn't know) so I know I can't return him. I can't put him in with the Betta...please don't tell me I need to buy ANOTHER fish tank to put this fish in.
So, my two questions are:
What do I do with a Golden Algae Eater with attitude and mental illness?
How do I clear up the brown water in my tank now that the antibiotic treatment is done?
And finally, I want to get a catfish once we deal with Al the Algae Eater. Will they do okay with tetras (we're thinking of some other species of tetra) and guppies?
Oh...I did put 1/2 teaspoon of aquarium salt in the tank with every cycle I did. Maybe that's the problem with Al?