Re: freshwater problem
Thank you soooo much.  You're the best. My water softener was the problem!!
<Ah ha! Bob Fenner>

Tetra Easy Balance Overdose! Please help!
Hello! I have a small feeder goldfish, (named "Dude") about 2 inches long. I keep him at my work, in a 1 gallon fish tank with bubbler.
<A small world...>
I've had him about a year, and he's been a perfect companion, energetic and happy. I know this because he's on my desk at work, I can observe him often to see any changes. I use "Tetra Easy Balance" once a week to keep his tank in good shape, and still do regular partial water changes, even though the "Tetra Easy Balance" says I only have to do it every 6 months. (I still do it bi-weekly)
<Good>
Anyway, 1 week ago, I went to add the 1 drop of "Tetra Easy Balance" to his tank, but the "dropper" part of the bottle had come off and I didn't notice. The next thing I knew, I had dumped practically half the bottle (several tablespoons) of this stuff into his tank! The water was immediately yellow, and I panicked! I did a water change right away, putting him in a cup with some of the water and changing all the remaining water...
<Good move>
..expect [except?] maybe an inch at the bottom (I didn't like the idea of doing a full water change, even with so much of the stuff in there!) He didn't seem to have any problems the first 2 days after the incident, but ever since, he has been getting very lethargic, and won't eat his food. 2 days ago, I prepared a gallon of new water with some "Tetra Aqua Safe" and used it to change his water today. The first hour after his water change, he seemed back to normal, but since then, he has been at the bottom of his tank all day, fins against his sides, not eating, and "gasping" for breath. I'm guessing it has something to do with the overdose of Tetra Easy Balance...
<Or even just the large water change>
...but I don't know what it did to the water, or what to do. If he gets better, can I start using it again? 
<Yes>
It keeps his tank nice, and he seemed so happy before. He has fresh water now, should I wait and see how he does the next
few days?
<Yes... if "Dude" has made it thus far, s/he should fully recover. I do want to suggest you look into larger quarters for this fish... as it's being "bonsaied" by being kept in one gallon of water will severely shorten its lifespan... Please read here re: http://www.wetwebmedia.com/FWSubWebIndex/gldfshsystems.htm >
Please help, he's my "little pal" at work, and I would feel really bad if he died because of my clumsiness! Thank you.
Nancy Lucas
<Welcome. Bob Fenner> 

CLOUDY TANK
Hi, I E-mailed you guys about a cloudiness problem I'm having with my 46 gallon cichlid tank. I'm running to filters on it, I had a sack of carbon in it and seems to not go away. The pH is at 8.2, water temp is around 80 degrees, [and] there is no sign of ammonia, or nitrite and the nitrate is where it always has been. The only time it has cleared is when I make my daily water changes. Then it just gets worse from there. What other options do I have? The dealer told me to put charcoal in those white sacks, but that doesn't seem right. So now I'm coming back to you guys. Could it be from the rocks that I have, I rinsed them off before I put them in there. -MIKE-
< Usually a cloudy tank is the result of a new tank with an ammonia problem. But I think your problem lies in your choice of rocks. Check the pH of your tap water. If it is less than 8.2 then the additional calcium and minerals are leaching from the rocks into solution and making your tank cloudy. Carbon will not help. To be sure, remove the rocks and see if the cloudy situation goes away. If the tank is clear then add a rock. If the tank gets cloudy again then take the rock out and do a water change. Then try another rock. Eventually you will be able to tell which rocks will work in your aquarium.-Chuck>

Bacterial bloom
Hello! Loved someone's "video fish" suggestion to the obnoxious whiner...
<Easier for some so conditioned, lazy to "turn of/off">
My problem has been going on for close to a year now - lots of web search & tank screwing around... I have 20 gal with a "black moor" (that hasn't been black for years) about 6 inches or so, and 2 striped platys. Biowheel. 
<Okay>
I put sandbox sand in the tank about a year ago & started getting bloom but kept thinking it was algae (probably some of it was).
<Maybe>
I've moved the tank. I've started from scratch, water-wise but used an old (dry) bio-wheel that I had rinsed off. It wasn't enough. The tank is never unclouded now & the big guy is not doing well. I'm planning to start with all new water (again) with a
commercial (Jungle) "Water Safe Plus" which advertises beneficial bacteria. I also bought a new bio wheel to start over.
<Don't use the Jungle product, return the wheel>
My plan is to just put all new water into the tank with the new wheel & the water tablets. 
THE QUESTION
Do I need to sanitize the tank & the filter holder box, etc? If so, how?
<I would switch out the kitty litter... seek out a bit of "aquarium gravel" per here: http://www.wetwebmedia.com/FWSubWebIndex/fwsubstrates.htm and look for Marineland's "BioSpira" product. Bob Fenner> 

Diatom filter
I converted a 1000 gallon outside fiberglass spa (at level, sunk into the cement patio) to a gold fish bowl in which I presently have one Koi, 6-8 feeder gold fish and about 5 algae eaters "Pleco"?, little black ugly guys that stick on the side of the tank.  I've been doing tank changes once a week with Amquel because the water becomes green and murky in just a few days.  I run a filter 24/7, have two large pond pumps running, one through a waterfall with four water streams running through three levels of polished river rock and then free falling about one foot into the pond.  Live in Southwest Florida.  The pond is about 3-4 months old.  Fish all appear very happy and growing.  But I can't stand the murk!  A friend told me to buy a diatom filter to polish the water.  Do you agree and what size?
Thank you for your help.  Pam Comstock
< Check the nitrates. Your fish are messy eaters and produce a lot of waste. The waste is not gone it is contained in the filters and in the bottom of all the water ways. Their it will continue to breakdown and create lots of algae. The trick is to clean your filter often and vacuum the bottom of the spa and water falls when you do your water changes. The other problem is probably no biological filtration. Many filters for fish tanks have media for bacteria to grow on and break down the fish waste. I think you only have mechanical filtration, which removes solids and nothing else. A diatom filter would quickly clog up under the conditions described above. Try feeding you fish only enough food so that all of it is gone in two minutes once each day.-Chuck>

Cloudy tank question
Hi,
I have a 55 gallon African cichlid tank with sand in the bottom and 10 cichlids and 3 Chinese algae eaters. I have had this tank for probably 6 months now. Everything was fine. I was doing 10% water changes every month and the water was crystal clear. I have other tanks that are all crystal clear and doing fine too. I always use purified water using my PUR water purifier on my sink that uses a charcoal filter. The algae eaters were doing their job and I didn't see any real visible algae. Then all of a sudden the water started getting hazy and cloudy looking. A couple days after this, a seashell was put into the tank. I only left it there 1 day and then it occurred to me to ask if this was ok. The pet shop employee told me that seashells are bad for tanks and to get it out of there fast and do lots of water changes. I have done that. But note that the tank was still cloudy even before the sea shell. At the advice of the pet store owner I have added anacharis plants, and tried a water clearer like Amquel and had the water tested, it was perfect in all respects, nitrate, nitrite, ph, ammonia, etc. I don't feed them too much. Every week I have done a 30% to 35% water change and it wasn't helping. The fifth week I did a 60% water change and it seemed to help for a day or two, but now it's starting to get cloudy again. The fish continue to act and look healthy. When I pour out the water to do a water change, the water looks greenish, like there is an algae buildup in the water, but I don't see any in the tank. We have cleaned the filter, which is an Emperor double BioWheel type filer by the way. I'm not sure what else we can do. Do you know what the problem is and how I can fix it? Thank you!
Vicci
< Try replacing the carbon cartridge on your tap water source. Some nutrient may be coming in to your tank through your tap water. The carbon may be exhausted so I would try that first. The seashell is usually a problem in a community tank, but not in an African cichlid tank. In the lake the water is already hard and alkaline so the shell actually acts as a buffer and prevents the hardness and pH to get too low.-Chuck

Cloudy water, long poops
Thank you for you help before, but I have a couple more questions. Fist of all, I have 3 long finned black skirt tetras, 3 Mickey mouse platys and 1 algae eater. The water is good, although I started using purified water but the alkalinity was low and the pet store told me to change to tap water with Stress Coat and Zyme in it. I did the change and tested the water and it was perfect. But now the water is cloudy, should I be concerned or do anything about it.
<Unless your livestock is "breathing hard", I would just wait... the water will clear of its own accord>
The other question is a little weird, but better safe than sorry. My fish have been pooping a ton and they often swim around with a couple inches of poop just wiggling behind them. I'm cleaning the tank tomorrow (which is every week), but the gravel is filthy. Am I feeding them too much, but they do always eat their food very quickly and always hover around the top for it.
Thanks so much
Kelsey
<It may be what you're feeding rather than the quantity. Do look into "switching brands", trying something other than dried foods for a while, mixing some frozen/defrosted and green based food daily. Bob Fenner> 

Re: Foggy Water and Breathing Hard
Thanks for the help, this is hopefully my last question. Here is part of the previous e-mail and response.  Fist of all, I have 3 long finned black skirt tetras, 3 Mickey mouse platys and 1 algae eater. The water is good, although I started using purified water but the alkalinity was low and the pet store told me to change to tap water with Stress Coat and Zyme in it. I did the change and tested the water and it was perfect. But now the water is cloudy, should I be concerned or do anything about it?
<Unless your livestock is "breathing hard", I would just wait... the water will clear of its own accord>
So..  I guess they do seem to be hanging out near the top a lot what should I do?  Thanks a ton...you sure are saving my fish and me!
<Do check your water to assure that the system has not lost its biological cycle/filtration (ammonia, nitrite)... IF so, use an adjunct (e.g. BioSpira) to re-cycle it... Check your water to assure that there is not a film (like a slick) at the surface...) and "wick" it away with a clean paper towel, or dipping a pitcher in at an angle to the water... Bob Fenner>

Many Problems, Common Cause
Hi, I know you are busy, but you guys seem to know more than anyone I know. So, here goes I have a 55 gallon with 1 marble angel about 4-6 inches, 2 rosy barbs (I think one is male and one is female but I'm not sure, both are 1 inch long), 2 Plecos one is about 4-6 inches long the other is about 8 -9 inches, 3 two inch clown loaches that stay pretty much deep orange and black all of the time always thought this was unusual, 1 dragon fish or violet goby about 8-9 inches, 1 peacock eel about 4 -5 inches, 1 gold gourami about 3 inches and a blue gourami about 3 inches. I have had all these for 1-3 years in the same tank, I raised the angel from a nickel size. I have not ever checked the water parameters even though I know I should and am definitely going to buy a kit ASAP. I had another angel that pretty much grew up with the other angel, he was gold and also a veil tail like the one I have now, the two spawned and hatched the eggs. I noticed some of them appeared to have fungus because they never hatched and were fuzzy, but to my stupidity they all were either eaten or sucked up into my filter or diatom filter, the gold angel was dead about a week after the babies were dead and he didn't appear sick. Anyways, now my other angel, this is 3 months later has one of its eyes severely popped out with white stringy stuff coming out of it and a film almost completely over the eyeball and a speck of white stuff on its lip, and her mouth is gaping open like she cant close it, she also appears to be slightly leaning and hangs out in one corner of the tank at the top. One of my barbs also appears to have slight pop eye, and turned very pale and has frayed tail fins, but the other barb chases it all the time and vice versa. My gold gourami had a area behind his gill and eye that was bleeding, I think the angels got him when they were spawning, and then it looked like mold and his scales were missing and now its pink and shrinking, I treated with MelaFix and PimaFix 2 months ago. I am now treating the angel and barb with Maroxy and maracide2 because I am guessing they have pop eye and possibly a true fungus. Do you think this will work? I have heard that this could be constipation but I don't know if my clown loaches, eel and dragonfish can have Epsom salts, can they? How much can I dose? Also if I can, can I give the Epsom salt with the medicines? Please help I do not want to lose my angel or my barb or any of my fish! The angel is beautiful and so are the others, you would really have to see to believe! Also I should mention they all have been fed a diet of frozen blood worms, frozen brine shrimp, and the frozen green cubes that have lettuce, Spirulina or whatever its called and algae, and algae wafers for the Plecos and rich mix sinking tablets every now and then. I am so sorry for the long letter. I would greatly appreciate any comments and information.
Thank You so very much,
Shannon
<Hi Shannon, Don here. All the problems you are having can be caused by poor water quality. You have a pretty heavy stocking in your 55. You should find new homes for the plecs right now. They produce tons of waste and will get even bigger. The loaches are OK for now, but also grow very large. Please do get that test kit. In the meantime I suggest you do a few large daily water changes with only Epsom and aquarium salts. A tbls of each per 5 gallons of water. Discontinue the meds for now. They will kill off the good bacteria in your system causing quality to drop even faster. We may have to go back to them, but for now I would just watch for any improvement with the water changes and salts. This may have started when the bad eggs started to decay. When choosing a test kit make sure you can test for ammonia, nitrite, and nitrate. Do as many water changes as needed to keep the first two at zero, nitrates below 20ppm. If you do not see improvement in a week, email us back with the test results. BTW, your Violet Goby really should be kept in brackish water and can hit two feet. You may want to consider moving him also> 

Sick cichlids and water cloudy
Hi, I have had a 110 gallon tank for about 15 months and recently have run
into some problems that I can't fix. This is my first tank, and I keep
getting different answers to my questions. I have 2 penguin filters that are
supposed to filter up to 70 gallons apiece.  I have about 6 African
cichlids, about 5 inches apiece( sorry do not know what kind) , 1 goldfish(
8 inches), 4 catfish (4 inches) , 2 parrot fish ( 5 inches). 1 African
catfish (6 inches), I worm( 8 inches), 2 algae eaters (8 inches),1  giant
giranmi(4 inches). and about 15  filler fish that I have had since I first
got the tank that have never died ( 1-3 inches) .Is this too many fish?
< If you are having problems with the tank then it may be too many fish. The filters should be filtering at least 500 gallons per hour all the time. The ammonia and nitrites should be zero and the nitrates should be less than 25 ppm. If you still have an ammonia and nitrite problem then you need more filtration. If the nitrates are too high then you need to change more water, or change more frequently of get rid of some fish.>
Despite all the different species they all get along with each other , other
than the fighting amongst the cichlids with each other. About 3 months ago
my water started to cloud up, I started to increase my water change cycle
amounts to every 2 weeks and 40%. It would seem to clear up but go right
back cloudy again. It seems impossible for the water to stay dirty with that
sort of water change cycle. About the same time the water started to fog up
I did add a log and some more fake plants. I did since remove those items
since the intense cloudiness, thinking that they where the cause.( to no
avail) I also have some rocks as well, (should I remove the rocks as well)?
< Many rocks are not suitable for an aquarium because they dissolve in water. Check the rocks with some Muriatic acid or vinegar. If they foam when a weak acid is applied then they will dissolve in the aquarium and cloud it up too until the minerals in the water settle out.>
Now I am noticing that the skin on my cichlids is looking rough, I think they
are getting sick. My ph level is fine, I haven't checked for nitrates in
about 2 months , but last time I checked the local fish store said they
where fine. I have not lost a fish yet but I think it is coming. I don't
know what else to do - please advise
< Next time you do a water change vacuum the gravel too to get rid of any crud that has accumulated in the gravel.-Chuck>
Thanks,
Phil

Nitrates in a 10 gallon freshwater aquarium
Hello,
            My husband and I set up our 10 gallon aquarium about a month ago
and have a concern over the level of Nitrates we have in our water.  The
tank itself has sand for substrate, live plants, river rocks and a resin
cave rock.  We have the filter that came with the kit, a heater.  Currently
we are housing three female betas (it has been an interesting time and one
will be put in isolation due to aggression issues), three neon tetras, one
gold molly and two snails (that we can find the stowaways!).  We had two
black mollies but they succumbed to illness and we had to put them down.  We
do a 10 % water change every week, scrubbing the tank and creating fish
panic while we try to keep their water clean.  The tank is clear and not
cloudy and the plants are doing well.  We have a bubble wall and 10 gallon
air pump to oxygenate the tank.  We feed the fish twice a day using flakes
in the morning and blood worms at night.  
            On to my question: We have purchased a freshwater testing kit
and my husband has tested the water in the tank.  The ammonia is 0 and the
nitrites are 0 but are nitrates are between 60 and 80 ppm.  Our pH is 7.2 to
7.4 (which we are treating with ph Down to help out the tetras).  With that
concern we tested our tap water through the Brita filter we use to drink
from and change the fish water and discovered that the tap water had the
same nitrate level.  My husband (the mad chemist from all the testing) also
tested our tap water without filtering it through the Brita and received the
same result.  After researching your site (which is very informative) I
couldn't find a solution for anyone with a tank lower than 55 gallons.  I
did find a post about acquiring a reverse osmosis machine (see below, and
will have to investigate this further if we can't figure another solution).
What can be done for us small guys who have nitrate issues?
< High nitrates can be a problem for those aquarists living in areas with lots of agricultural activity. Excessive nitrogen fertilizers leach down into the water table and are picked up in aquifers used for drinking water. Many fish cannot tolerate these high nitrate levels. Your best bet would probably use purified or bottled water for your aquarium. R/O will remove most nitrates but I cannot justify buying an entire R/O system for 4 gallons per month.-Chuck>
Thanks for your time.
Wendy
Located information.
"Nitrates in Tap Water
Dear Mr. Fenner:
<Bob is off in Australia right now leaving the rest of the WWM crew to pick
up the pace.>
I have a 135gal tank with African cichlids in it. They are all doing
wonderful. Have even had Kenyi produce fry, and Jack Dempseys also. My
question is the Nitrate level is always high. Have tried placing reducers in
the canister filter, but it really doesn't help much
<Not very cost effective either.>
so last night I set some tap water out....and tested it this am........and
found my problem......the Nitrates are high 50-110ppm in the tap water.
<Wow.>
What can I do to reduce them in the tap water before adding this water to
the tanks.
<The first thing I would do is request a report from your local water
authority. By law they have to send you one every few years and whenever you
ask. That seems really high. I know there is a federally mandated upper
limit, but cannot recall the exact number at this time. Your only corrective
course of action is a RO unit. You may want to consider a large unit to
produce drinking water, too.>
Please help......all my other parameters are great......do weekly water
changes.....with gravel vacuuming...but still can not reduce the nitrates.
Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated. Sincerely, Shirley
<You are welcome. -Steven Pro>"

Freshwater water quality
Howdy aquacrew! I have a quick question about my little freshwater cichlid tank. I currently have four cichlids in it (I think it's either a 26 or a 28 gallon bowfront aquarium). Lots of rocks, fake plants, a piece of wood (not sure if it's drift), and gravel are the decorations. I just recently tested the water and I'm not sure the parameters are what I'd call ideal. The pH is good at about 8, the Nitrite is at about .25 ppm, the Nitrates are scary at like 80 ppm, and the Ammonia is at .25 ppm. Like I said, it's not exactly perfect. The ammonia and the nitrites are explainable. I just installed a new filter with a new BioWheel, so I'm not sure the biological filter has set up shop. However, this means that once it starts converting at full speed then there will be even more nitrates. Four fish in this tank don't seem to be overcrowded, but is this the case? I feed twice a day and sometimes there's extra food, but I always net it out.  What is the problem?  Hope you have happy holidays! Ty
<I'm not sure what type of cichlids you have there. If African the pH is fine. If South American it's way too high. If they're Oscars you are overstocked. If they're Rams you are understocked. But in any case it's always good to add more bio filtration. But I have a feeling the problem is in the gravel. It's very important that you do frequent water changes using a gravel vac to remove the decaying waste and uneaten food. A dirty gravel bed can add more ammonia than the fish. All that ammonia ends up as nitrates at the end of the cycle. Doing the water changes with the gravel vac will lower the nitrates and slow their rising. Adding the extra bio filtration is good to ensure ammonia and nitrite is processed quickly, but that means the resulting nitrates will spike just as quickly. Make sure you clean under rocks, wood, etc. But you still must do water enough water changes to keep nitrates below 20ppm>     
P.S.  While I have your attention: I have a 58 gallon fresh set up with rocks and fake plants. There is an underground filter, and a giant Emperor 400 piggy back filter. I think I'm gettin at least 4 turns an hour, plus whatever the undergravel filter is doing. I'm planning on a community set up (kinda boring but it's for my mom). I know this list coming up is overcrowding, but please advise me as to what to cut. 3 Silver Dollars, 7 Tiger Barbs, 11 Neon Tetras, 1 Parrot Fish, 1 Gold Nugget Pleco, 5 Hatchet Fish, and 2 Gouramis. Now as I said I know this is overcrowding but can I pull it off with the over-filtering or do I need to cut several possible inhabitants. Thanks for all the help. You guys are the greatest. Again have a very merry Christmas. <And to you>
<First, you'll never hear this guy say that this tank is "overfiltered". No such thing in my book. I run a pair of those 400's on a 55 gallon. And I hate undergravel filters. The Bio Wheels give far greater bio filtration. A gravel vac removes the waste, a UGF hides it while it decays, adding more ammonia. You have a turn over of just under 7 without it. That would rate a good by most, and even an OK from me, so I suggest you remove the UGF. As to the stocking list. The Silver Dollars get way too big. The Tigers are aggressive fin nippers. Large ones will eat small Neons. Parrots are mutated hybrids that should not even exist. Don't buy one. You only encourage them to breed more. Gold Nugget Plecos can be sensitive, wait until the tank is well established. If you drop the Silver Dollars and either the Barbs or the Neons you should be OK. Less fish means fewer water changes, no matter the amount of filtration. Don>    

High Nitrites, pH Swings
Hello again Don, or whoever picks up this message :)Thank you very much for your quick and helpful reply! I am so glad to have found your site - it seems to me that many many fish's lives and wellbeing have been saved by the huge amount of information. But I'm afraid I've got a couple more questions if that's ok.
<Fire away>
I have just bought a water testing kit, which has tests for general hardness, carbonate hardness, pH and nitrite, and a chart for working out carbon dioxide - are these the correct tests that I need? There doesn't seem to be one for ammonia. It tests by dripping substances into samples of the aquarium water and then either seeing how many drops were necessary to make the colour change or comparing to a colour chart, which seems at least a little bit inaccurate to me, but I expect probably ok.  Anyway, having just got the test kit, I tested my aquarium water and found to my horror
that most of the tests came out unsatisfactory according to the information in the test kit. The results were: General hardness 1 or 2 degrees dH, carbonate hardness about 2, pH roughly 8-9, nitrite (most worryingly) right at the top of their scale at 3.3-33 mg/l and I made carbon dioxide about 0.2-0.4 mg/l. I immediately changed 20% of the water (using water that had sat for about 18 hours and had "Tetra AquaSafe" water treatment, and a gravel cleaner that I've also just got) and retested, but there was virtually no difference. pH was maybe closer to 7.5 or 8 than 9, but the nitrite hadn't changed at all.  I've put another bucket of 20% of the water to sit so that I can do another water change tomorrow.  Help! What should I do?
<The four most important tests are, in order, ammonia, nitrite, nitrate and pH. You need to get the ammonia and nitrate kit. Don't worry about testing your hardness or CO2 for now. The pH is important in planning the size and frequency of water changes. Test both the tank and your treated tap. Hopefully they are within 2 or 3 tenths. If so, do 50% water changes. Do one right away and another in a few hours. Repeat with at least one a day until that nitrite is at zero. If your two pHs are off by more than .3 you need to make the water changes smaller and more frequent. If they are off by over a full point, reduce water changes to around 10%, but do them several times a day, a few hours apart. We need to balance the risk of nitrite poisoning with a killer pH swing. The actual pH reading is less important than trying to keep it steady, or to change it slowly. It's a sudden change in pH that kills. Take your time doing the tests and get good numbers. No need to age the water more than a few minutes after the AquaSafe is added. The water will turn gray with tiny chlorine bubbles. When they clear you're good to go.>
This all seemed quite worrying to me because I had thought that I was doing everything about right. I'd changed 20% of the water just two or three days ago, at which point I'd also changed the mechanical filter (they recommend that you change this once a week). Btw the filtration system came as part of the tank (made by Juwel) - it has several layers, from the top down: a thin layer of white "wool" (which they say is the mechanical pre-filter), an active carbon sponge (apparently "removed chemical impurities which cannot be removed biologically"), and two coarse and one fine filter sponges (all biological). I realize that as the tank has only been going a couple of weeks the bacteria won't yet have built up - could this be part of my problem?
<No, it's not part of your problem. It is your problem! Of the three types of filtration, biological is by far the most important. Never clean those two pads! Never rinse them with tap. The chlorine will kill the bacteria. It seems your "ammonia eating" bacteria are doing fine. The nitrite you see is their waste product. Now another bacteria must become established to consume the nitrite. Their waste product is the less dangerous nitrate. When the two bacteria eliminate all trace of ammonia and nitrite and nitrate is rising, your filter is cycled and your out of trouble. You can then slow water changes to keep the nitrate below 20ppm.>   
I have noticed that, especially the larger fish, seems to be gulping at the top of the tank fairly often, he sometimes sort of jumps out so that the whole of the top of his mouth is out of the water, and have also been slightly concerned about this.  Apart from this they seem happy though, very active and enjoy playing with the current from the air diffuser, and constantly (enthusiastically) searching through the gravel for food.
<A sign of high nitrites and of great concern. The reason I'm suggesting all these water changes. Nitrite will destroy the gills. We need to get those nitrites out quickly, but without causing a large ph swing>
As for the feeding, I have so far fed them on TetraFin flake food, which I have been holding under the water for them so they don't eat air with it (lovely fishes, they like to nibble it from my fingers) but I will be starting to feed them some veggies this evening. I feed them twice a day, as much as they eat in around 3-5 minutes - they do love to eat. Am I overfeeding them? By the way, I wanted to completely stop feeding them the flakes etc. as none of them seem to be vegetarian - the one I'm using at the moment, for example lists fish and fish derivatives, mollusks and
crustaceans as ingredients. Is this advisable, or alternatively do you know of any brands that are vegetarian?  I live in the UK btw.
<Yes, you are over feeding. And it is adding to the high nitrites. They will be fine for a month on a tiny pinch once a day. You can increase feeding once the filter is cycled. You control the amount of ammonia, nitrite and nitrate in the tank. You add it as food. Right now your nitrites are at killer levels. The more you feed, the more water changes you will have to do to keep them alive. Good move to sink the flake. I would also hold off on the veggies until the cycle is established. Stick to the flake. As to flake content, I can not recommend an all vegetarian food or diet. Goldfish by nature eat mostly vegetable matter. But in the wild they will also take any worms, bugs, egg, etc. that they come across. They need this animal protein, IMO. A varied diet is of the utmost importance for long term health>
My final questions concern the fact that around the beginning of January, I will be moving onto a boat (can't wait!)  But, because the boat moves around with the waves (and will sometimes be sailed) it seems like it'll be a good idea not to fill the tank to the top (to stop the water from slopping over the sides). I would guess by doing this, the capacity of the tank will reduce to about 45-50 litres (12-13 US gallons), and I'm getting more and more concerned that this won't be enough for them (one fish is about two inches long, the other maybe a fraction over three). What do you think? I would also appreciate some advice on how to transport them from their current home to their new one - they'll have to be out of the tank about three or four hours.  I was thinking of getting a small plastic tank to transport them in. My local pet shop (who I don't really trust) said it'd be better to use a bag that they gave me, but I don't think it would be very nice for them in this little polythene bag. Also obviously I'll have to take the tank empty and fill it up with water when I get there, so it'll be a complete water change - will this cause problems for the fishes?  And will it be necessary to heat the water if it gets too cold, what sort of temperature should they be living in?
<I have no clue how you're going to deal with a fish tank living on a boat. Sorry, never did that. You may need an internal canister filter. A HOB would be hard pressed to siphon out the water if kept low. And would splash a lot on return. To move them use as large a plastic container as you can fit in the car. Keep as much of the old water as possible and use it to refill. Check the two pH's as above and add slowly if they are off. Put the bio pads in with the fish to save the bacterial colonies. Don't let them dry out>
I'm sorry to have inundated you with such a long e-mail and so many questions, and thank you again for such a wonderful service that you provide. I don't know what I would have done without you!
All the best,
Chris
<No problem, Don>

Why Test Nitrates?
Hi Don. Thanks for your quick reply! I used to do water changes once a week but the local fish/aquarium store said to tone that down to once a month. I have compromised and do it about every two weeks. My tap water pH is about 8, so I usually lower it with an aquarium pH decreaser to about 7.2. I always test the pH of the tank before the water change and try to match it. I have changed the 10 gallon tank a bit more frequently because of the fry and the liquid fry food I have been feeding. It tends to muck up the water a bit. I have not tested for nitrates cause the kit I have doesn't have that test. I will take some water in to the store tomorrow to have them check it. Last time I tested it, it was ok. In October it was quite high so I bought some Green-X and some live plants to help control the nitrates. That brought the levels down in both tanks at that time. The readings for the nitrites is less than 0.3 (the lowest the kit will read - the next level is 0.3) I will do a partial water change tomorrow after the water is tested and then follow the instructions from the web site you recommended. Thanks so much for your advice. I really appreciate it.  I must also say that I have learned a lot by reading some of the advice you give other enthusiasts!
Thanks again
Susan
<Hi Susan, Don still here. Pick up that nitrate kit. You need it to set a good water change schedule. Assuming you are cycled (ammonia and nitrite always zero), nitrates will always be on the rise. You want them below 20ppm. I test for ammonia and nitrite maybe twice a month. But nitrate is checked two or three times a week. You will soon learn what it takes to keep your water pristine. Rules like "20% every week" may work for some, but not others. We all have different bio loads in our tanks. We all feed different amounts. Testing nitrates in an established aquarium takes out the guess work. Be careful when messing with pH. Your 8.0 is high, but it is a sudden swing that kills the quickest> 

Water Tests
Hi again Don - I did not receive the complete email again but I did find it on the Daily Q's and thanks very much. Re the ammonia test: what kind do you recommend? I've been using Jungle Quick Dip test strips; I've gone through a few containers of them thus far and have always received the same reading. What's better but not too expensive hopefully?  And re the Oranda, no, she did not lose any tail. She lost about half her width and has not grown in length at all since then - I got her at the same time I got my Cali gold, both were exactly the same size at the time and now the Cali is twice the size as the Oranda. Oranda is still alive although I don't think for too much longer. Will keep doing frequent water changes but other than that just not sure. Thanks for your help - Robin
<I use Aquarium Pharmaceuticals tests. Around here they cost $10-$12. They work well. Far better than the strips. Hope your goldfish pulls through. Don>

Cloudy 75 gallon tank
First off, I love your site. I have a 75 gallon tank with 4 small Oscars (6 inches for now) I know I will need another tank for them soon. Anyhoo I have a whisper 4 and a penguin 170 filter hanging from it, but the tank is still in a state of perpetual cloudiness. I put extra diamond blend in the whisper .my water test good- 0 chlorine, 0 nitrites, pH of 7.2.i do partial water changes once a week including vacuuming the stones. I don't believe I am overfeeding them, I feed them floating pellets a few at a time and make sure to stop as soon as they lose interest in the food. any help you could give me would be greatly appreciated. oh and by the way its a white cloudiness not green
< White cloudy water can come from a few different sources. First check the ammonia levels in the tank. The readings should be zero. If there is any ammonia level readings what so ever then you are over feeding the fish. You should only give them enough food so that all of it is gone in a couple of minutes. There should be no fishy smell to the water either. The second possibility is that the sand was not well washed when it was purchased and as the Oscars move the sand around then they disturb the sediment and it is too small to be caught in the filter. A third possibility is that your water is soft and acidic and it is leaching minerals from the rocks and or sand. Something to check out.-Chuck>

Re: cloudy 75 gallon tank
First of all I want to thank you for your super fast response. my ammonia level is 0, so I don't think that's it .I try to make it a point not to overfeed. my water does smell a little however, I'm not sure what that's about.
< Could be the type of food you are feeding too. Fish oils tend to float on the surface of the water and may create a scum.>
I use Mardel test strips and it reads that my water hardness is 120 ppm. I washed the stones good when I put them in.
< Washing the stones is not enough. You water is fairly soft and you could still have a chemical reaction with the stones or gravel. Check the water hardness from your tap water and then check the water in your tank. If the hardness of the  aquarium water is much higher than the tap water then the additional minerals came from the water chemically dissolving the stones. So this may be a source of the cloudy water.>
do you think that I may need more filtration for this setup ,and if so what would you suggest?
< I usually recommend that a filter turn the water over at least 3 times the total tank volume per hour. So you would need a filter or filters that pump at least 225 gallons per hour. Many of these filters state on the box how many gallons per hour they pump when they are clean. As these clog they start to slow down. The key to a good filter is how much water it pumps and how easy it is to surface. If you wanted to cut down to one filter I would recommend one of the Marineland Emperors with the 280 being very good and the 400 being the best choice depending on your budget.>
they also I usually keep the light on ,do you think this may have any effect on my problem?
< No probably not. Too much light usually reflects green water.>-Chuck>
Thanks again     Jerry

Green Smelly Water
       Hi, again. <Hi, Don here today. Just got done reading your earlier questions to get up to speed with the advice given by Jorie and Mike D.> Well, I didn't know that about being able to tell about how far along a fish is in pregnancy. As you probably can tell I am a beginner at all this. <As we are all/were> I just want to try to do things right, I am very much an animal lover and I don't want to hurt any animal (fish or otherwise) in any way. <Agreed>
        To answer your question on the 2 green-spotted puffers I just got, no they have not killed each other yet. <"Yet" being an important part of that sentence. Some will get along fine then one day you wake up to only one puffer> Actually, they seem quite content with each other. The only time they show any slight irritation with each other is
when they eat. All they do then is if one is going for food that the other one is trying to get, it will chase the other one off a little bit. Other than that they are always by each other. I do plan to move them to a bigger tank in the near future, but right now they are both small and have plenty of room to swim and play and eat. <They will grow to about 6" and need brackish to full salt to live a healthy, full life. Read here for more info from Pufferpunk, our keeper of all puffer knowledge. http://www.wetwebmedia.com/BrackishSubWebIndex/gspsart.htm >
       Thank you for the compliment on my persistence. I don't work and I always wanted to have an aquarium full of fish (and now I have 4 aquariums) and like I said before I love animals of all kinds. <An aquarium "full of fish" is not a good aquarium. Much better to have a few well kept "display quality" fish then a bunch that are small and unhealthy from overstocking> Oh, by the way still no babies, but that's ok she will eventually have them. <Yep, I assume you are referring to the guppies from the earlier post here>
           Sorry, I do have another question. <No problem> I am looking to give a home to 11 different varieties of goldfish. I can't keep them, I am having trouble with my 55 gallon tank that I have them in. My water is always green and smells horrid, <If it smells bad to you, imagine what your fish are thinking> I was told that the goldfish are the reason the water is like that. <Yep, Too many of these large waste producers> I have to change the water at least 2 -3 times a week to keep the water from smelling so bad and to keep the ammonia levels down. I have carpal tunnel syndrome in both of my hands <Ouch, I understand the pain> and I just can't keep up with that tank. Do you know how I can try to find them a home? I am not looking to get any money off of them, I just want them to go where they will be taken good care of. I have tried calling a few local pet stores but they said they weren't interested. Again sorry for taking your time up, I just finally found someone who knows what they are talking about. Trust me I have gotten some really bad advice.
<Wow, eleven goldfish in a 55 would be a challenge. Look into a Python siphon system. It hooks to your tap and will both drain and refill your tank. No more bucket lugging and lifting. Even has a gravel vac nozzle to get all the waste out. I'm sure it will save you a lot of pain in maintaining four tanks. But you still need to lower the number of fish in the 55. Just take them to the LFS, don't call ahead. I'm sure they get that call several times a week and have been told to say no. But if you just show up with some nice fancy goldfish, I bet they take them. As to the green, smelly and ammonia tainted water, you are under filtering and over feeding. Even if you are feeding the fish the perfect amount to thrive, it's too much for your filter to process into nitrite, and finally nitrate. Reducing the bio load, cleaning the gravel and adding more bio filtration will clear the tank. I like Marineland's Bio Wheel design. They take a little work to maintain, but do a great job of removing ammonia and nitrite. But even the best filter will not slow the water changes needed for this many goldfish. You'll still be doing 2 or 3 a week to control nitrates. Lowering the number of fish and removing waste via a gravel vac will help greatly. Don>     

FW cloudy water
Hi,
<Hello - Jorie here>
We are rather new to the whole fish thing (just since July).
<Welcome to the wonderful world of all things piscine!>
We have a 10 gal. tank and started with a few feeder fish to get the bacteria levels right.
<OK, what's done is done and hindsight is always 20/20, but I wouldn't have recommended that.  First of all, feeder fish are many times loaded with disease that you wouldn't want to introduce into your aquarium system.  Next time, look into a fishless cycle with a piece of cocktail shrimp - it will accomplish the same thing, and is less cruel, in my opinion, since there are no live fish involved.  I'm glad you realized the need to cycle the tank, however - that is something many newbies overlook!>
After several weeks, we took a water sample to our local
pet store and were assured that the bacteria level was just right.
<When you are relying on someone else to take these measurements for you, it's always a good idea to ask them to write down the precise levels of ammonia, nitrite and nitrate, as everyone's definition of "just right" varies.  Also, they should be able to tell you the water's pH, something that is good to know.  You may want to consider purchasing your own water testing supplies - most of the kits are relatively inexpensive and easy to use. If you plan on staying in this hobby, having your own testing supplies is crucial, as so many problems are often related to toxin buildups, etc.>
We removed the feeder fish and then put in two Priscilla tetras and three neon tetras.
<I'm not sure about Priscilla tetras, but I know Neons are somewhat fragile...do ensure good water conditions for these guys.>
Right after that we began having brown algae.  I checked
your website and tried all that we could find to eliminate that problem. After bi-weekly water changes of at least 25%, the bacteria levels were still okay, but the algae was barely letting up.
<Do you mean twice per week or every two weeks, with regards to water changes.  Hopefully it's the former, but in cases of severe algae outbreaks, there's nothing wrong with doing even more water changes.  Perhaps consider taking 50% out at a time every other day for a few days to see if the problems clears itself up.  Also, another main contributing factor to algae growth is overfeeding...be sure that you are feeding your fish 2-3 times per day *only* the amount they can consume within a few minutes.  Neons are really tiny fish, so I might recommend Hikari's Micro pellets for them. I'm not sure about the others, but the point is to minimize excess food floating around and eventually polluting the water.>
Our fish people at the pet store recommended a snail, so we added a small yellow shelled snail (not certain of the species).
<Ask them to write down the scientific name of the snail for you; that way you can do some research on the internet to learn more about your little guy.>
The algae is definitely improving, but now we have cloudy water.  Could this be because of the snail?
<It could be...again, I suggest stepping up the water changes. The more, the merrier, I wouldn't suggest anything over 50% water change at a time, though, so that you don't destroy your nitrogen cycle.>
We've tried changing the filter pads twice in the last week and we've done a 25% water change twice, but though with the water change things drastically improve, the cloudiness is still there and gets worse as each day progresses.
<Keep in mind that much of your beneficial bacteria lives in the filter pads, so you don't want to change them too frequently. Once a month is usually sufficient.  The two 25% water changes are good, but again, I suggest more.
I've checked your website for solutions, but can't seem to
find anything not related to salt water or in similar situations as ours.  Can you help us???
<To summarize: 1. more frequent and larger water changes. 2. find out exactly what species of snail you have. 3. cut down on feedings.  In all reality, you shouldn't need a snail to control the algae in your tank (numbers 1 and 3 above should do it), so if you can find a suitable home for him, you can certainly try removing him (unless you've grown attached to the little guy!)
Thanks!
Jennifer (& Dane)
<You're welcome! Jorie>
P.S.  Sorry for being so long-winded.  I didn't know how much history you would need!?!?!?
<More is better, so thanks for the thorough e-mail.  If you do want to write me back, please let me know what type of food you have been using and how much.  Also, where is this tank physically located? Is it getting direct sunlight? That can cause algae outbreaks as well...>

Water treatment follow-up, FW
Hi Jorie, <Hey Antonio, MacL in for Jorie. I hope she's off somewhere exotic.>
thanks for your reply.
You have mentioned that using DI or RO is the best way to remove impurities and other substances contained in tap water....for the aquatic life.
I currently have a baby arowana (jardini) in a 30 gallon tank (36 inches long w/ an emperor 400 power filter, and a 250 watt heater).
As of the moment, I do not have the funds to buy the expensive tap water purifiers/filters (DI or RO) that cost around $200...plus cartridges.  Plus I do not have the patience of waiting for the 20-50 gpd they offer. <understood>
Anyways, I have a plan for inexpensive way for me to do 25% water change to my current 30 gallon tank.  Since I have an extra 10 gallon aquarium, and an extra emperor 280 power filter..........I am planning to just use this to have a "filtered tap water" to use....to put 25% of water to my 30 gallon tank. <Good idea, having already done water to use as needed>
I will put tap water into my extra 10 gallon tank......and run the emperor 280 power filter with black diamond cartridge and use Seachem matrix bio on the extra media container......for one whole week.   After a week, I will use this water to supply the 30 gallon on its "water change".
Since the tap water will be run for a week using black diamond carbon.....and Seachem matrix bio..................ammonia, chlorine, nitrite, nitrates, chloramines, and other impurities will be removed.   Plus through time, the bio-filter of the emperor will create "bacteria" and the Seachem matrix bio will do the same.......so every time I filter the tap water into that 10 gallon for a week............good bacteria will also be present......and will be transferred into the 30 gallon that I use for my baby arowana.
Is this inexpensive plan of mine.....a good one?  Any pros and cons? <I think it works well. One thing you might want to do is have your tap water tested just to see what's in it.>  Any suggestions to make this plan of mine work......and replace the expensive tap water filter (RO and DI)? <I think what you are doing sounds lovely> thanks so much!
Sincerely,
Antonio

Re: MIA Nitrates
Hi Don. Thanks so much for the quick reply. The tank has been up and running now for about a year.<OK, plenty of time to cycle> I have been experimenting with new types of fish. Started with some coloured widows and the long tail Danios, the widows weren't real happy and slowly died off, however the Danios never had a problem. Went to the fish shop to figure out why they were dying and found out pH and immediately started testing the water. The pH was fairly high, >7.6, which they thought was the probable explanation. Have bought the pH down to 7/7.1 over the past couple of months. Otherwise, the nitrites are in trace amounts, barely readable, <Must be zero> and the nitrates are zero.<???> I think that's how they should be right?? <You sure about this? Every time you feed, ammonia is added to the tank. Two different bacteria then convert it to first nitrite, then nitrate. So, ammonia and nitrite are usually (and must be) at zero in a cycled tank. Nitrate should be rising as the bacteria do their thing. Please check for ammonia. You may have lost the bacteria in your filter.>  
I went and bought some frozen shrimp this arv, so we'll so how that works. They seemed like they enjoyed it though! <Keep all feeding light until we find out if there is ammonia in the tank> Don't mean to keep you, but would you know of any other species that seem to work well with the barbs? <Tiger Barbs are known fin nippers. Choose fast hardy fish as tankmates. No Bettas!> Have been struggling to get info from the aquarium places I go to. Again thanks very much for your time and assistance. It is much appreciated. <My pleasure, Don>
Cheers, Brenton

Fighting Off Cloudiness
Scott:
<Hello there!>
I just had a Red Swordtail die for no apparent reason.  My tank's been
up and running since March 2004, and the last two months have been
uneventful (no deaths or anxieties that I can see in my fish), so I am
kind of stumped.  I just did a water change and put an airstone in there
to increase the oxygen, but I'm not sure it was really necessary-but I
felt it couldn't hurt until I figured out the problem.
<Additional aeration and any tactics to increase water quality are always good things to do...Nice thought!>
My nitrite, nitrate, and ammonia readings are all zeros, so there's no problems there.  My pH reading is pretty high at around 7.5, but that's not unusual for my tank.  FYI-I removed my only piece of driftwood a couple of weeks ago, (it algae on it was getting pretty heavy and bits of the wood were flaking off into my water) and haven't replaced it yet. I know that adding another piece will lower the ph, but do you think
that's a contributor to this problem?
<Not specifically in this case, but widely swinging water chemistry parameters are a definite source of stress. Sounds like you have a good handle on water quality, however.>
What's the lifespan on swords?
<In my experience, at least two to three years. Many factors contribute to life span, such as diet, water temperature, etc., so there is no "absolute" here.>
I've also lowered the lights in the last 24 hours to combat a slight
cloudiness that's been in my water for about a week-even though I did my
weekly water change.  Any thoughts? I've tried to give you all the information that might help you to assist me. Cyndy Monarez.
<Cloudiness can be a result of a number of factors, ranging from a bacterial bloom or an algae bloom of some sort, to simple cloudiness caused by disturbing substrate. Look for probable causes here: Disturbances of the gravel, disruption of biological filtration, etc. Your idea to add additional aeration, coupled with regular small water changes should help. If you don't already, incorporate some activated carbon into your mechanical filtration, and replace it regularly. Stay on top of things with regular monitoring of water quality and careful feeding. I'm sorry to hear of the Swordtail's untimely death. I'm inclined to believe two possible theories: One is simple "old age", the other would be some sort of environmental lapse that triggered his rapid demise. It sounds like you really have a handle on water quality in your tank, and will pass through this sad episode just fine. keep doing what you're doing, along with some of the minor suggestions that I've made, and I think that the cloudy water should be a thing of the past. If you need any additional assistance, please let me know! Regards, Scott F>>

Fighting Off Cloudiness (Pt. 2)
RE: Your suggestion to "incorporate some activated carbon into your
mechanical filtration"
<Okay...>
Please tell me exactly what I need and how to do this-as this is a
completely new element to fishkeeping for me.  There's all kinds of
carbon in the bottom of the box my tank filters came in, but I wouldn't
think I could just pour it in the filter without any kind of bag, or
could I?  
<Nope. You do need a media bag of some sort to contain it. Otherwise, you'll create a mess!>
Also, what about putting a new filter in the body of that
tank-in other words, in addition to the two filters already in use.  As
I said, be as specific as possible in regard to how you'd accomplish
incorporating this carbon, as I don't want to make the problem any worse
than it already is.  
<Sorry for the confusion. I'm basically advocating that you use (or continue to use, as the case may be) activated carbon in your filters. You can either use mesh filter bags to keep it in, and place them in your filters- or many manufacturers incorporate activated carbon in their filter cartridges. Either way, carbon is a great way to remove impurities and cloudiness in your water.>
Lastly, and this may seem like a idiotic question, but should I get
another Sword to keep the remaining Sword company?
<Not an idiotic question at all! By all means, do add another if your tank can safely accommodate it. Many fish, like people, do enjoy companionship!>
  Initially, I purchased 3, but one didn't survive the transition from store to tank and died quickly.  The other two seemed to be doing fine, plus my tank was starting to get crowded, so I didn't replace him.  Right now, the little guy/gal is swimming around with the other fish and seems to be okay, but I'd like your opinion on whether I should buy a buddy for him. He runs with the Mollies pretty well, but there's nothing like family, I suppose.  Your thoughts, please.  
<Perhaps two female Swordtails would be the trick, if you can accommodate that>
Thanks for all you do-it's great to have a fish friend and resource like
you. Cyndy
<So glad to be of service, Cyndy! We're all here for you every step of the way! Regards, Scott F.>

Betta vs. Guppy Death Match?
I have a bit of a problem with my tank.  I have a 10 gallon tank. Originally I had two female fancy tail guppies, two male fancy tail guppies, and a sunrise guppy that I'm positive is male even though the store said female,  <To be sure look at the anal fin. Tube shaped in a male, fan in a female> and a male Betta.  One of the fancy tails and the betta got into a fight (after going nearly two weeks without one...) and actually killed each other. <I doubt a guppy could kill a Betta> The other male fancy tail was active in the store but inactive in the tank. He hovered around the base of the plants until he died.  Now all of the remaining fish are acting sort of... lazy?  They are either floating at the water line or lying on the bottom of the tank. <Could be lack of O2. Is the tank filtered, or at least an air stone?>  Concerned I managed to track down a 5-1 test for the water (nitrates, nitrites, hardness, pH, and alkalinity). <Great, but add an ammonia test. A liquid test kit is far more accurate.>  The Nitrate and Nitrite levels were right where they should be <Where is that? Both ammonia and nitrite MUST be at zero. Nitrate below 20ppm. How long has this tank been up and running?>  but the water is "extremely hard" with a pH around 8.4 and an alkalinity of 240-300ppm.  <With a bigger tank you could keep most African cichlids in these conditions> Since so many of the numbers are off what would you advise me to correct first?  I don't want to shock them to death with changing everything at once.  Also, what are the correct ranges for guppies. I've seen so many different ranges listed at various places that I'm not sure.
Thanks,
Rhyesa
<First, I normally advise people not to mess with pH. Better to allow the fish to adapt to our conditions as any change in pH must be done slowly. A sudden swing is far worse than a steady, but incorrect, pH. But yours is very high. Peat in the filter will lower pH but stain your water a rich tea color. Charcoal will remove the color. Hardness can be lowered by doing water changes with bottled or RO/DI water. Small, say 10%, to make the change slowly. Since your pH is so high, the bottled water will lower it. Small changes are very important in this case. If adding more air to the tank causes the fish to be more active, don't mess with the pH. Don>  

Freshwater Quality
Thanks for such a quick reply. <Surely, Ryan helping you today> I love the fact that you are
very specific and use the scientific names. <All in the name of the informed aquarist> I'm not at all
upset about the amount of negative comment as I hope to be
a "fish" vet and criticism is always welcome. <Brutal honesty!  Sounds like you had Bob answer your last query? ;) >
I've done a little research in order to be more clear as to
what type of fish I have. I was actually incorrect in the
naming. I do have one blue Gourami (4in, female), a feeder
goldfish(2in), a snail, an albino African clawed frog (yes he
has grown since I've got him, however he's male so I hope he
doesn't grow too big:), one tiger barb (1in), and a Cory cat
(Sterba's Cory). The "gold Gourami" I mentioned earlier is
in fact not. <I see! Glad you're in learning mode> I think he might be more of a gold barb (1 1/2
in) since he resembles a rosy barb but gold, with a series
of black spots in a line along it's back orangish tipped
fins and a red glint to the eye. <Sounds very attractive> The bottom feeder is not a
plec. It is in fact a albino algae eater (4in), possible a
Chinese albino algae eater (that's what he resembles). <Can be aggressive, be warned!>
I've had this tank set up since Mar 04 and am as surprised
as you that it's doing as it is. The only recent entries
have been the goldfish and the tiger barb. I've had barbs in
the past but they died over the summer. <Are you letting the temperature change in excess?> There were once
three barbs since Sept 04 but the blue Gourami killed them
and the frog then ate them (that is what I meant when I
mentioned trying to keep them in groups/schools). <Yikes> I'm
currently afraid to introduce any more fish incase the
Gourami tries to kill them or the frog tries to eat them or
that the tank is simple not good. I will advise my roommate
to get her own tank to put the goldfish in. <Yes, please do.  Not a great idea to mix these species for bacterial, ecological reasons>
I would like to get a larger tank, however I have
restrictions as I am in college and only have limited amount
of space. <I'm in college as well-And really have had trouble keeping as much life as I'd like.  29 gallon tanks are pretty easy to move around, and not overwhelming to break down.  Even a 55 isn't too bad...Anything more is a real pain to move around regularly> I've been considering starting with an all new set
up, but I feel bad simple flushing them. <Craigslist in your area?  Even a petstore is a better idea than flushing perfectly healthy fish!> There for I sit and
wait. I've been waiting seven months now and they're still
swimming. Now all I want to do is make sure the specific
water levels and such are good and that they don't get sick. <It's impossible for fish to get "sick" if they're not being introduced to pathogens of some type...In a sense, they can't be infected without your aid.  The water conditions, and temperature however, are still in your hands.  Two different areas of accountability.>
Thanks to your advice I shall go and get the appropriate
equipment so that I can test their water on a monthly basis.
The algae eater appears healthy. There are no changes in its
eating behavior or swim pattern, in fact its been more
active these past few months. The only thing new are the
purple streaks I've noticed on its sides near the dorsal
side on the left side (one) and sporadic near the back  
dorsal and tail on the right side (four). <Could be water quality issues...You'll know once you test the water.> There is no sign
of the belly "caving in".
The goldfish does not contain these white spots on it's
operculum rather they are on the dorsal, anal, and tail fins.
The "gold barb" had these on the dorsal and tail fins but
closer inspection show's that they are nearly nonexistent
now. Also the upside catfish is dead. I believe you were
right in diagnosing it with a bacterial infection. <Pictus and Upside down Catfish are especially prone to this...Have lost many in quarantine from the same ailment.>
The spots on the goldfish are a little hard to describe
since the fish won't stand still. <Or swim still?> From what I can tell there
are one on the dorsal and anal fin, along the front edge
that appears raised, small and white. The ones on the tail
appear more flat and sparse. They aren't in a "dusting
pattern", do not look like "chicken poxes". The fish still
eats, swims, and grows (it has grown at least twice its
original size since late Aug). I hope to put it in its own
tank soon for it is constantly picked on by the blue Gourami
(although not as much since originally). I'm am curious to
if constant "gaping" or opening of the mouth is an symptom
for anything. <Possible oxygen level problem...Do you have an air pump or powerhead running?  Could also be nitrite levels out of whack...Or just a weird fish.> The goldfish tends to do this a lot and I was
wonder if I should be concerned. The spots on the
gold barb are hard to describe. They originally looked like
the spots on the goldfish, but are really no longer visible.
My tank includes about an inch and a half of gravel, a
plastic pipe, gargoyle, and plant. There is a bubble bar, a
filter large enough to accommodate a 15 gallon tank, and a
heater (which hasn't been on since lately since the water
has been too warm). There are two lights, one green the
other yellow (I've been looking for fluorescent lights since
the color combination makes the tank look sick)<Yes, a good idea>.My
thermometer has recently ripped off so I am unsure of the
exact temperature, I've check it using a direct hand
method.  I feed them twice a day using TetraMin tropical
flakes, TetraMin variety wafers, and occasionally freeze
dried blood worms. They get about two pinches of flakes and
three wafers. The frog, thankfully, keeps his appetite
mostly on the wafers, flakes or worms. (I have seen the
upside catfish eat in the past). I have a container of
Jungle Aquarium Salt which I add in a teaspoon or so either
weekly or whenever needed.
I hope some of this is helpful. I wish I could describe
better or at least offer a picture, but alas I can not.
Thank you for your quick replies. You can be sure that I
shall keep in touch. Thank you again.
<No problem Nicole! Glad to help you through this, Ryan>
Nicole
P.S.
This really has nothing to do with anything but...do you
know if there is a way to specialize in marine animals in
the vet career? I can't find much information on it.
<Contact the University of California at Davis- A wonderful vet program, and many classes tailored for "wet heads" like us.>

Question about ammonia and nitrites
Hi Chuck,
I have a plant and some rocks in my container.
I usually like to wait a 3 to 5 days before changing
the water.
To avoid frequent water changes:
< Frequent water changes are good as long as the water is similar in temp. and pH.>
If I remove both the plant and rocks, also remove all
uneaten food and fish poo, will this help reduce any
ammonia and nitrites, also reduce the chance of cloudy
water or smell in the water?
< Removing organic waste is beneficial to the fish because the fish waste and uneaten food are broken down by the bacteria into ammonia, nitrite and nitrate. When these are absent there is no fishy smell.>
Will it make a difference in the Beta's (I have a male
and a female)  behavior  (happier, unhappier or more
active), if they are in a space that contains plants
or it does not matter to them?
< The will be more healthy and that should reflect in their behavior (More active and better color).-Chuck>
Thanks,
Mario D.

Cloudy water
Hi guys,
<Hi, Mike D here>
    I have a question. I have a 125 gallon tank with 2 Oscars each about 6 inches, 3 Severum, a blood parrot, a snakeskin Gourami, and 2 plecos. I am using an aqua clear 500 a Fluval 401 and a regent 30-60 (came with my 55 gallon) for filtration. The question is, how do I get rid of the cloudy water<This question is trickier than it appears on the surface as "cloudy water" can be caused by several things, such as suspended matter in the water, bacterial levels and algal blooms being the most common>. I've used the test strips to check the water, levels are good on everything. My fish are healthy and eating and growing. Should I cut back on the feedings. I feed them 3x a day. The Oscars have a bad habit of discharging particles.<This is a tip, but not necessarily the key or most important one. Often cloudy water can be reduced or eliminated by changing the TYPES of food being offered as much or more than the quantity being fed.....a basic rule of thumb is that all food particles should be gone within 15 minutes of feeding the fish.> I did a water change, 1/4, about 4 days ago, with no change. Any help will be appreciated. The tank is about 5 months old.<Here's a couple of questions that may help to get a better picture of what's going on in your specific tank....1) How long are you tank lights on each day and how intense/strong is the lighting? 2) What foods are you using and are they appropriate for the species that you are keeping? 3)Are the foods that you use known for causing cloudy water? In most cases addressing these three issues will lead to the solution of your problem.>
Bill Danner

Cloudy Water
Hi,
<Hi back...MikeD here>
  To answer your questions, I have the light on for about 12 hrs. a day. I had two fluorescent lights on top of a glass hood, but it seem to be too much light for my fish. I took one of the lights off and placed the other in the middle of the tank. This gives an area of bright light in the center of the tank that fades to shadow on the ends<Thanks...that almost definitely rules out algae in the water as a causative factor unless your tank is situated near a window so that enough ambient light enters to account for it> . I feed my fish three times a day with a mixture of color enhancing flake food, freeze dried Tubifex worm cubes (Oscars really like these) and some floating cichlid sticks. I rotate which ones I use, not all of them at once. They all say they aren't suppose to cloud the water. But I think this could be a contributing factor since the Oscars are messy eaters. The water has a slight white appearance to it<I suspect that your filtration and food choices are almost definitely the source of your problem, with enough very fine food particles and oils from same remaining in suspension. Factors that can help are moving towards solid, meaty foods (Oscars, for example, have pharyngeal teeth in the throat that "chew" prey as it's swallowed, and with the foods you've listed, this is happening to an extreme and will get worse as the fish grow.....solid foods, rather than ground and compacted cubes and flakes will be a big assist) as well as water polishing filters, pre-filters or even a cleaning filter, such as the Diatom filter that removes particles down to .05 of a micron will likely clear it up for you.> . You can see through it but it looks like a slight fog from the sides of the tank. Thanks for your advice
Bill

Fresh water tank question.
   Hello,
       my question is about my freshwater tank.  It has been cloudy recently
and I was wondering about the keystone rock that I had just put in there.  Is
it not good to have the keystone rock in my tank?
< Don't know specifically what keystone rock is. But remove it and place it by itself into a glass container and see if it makes the water in the container cloudy. I think is some sort of sedimentary rock and it is dissolving in the water making it cloudy. As it dissolves  it will be raising the pH and making your water cloudy. Usually not a good thing and probably need to be removed.-Chuck>
        Thank you ,
                   -al-

Troubled Waters (Cloudy Water Situation)
Dear WWM crew,
<Scott F. at your service!>
I enjoy your web site, and have learned much. I wish that I had found your site a year ago when I first bought my aquarium.
I have a problem with algae (or maybe diatoms) in my aquarium. Last week before my weekly water change, I noticed that my water was looking cloudy, just a light brown tinge. I figured that the activated carbon needed to be replaced; it was about a month old. I have heard that activated carbon is only effective for a short time (hours according to one source, I don’t remember which one).
<Quite true...Carbon has a very limited effective life span, which is why you need to change it frequently to gain maximum benefit from it>
I do like to keep it in my filter (Aquaclear 300) as a back up biological filter when I clean the sponge in the filter. The activated carbon has not helped, and I have red/brown algae growing everywhere in my aquarium, and the water is still
cloudy.
<Well, carbon alone will not solve the problem. Sounds like you need to review some husbandry issues, such as your water change schedule, feeding, and tank population. Where is your source water from? Do you pre-treat it to remove undesirable compounds?>
In the past I admit that I have had a significant problem with nitrates. I plead ignorance; unfortunately many tiger barbs were sacrificed during my learning.
<As long as you learned, they did not die in vain. Don't be too hard on yourself!>
Statistics for my aquarium;
36 gallon Hex
Aquaclear 300 filter
1 ½ in. gravel
18-watt fluorescent light
Livestock;
1 Paradise Fish
2 Clown Loaches
6 Tiger Barbs (healthy for 6 months now!)
1 Java Fern
1 Crinum bulb
Chemistry;
pH 7.2
Ammonia 0
Nitrite 0
Nitrate 5ppm
GH < 40ppm
KH < 30ppm
<Not bad parameters at all, really>
I feed the fish a variety of foods twice a day; krill, Betta bits,
tropical fish flakes, and freeze-dried Tubifex worms. All food is eaten with relish, and doesn’t last longer than 60 seconds. I provide the plants with Seachem Flourish, 0.75 to 1 ml twice a week.
<Good work!>
I change 6 gallons of water weekly, and added the plants 6 months age to reduce the nitrate level in between water changes (a key learning from my initial trouble with the tiger barbs).
<Nothing wrong with a good water change schedule! Well done!>
I wish I had brighter light for the plants, but the hex limits my choices (I’m not ready to retrofit a compact fluorescent fixture in yet).
Two things have changed in the last 3 weeks.
One, the weather changed and it started raining (I live in Portland
Oregon). At the time I noticed that the tap water tasted like rust, and it had a light reddish tinge to it.
<Interesting...Kinda goes back to the source water question I asked earlier...Maybe you should consider pre-treatment of your tap water in the future (i.e.; using an RO/DI unit, or simply filtering source water with activated carbon before use>
Two, I started rooting a spider plant in the aquarium. My logic is that the aquatic plants don’t have enough light to grow (their still alive, but not much bigger than they were when I bought them). The houseplants are thriving in the living room (where the aquarium is) and they could help with the nutrient export. The spider plant is helping, the nitrate
level dropped about 2ppm.
<Good to hear. Yes- plants will assist with nutrient export. An interesting idea.>
Can I ride out this algal bloom?
<With your continued good habits and attention to detail, and maybe just a few "tweaks", you should be able to!>
The fishes behavior has not changed (the Paradise Fish and the Tiger Barbs are better than TV, always active and chasing each other). I believe that the houseplant will reduce the algal nutrients as the roots become more established. I don’t care for
the cloudy water, but I prefer gradual changes for my fish’s health.
<Agreed...>
Should I invest in filtering my tap water for the fish? The expense for a RO/DI unit is the cost of clothing my oldest for the beginning of the school year. However, the water here does seem to change over time (moved from Salem Or. 3 months ago).
<Well, I won't disagree with you there. An RO/DI unit can be an expensive initial investment, but it will reap significant benefits over time. Perhaps you could purchase RO/DI water from a "water store" or local fish store, just to give it a shot. I'll bet that you'll see a difference. Another thought: Do regularly clean/replace any mechanical filter media that you have in the Aquaclear. Make sure that the media is fresh and the water is flowing well through the filter.>
Thank you for your time, and knowledge,
Quinn
<My pleasure, Quinn. Hang in there- you're doing' fine! Keep it up! Regards, Scott F.>

Water clarity, FW?
Hi there,
I'm new to all this , I have just set up a new tank , just put water and sand in no fish , heater is on and filter but the water seems hazy ? will this disappear in time ? or is something wrong ??
< You should have washed the sand first before placing it in the aquarium. It will settle out over time and get picked up in the filter. I would recommend that you go to Marineland.com and check out Dr. Tim's library. There is an article there titled the first 30 days that I think you will find useful.-Chuck>
please help

My Fuzzy Tank
HI,
Ok, I have a long question because I want to tell the situation.  Very long
actually, I'm sorry, but I need help and I'm dumbfounded with this
problem...PLEASE help! :o(
I have a ten gallon black seal tank.  I placed a live sword plant, lace
rock, bubble bar, and black gravel in the tank.  I used tap water to fill
the tank and then removed chlorine from the tank and adjusted the PH to
about 7.0.  I was fascinated by some small Ram Dwarf Cichlids at my local
aquarium store and purchased one.  My tank, being a beginning tank, was not
yet cycled, but I added TLC aquarium cycler to speed up the process and
aquarium salt to soothe the stress of the fish while the tank spiked in
ammonia and nitrites.  I now understand from reading on your site about Rams
that the water conditions were not up to par and my poor little Ram was
probably very stressed for this reason.  But, anyway, my Ram contracted Ich
and I wasn't able to identify his sickness because I wasn't aware that
"over-hiding" was a sign of ich.  By the time I realized my mistake I had
already added another ram and two phantom tetras to the tank.  Needless to
say, the first Ram died from ich and the two tetras died during the
treatment process.  So, I'm left with my one Ram once again, but now I have
noticed a white "dusting" you might call it, of my tank.  I assumed that
this was Ich extremely out of control because I had read on other website (I
didn't know of yours then) about extreme breakouts where the parasitic  cysts
would show on the gravel.  So I raised the temperature to speed up the
parasites cycle hoping the white "dust looking spots" would disappear from
covering everything, and I did daily to every other day water changes and
re-medicated my tank with an ich medicine from PetSmart.  Anyway, this
didn't work to get rid of the white stuff, and the algae in the tank
steadily got much worse, but my little Ram was actually quite healthy and
happy looking.  So, I stopped the ich treatments thinking that I obviously
didn't have ich.  I read about using a "medicine tank" to treat fish, so
even though my Ram was healthy looking and acting, I got an old tank and
transferred the Ram to the other tank.  The other tank was newly cleaned
with new gravel and all the materials (such as the heater, filter, and
thermometer) were boiled to kill any disease.  So the only transferring
thing "un" desanitized was the Ram.  The day after I got the tank all set up
with the Ram, I used the ich medicine just in case I was wrong so that any
parasites swimming would be killed.  A day later, a white "dusting" occurred
all over my tank.  On everything there were these same little white specks,
dots, or dust that clump together to make bigger chunks.  I had to leave for
the summer and my mother fish sat.  She watched my Ram closely and fed him
and changed out about 25% of the water.  When I came home, the whole tank
was overcome with algae and chunks of white stuff.  My filter was broken, I
think from the white stuff clogging it.  I went to my local fish lady and
asked her what to do and she gave me fish pond sludge digester....what a
cock that was!  It didn't remove anything but she told me that after using
it I  should syphon out as much of the white stuff as possible.  Yesterday,
I syphoned out a lot of the white stuff and stressed out my little Ram who
had been doing fine.  I refilled the tank and fixed the water conditions
accordingly.  Then, when I came home from college class, the water was
foggy, new white stuff had appeared all over the gravel and walls and this
time it was more fuzzy than speckled.  My little Ram had white stuff all
over him and strings of it coming out of his gills.  I was very sad to see
this of my little fish who had persevered through so much already.
Thinking it was fungus, I added a tank buddies fungus killer but I knew that
it was too late.  So he died last night.  All I can think is that me
cleaning the tank stirred up fungus spores that like attacked him.
Now I have a white fuzzy tank and my dead Ram.  I want to start all over but
I want to be sure I get rid of this fuzzy stuff so that I don't have a
repeat and IF it happens again....what should I do??  How can I kill it/ get
rid of it?  How should I clean out my python hose to be sure that it does
not transfer to my other 15 gallon tank which is healthy?  Please
help....I'm new to the aquarium hobby and dumbfounded with all
this....Thanks
Emily
***Emily,
In all the years I've been doing this, I've never seen Freshwater ich   show up on anything but the fish themselves, and the same goes with any fungus. I don't feel comfortable saying "that's impossible", because this just may be outside my experience. Suffice to say that I used to work at a large wholesaler, treated fish daily, and never saw this after medicating hundreds of tanks, day in and day out. My suspicion is that something is very wrong with your water supply, or that something you've added to it had caused the "dusting" problem. I have to say, I've never seen this before.
I would start over with the 10 gallon. Clean the tank, wash the gravel, and any equipment you use around the tanks. Make sure your filtration is adequate. A hang on power filter with a BioWheel would work fine for your tank, as would an undergravel filter. Let the tank cycle with a hardy fish this time, and keep your ram in the hospital tank for now. Give the new tank a month or so to cycle    
before adding your ram back. You might even consider using water from another source, bottled water, etc, to begin your tank again. As I said I'm suspicious about your water supply.
Jim***