Planted Tank newbie in need of as many advice as he can get...

[Olujuwon]

Ok so ... I live in Lagos , Nigeria , Africa and have always been fascinated by aquariums. However I decided to get one for myself early this year and decided its gonna be DIY all through.
My tank (45 gallon) is set except for few aesthetics(stand, cover n light ) but i decided to try my hands on the plants first.I used normal garden top soil from my back yard since i could not get the artificial topsoil to buy here and also could not get most of the recommended aquatic plants but tried pothos and some other plants i got from a river bank... In two days the water in the tank was clean but the smell of the water was awful. Yeaterday, I noticed most of the plants were decaying already and i removed all of them except for one dat seem to b surviving and water lily and my lucky bamboo and also cleaned n changed the water in the tank and also put some charcoal but at the moment the smell of the water is still awful and the top of the water is scary as well (i have attached a pics)
I just bought 2gold fishes and 2 angel fishes but they are just in my quarantine tank for now... Please people H E L P!!!

 

[dragonfisher33]

i'm sure it's from the garden soil that you used as substrate. in the United States, those of us do dirted tanks usually use Miracle Grow as our soil. but i'm not sure what the garden soil is composed of in Africa. it could contain toxic chemical such as copper and high level of phosphate and ammonia--->hence the decay.

also, it would be nice to know the names of those river plants that you're using. they usually carry unwanted inhabitants and could potentially kill your fish (especially if these inhabitants are parasites or flatworms, etc). furthermore, the river where you got the plants matter. if it's heavily pollute, then it's no wonder things are dying in the tank. this and what i mentioned above will certainly kill anything in the tank. i would clean the tank out and restart it using different substrate and plants.

 

[Olujuwon]

Many thanks @ dragonfisher33

 

[J.Mcpeak]

What type of filter are you using?

Something needs to move the water about. It looks like it has stagnated.

 

[andresdeo]

What type of filter are you using? Something needs to move the water about. It looks like it has stagnated.

+1 on the filter.

If you dont have any plants available to you Research how to kill posible hitchhikers with mild solutions of hydrogen peroxide. The soil, should work but first get the filter setup and clear all the stagnate water out. Hope this helps and keep us posted.

 

[Olujuwon]

I just ordered dis submersible filter but yet to take delivery
So i'll just hold on abit till i get the filter to try it out and i'll definitely keep you guys posted ... Thanks alot guys!

 

[J.Mcpeak]

(That's most likely it, no filter)

 

[Olujuwon]

Hello guys , I went to a local store and found this organic top soil,so am thinking to buy and try it this time instead of the one from my backyard
And my filter was also delivered today so am going to re set up by saturday...

 

[andresdeo]

Great to hear! Best of luck

 

[dragonfisher33]

also i should add that when you add the soil and the filter onto the tank, i would like it sit for a day and follow up by a massive water change the next day in order to reduce the possibility of poisoning of the fish/plant (at least that's what i did when i dirted my tank)

 

[vexxiang]

I used an organic soil, not miracle grow, and washed it in a bucket and removed major floating bits before squeezing it until it was just damp and layering it into the tank, then capped with gravel. Two immediate water changes and no cloudiness.

 

[Olujuwon]

Hello guys, thank you for your advice so far, my tank is up and running, one of my angel fish died before I even introduced them into my main tank (guess its been diseased from where i bought it from) but since over 2 weeks now that i have introduced the remaining fishes into my dirt tank with minimal water change of once a week the fishes and the plants seem to be doing fine except that the water keeps turning yellowish but no foul smells.

 

[Olujuwon]

I traveled over this past weekend for 2 days and by the time i came back , i noticed some cotton-like attachment on a part of the water near the filter and I immediately did a 50% water change but i noticed that the most active of my gold fish has not been that active and its not feeding too so i isolated it from the rest but i can't seem to see any other symptoms other than loss of appetite and reduced activity ... So i have included a picture of it just may be anyone can help diagnose n suggest a treatment ... This fish is my favorite at the moment , please help guys!

 

[J.Mcpeak]

Probably caught what the angel had, possibly bacterial or parasitic disease?

 

[Coursair]

Can you test your water ?

Goldfish and Angelfish are Not recommended tank mates. GF like cool water and higher PH. Angels like warmer water and lower PH.

GF need big tanks.

Do you add Conditioner ? Is your water Chlorinated ? Here we use Seachem Prime because my tap water has Chlorine and Chloromines.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[Demonknight]

and the yellowing is probably from wood that's in most "soil" that you buy these days, the stuff I bought last time was more wood than dirt.