Hello. I am trying to become a more experienced fish caretaker, and am in need of help/tips. Please forgive if this post seems long or if i state some stupid questions, as i am a noob. First off my tank is:
55 gallon freshwater
Fluval 306 canister filter
Fluval heater- heat stays between 75 and 76.5 °f
Super naturals black sand substrate
top fin 50 power head in bottom corner with air tube
2 air stones in ornaments with a fluval dual output pump
glass hoods
Current orbit marine 48'' LED ramp timer pro lighting
Had tank for about 3 years then needed to move. Put fish in friends tank during move, set up new tank, let it run for a month than added my fish. Has been a year up and running now
1 Grommie- about 5 years old
1 african cichlids--- 3 weeks
1 catfish----- 3 weeks
1 plecko---- today
I started to get seriouse about my tank a month ago, IE weekly maiontenance, At that point i had 1 Gommie and 1 angel fish. Went to pet store and got 2 african cichlids and the cat fish. Added to tank. Next day they were all up top gasping for air except the grommie. I freaked and went and got large airstones and a marineland 150 air head, but i had to work. By the time i got home the angel fish and 1 of the cichlids were dead. Added the power head and air stones and within 2 hours everybody seemed to be doing good. For the next 2 weeks i was fighting Amonina, and nitrites. I use API master fresh water test kit and ocasional test strips. My ph reads 7.4 and high range read 7.6. I assume that means im somewhere in the middle. I finally got the amonia and nitrites down to 0ppm, and my nitrates at 40ppm. The lighting is on a ramp timer and i have been doing a 10 hour schedule, 15 min of blue before white, 10 hours of white 100% then 4 hours of moonlight. to get the levels down the past 2 weeks i have been doing alot of partial w/c. checking this site for tips along the way. Then last week i notice some brown/red algea on the back glass of tank. Scrubbed it off and did a partial w/c. Came back. Did the same thing 2 days later. Got home today and the algea is everywhere, all over air lines, ornaments, tank glass, fake plants, filter inlet/outlet. So i went to the pet store tonight and got a lil plecko to help clean up a slight amount, and did a 5 gall w/c. I need help figuring out what caused this algea bloom and how to get rid of it. Tank has been in use for almost 5 years and never once has this happened. I did make a mistake of removing old biowheel filter and going straight to canister without cycling the canister, but that was a little over a month ago. I would really appreciate any help/advice i can get. I don't want to kill my buddies. I have attached a pic of my tank, hopefully you can see something. The ornaments are suppose to be white by the way, and they just turned this color within 24 hours
55 gallon freshwater
Fluval 306 canister filter
Fluval heater- heat stays between 75 and 76.5 °f
Super naturals black sand substrate
top fin 50 power head in bottom corner with air tube
2 air stones in ornaments with a fluval dual output pump
glass hoods
Current orbit marine 48'' LED ramp timer pro lighting
Had tank for about 3 years then needed to move. Put fish in friends tank during move, set up new tank, let it run for a month than added my fish. Has been a year up and running now
1 Grommie- about 5 years old
1 african cichlids--- 3 weeks
1 catfish----- 3 weeks
1 plecko---- today
I started to get seriouse about my tank a month ago, IE weekly maiontenance, At that point i had 1 Gommie and 1 angel fish. Went to pet store and got 2 african cichlids and the cat fish. Added to tank. Next day they were all up top gasping for air except the grommie. I freaked and went and got large airstones and a marineland 150 air head, but i had to work. By the time i got home the angel fish and 1 of the cichlids were dead. Added the power head and air stones and within 2 hours everybody seemed to be doing good. For the next 2 weeks i was fighting Amonina, and nitrites. I use API master fresh water test kit and ocasional test strips. My ph reads 7.4 and high range read 7.6. I assume that means im somewhere in the middle. I finally got the amonia and nitrites down to 0ppm, and my nitrates at 40ppm. The lighting is on a ramp timer and i have been doing a 10 hour schedule, 15 min of blue before white, 10 hours of white 100% then 4 hours of moonlight. to get the levels down the past 2 weeks i have been doing alot of partial w/c. checking this site for tips along the way. Then last week i notice some brown/red algea on the back glass of tank. Scrubbed it off and did a partial w/c. Came back. Did the same thing 2 days later. Got home today and the algea is everywhere, all over air lines, ornaments, tank glass, fake plants, filter inlet/outlet. So i went to the pet store tonight and got a lil plecko to help clean up a slight amount, and did a 5 gall w/c. I need help figuring out what caused this algea bloom and how to get rid of it. Tank has been in use for almost 5 years and never once has this happened. I did make a mistake of removing old biowheel filter and going straight to canister without cycling the canister, but that was a little over a month ago. I would really appreciate any help/advice i can get. I don't want to kill my buddies. I have attached a pic of my tank, hopefully you can see something. The ornaments are suppose to be white by the way, and they just turned this color within 24 hours
. Good luck!
