Hi!
I obtained a 10-gallon aquarium back in January from a neighbor who couldn't take it with her when she moved. It had a pleco and 2 angelfish. About a week after getting it, one of the angelfish died. It had died inside a decoration and when I removed it to take the fish out, it stirred up a bunch of stuff that the previous owners had not cleaned out and made the tank cloudy (there was lots of poop). Nothing I did could clear up the cloudiness, including water changes and clarifying tablets. I vacuumed the rocks, added live plants because I'd heard that it would help. Still had issues with cloudiness. I thought maybe I was giving them too much food and have cut back on that, but the water still wasn't clearing up. The pleco died not too long after the first angelfish.
About a month ago, following the guidance of a Petsmart employee, I bought new gravel and thoroughly cleaned everything in the tank to start a new cycle. She said she had done that recently and didn't lose any fish. So I did that. The fish were fine and looked happy to be in a clean tank. About two weeks later, the tank started getting cloudy again. The fish developed Ich. I bought some tablets. One of those "no need to raise the temperature and usually cured in one dose" kinds. It hasn't worked. I've been following the directions on the box. Yesterday, I bought a new heater and a new filter, an Aquaclear 20. I did a water change and the water was clear. The guy at a different pet store said the new heater would take care of the Ich. The old one I had kept the temp at about 68 turned all the way up and was on all the time. That was probably why the tablets weren't working. Oh, and I had also removed the carbon filter during the medicating. The only original things in the tank are 2 rocks that the neighbor's mom brought from Hawaii. Everything else has been replaced (not counting the fish and the tank itself).
Copy and paste.
1~What type of fish is afflicted? In addition, please describe what is wrong with the fish to the best of your ability (i.e. cotton like growth, bloated, etc.).
Mollies (white male, black male, black female, and a dalmatian female) and an angelfish. They have Ich and it's not going away despite treatment. The angelfish and one of the mollies (the black male) are laying on the gravel and are lethargic. The molly has discoloration, like what happens when you accidentally spill bleach on your clothes. I think they were stressed from the cleaning yesterday.
2~What are your tank parameters (ammonia, nitrites, nitrates, temp, pH)? Please give exact values.
Honestly, I'm not sure. I took a water sample into Petsmart a bit ago when I first was trying to find out what was causing the cloudiness and the levels all tested fine. Ammonia was slightly high, but no where near critical levels.
3~ How large is the tank? How long has the tank been set up?
It's a standard 10-gallon tank. I've had it since January and have no idea how long ago it had first been set up.
4~What type of filtration are you using? Please give the name and number (i.e. Fluval 304) and amount of gph if known.
Just got an Aquaclear 20 and it pumps 100 gph. Old one was a Whisper Power Filter 10 I think. Not sure how much it was pumping.
5~How many fish are in the tank? What kinds of fish are they and what are their current sizes?
There are currently 5. They are all roughly 2-2 1/2 inches in length. 4 mollies and 1 angelfish.
6~When is the last time you did a water change and vacuum the gravel? How often do you do this? How much water do you remove at a time?
The last one was yesterday. It was a complete water change to try to clear up cloudiness. I've only done the gravel vacuum once in the last month as I was starting a new cycle with new gravel. The water stayed clear for about a day and was cloudy this morning.
7~How long have you had the fish? If the fish is new, how did you acclimate it/them?
I've had them for a little less than a month. To acclimate them, I let the bag sit in the water for about a half hour and then scooped them out.
8~Have you added anything new to the tank--decor, new dechlorinator, new substrate, etc.?
Nope. I've been using AquaSafe for a conditioner and make sure to add it every time there is tap water added to the tank. I also use AlgaeControl and a bacteria supplement. The girl at Petsmart said cloudiness could be caused by bad bacteria and recommended a TopFin bacteria supplement, which supposedly would help kill bad bacteria and promote good bacteria. I also am using aquarium salt to try to get rid of the Ich instead of the tablets as it seemed to help more. Do I need to add salt and do a daily water change (like 25%) for this treatment?
9~What kind of food have you been feeding your fish, have you changed their diet recently?
They were getting the Tetra color enhancing food. I thought that might have been the problem with the cloudiness, but have just started feeding them TetraMin Plus because it seemed like it was more nutritious and had a "cleaner and clearer water" formula. I read that fish food loses nutritional value after about 2 months, so they needed some fresher stuff anyway.
I really don't know what else to do for my fish besides scrapping the whole thing and starting over with a new system, but I've already spent so much time and money on it that I'd hate to do that. I feel so bad that the fish are not healthy, but I don't know what to do for them. I hate that I can't get their environment cleaned up and kept clear. =( Any advice would be greatly appreciated and my apologies for such a long post! Thanks!
I obtained a 10-gallon aquarium back in January from a neighbor who couldn't take it with her when she moved. It had a pleco and 2 angelfish. About a week after getting it, one of the angelfish died. It had died inside a decoration and when I removed it to take the fish out, it stirred up a bunch of stuff that the previous owners had not cleaned out and made the tank cloudy (there was lots of poop). Nothing I did could clear up the cloudiness, including water changes and clarifying tablets. I vacuumed the rocks, added live plants because I'd heard that it would help. Still had issues with cloudiness. I thought maybe I was giving them too much food and have cut back on that, but the water still wasn't clearing up. The pleco died not too long after the first angelfish.
About a month ago, following the guidance of a Petsmart employee, I bought new gravel and thoroughly cleaned everything in the tank to start a new cycle. She said she had done that recently and didn't lose any fish. So I did that. The fish were fine and looked happy to be in a clean tank. About two weeks later, the tank started getting cloudy again. The fish developed Ich. I bought some tablets. One of those "no need to raise the temperature and usually cured in one dose" kinds. It hasn't worked. I've been following the directions on the box. Yesterday, I bought a new heater and a new filter, an Aquaclear 20. I did a water change and the water was clear. The guy at a different pet store said the new heater would take care of the Ich. The old one I had kept the temp at about 68 turned all the way up and was on all the time. That was probably why the tablets weren't working. Oh, and I had also removed the carbon filter during the medicating. The only original things in the tank are 2 rocks that the neighbor's mom brought from Hawaii. Everything else has been replaced (not counting the fish and the tank itself).
Copy and paste.
1~What type of fish is afflicted? In addition, please describe what is wrong with the fish to the best of your ability (i.e. cotton like growth, bloated, etc.).
Mollies (white male, black male, black female, and a dalmatian female) and an angelfish. They have Ich and it's not going away despite treatment. The angelfish and one of the mollies (the black male) are laying on the gravel and are lethargic. The molly has discoloration, like what happens when you accidentally spill bleach on your clothes. I think they were stressed from the cleaning yesterday.
2~What are your tank parameters (ammonia, nitrites, nitrates, temp, pH)? Please give exact values.
Honestly, I'm not sure. I took a water sample into Petsmart a bit ago when I first was trying to find out what was causing the cloudiness and the levels all tested fine. Ammonia was slightly high, but no where near critical levels.
3~ How large is the tank? How long has the tank been set up?
It's a standard 10-gallon tank. I've had it since January and have no idea how long ago it had first been set up.
4~What type of filtration are you using? Please give the name and number (i.e. Fluval 304) and amount of gph if known.
Just got an Aquaclear 20 and it pumps 100 gph. Old one was a Whisper Power Filter 10 I think. Not sure how much it was pumping.
5~How many fish are in the tank? What kinds of fish are they and what are their current sizes?
There are currently 5. They are all roughly 2-2 1/2 inches in length. 4 mollies and 1 angelfish.
6~When is the last time you did a water change and vacuum the gravel? How often do you do this? How much water do you remove at a time?
The last one was yesterday. It was a complete water change to try to clear up cloudiness. I've only done the gravel vacuum once in the last month as I was starting a new cycle with new gravel. The water stayed clear for about a day and was cloudy this morning.
7~How long have you had the fish? If the fish is new, how did you acclimate it/them?
I've had them for a little less than a month. To acclimate them, I let the bag sit in the water for about a half hour and then scooped them out.
8~Have you added anything new to the tank--decor, new dechlorinator, new substrate, etc.?
Nope. I've been using AquaSafe for a conditioner and make sure to add it every time there is tap water added to the tank. I also use AlgaeControl and a bacteria supplement. The girl at Petsmart said cloudiness could be caused by bad bacteria and recommended a TopFin bacteria supplement, which supposedly would help kill bad bacteria and promote good bacteria. I also am using aquarium salt to try to get rid of the Ich instead of the tablets as it seemed to help more. Do I need to add salt and do a daily water change (like 25%) for this treatment?
9~What kind of food have you been feeding your fish, have you changed their diet recently?
They were getting the Tetra color enhancing food. I thought that might have been the problem with the cloudiness, but have just started feeding them TetraMin Plus because it seemed like it was more nutritious and had a "cleaner and clearer water" formula. I read that fish food loses nutritional value after about 2 months, so they needed some fresher stuff anyway.
I really don't know what else to do for my fish besides scrapping the whole thing and starting over with a new system, but I've already spent so much time and money on it that I'd hate to do that. I feel so bad that the fish are not healthy, but I don't know what to do for them. I hate that I can't get their environment cleaned up and kept clear. =( Any advice would be greatly appreciated and my apologies for such a long post! Thanks!
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But the other 3 mollies look like they'll be alright, they are swimming around and acting normal.
