Help!

[Allivymar]

Urk. You changed the filter and carbon? Keep a VERY close eye on your water parameters; nitrifying bacteria lives in the carbon and filter media (thats most likely what the brown goop was) and you may have removed most of it when you took out the filter. The smell....did it smell like fresh wet dirt? Or something else? Just for future reference, rinse the filter out in the water you remove from the tank during water changes. This way most of the bacteria will remain.

Also, smack daddy's hands for me LOL. You really don't want to add new fish to a tank with ammonia levels registering. Don't forget, the fish will add their own contributions to the ammonia (both by respiration and digestion), and you will have to feed them too, so more food into the tank. Catfish, especially algae eating ones, add a heavy load to the tank (they are the poopingest things I've ever seen!). In fact, make daddy pop on here and read up on all the research you've been doing.

Btw, what sort of albino cats? Bristlenose? Love them; cool lookin fish! Do know tho, they get to be about 6 inches each; 2 is too many for a 10g (plus there won't be enough algae for 2 in that size tank). Also, you'll need to pick up some driftwood for em; plecs require the lignin in the wood for digestion.

Lastly, a question. What sort of filter are you using? I never thought to ask before.

 

[Kwenbee]

Trust me, Daddy has been sufficiently smacked! Too late to worry about it now, though, and the cats seem to be doing just fine. Of course, now I have ammo to get that 55 gallon that I want since these guys will be too big for our little 10!

I checked the ammonia at lunchtime and the nitrites and ammonia are still 2.0/.50 respectively.

The smell was like sour water...not like wet dirt...you could smell it from across the room. The removal of the filter seemed to get rid of the odor.

Our filter came with the tank...not sure of the brand...Whisper something I think. It has a little filter with carbon inside. I was buying the entire thing, but when we bought the new test kit, I saw they had a pack of five, so I bought it. When I opened it, I found that it was filter and carbon separate. I did kind of wiggle the whole thing in the water before I took it out.

We've been dropping an algae wafer in every so often, so the bottom feeders are doing okay. The cats eat just about everything that is in the bottom of the tank and fight with Al over the algae wafers. I don't think they are bristlenose...they're little tiny fish...remind me sort of swimming bugs.

I am definitely keeping an eye on the levels...trust me, I tell everyone my life revolves around fish water right now! The package of filters/carbon did say that we should change the filter AND carbon every four weeks...guess they were wrong? Or is that just after we get the levels right?

Figures...we add fish that could make the ammonia levels higher! Think I'll smack Daddy again! Don't think he'll make THAT mistake again!

 

[Kwenbee]

New problem...fish are still all fine...no problems with them. The ammonia still at 2.0 and the nitrites still at .50. I went so far as to test our tap water just to be sure it didn't have nitrites and ammonia...it registered 0 for both, so guess I just have to keep waiting.

Anyway...yesterday, I changed the filter and charcoal (had NO IDEA I could do one or the other). However, this problem was present before, it just seems to be getting worse.

The water is VERY cloudy...a whitish color. I did two gravel vacuums this week (found a pocket of decayed food so thought that might have been the problem). I've been doing daily, sometimes twice daily, water changes (if it seems the ammonia level has gone up, I do another small water change in the evening...normally I do a 25% in the morning).

I didn't notice the white cloudiness until we started adding algae chips for the algae eater and the newly added catfish, so I don't know if that might be the problem. They seem to be eating ALL the algae, so don't think that's it. I'm wondering if my filter is working at all or if I should invest in a better one.

The one we have came with the tank (we bought the entire kit at Walmart...like I said before, I didn't know!) and I think is called a Whispertone(?). I changed the filter and carbon because of odor, and it seemed to get better for a little while yesterday, but today it's back. It really is unpleasant...like stagnant water almost...not wet dirt.

One thing I haven't mentioned...not sure if it matters. We have an airstone in the back of the tank. It is not regulated at all...it just kind of bubbles constantly. Is it necessary? Or are we just compounding the problem (we got the stone because we thought the extra oxygen was necessary for the goldfish that no longer are in this world...they've gone on to the giant aquarium in the sky).

Just when I think I've got this thing licked...another problem pops up. Oh...and the cloudiness is not related to the addition of the cats...it had begun long before they arrived. I'm really, really thinking of finding some of that byo-sypra everyone talks about to push this along...or am I too far gone for that now? I did see some ammonia removal products in the fish store, and was SO tempted to try it, but the advice on this board kind of leans toward NOT using that kind of stuff. Water changes do not seem to be clearing up the cloudiness.

 

[Tigerlily]

I would say that you should definitely not use any ammonia removing products, besides water changes. You're probably having a bacterial bloom, which should subside as your tank cycles. BioSpira might speed things up a bit, but your tank is probably too far along for it to fix all your problems. My experience is that BioSpira works best when you are starting from scratch.

The airstone shouldn't be hurting anything, although it's not necessary as long as you have good water movment. The airstone won't actually put oxygen into your water, but the turbulence that the bubbles create at the top of the aquarium will. As long as you have turbulence, like from an HOB filter, you should have plenty of O2 in the water.

I don't know anything about your current filter, it is probably OK, but if you do want to invest in a new filter, I would recommend one of the penguin filters. The bio-wheel gives the good bacteria a place to live, and you don't have to worry about disrupting the bacterial colony when you change filter media. I worry about disrupting my cycle and like things to stay stable!

BTW - I've been following your progress and think you're doing great! I know changing water every day is a hassle - I've been there too. Just keep it up a little while longer, and everything should be fine!

 

[Tigerlily]

BTW - I was curious about your catfish. Does it look like the second picture on the link below?

http://corydoras.pwp.blueyonder.co.uk/corydoras_aeneus_htm.htm

 

[Kwenbee]

It's good to hear someone thinks I'm doing great....sometimes I feel like my entire world revolves around fish water!

I wondered about that whole bio filter thing. The recommendations that came with my filter were to change EVERYTHING...the carbon and the filter thingy that covers the carbon. It did say to NOT replace the "frame", but that the filter and carbon pack needed to be changed every four weeks.

The smell is what's bugging me more than the cloudiness. I guess I'll just keep checking my levels and hopefully as they adjust the smell will go away!

I am having some problem keeping the temperature down in the tank. It sometimes rises right to the top of what is an acceptable range (the thermometer has a green shaded area surrounded by yellow shaded for warning). We keep our house fairly warm (I can't stand being cold), so I figure it has to do with that. We don't have a heater because I figured since the temp stays a bit high, heating it would be kind of dumb! We leave the little feeding lid open most days just to get a little more airflow over the water to cool it.

Nope...that cat doesn't like like ours. Ours are about the same color as our Chinese algae eater...a tannish pink color with red-rimmed eyes. The store called them albino catfish and they do eat a lot of gunk off the bottom! They actually try to move gravel to get to pieces of food. They are very, very small right now, though.

All our "guys" seem to be very healthy and happy, so I guess we're doing the right things for now. I just worry when the water clouds up so much!