My 10gallon aquarium was up and running great for about a month and then i went on vacation. I asked my family to throw in 6-7 pellets a day, and don't worry if they miss a day as its harder to starve than over feed.
I guess they didn't really hear me because i was gone for around 10 days and came back to a pond.
The water is murkier than it had ever been, ammonia has hit higher levels than i've seen at around 2.0ppm, there were piles of rotting food in the gravel, and my cory cats are usually the most lively, now they hardly move.. so little that i could touch them before they swam.
The tank is in worse shape than i've ever thought it could be in and i immediately did a 50% water change and vacuum of the gravel when i got back but there is still a bunch more junk in there.
My thought is the only hope is 50% water changes and vacuuming every day until it clears up.. That, or, start from scratch. I was contemplating just completely emptying my tank and refilling it and starting anew. In other words, follow that euthanasia advice on the forum, although thats more of a last resort if the tank is too far gone.
I guess they didn't really hear me because i was gone for around 10 days and came back to a pond.
The water is murkier than it had ever been, ammonia has hit higher levels than i've seen at around 2.0ppm, there were piles of rotting food in the gravel, and my cory cats are usually the most lively, now they hardly move.. so little that i could touch them before they swam.
The tank is in worse shape than i've ever thought it could be in and i immediately did a 50% water change and vacuum of the gravel when i got back but there is still a bunch more junk in there.
My thought is the only hope is 50% water changes and vacuuming every day until it clears up.. That, or, start from scratch. I was contemplating just completely emptying my tank and refilling it and starting anew. In other words, follow that euthanasia advice on the forum, although thats more of a last resort if the tank is too far gone.
this should not damage the beneficial bacteria because most of it should live in your biological filter and when you put normal dechlorinated water in there it shouldn't change much except your nitrates (good bacteria) should drop but thats a good thing as to much nitrates can be quite bad for your fish. I usually stay around 5-10ppm 
