Tropical Fish Forum
Tropical Fish Keeping Help and Advice => New Fishkeepers => Topic started by: emmzz75 on June 27, 2016, 04:41:41 PM
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Hi, I'm very new to fish keeping. I got a 40L tank 5 weeks ago. I ran it for 1 week and then added 2 plants. Then after 2 weeks I added 5 neon tetras and 2 cory catfish. Everything seemed fine. After 3 weeks I added 3 small snails. After 4 weeks I changed the filter and did about a 20% water change and cleaned the sides and gravel.
Now a week after the water change the algae levels have suddenly gone crazy in the last few days and the tank isn't smelling too good! Fish still seem fine and I've done a dip test thing and levels are good according to the leaflet enclosed!
So is this normal? And can I do anything as I really don't want a cloudy, smelly fish tank :(
Thanks, Emz x
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Hi emmz75 welcome to the forum :wave: , we can most certainly help solve your problems.
New tanks often suffer from an algae bloom of one type or another so a few questions. What colour is the algae bloom and what does the water smell of? Unless you use charcoal tank water will always smell what I call 'live', it smells but its not particularly offensive.
Did you cycle your tank using ammonia? If you haven't there's a chance your tank is still cycling which means you'll need to do more water changes for a while, although if the water smells foul I'd probably recommend a water change asap, unless the water is really toxic it can take a day or two for fish to start displaying signs of ill health
You say you've tested the water, does that include ammonia? Can you let us know your other results as that would be very helpful. ie nitrites, nitrates, pH as well.
Do you know if you have hard or soft water because that's quite important, you can find out from your water supplier and it can be looked up online.
Sorry for so many questions but the more we know, the easier it is to help. I've also probably forgotten something but somebody else will be along soon to add to the list.
edited to add: one thing just hit me, can you account for all your snails?
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Hi, welcome to the forum. Sorry it has to be with a problem.
First of all, ignore the algae till you have the answers to some questions.
The first thing to do is a water change, that's always the first response to something odd in the tank. Change at least half the water.
You say you used a dip test, but they don't usually include ammonia. You need to find your ammonia levels asap. It would be best of you could get your own ammonia tester but in the immediate term, take a sample of tank water to a fish shop and ask them to test it for ammonia and make sure they give you the actual number not something like a bit high or fine.
Ammonia is the first thing to go up, and should always be tested for if anything looks a bit iffy which is why I suggest getting your own tester. And it encourages algae to grow.
When you changed the filter, what exactly did you do? Was anything left inside the filter or did you change all of it?
Manufacturers will have you changing the media (the stuff inside the filter) on a regular basis but all this does is make them money. And when you remove the media you are also removing a large portion of the good bacteria the tank needs.
If you tell us what is inside the filter we can tell you what needs changing and what doesn't. The other problem is that some filters for small tanks have media which is next to useless so we can help if that is the case here.
The final problem you have is that the tank is unlikely to be cycled - that means it is unlikely to have grown all the good bacteria it needs yet. And if you have changed all the media you have just removed a lot of the bacteria that have grown.
Don't panic yet. As I said earlier, worry about the algae later, it will probably sort itself out once you've sorted out the other things.
But before anything else, change at least half the water in the tank.
Then tell us about the filter.
Then get the ammonia tested and buy a tester.
Fiona posted while I was typing :)
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I edited mine :) I suddenly thought of dead snails
and its nice we both offered the same advice independently. :)
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Hello Emz, and welcome to the forum.
Fiona and Sue have covered everything so far..... but I'll just add that the API Freshwater Master test kit is the one that we all tend to use. Your Local Fish Shop should have one in.
Actually, I'll also add that it's best not to ask for advice from your LFS, ask on here 'cos we're very honest and we're not trying to take your money! :)
Test kit looks like this:
(http://www.tropicalfishsite.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/07/API-Freshwater-Master-Test-Kit-1.png)
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Actually, I'll also add that it's best not to ask for advice from your LFS, ask on here 'cos we're very honest and we're not trying to take your money! :)
And a lot of shops don't know or don't care; they just want to sell you things.
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You'll probably find the API kit cheaper to buy on amazon or ebay.
To avoid bias I'd say a LOT of shops will just sell you anything you want, there are however some very good shops, you just need to find one ;) but yes we just give you honest advice with no ulterior motive and between us I reckon we have a least a century of fishkeeping experience ;D
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....... and between us I reckon we have a least a century of fishkeeping experience ;D
That's just Sue! ;D
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Hello everyone :wave:
Thank you so much for your replies :)
Okay I think I've got all the info needed:
1. the algae is bright green and I can't really describe the smell, just that it's like a tank should smell like but stronger (I can smell is when I'm near the tank whereas before I couldn't)
2. No I didn't use ammonia when cycling the tank.
3. The test strip doesn't have ammonia reading on!
* It has Nitrate between 0 -20 (the colour on the strip is a bit darker than the 0 reading but less dark as the 20 reading)
* Nitrite at 0
* PH at 7.5
* KH at 80
* GH at between 120 - 180 (again colour is in the middle)
4. I think we have hardish water.
5. The filter is called Aqua Flow 100 and the filter comes off as a whole and the new one clips in. It says on the box that it's 'dual action activated carbon' It has foam around the edges and then these black strips inside. I still have the other filter that I took out!
Hope that's everything answered and I'll do a 50% water change this evening.
Thank you so much again your help is appreciated
Emz
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Sorry just seen about the snails. Yes all there, actually I have 4 new ones just spotted today :)
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Sorry just seen about the snails. Yes all there, actually I have 4 new ones just spotted today :)
Yep - snails taught rabbits all they knew about breeding!
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....... and between us I reckon we have a least a century of fishkeeping experience ;D
That's just Sue! ;D
I may be older than most of you but I'm not that old :yikes:
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Spanks for @ColinB
Emmz did you change your cartridge recently? I've got that filter in my QT, I've had it 2 years and I've never changed the foam, if you do that you loose all your filter bacteria and trigger a cycle, which means the fish waste won't be processed into harmless substances.
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Fiona, I took the whole bit that clips off and put a whole new one in, I thought this was what I had to do according to the instructions! I do have the old cartridge still! Should I put that one back in??
Also how should I change the filter in future? Feel so stupid at this :o
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Lots of info, thanks Emmzz. And don't worry, you aren't stupid. Anyone would think that the tank manufacturer should know what they are doing but unfortunately, as you are discovering, this isn't actually the case.
At least your filter has sponge, I was afraid it was one of those awful filters with nothing but carbon and zeolite.
I have googled Aqua Flow 100 and it appears to be a Superfish brand. It would appear that you can remove the media from the media box and that is like an outer cube of sponge with carbon granules inside - is that right?
If it is, take the filter box off of the filter, remove the media and empty out the carbon granules. Then try to stuff as much of the old sponge as possible into the hole where the carbon is supposed to be. Cut it up if necessary to make it fit. Provided the old sponge is even a hint of damp the bacteria in it should be OK.
If absolutely necessary, carefully break the outer casing of the changeable box in some way that you can put it back together.
Instead of changing the media, all you need to do now is squeeze the sponge in some of the water you take out when you do a water change - never clean it under the tap or the chlorine in the water will harm the bacteria colonies. Don't scrub the sponge to make it look sparkly new, just enough to get rid of the debris that will collect in it.
You only need to change the sponge when it literally falls apart. They last for years. Maybe not quite decades, but certainly a lot longer than a few months.
Until you know if you have ammonia in the water, and how high it is, you'll need to do a 50% water change every day. But as soon as you know the ammonia level, post it here and we can take it from there.
Nitrite is zero, which is good, though if you do have ammonia you will find that you'll get nitrite before long.
Nitrate depends to a large extent on what is in the water supply. If you test your tap water, that will tell you if the amount in the tank is all from there or if you have some bacteria in the tank turning the ammonia into nitrite and on into nitrate.
And some reading for you. We are assuming that you are stuck with doing a fish-in cycle. This (http://www.thinkfish.co.uk/forums/fishtank-filtration-and-cycling/fish-in-cycling-with-fish-how-to-do-it/) explains what is happening and what you need to do. Sit down with a cup of tea/glass of wine and you'll see what to do.
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The old filter box iis still damp at the bottom! Should I take the granulas out of the middle of the new one and put the sponge in from this one? Is this what you meant lol sorry if I've misunderstood x
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If the old sponge is still damp, it might be better the other way round now that I've thought about it. The old sponge was in there longer than the new one has been so it should have more bacteria (in theory!). So:
Empty the black granules out of both sponges.
Chop up the new sponge, or whatever is necessary, and put the new sponge into the hollow in the old sponge.
Don't worry if it won't all fit, just get as much as you can in.
And don't wash the sponges just yet. They may be mucky but leave them alone for now. Don't do anything to upset the bacteria you have !
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....... and between us I reckon we have a least a century of fishkeeping experience ;D
That's just Sue! ;D
I may be older than most of you but I'm not that old :yikes:
:rotfl:
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I don't even qualify for a bus pass yet >:(
That's July next year...........
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What I have done with my Aqua 100 is to empty the carbon out and I filled the gap with mature media from another filter which speeded up my cycle, if you have a friend with a fish tank they may be able to help you with that. If not like Sue said you'll need to do a fish in cycle until your filter grows bacteria, which is why Sue suggested using the old sponge and sponge casing if you still have it.
Manufacturers are a little bit naughty and advise you to change the clip on bit regularly, however we don't need to do that and in fact its a bad idea to do so as we want to keep all the bacteria we spent ages growing.
The sponge inside will still need cleaning, I usually do mine once a month or when the water flow slows down because the filter is getting clogged up and as Sue said, I squeeze it out in old tank water to dislodged as much junk as possible and then it goes back into the casing and gets clipped on. I also use fine filter wool in mine to polish the water a bit more but I'd leave that until you've cycled the tank.
And don't feel bad about this, how could you possibly know the advice was bad when you were following manufacturer instructions. I get cross with these money machines sometimes.
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Thanks everyone, just about to do the water change and change the filter box back. Ordered the testing kit recommended and will take some tank water to my local fish shop tomorrow x
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Hi there.
I also have those filters in my tanks. The instructions do say to take the whole black box bit off and replace it. I was lucky because I had read information on this forum saying that the filter media did not need replacing, just a gentle swill in old tank water. After reading that pearl of wisdom I emptied the carbon out of all of them and stuffed the holes with the foam from the new filter cartridges I had already bought in anticipation of the suggested monthly media change. For my oldest filters that was back last October and they are still going strong.
Saves a fortune in replacement media. ;D
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Welcome along to the forum Emmz, I can see you're in great hands already so for now I'll just say...
(http://i.imgur.com/DpYj47y.gif)
8) 8) 8)
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Good news :D My tank is looking great. No more algae and lovely clear water <3 And all fish swimming around happily :fishy1:
Thanks so much for all the great advice :wave:
Emz x
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Fantastic news.
Congratulations.
:cheers:
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Excellent!! :)
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Good news indeed. 8)