Need help with my daughter's tank

[Mar23]

i think I messed up. I bought my daughter a 5 gallon Aqueon tank for her birthday. It's been running for about 3 months now. When I set it up, I just followed the instructions that came with it. Added fish the next day, so the tank did not cycle before I added fish. It is a freshwater tank. No aquarium salt in it. It has 3 guppies, 2 neon fish and 1 Cory. All the fish have been healthy and happy from the start.
I have done small water changes every 2 weeks since I set it up and changed the filter twice. A while back I bought an ammonia meter (the little color-coded disk you attach to the glass). I did it because the water was looking yellow and it smelled. It showed high ammonia. I did a major water change and changed the filter. The next day, the water was crystal clear, but the disk still showed ammonia. I put in one of those effervescent tablets that lower ammonia. Still showed ammonia. I let it be since the fish were happy and healthy. I thought the disk just didn't work.
About a couple weeks ago, her tank started to grow brown algae on the walls. It quickly spread to the gravel. I added Algaefix. The next day, I scrubbed the walls and syphoned the gravel. Almost immediately afterwards, my two fancy guppies started acting stressed. Swimming on the surface, moving their fins fast, but not going anywhere. They are not eating much. I have done a water change and added another ammonia tablet.
My thought is that I stirred the toxic waste when I syphoned the gravel. Is this fixable?
Please, help!

 

[treemanone2003]

It's possible that you've stirred something up but I'd hedge bets more so towards the tank itself. That is way too small of a tank for any of the fish you have listed. Also, it's much more difficult to keep tank parameters in check in that small of a tank. Best suited for 1 Betta. Without having results of a liquid test kit, it's only possible to make guesses and not provide any substantial answers. Two weeks in between WC's is also a not enough. It would be best to rehome them ASAP.

Here are some links to help.

http://aquarium-fish.liveaquaria.co...and&af=cat1:freshwaterfish&isort=score&cnt=36

http://aquarium-fish.liveaquaria.co...shwaterfish&isort=score&method=and&ts=results

http://aquarium-fish.liveaquaria.co...shwaterfish&isort=score&method=and&ts=results

http://www.aquariumadvice.com/forum...ou-get-started-with-your-aquarium-154837.html


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[Mattyfelts]

i think I messed up. I bought my daughter a 5 gallon Aqueon tank for her birthday. It's been running for about 3 months now. When I set it up, I just followed the instructions that came with it. Added fish the next day, so the tank did not cycle before I added fish. It is a freshwater tank. No aquarium salt in it. It has 3 guppies, 2 neon fish and 1 Cory. All the fish have been healthy and happy from the start.
I have done small water changes every 2 weeks since I set it up and changed the filter twice. A while back I bought an ammonia meter (the little color-coded disk you attach to the glass). I did it because the water was looking yellow and it smelled. It showed high ammonia. I did a major water change and changed the filter. The next day, the water was crystal clear, but the disk still showed ammonia. I put in one of those effervescent tablets that lower ammonia. Still showed ammonia. I let it be since the fish were happy and healthy. I thought the disk just didn't work.
About a couple weeks ago, her tank started to grow brown algae on the walls. It quickly spread to the gravel. I added Algaefix. The next day, I scrubbed the walls and syphoned the gravel. Almost immediately afterwards, my two fancy guppies started acting stressed. Swimming on the surface, moving their fins fast, but not going anywhere. They are not eating much. I have done a water change and added another ammonia tablet.
My thought is that I stirred the toxic waste when I syphoned the gravel. Is this fixable?
Please, help!

that tank is to small for all the fish you listed, it doesnt sounds like you never cycled which is crucial.

Corys need shoals of 5+, neons need schools of 6+. Also on a tank this size there needs to be almost bi weekly 50 % water changes. however if you havent cycled nothing should be in the tank.

 

[Mar23]

I know I have too many fish in there. I followed the advice of the pet store clerk in what to get, but now I know it was too much. I can't rehome them. I have another tank that is 10 gallons and has 0 ammonia, but it is brackish (SG 1.010).
My daughter's tank has been working fine for 3 months with all the fish being healthy until now, though. Should I do another water change? I just did two in the last 3 days, but they were small changes. I want to save these fish.

 

[Mattyfelts]

my guess is params being insanely out of wack. i would do daily 50% with your stocking

 

[Mar23]

Thank you for your quick replies, btw!! I should have come here first!!

 

[Mar23]

Just did a strip test.
GH 60
KH 120
PH 7.5
Nitrite 0
Nitrate 0
Ammonia 3.0

 

[treemanone2003]

Ammonia is totally toxic. WC's immediately. And for the sake of the fish, I'd find a new home as I said before.

Edit : The strips are junk and would suggest a liquid kit.

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[Mar23]

Thanks! I will go get a liquid kit today. Which do you recommend? Just did a 75% water change. Do you recommend using ammonia removal tablets? I have been using those but I don't think they do much. Also, would the fancy guppies do well in my brackish tank? That one is at 0 ammonia and cycled. I could move them there while I fix their tank.

 

[fishywishywowoo]

Api master test kit is best. Perhaps adding some filter media from your cycled tank might help speed up cycling. 50% water changes twice a week should do the trick. Feed every other day to minimise waste. Try not to keep changing the filter as most of the beneficial bacteria in there.

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[treemanone2003]

I know I have too many fish in there. I followed the advice of the pet store clerk in what to get, but now I know it was too much. I can't rehome them. I have another tank that is 10 gallons and has 0 ammonia, but it is brackish (SG 1.010).
My daughter's tank has been working fine for 3 months with all the fish being healthy until now, though. Should I do another water change? I just did two in the last 3 days, but they were small changes. I want to save these fish.

It's not only that you have too many fish, it's also that the fish have a minimum tank recommendation and stocking levels for a reason. They will grow out of that tank rather quickly if cared for properly. If not, they will wind up becoming stunted and die a slow horrible death as a result of unethical fish keeping.


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[treemanone2003]

Thanks! I will go get a liquid kit today. Which do you recommend? Just did a 75% water change. Do you recommend using ammonia removal tablets? I have been using those but I don't think they do much. Also, would the fancy guppies do well in my brackish tank? That one is at 0 ammonia and cycled. I could move them there while I fix their tank.

API. I don't recommend any products for tanks as it's just another way to suck hard earned money out of people's pockets. I don't think the guppies would do well in a fully operational brackish setup. Not nearly as well as mollies would. And you'd need to acclimate them slowly over time. Just to dump them in would kill them. The cory would last for about 5 seconds. If it didn't shrivel up and die from the salt content, it'd probably run full speed into the glass in a suicide attempt.

I would suggest doing a bit of research in order to be able to keep in the hobby long term and successfully. The links above aren't the gospel of fish keeping but are a great source in regards to general knowledge and fish care.


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[Mar23]

Fancy guppies happy and eating ferociously again! That last change did the trick. I will start doing more frequent changes from now on. Thanks for all the help!

 

[QuakingAspen]

Just putting it out there, but with a tank so small, a lot of things can go wrong and I have to say that a big tank is almost always easier to control the parameters. Make sure that all the chemicals and bacteria of the tank are stable, good luck.

 

[Mar23]

Thanks. I did the liquid test and I have 0 nitrites and nitrates, but ammonia is definitely high, at 1-2 ppm, possibly due to the heavy bio-load. I will just have to do frequent water changes. Perhaps I will get a large tank later in the year, but this is my daughter's, so I will just try to maintain it the best I can. The fish do look quite happy and healthy.

 

[allysonwonderland]

Looks like your tank is struggling to cycle even after all this time - I wouldn't change the filter cartridges anymore! You can swish them in old tank water if they get gunky.

I'm also not a big fan of chemicals like algaefix. Changing your light cycle could definitely help prevent algae - keep it on for less than 6 hours total, or in two chunks of 4-5 hours each. Algae needs a long period of light to grow. It's not bad for your tank though, just ugly, and it actually is probably lowering your ammonia. You can also add live plants to help reduce algae AND keep your params where you want them to be. Marimo moss balls are really easy to keep and really great at outcompeting algae for nutrients.

 

[Chesmok]

I think some of the advice here is too over the top and overly worrying you. 5 gal is not THAT tiny. It's a decent size. Yes, neons and Cories are schoolers but IMO your tank is not overcrowded. Since you can't regime these fish, you'll just have to cycle your tank. Getting the liquid test was great. Now go get some Seachem Stability (bacteria supplement) I use it on all my tanks it's amazing stuff and will help your cycling speed up A LOT. Follow the instructions you'll be well on your way to a full cycle in a week or less.

Don't need 2x 50% water changes a week. Doing that will majorly stress the fish. From now on, do 15-20% a day until your ammonia starts becoming nitrites (and later nitrates). Once you start adding Stability things will be better. Once cycled, do 15%-20% water change once a week.

When you vaccuum only touch the surface of the gravel never stir up anything underneath (releases buried toxins). Only feed tiny pinch once a day.

Adding live plants will help A LOT. Get as many stem plants as you can and stick them in. They will suck up all the ammonia, nitrites and nitrates. Floating plants are great too.

Good luck!


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[treemanone2003]

I think some of the advice here is too over the top and overly worrying you. 5 gal is not THAT tiny. It's a decent size. Yes, neons and Cories are schoolers but IMO your tank is not overcrowded.

Don't need 2x 50% water changes a week. Doing that will majorly stress the fish.


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For starters, a 5g actually IS that tiny. And doing 2x50% WC's will not stress the fish at all. It's actually going to ease them from the environment that they in. ESPECIALLY given the extremely high ammonia content and added stress from improper groups. I ran the numbers to show that the tank IS overcrowded. And since the specific cory wasn't named, I did not use it. Doing so would exponentially increase the percentage of overcrowding.

http://aqadvisor.com/AqAdvisor.php?...AqSpeciesWindowSize=short&AqSearchMode=simple


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[F.Sam]

I don't know if anyone else has mentioned this already. Don't do PWC's + change the filter media in one day.. It is however ok to wash the filtermedia in drained tank water and just put the filter back in the tank


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[Mar23]

Thank you for all the advice!! I will get some Marimo balls. I actually have a couple in my other tank and I do think they may work well. I replaced those filters because that was recommended on the package. Now I know better! Thanks. I think that when it comes to fish, obviously the fewer fish in your tank the better, but I also think that I have encountered some people here who may have grown a bit too impatient with newbies to actually offer any helpful advice anymore. Almost aggressive I would say.
I understand that this is your hobby and that you are very passionate about it. I respect that. Me, I'm just a mom who is trying to maintain her daughter's tank the best I can. I did not, nor would I ever, intentionally overstock my tank or hurt an animal. I followed the advice given to me by the store clerk in what to put in the tank and then I set it up following the instructions that came with it (Btw, why don't they come with instructions on cycling?). To the T. Almost 4 months later I have had no casualties, no diseases and no problems other than the algae. I did not even know about cycling a tank. It wasn't until my son asked for a puffer that I started to do research. I said no at first, but then decided to research it. That's when I found out about all this information.
Shaming people for owning a 5gallon tank is not cool. At all. This tank is my 11-year old daughter's tank. And she cares about it a great deal. I asked for advice here because I care. I really appreciate all the constructive criticism and the helpful advice, but the advice does not have to turn into accusations of unethical practices and shaming. I do appreciate all the help, though!


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