Hello All,
We have had a 30 gallon fish tank for over a year with no problems. Then we moved from Queens NY, to upstate NY. Soon after the move, we moved all our fish to a 100 gallon tank. Still no problems but it was too early to really know, about a week. I'm trying to keep this short, but we had a week long blackout after storm Sandy up here. We lost about half our fish, and have since moved them all back to the old 30 gallon.
Main problem now is, my wife has emotionally tied herself to the fish. How bad? To the point where the whole blackout was about the fish. Worse than that, she has officially quit taking care of them as she always did. Makes sense, right? Never could figure her out.
Anyway, now I am left to quickly save these neglected fish. I read the stickys as much as I could in a few days, but I still have no idea what I'm doing. I don't have time to get a real test kit as suggested, no pet shops around here, I'd have to order online.
I have 4 tetras, 1 eel, 1 catfish, and a big striped guy that kinda looks like a salmon. 30 gallon, fresh water. I have basic additives, and a test strip kit. These fish are as hardy as they get, as they survived a week with no pump and no true heater.
Problem I cant figure out is, my water gets green in less than a week. Test strip shows very low nitrates, soft water, and low PH. Using well water, right out of the ground. Not sure how that translates. Only way I can keep the water clear looking is to swap out 30% a day. I know bacteria is an issue, cycling....but still not sure how to address the problem. Still confused on ammonia too. I dont think its a high lighting issue, but not sure. The tank is 7-8 feet away from the windows. Any help would be greatly appreciated.
-Bambu
We have had a 30 gallon fish tank for over a year with no problems. Then we moved from Queens NY, to upstate NY. Soon after the move, we moved all our fish to a 100 gallon tank. Still no problems but it was too early to really know, about a week. I'm trying to keep this short, but we had a week long blackout after storm Sandy up here. We lost about half our fish, and have since moved them all back to the old 30 gallon.
Main problem now is, my wife has emotionally tied herself to the fish. How bad? To the point where the whole blackout was about the fish. Worse than that, she has officially quit taking care of them as she always did. Makes sense, right? Never could figure her out.
Anyway, now I am left to quickly save these neglected fish. I read the stickys as much as I could in a few days, but I still have no idea what I'm doing. I don't have time to get a real test kit as suggested, no pet shops around here, I'd have to order online.
I have 4 tetras, 1 eel, 1 catfish, and a big striped guy that kinda looks like a salmon. 30 gallon, fresh water. I have basic additives, and a test strip kit. These fish are as hardy as they get, as they survived a week with no pump and no true heater.
Problem I cant figure out is, my water gets green in less than a week. Test strip shows very low nitrates, soft water, and low PH. Using well water, right out of the ground. Not sure how that translates. Only way I can keep the water clear looking is to swap out 30% a day. I know bacteria is an issue, cycling....but still not sure how to address the problem. Still confused on ammonia too. I dont think its a high lighting issue, but not sure. The tank is 7-8 feet away from the windows. Any help would be greatly appreciated.
-Bambu