# Fishtank problems! Help!



## Twobeautifulboys (Jan 2, 2011)

We have a 20 gallon freshwater aquarium with two white clouds, two tetra? (skinny fish), two cori catfish, and one snail. Originally we had three each of the fish and three snails, so we have a problem. We are new to this so, any advice you have would be helpful! Here is a rundown: A while back we began having a brown algae problem, so after some research, I extended the hours our tank light was on. Soon after, we began having a horrible green algae problem. Even the glass lid on top of the tank, right under the light, was completely covered with green algae. At the petstore, we were told never to clean out a whole tank and start over, so we tried to help by doing frequent water changes with a gravel vacuum, and scrubbing things off etc. It seemed like every time I did this, the green algae would return faster than before, with much more of it. Eventually it was hair-like and strung out all over the tank. We asked at another pet store, and were told that we needed to clean out the whole tank and soak everything in a 3% bleach solution. We did this and also replaced the gravel. This was about a month ago. At first, the tank was so clean and nice, but over the last few weeks, it has become very cloudy, smelly, and now has little fuzzy white things on the bottom. The snail is also completely covered with slimy, fuzzy white stuff. I don't notice any green algae, except on the glass under the lid, which has never really gone away. I do see some brown spots on the tank decor. This week, I did a 5 gallon water change and sucked out all of the white stuff with a gravel vac, but today it is all cloudy again, and the snail is covered again. I don't know what to do? We use the nutri-min bacteria supplement each time, and also a water treatment. Does anyone have advice about what we should do so we can have a happy tank!? Thanks!:fish-in-a-bag:


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## automatic-hydromatic (Oct 18, 2010)

first off, how long has this tank been set up?



the brown algae you seen first is diatoms. perfectly normal and to be expected in a new tank. when I've got them in the past, I didn't react at all to them and change any habits. they'll normally kill themselves off in a week or so.

leaving the light on more often is what cause the green algae bloom, which I'm sure you already know. the best way to get rid of a green algae bloom is a blackout for 3 or 4 days. turn the light on maybe 3 or 4 minutes every time you feed the fish so they can see what they're doing, but for the rest of the time, leave the light off, and even cover the tank with a dark sheet if the room it's in get's a lot of light from nearby windows. green algae is photosynthetic, so you have to set up a balance of light to keep it from blooming out of control. if you have a light timer, I've found it's best to let the light stay on between 8 and 10 hours a day. 12 hours might be pushing it; I got green algae blooms with a 12 hour cycle myself, twice. I now run mine roughly 9 1/2 hours a day and don't have any issues with either algae

if the green string algae is growing and hanging off things in strings, grab a pair of Black Mollies and toss them in the tank. I had one that use to go to town on the stuff in my 10 gallon. those may even peck at the fuzz on the bottom, though I'm not sure.

the white fuzz on the bottom, 9 times out of 10, is fungus growing on uneaten food. meaning you're overfeeding the fish. how often and how much do you feed the fish? that small number of fish shouldn't eat a hole lot. I've always put my tanks on a 2 feeds a day diet, but VERY small feeds; about 1 dime sized flake per two fish. the Cory cat is a bottom feeder, but he isn't going to get all of it, so don't rely on him to COMPLETELY keep the bottom clean.

another helper to keep the bottom clean is small shrimp like Ghost Shrimp or Cherry Shrimp

if you're getting a lot of green algae growth on the tank sides, you could probably benefit from an Otto or a Bristlenose Pleco (both more commonly known as "sucker fish"; the ones that you see hang on the glass by their mouth)



also, I don't like to use any chemicals in my tank unless it's absolutely necessary. I add chemical plant fertilizers on a weekly basis to help my live plants out, but besides that the ONLY other thing I've ever added to my tank is a parasite treatment, and it was as a precaution because I had a Betta come down with fin rot out of no where...


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## ironbone (Nov 6, 2010)

i agree with auto-with the algea situation mollies will eat that up better than any pleco.i would get rid of the gravel personally its more headache cuz you probably have ug filters going on.personnaly i will never go back to gravel rocks sand agronite substrate much better imo-turn your filter off during water changes rake it no big bombs shells ready to gurgle to the top.the only tank ive had a diatom issue with is my puffer tank his tank light i try to keep to min but that stuff is u maid service i cant put any kinda clean up crew in his t40g tank cause he dont like it so on my w/c i have a inside tank pad i hit them diatom spots
ive never had algea problems only issues i had was when i decided to move under gravel plates big air bubbles biger ammonia spike that why i stick to sand bot it is what it is


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## Twobeautifulboys (Jan 2, 2011)

Thank you for your help. Automatic-hydromatic- the tank has been up for months; I'm not even sure. About a month ago, we completely cleaned out the tank and started fresh, with new gravel. So, I suppose this would be considered a new tank. I feed them 2x a day, but I am feeding too much. I will cut back. So, what would you suggest I do for the cloudy water? Is that also a result of too much food? Will that settle down once I remedy that situation? The poor snail is covered in the same white slimy, fuzzy stuff. How often do you suggest I do water changes until this is under control? Should I start water changing first or get some black mollies first? I have one of those simple gravel vacuums and I am considering getting one of those that attaches to your faucet to make things easier. Thank you so much for your help. One more question: When I use the gravel vac., am I supposed to shove the nozzle way down into the gravel and then let it fall out, or just suck the stuff off the top and disturb the gravel as little as possible?

I also had no idea that there were other options than gravel! Thanks for sharing ironbone.


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## jrman83 (Jul 9, 2010)

Do you own a liquid test kit? I'd recommend getting an API master kit so you can test the water. Sounds to me like you possibly had/have a bateria bloom going on. Stop feeding for 2-3 days and it will probably clear (cloudy water) on it's own. Your fish will be just fine.

Just how long are you leaving the light on for? Sounds like way too much. If you don't have any plants, why leave it on more than the time you may be up and able to enjoy it? In other words, no need to leave it on while at work, in bed, or out doing things. The fish will see fine with ambient light in the room. I would leave the light off for a few days and see how that works for you and re-evaluate. The brown algae will go away on its own and is common to newer tanks.


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## Gizmo (Dec 6, 2010)

Twobeautifulboys said:


> We use the nutri-min bacteria supplement each time, and also a water treatment.


Not sure exactly what this bacteria supplement is supposed to do, but stop using it unless it is absolutely necessary. Most of us on here only use dechlorinator (also known as tap water conditioner) when we are treating water to introduce into the tank.

For cloudy water, if it is green, do a blackout as mentioned above. If it is white, it's a bacteria bloom and you just have to let it go until it clears.

The fuzz will die/go away once you stop overfeeding. Again, it will just take time.


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## verdifer (Sep 8, 2010)

In your post you said for the Algae you extended the time the lights are on, for Algae you cut down the amount of time the lights are on.

If you have a load of Algae then you will have a load of food for them in there, Phosphate and Nitrate are what they eat, a Mixture of High Nitrate, High Phosphate and throw in a load of light is perfect for Algae.

Test you water, I bet your Nitrate will be high, cut down lights on time, stop adding the bacteria supplement, if your tank has direct sunlight hitting it then you need to move it.

I would remove as much Algae as possible manualy with a scraper or sponge, get a test kit, if the Nitrates are really high power away with water changes, rather than 1 per week at 10% I would do a water change every few days taking away more than 10%, Test for Phosphate if thats high and you have a cannister filter you can get some filter media to remove this, most tap water has some degree of Phosphate just different levels in different places, if you do have a cannister filter then thowing some carbon in it wouldn't do it any bad either, a bad smell from a tank can be a sign of high Nitrate also.

If you don't have a fish that eats algae then I would get 1, my personal favourite when I kept Freshwater was the Albino Bristlenose, the 1 I had munched away at the Algae even with him being fed Veggies, a common Plec will outgrow your tank but that doesn't mean you can't a few of them so long as they aren't massive and put them in, when the Algae has gone way down your LFS will be happy to trade them in for store credit, if you do get a few just make sure they don't fight, I had 2 in a 30 gallon tank way back and they were fine, they were small also and got traded in after a few months, I always found with Plecs they are more active at night when it's dark so if you do get them mamke sure at bedtime you switch the light in the room off so they have darkness.

I know a guy who each month takes all his fish out, changes all the water, doesn't use a De-Clorinator, washes the tank and bleaches all his decor from the tank, he has been doing this for years, it does work but it means his tank will always have to be run this way, all he is doing is rather than cycling the tank so it looks after itself he is getting rid of all the bad stuff before it has time to kill everything, this is great but if a time comes he can't be bothered then he will run into trouble, this will be why the Petstore told you not to clean the whole tank and start again.

To be honest you can clean the tank as often and as good as you want but until you find out what is causing the Algae it won't go away it will always re-appear.


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