Freshie In Disguise
Aquarium Advice Activist
Hello. My name is Lindsey, and I just started a freshwater tank. I've had freshwater tanks in the past, but it's been years, and before, it seemed like we were blessed in that nothing ever went wrong!
All we ever had before was a 15 gallon (approx.) tank with a bubbler and basic decorations. The water was always crystal clear. We had a few goldfish, tetras, plecos, and other basic freshwater fish. When our last pleco died, the tank got really scuzzy and it was so hard to keep it clean that we ended up giving our fish away to friends and relatives, and using the tank for gerbils.
I recently had some extra cash and fell in love with a calico fantail at Walmart. I bought a smallish tank and a filter and ended up going home with two fantails, one calico and one red/gold. I had already had some freshwater snails and I put them in the tank to keep it clean. Clearly I have a spending problem, because when I went back to Walmart the next day, I came home with a black moor who wasn't "all there" when I bought him. He subsequently died, and I went back. There were no more black moors (the reason I had originally ended up with that one) so I bought two fiddler crabs, a pleco, and a blue/green betta, who is my special sweet girl.
With how hard those little crabs work at shoving things in their mouths, I am astounded at the cloudiness of the water. Since we have set up the tank (less than a week ago), we have done two complete water changes, scrubbed all the decorations, and inspected the filter. Nothing helps. I've looked into EcoBio products, but was a bit turned off by the price, and I've also contacted the DNR on the legalness of acquiring one adult zebra mussel (waiting for them to get back to me). I'm just not sure what to do. I know that goldfish can be messy and sensitive to filthy water, and I also know that the current in the tank from the filter makes feeding VERY difficult, because the fresh water coming out of the filter forces the food down into the water where it gets lodged in gravel and decorations and further adds to the problem. :?
Does anyone have any suggestions?
Lindsey
All we ever had before was a 15 gallon (approx.) tank with a bubbler and basic decorations. The water was always crystal clear. We had a few goldfish, tetras, plecos, and other basic freshwater fish. When our last pleco died, the tank got really scuzzy and it was so hard to keep it clean that we ended up giving our fish away to friends and relatives, and using the tank for gerbils.
I recently had some extra cash and fell in love with a calico fantail at Walmart. I bought a smallish tank and a filter and ended up going home with two fantails, one calico and one red/gold. I had already had some freshwater snails and I put them in the tank to keep it clean. Clearly I have a spending problem, because when I went back to Walmart the next day, I came home with a black moor who wasn't "all there" when I bought him. He subsequently died, and I went back. There were no more black moors (the reason I had originally ended up with that one) so I bought two fiddler crabs, a pleco, and a blue/green betta, who is my special sweet girl.
With how hard those little crabs work at shoving things in their mouths, I am astounded at the cloudiness of the water. Since we have set up the tank (less than a week ago), we have done two complete water changes, scrubbed all the decorations, and inspected the filter. Nothing helps. I've looked into EcoBio products, but was a bit turned off by the price, and I've also contacted the DNR on the legalness of acquiring one adult zebra mussel (waiting for them to get back to me). I'm just not sure what to do. I know that goldfish can be messy and sensitive to filthy water, and I also know that the current in the tank from the filter makes feeding VERY difficult, because the fresh water coming out of the filter forces the food down into the water where it gets lodged in gravel and decorations and further adds to the problem. :?
Does anyone have any suggestions?
Lindsey