Oh my! Fish are so difficult and annoying. I have two little tanks, so little that I can't vacuum the gravel without draining all the water in a minute. So both tanks keep getting diseases like ich and now they have big puffy eyes (pop eye). I only bought 2 fish to start with, who had many many babies, so I don't have too much money in the tanks. Should I give up and let them all die? Anyone else having fish issues?
By the way, I used to have a pretty big hexagon tank, which I did clean with the vacuum, and it kept getting this salty white stuff all over it. Cottony white fungus like stuff growing on the outside of the tank, and inside. It was very very gross, couldn't fix it, even after all the fish died and I completely started over. Now the little hexagon tank I bought, just a few gallons, has white stuff growing on it...anyone know what that might have been?
Too much work! Annoying...
Full Version: Fish
I've had some freshwater aquariums in the past, as large as 30 gallons at one point.
There's some additives you can put in the water to control the ich (ick?), I remember it being bluish in color. The white stuff, I've had, but I don't remember how I cured it.
There may be several reasons for your problem, do you have a charcoal filter in addition to the fiber filter? Do you change your filter regularly? Do you regularly check your pH level? Fish are particularly sensitive to proper pH.
When you replace the water, do you let it set for several hours? Treat it with chlorine remover? What kind of water do you use? Well water or city water?
There are so many causes, it would be hard to pin down. Maybe Pugh's on Pennsylvania Ave can help?
There's some additives you can put in the water to control the ich (ick?), I remember it being bluish in color. The white stuff, I've had, but I don't remember how I cured it.
There may be several reasons for your problem, do you have a charcoal filter in addition to the fiber filter? Do you change your filter regularly? Do you regularly check your pH level? Fish are particularly sensitive to proper pH.
When you replace the water, do you let it set for several hours? Treat it with chlorine remover? What kind of water do you use? Well water or city water?
There are so many causes, it would be hard to pin down. Maybe Pugh's on Pennsylvania Ave can help?
i have a small aquarium, only a few gallons, and a betta ( male) the water gets changed every two weeks, and there are little fizzy tablets you drop into the clean water and they prep it for the betta immediately. whole process takes about 5 mins. it has no filter, but it has a little air hose that goes under the gravel and keeps the water circulating. Fishy is pretty happy in there, and has had no major issues so far...
Yep, that fuzzy white stuff sounds like ick... And they do have liquid treatment for it. Not sure if you ever get into Frederick, but my favorite spot for fish & aquariums is Rick's. I have used them many, many times over the years & they have always been helpful. My biggest tank was a 45 gallon - took a lot of work, but I loved it. After kids started keeping me busy and the fish dies one by one, I never replaced. I am hoping to get another aquarium started within the next couple of years, but thinking of going salt water this time. I know the up keep is a bit more & the fish can be a tad more expensive, but I've always wanted one & the fish are so beautiful & colorful. Not to mention the plant life that you can have in a salt water...
I'm thinking because I bought a male and female guppy and now there are like 30 fish in a 6 gallon tank might be the problem. I'm going to transfer the fish to a ice cream bucket while I completely clean and bleach the tank, put new water in, treat it, and put only the 3-4 males back in. I shouldn't have to do all that crap to the tank that I do to it now all the time, I want low maintenence. I'll clean the filter and change some of the water every other week like I have been and it should be fine with less fish, yes?
30 fish in a 6 gallon tank! I would say that could be your problem. If you only put back four fish what are you going to do with the other 26?
Flush them?
Flush them?
Oh man, get abigger tank! I've had a 55 for ages, and I love it. Big tanks are much more forgiving if you accidently overfeed or wait a little longer than normal to clean them, and they are so cool! It's just a much bigger ecosystem and much much harder to mess it up.
If you can't afford a new one, look around for aused one on the various internet boards. I got my 55 from a Grad Student at Johns Hopkins who had all sorts of tanks and was breeding exotics, and I paid less than $100.
But definitely get a bigger tank: your fish will thank you!
If you can't afford a new one, look around for aused one on the various internet boards. I got my 55 from a Grad Student at Johns Hopkins who had all sorts of tanks and was breeding exotics, and I paid less than $100.
But definitely get a bigger tank: your fish will thank you!
I had a 30 gallon, I had three fish in it, bigger aggressive fish, and they died just as easily, and they were expensive. White puffy fuzzy stuff was growing on the gravel and on the plants and crap and I couldn't get rid of it even after completely cleaning the tank and starting over. Highly annoying.
Ud-I put them in the sick tank to give them a chance to survive. If they die it's their own fault for not being tough enough. I'm letting the water sit at the moment and I'll put the 4 males in it tonight.
Ud-I put them in the sick tank to give them a chance to survive. If they die it's their own fault for not being tough enough. I'm letting the water sit at the moment and I'll put the 4 males in it tonight.
Wow that really stinks. Ever since I got my 55 I've had great success. Before that I only had a 10-gallon and most every fish I got died within a few weeks to months.
Once you get it cycled, as long as you keep the basic microbial colony going you should be golden. Of course you need to be very careful of where you buy your fish and really check out the condition of all of the fish in the tank you buy from, and of course even if they like it, never feed your fish live food.
But I guess maybe you're just unlucky and/or so incredibly overcrowding the tanks that no amount of luck is going to prevent problems.
Many of the better pet stores will help diagnose problems. I know there's at least one place in Frederick where you can bring in a sample of tank water for testing. I'm pretty sure I once saw there's some really good fish place in Hagerstown. Might want to go in, or call them, and ask somebody. I've always done my own testing and the internet has lots of info on fishkeeping, diseases and their treatment.
Once you get it cycled, as long as you keep the basic microbial colony going you should be golden. Of course you need to be very careful of where you buy your fish and really check out the condition of all of the fish in the tank you buy from, and of course even if they like it, never feed your fish live food.
But I guess maybe you're just unlucky and/or so incredibly overcrowding the tanks that no amount of luck is going to prevent problems.
Many of the better pet stores will help diagnose problems. I know there's at least one place in Frederick where you can bring in a sample of tank water for testing. I'm pretty sure I once saw there's some really good fish place in Hagerstown. Might want to go in, or call them, and ask somebody. I've always done my own testing and the internet has lots of info on fishkeeping, diseases and their treatment.
Can't you just buy those special gunk-eating fish? Or is it a snail? There's something out there that you just toss in your tank and it eats that mess, right?
Why do I reply on threads where I don't know what I'm talking about?
Why do I reply on threads where I don't know what I'm talking about?
QUOTE (Heather @ Apr 7 2008, 01:09 PM) 
Can't you just buy those special gunk-eating fish? Or is it a snail? There's something out there that you just toss in your tank and it eats that mess, right?
Why do I reply on threads where I don't know what I'm talking about?
Why do I reply on threads where I don't know what I'm talking about?
algae eaters, maybe?? they eat the green stuff, i know.. i think they're the creepy lil fish you alwasy see stuck to the side of the tank...
I bought something like that years ago. Some kind of catfish.
Now it's about 12 inches long. It's had plenty of gunk to eat since I rarely clean my tank.
Now it's about 12 inches long. It's had plenty of gunk to eat since I rarely clean my tank.
I used to have a 30 gallon tank and gave it to a good friend of mine when I moved.
What I'm looking to do is buy a 30 gallon (or bigger, probably around 50) and have part aquarium and part land. I met someone in FL that did this but I'm not sure how she did it because I never asked. Basically there was a waterfall on the land what was part of the filtering system and it ran back down into the pool of water. I just have to figure out how I'd do it.
Here's an overhead view of what it would look like.
What I'm looking to do is buy a 30 gallon (or bigger, probably around 50) and have part aquarium and part land. I met someone in FL that did this but I'm not sure how she did it because I never asked. Basically there was a waterfall on the land what was part of the filtering system and it ran back down into the pool of water. I just have to figure out how I'd do it.
Here's an overhead view of what it would look like.
Actually I've heard of that as one inch of fish per gallon, though that's a very rough estimate. For a 6-gallon tank that's 6 inch-long fish or 3 that are 2 inches long. It breaks down with larger fish that generally require more than a gallon per inch. One 6-inch fish would be darned cramped in a 6-gallon tank for example.
Of course a new setup is going to take some time to go through the nitrogen cycle and establish a proper microbial ecosystem. Sometimes people buy junk fish that they know will probably die during the unavoidable ammonia spike, and don't stock with really nice fish until after they've got the tank established.
Or if you're like me, you always take care to preserve a sufficient bacterial colony that the tank doesn't cycle no matter how much you clean it out. I've moved my tank twice over the years and never had it cycle on me (or at least not too severely) because I was careful to preserve the dirty filter and substrate.
Of course a new setup is going to take some time to go through the nitrogen cycle and establish a proper microbial ecosystem. Sometimes people buy junk fish that they know will probably die during the unavoidable ammonia spike, and don't stock with really nice fish until after they've got the tank established.
Or if you're like me, you always take care to preserve a sufficient bacterial colony that the tank doesn't cycle no matter how much you clean it out. I've moved my tank twice over the years and never had it cycle on me (or at least not too severely) because I was careful to preserve the dirty filter and substrate.
Oh! I think you should all free the little fishes!
Put them back in the river/ocean/lake where they belong.
Why would you want to enslave the little fishies for your own amusement.
You fish lovers make me sick!
IT'S SICK!!! JUST SICK I TELL YOU!!!!
(Now doesn't that sound stupid? Yep, thought so. Sounds just like the 1God Thread.
Jeesh.
Put them back in the river/ocean/lake where they belong.
Why would you want to enslave the little fishies for your own amusement.
You fish lovers make me sick!
IT'S SICK!!! JUST SICK I TELL YOU!!!!
(Now doesn't that sound stupid? Yep, thought so. Sounds just like the 1God Thread.
Jeesh.
I did just take out the females, there are 6 or so males left in the tank. I do have catfish and an algae eater, they don't eat all the crap though when you have too many fish. Yes I know that's too many, but I wasn't about to start killing fish, I didn't know they reproduced like rabbits, I only bought two originally remember. 
It should be fine now.
It should be fine now.
Good luck! You should do much better now, with alot of hard work. But I personally never had any success until I switched a a big tank. Guess I'm just too lazy to be doing water changes all of the time.
Thanks, I think guppies can survive through a lot of stress, so I should be ok. If not, I didn't spend too much on them.
QUOTE (coma @ Apr 7 2008, 06:04 PM)
I used to have a 30 gallon tank and gave it to a good friend of mine when I moved.
What I'm looking to do is buy a 30 gallon (or bigger, probably around 50) and have part aquarium and part land. I met someone in FL that did this but I'm not sure how she did it because I never asked. Basically there was a waterfall on the land what was part of the filtering system and it ran back down into the pool of water. I just have to figure out how I'd do it.
Here's an overhead view of what it would look like.
What I'm looking to do is buy a 30 gallon (or bigger, probably around 50) and have part aquarium and part land. I met someone in FL that did this but I'm not sure how she did it because I never asked. Basically there was a waterfall on the land what was part of the filtering system and it ran back down into the pool of water. I just have to figure out how I'd do it.
Here's an overhead view of what it would look like.
Coma -
Do a google search for vivarium. There a ton of stuff online. Here's a good one:
http://badmanstropicalfish.com/vivarium/vivarium.html
I've got a 125 I was thinking about using for a vivarium. I'd love to have some poison arrow frogs in it.
This is a "lo-fi" version of our main content. To view the full version with more information, formatting and images, please click here.