Fat Fish And Algae

[jazz1978]

hello everyone, me (nick) and janet are new to the site and fish. we have only had our tank for 6 months or so but we are having a few problems. the tank keeps getting gunged up by various algae and everytime i get rid of one another appears...this time we have a black algae that appears very quickly (2-3 weeks). it got so bad i had to clean the tank out completely as a last resort.( i know thats bad). from reading various posts on this forum i think it could be a nitrite problem but wanted another opinion.

its only a wee sixty litre tank (sorry americans, dunno what that is in gallons) the light is on for 10 hours a day but ill admit that the tank is not in the best position and does get some sun in the summer but mostly when the light is on (its daylight until 1130pm up here in the summer). i suspect i dont change the water enough but i need to know if i start changing the water more and start hoovering the bottom is the algae going to go away or am i going to have to clean it out again and change the water more in the future to keep it from getting this bad again.




also how long are guppys pregnant for?, this wee fishy has looked ready to burst for 2 months now but hasnt. this fish was born in this tank by a fish i thought was pregnant when i bought her....she gave up 10 fry and this is the only survivor, but im getting worried as she is much bigger than the other guppys ive had.

thanks in advance for any advice

 

[WILDER]

Need water stats in ammonia,nitrite,nitrate,and ph, how many fish are in the tank, plus which type.

 

[jazz1978]

Hiya,

Just five tetras and three guppies. Not sure what the amonia,nitrate levels are Will I need to get a test kit?

 

[kris-b-]

Hi Jazz,

It does help a lot if you have a test kit as this can rule out if it's a problem with the water in the tank.

I found a master test kit on ebay for £10 but I think the most you will pay is around £17.00. They are well worth it as you will then know how good your tank water is (or not!). The one I use is an API Freshwater Master Test Kit. Here is a link to one so that you can see what it is....
(towards the bottom of the page on the link below)

http/www.aquatics-online.co.uk/Z124249.asp

If your water stats are ok (which you wouldn't be able to tell without a test kit) you should aim to do a 15%-25% water change once a week, if not more often.

Hope this helps for now,

Kris

 

[Annastasia]

also how long are guppys pregnant for?, this wee fishy has looked ready to burst for 2 months now but hasnt. this fish was born in this tank by a fish i thought was pregnant when i bought her....she gave up 10 fry and this is the only survivor, but im getting worried as she is much bigger than the other guppys ive had.

Guppies are pregnant for about a month. To me she doesn't appear to be that pregnant, seeing as her gravid spot is very tiny and not very dark. When you say she looks ready to burst...she may have something else wrong with her. Are her scales pineconing at all? Is it possible she is bloated? Any chance of a head on picture?

 

[jazz1978]

here she is front on...not the best picture for showing how wide she is.....she doesnt seem to be in any distress and swims around quite calmly...i dont see anything wrong with her scales but she does have adark spot along her back near the tail which appeared some time ago.

i will go get a test kit at weekend and see what the water is like.

 

[Annastasia]

The dark spot near her tail is a gravid spot. It's where the fry grow and stay until they are born. It's also where the female stores eggs and sperm. So that's normal.

She does look slightly pregnant. Are you sure she didn't have fry and you didn't notice? You say she's looked like this for 2 months? How much do you feed? She may just be fat, especially considering her gravid spot isn't that dark or big, and it should be if she has fry in her....

 

[drinklikeafish]

the black algae that you are getting, seems to me there may be trouble with your water quality, as others have suggested get a test kit and post up your findings, im sure one of us can give you advice on your findings.
plus, is the filter able to cope with the size of your tank and does it get cleaned reguarly.
btw, your guppy doesnt look pregnant to me (ie no gravid spot) just check how much you are feeding her and check to see if she is in good health.

 

[jazz1978]

we only feed them twice a day and they dont seem too hungry in the mornings...they only take a few flakes to lose interest....at night they are like piranas lol.....this guppy seems to get an equal share of the food but i dont think im overfeeding any of them

i dont think she had any fry as i study them daily and would have noticed.....i noticed the last batch of fry that her mother produced right away

the filter came with the tank so i hope its big enough

 

[iggy01]

The algae on your substrate has the appearance of cyanobacteria (blue/green algae). Although it is known as blue/green, it can appear in many colours ....including black.

It is quite often first seen on the substrate and can grow rapidly. A search for cyanobacteria on this forum may help you.

Good luck!

 

[dcj38]

You said you feed them once in the morning and once at night... Try just feeding them at night, and see how they do.

 

[dwarfgourami]

The fry could have been born at night and eaten before morning, I've had that happen in my own tank once or twice.
Your tank will be about 15 US gallons, so with a few guppies and 5 tetras you are not overstocked.

 

[jazz1978]

It is quite often first seen on the substrate and can grow rapidly. A search for cyanobacteria on this forum may help you.

well i had a good look through a lot of the posts that the search threw up and it looks like cyanobacteria is a real struggle to get rid of.

there were a lot of posts about poor water movement accelerating the growth cos they like still dank corners. i notice the growth in my tank always starts right in the middle of the tank at the front and then moves/grows out to the furthest corner from the filter, it slowly takes over the rest of the tank but always starts here( thats the pic above). ive not really paid much attention to the positioning of my filter but it sorta slides to halfway down the tank after a while. where should it be positioned? should it be on its max setting to really push the water around?

another thing that was mentioned was a blackout....would this help to eradicate it or just slow it down?

i still have to get a test kit for the water and i will post the results as soon as i get them (working at weekend so it may be monday before i get round to it)

You said you feed them once in the morning and once at night... Try just feeding them at night, and see how they do.

i was thinking of just feeding them at night anyway as they dont seem that bothered about eating in the morning...ill give it a go i think

 

[WILDER]

http/www.skepticalaquarist.com/docs/algae/cyano.shtml

 

[jazz1978]

that was interesting but some of it was way above my o'grade biology lol....it does say it hates water movement though....think im going to do something about that and maybe get a better filter