please help.

[corolla619]

hello. i am very new here and didn't introduce myself due to my problem with our tank. my apologies.

well, we are very new at the whole aquarium thing. my main hobby is building cars.

we have a ten gallon octagon tank. the filter is a elite hush 10 power filter. so we set up the tank and added the dechlorinator and waited a few days and then added 4 goldfish for my son. everything was fine so we added around six more fish. everything has been good, the tank has been running for around a month and now our tank is clouding up. it's whitish and not greenish so i'm assuming from my readings it's not algae. so i did a 30% water change and that worked. well 2 days later....it's clouding up again? i have cleaned the charcoal filter regularly and when the red indicator pops up and have actually went through 3 of them in a month already. what am i doing so wrong? am i over feeding? we feed 2 times a day and maybe too much i assume.

the million dollar question is why is my tank clouding up? see we got the 10 gallon to learn from and now i am discouraged to get a bigger tank.

any and all help would be much appreciated. thankyou.

 

[Lowryder]

First of all welcome to AA!

Second, you are WAY overstocked. 1 gold fish needs min 20 gals. They can reach 12". I would reccomend taking those fish back for credit and starting a fishless cycle, there is a sticky. http://www.aquariumadvice.com/forums/f15/fishless-cycling-for-dummies-103339.html

The cloudiness you are experiancing is a bacteria bloom, its a good thing. Benifical bacteria is key in processing fish waste.

Also go out an invest in a liquid test kit. API makes a good product for around $20 for the master kit.

 

[corolla619]

but i read a sticky here that i can still cycle with fish? is this correct? and i also read that during this that i can do a 50% water change every day without it hurting the bacteria bloom? is this also correct or am i reading it wrong?

thankyou for the polite welcome and your help.

 

[Lowryder]

You can cycle with fish. In your case I would not reccommend it as I said before your tank is overstocked. Goldfish are very messy fish. To put it bluntly, you have 10lbs of crap in a 5lb box.

Fishless is easy and you dont have to worry about partial water changes (pwc's). There is nothing to kill. The fish you have will be need to be returned one way or another, unless you are planning a pond soon.

 

[corolla619]

so get rid of the goldfish?

my other fish are 4 5 glowfish and basically i plan on keeping it that way. the goldfish were just for my son since i did promise him some fish.

will i be fine with my glowfish and doing pwc's?

 

[Lowryder]

Yes, you will be fine with just the glowfish.

Here is a link to get you started http://www.aquariumadvice.com/forum...ady-have-fish-what-now-116287.html#post983258

Keep us updated.

 

[HN1]

I agree with Lowryder. I think the tank is experiencing a bacterial bloom and would recommend rehoming the goldfish, feeding once per day, and investing in a good test kit. Let your water parameters dictate your water change schedule. It will make it a lot easier and less expensive in the long run.

 

[supradupafast]

Also, there is no need for Carbon Filter. You can remove that part of the filter. Unless your filter is falling apart, just "Swoosh" your dirty filter in old tank water (NOT TAP WATER as it will kill the Good Bacteria) with every PWC (about 30-50% weekly)
Welcome to AA

 

[krap101]

Good time for a pond eh? (for the goldfish)

Oh btw, welcome to AA!

 

[corolla619]

thanks everyone. so just to clear things up, i really don't need the carbon filter?

and one of my biggest questions would be about the black sponge filter. i can clean that in fish tank water right? ie; take some of the fish tank water out and rinse the sponge filter in that? see the reason i ask is the guy at the aquatics store said to NEVER clean the sponge filter or my tank will cloud up immediately? i trust everyones opinions here a bit more though so please confirm.

and last, from the readings and articles on here, i can still do a pwc when i see the water clouding up correct? and this won't hurt the bacterial enviroment (bacterial blooming)?

and....how long does the blooming last?

again, thanks so much for all your help and warm welcoming.

 

[DragonFish71]

As long as you clean the sponge in old tank water you'll be fine. If you use tap water the chlorine and chloramine will kill off the bacteria that you are trying to establish.


You don't want to wait for the water to get cloudy. That means you already are into the bloom. Just don't let your ammonia get above .25, anything higher than that gets toxic to fish. You can do water changes every day, and really won't need to worry much about killing the good bacteria. The bacteria live in the substrate/ gravel, decor, filter, glass etc, not so much in the water column. As long as you don't do a total tank tear down and do over, or basically over clean, you'll be fine.

 

[corolla619]

thanks. i know the ending stages of blossoming ar eup to the tested levels in the tank but rough guess, how long until it cycles? from my reading i'm presuming about 4-5 weeks.

so if i wait for the water to get cloudy then i shouldn't change it or can i still change it?

thanks for all the knowledge and help.

 

[Lowryder]

You shouldnt take that long, as you said the tank was up for a month. With a reduced bioload (removing goldfish) you tank might be pretty darn close. This is all speculation, testing your levels is the only way to tell.

 

[IT-FishGuy]

Over Crowded

Yeah in a 10 Gal Hex you're way over crowded. Hex tanks don't have as much surface area and because they don't you can't stock them the way you stock a regular rectangle aquarium.
I'd do a PWC even if I got the goldfish a new place to live, maybe 2 gallons. As far as carbon, you'll need it in the long run.

 

[Lowryder]

Also, you should make your way over to the new members area and formally introduce yourself.

 

[corolla619]

update,
tank has finished it's clcling and blossoming. i still do pwc's edvery 3 days but only around 20%.

as for the goldfish, they will become residents of the colorado river and grow big and healthy and maybe venture into california lol.

thank you everyone for all your help. now i am going to purchase a 29 gallon tank and build this one to my likings ie: blue actinic bulbs, l.e.d.'s and flourescent colors so it glows something crazy.

if anyone can point me to a good place to buy nice blue flouresnent bulbs, that would be great. my mission is to build a tank that from the lighting, makes everything glow bright.

again, thank you for the warm welcomes and help.

oh, lowryder, if you need any carbon fiber done, please let me know. i can give you unbelieveable prices.

 

[ilovemydragongoby]

hang on there, you shouldn't put fish in a river. in some places it is illegal.

 

[corolla619]

i know here in colorado it is okay

 

[rive1404]

Unless the fish came from the Colorado River, it shouldn't be released into the Colorado River.

 

[corolla619]

hmm, well what do i do? fish store won't take them back and my friends don't have room? only one i can really give them to is a friend of mine who raise pirahnas. so they would just be feeder fish and my heart won't let me do that.