Need alot of advice, please help.

[lashalove]

I have a ton of questions, so I apologize in advance for the novel I'm about to write (lol)
Here's my story... I have a 55 gal rectangular tank. It's been set up for approx. 4 months. The current fish are as follows... (I'm not sure of the proper names for them all)
* 2 bloodfin tetras
* 2 black tetras
* 2 white skirt tetras
* 2 harlequin raspboras
* 2 coris (1 albino, 1 spotted)
* 1 common pleco
* 1 male betta
* 3 guppies (1 adult, 2 babies about 3 months old)

The guppy was the "cycle" fish, and she ended up being pregnant.

I use mostly tap water that I let sit in a bucket overnight w/ an airtube to help remove chlorine, also use Stress Coat. Our tap water is VERY hard so our pH is about 8.2. I sometimes use R/O water when doing water changes just to soften it up a bit.

I seem to be having a problem with brown algea, I've read the advice @ about.com and have been thinking about getting an otto or 2. The algea is so bad that I have to clean the tank about every 4 days (i.e. take out all the plastic plants & ornaments scrub good w/ very hot water, scrub glass, vacuum gravel.... remove about 15% water. I have an aquaclear 200 filter (3 stage) which I rinse in the removed water, and replace media as stated in the directions)

Water temp is 75.

My Nitrate and Nitrite levels get pretty high and would go into the danger zone if waited more than 4 days to do a water change/cleaning.

My mom said I might be feeding them too much... I give them a small pinch of flakes 3 times a day. Every 3 days or so I replace one of the meals with bloodworms. And the pleco gets a algea wafer after cleanings.

Now to my questions:

Is there anything I can do so I don't have to clean the tank so often?

Do I have too many fish, can I get more? I'd ideally like to get 2 more bloodfins, 1 or 2 more coris, 2 more harlequins and maybe and otto or 2 for the brown algea? (getting rid of the guppies is an option)

Am I doing anything else wrong?

I'd appreciate any answers/advice. Thanks for reading.


P.S. I attatched a picture to show the brown algea.... (in case its something else)

[Puffer Pita]

Brown algae isn't really algae, its diatoms. Very common in new tanks, will go away on its own eventually (several months usually, IME). Otos like them, yes, but they are fragile fish and after the diatoms are gone, you have to supplement their food. I just manually clean until they go away.

Most of the fish you have are schooling fish and should be in groups of about 6. You have room in that tank for several more. I'd definitely get 4 more harlequin rasboras and 4 more cories. I wouldn't get more than that though.

[Reefneck]

And you ARE feeding way too much! Slow down to at most, Once per day and only as much as they can devour in a 2-3 minute timespan. Other than that, the above advice is also good.

[Puffer Pita]

Originally Posted by lashalove

I use mostly tap water that I let sit in a bucket overnight w/ an airtube to help remove chlorine, also use Stress Coat. Our tap water is VERY hard so our pH is about 8.2. I sometimes use R/O water when doing water changes just to soften it up a bit.

Just re-read your post to see if I'd missed anything else (missed the feeding part). Be very careful with this. You want to keep the pH consistent. All of the fish you have can adjust to a high pH but pH swings can kill. Having a stable pH is much more important than having a specific pH.

[SueM]

Hi lashalove, sounds to me like you have done your research, good for you

I use mostly tap water that I let sit in a bucket overnight w/ an airtube to help remove chlorine, also use Stress Coat. Our tap water is VERY hard so our pH is about 8.2. I sometimes use R/O water when doing water changes just to soften it up a bit.
Only because you have tetras, try to keep it as close to 7. or lower as you can. Without using chemicals, you can add peat moss to the filter, that will help. Also adding drift wood will help.

I seem to be having a problem with brown algea, I've read the advice @ about.com and have been thinking about getting an otto or 2. The algea is so bad that I have to clean the tank about every 4 days (i.e. take out all the plastic plants & ornaments scrub good w/ very hot water, scrub glass, vacuum gravel.... remove about 15% water. I have an aquaclear 200 filter (3 stage) which I rinse in the removed water, and replace media as stated in the directions)
What wattage of lighting do you have? To much light & to many nutrients in the water will cause BA. Cleaning ALL the ornaments, glass & vacuuming. and doing a water change at the same time is the reason for the Nitrite spikes, your cleaning to much of the bio out. Scrub and rinse all decor as you would your filter medium, in old tank water. Bio grows on everything, not just in the filter.

Water temp is 75.
For the tetras sake, bringing it up to 78-79 would be appreciated

My Nitrate and Nitrite levels get pretty high and would go into the danger zone if waited more than 4 days to do a water change/cleaning.
As I said, don't clean and water change at the same time. Clean filters, etc only when needed and Water changes are just water changes, not cleaning. I would recommend more of a 30% a week. I actually do a 50% weekly on most of my tanks.

My mom said I might be feeding them too much... I give them a small pinch of flakes 3 times a day. Every 3 days or so I replace one of the meals with bloodworms. And the pleco gets a algea wafer after cleanings.
Watch them, and see just how much hits the bottom, and adjust to that. The Cories will help with the clean up, but not all.
BTW, most people think Cories are scavengers, they aren't, they like live foods and shrimp pellets

Now to my questions:

Is there anything I can do so I don't have to clean the tank so often?
Get your water stable first, then worry about the aesthetics

Do I have too many fish, can I get more? I'd ideally like to get 2 more bloodfins, 1 or 2 more coris, 2 more harlequins and maybe and otto or 2 for the brown algea? (getting rid of the guppies is an option)
you could add more, but get your Nitrite under control first, then add slow.
BTW, that common plec will get HUGE

Am I doing anything else wrong?
NO, as long as you are willing to ask questions & learn..... your doing things right

[pokagon55]

"My Nitrate and Nitrite levels get pretty high and would go into the danger zone if waited more than 4 days to do a water change/cleaning"


Are you sure that your tank is cycled? You should never have a NitrIte reading in a cycled tank.

[lashalove]

Thanks so much for all the great advice so far.

SueM, your post has helped immensly.

[judya]

I would also recommend some live plants - something that grows quickly. This will help absorb some of the nitrates and may compete against the brown algae for nutrients.

[Ltrepeter2000]

I agree Judya, was in the process of typing it as you added it. Stem plants will suck up the nitrates in a flash and should continue to keep it that way even with an increased bioload on the tank. I would suggest hygro sp. sunshine if you can find it or hygro difformis.

Thanks
Rob

[lashalove]

plants sound like a terrific idea... do I need special light for them?

[Blue]

Originally Posted by lashalove

plants sound like a terrific idea... do I need special light for them?

Depends on what plants you get. If you can't identify them, pictures are known to help.

Oh and welcome aboard and good luck.

[judya]

Water sprite, water wisteria, java moss, java fern, maybe valisneria or sagittaria. Light needed depends on whether of not the tank gets any daylight or much room light, how tall the tank is, and which plants you get. The reddish plants tend to need more light than med green ones. Med green ones need more than dark green ones. Water sprite tends to float and so is close to the light hood. Try a few different inexpensive ones nad see what does well for you, then get some more of that type later.

[judya]

whether OR not

[Whitney]

Hi Lashalove,

In reading the above posts, I think you're getting some great advice about water conditions and tank health from the people here, so I'm not going to go into too much detail on tank cycling or plants.

I would, however, like to say a few things about the way you're feeding the fish as well as the fish you have in there (I have a couple of suggestions for tank additions once you are sure that your tank is cycled......)

First the food....Sounds like you are feeding them too much. Fish can thrive on a surprisingly small amount of food. I read something about fish feeding a couple of weeks ago that made a lot of sense to me. It said that we tend to overfeed our fish because we think of their hunger in terms of when we think WE would be hungry if WE were swimming around all day in a fishtank. But our metabolisms are totally different than that of fish. Most significantly, we're warm-blooded, which means that we expend a great deal of energy and calories regulating our body temperatures. Fish are cold-blooded, so their core temp naturally matches that of the water around them- no work involved. Also, when we swim, we need to work pretty hard to move around, especially when going up and down. Fish, having been designed for water, move around with very little effort, particularly up and down, as they can adjust their boyancy at will and with great ease by using their swim bladder. Keeping all that in mind, it is also good to know that fish in the wild often go several days without eating, and engage in much more strenuous activities to obtain their food than fish in our tanks do. This isn't to say that you should wait several days between feedings, but a small pinch once a day should do it.

Also, I'd like to suggest that you consider adding small pellet food to their diet (you can replace the flakes with it or do half-and-half or alternate days). An advantage of sinking pellets is that they, well, sink...which gives the bottom dwellers a chance to get some food as well, without forcing you to overfeed to get it. I use Spectrum Small Fish formula....I really like it because it hangs at the top for a few seconds (allowing my surface feeders to get some) and then sinks down for my bottom guys. I also supplement my algae eaters with peices of fruit (zuccini, apple) and algae wafers every few days. It's great that you use bloodworms, that's good for everyone.

Now.....For the diatoms..... You already have a common pleco in there...so if he's not getting the job done....

Another idea is cleaner shrimp. Get an army of ghost or cherry shrimp (or both) and they'll clean your tank without adding significantly to the bioload. I also find them quite interesting to watch (I have cherry shrimp, which look like tiny little lobsters). An advantage of the cherries is that they will eat some algae that other species will not, such as hair algae.

I think that you need to flesh out some of your schools......some fish like being in large groups. Here's the list of fish you have...let's go through it item by item.....

"2 bloodfin tetras
* 2 black tetras
* 2 white skirt tetras"

-Do all of these guys school together as a group? If so, they may be ok just as they are (or perhaps you want to add one more of each kind to create a school of 9)- if they do not currently school together, I'd suggest either adding three more of each (thus creating 3 schools of 5) or returning 1 or 2 of the pairs and adding to the remaining species.

* 2 harlequin raspboras

-Definitely, DEFINITELY get several more of these or bring the two you have back to the store. They really do better in groups- and they look better as well. Large schools of them are very attractive to watch...when they're by themselves, they get lost in the backround. If you'd like something with a little more color than the harlequins, you can look for Espei Rasboras or Hengel Rasboras. They look almost identical, but are slightly smaller, and have more brilliant coloring. Espei, Hengel, and Harlequins will school together as if they were the same species.

* 2 coris (1 albino, 1 spotted)

-add at least another 3 cories. I have never owned a cory, but I considered getting one, until I did research and realized that they need to be in large groups. I already had a number of bottom-dwellers and simply didn't have room at add 5 or 6 cories to my tank. Your 55 gallon should be able to accomodate them nicely. There's a great site called "Planet Catfish," you might want to look up Cories and Plecos to learn more about their needs.

* 1 common pleco

-I like plecos a lot. Are you sure that a 55 gallon is large enough to hold a fully grown common plec though? I have seen conflicting opinions on this subject, you might want to look into it. They can get to be about 18 inches in length. Do you have any driftwood in your tank....it's healthy for plecos to have wood in their diets.

* 1 male betta

-I'm surprised that your betta hasn't attacked the flow-y finned tetras.....I understand that some people luck out and get peaceful bettas...That's great cause they are gorgeous. Just keep a watchful eye out and remove him if you find some of your fish getting ragged fins.

Well, that's all for now.....good luck with the tank and post pictures so we can see how it looks!!!

[mousey]

black skirt or white skirt tetras also like to snack on betta tails, I have found!
Also cories do not really like hard high ph water. I have had terrible lick keeping cories. My ph is 8.2 and 193 hardness.

[lashalove]

whitney... thanks for the info about feeding, helped tremendously.


I've got the water situation under control.... who thought too much cleaning could be a bad thing.

The pleco is keeping the brown algea to a minimum... plans of getting a bigger tank are in the works (i can see i'm gonna need to move into a bigger house, lol) and I assume he'll do alright in the 55g in the several months until that happens.

I lucked out and got a great betta... he swims right along with the black and white skirts and they take turns chasing eachother around, but no nips yet.

I'd like to thank everyone that offered advice... you guys made alot more sense than all the books/websites I read. Now I know where to go for all future questions.

Lasha

[eon17]

Your tank looks like it has fake decortaions and i recoment a real rock cave, a real peice of driftwood, and some realy plants. Try amazon swords they are easy and hardy

[girth vader]

ok. from what I read you cycled your tank with a single guppy correct? If this is true then you will lose fish or severely damage your fish with Ammonia and Nitrite and cause an early death for them. By only cycling with a single or cpl fish you dont allow your filtration to build up to the state it will need to convert your ammonia into nitrate. Your filter was cycled to a small bioload and by adding that many fish over a short period of time you have overloaded your system. It will eventually catch up but don't be surprised if you lose some fish in the meantime. Don't add any new fish until your system has caught up to its current bioload, you will know it has when you fail to see nitrite and ammonia. You should be able to go a full week before a H2O change. You can fast track it by adding Biospira (could be misspelled) and that will speed things up.

And definitely cut down on feeding time It's hard I know, they always seem hungry and they beg as well as any other pet for food, but be strong!