New Tropical Aquarium - Trying to get a grip! - Succeeded...

[justinhill]

An acquaintance bought an aquarium kit and found he couldn't cope with it, so would I take it on as a going concern? Never one to refuse free stuff I agreed and went there 12 days ago to transport the thing over to mine. Even knowing absolutely nothing about these things it was obvious the situation was bad. The water was so cloudy you could hardly see any fish even with the lights on, and a third of the fish had died within the 2 weeks he'd had the thing. I'm now doing some frantic catch-up learning and trying to get the thing stable. I believe his 'errors' included putting the fish in straight away, having the pump outlet well above the water surface, running the lamps 24/7 and massively overfeeding (and he hadn't assembled the filter properly).

It's a 125L tank (which I measured actually holds 83L) with an Oase BioPlus Thermo 200 and a pair of Oase 600mm daylight LED lamps. It has a few plants (immature so far) and a large piece of bogwood that's probably oversized for the tank. I'm running it at 23C, measured on my Fluke thermocouple. I have the lights on timers; one from 8:30 am to 3pm, the other from 12:00pm to 7:30 pm - so both lights are on between 12 and 3 each day.

When I received the tank, there were 8 Cardinals, 1 Pearl Gourami and 1 Bamboo Shrimp surviving. 2 Pearls and 6 Cardinals had died.

Knowing I had to get the fish back in the tank asap, all I could do was wipe the inside of the glass out as best I could before replacing the water, then put half the original water back in and half fresh, and crossed my fingers. No more fish died and you can see them all! I think I'm making progress but the tank is utterly plagued with algae - green water, hair algae, and what looks like blanket weed choking all the plants and anything else it can get a grip on. I even saw the shrimp wandering happily about the other day trailing a 4 inch length of weed behind him...

I am checking every day or so: pH (6.5), Nitrite (0), Ammonia (0 ish)and Phosphate (0.25 - 0.5), dosing with 2ml carbo daily, Interpet Anti Hair Algae, Interpet Green Away and Aquarium Klear weekly, in the recommended amounts. In the 12 days since I restarted the tank I've changed a further 35% of the water in two small sessions.

Yesterday, I decided to re-stock the fish so there are now 14 Cardinals and 2 Pearls. I also bought a second shrimp and 4 Zebra Barbs (recommended by the fish shop because they eat Algae). By my calculations that's probably the maximum for this tank size. All seems well (and the barbs are having a field day) except that the new Pearl is being chased to exhaustion by the existing one. It's merciless. The new Pearl hides behind the pump for a few hours to get its breath back and then the chase starts again.

So, what's my next step? Keeping the livestock alive seems to be 'box ticked' but the algae and blanket weed is remorseless. I drag lumps of the stuff out every day with a brush, and it's back to looking the same by evening. Just patience? Or am I missing something important?

 

[justinhill]

Algae pics

 

[Essjay]

Well done for rescuing the tank and fish


Your ammonia and nitrite at zero are good. I don't know how much reading you have done, but these two need to be kept at zero. Keep an eye on them till you know they are staying at zero.
If your friend had only had the tank 2 weeks, it was still cycling - growing the bacteria which remove ammonia and nitrite. It may not yet be completely cycled which is why I suggest monitoring ammonia & nitrite daily, and doing a water change if eithe read above zero.

Water changes should be at least 50% every week, and the bottom of the tank cleaned. You don't say what's on the bottom of the tank. If it's sand just suck the debris off the top. if it's gravel, push the siphon tube deep into it to remove the muck in there. Avoid going too near plant roots though.


Carbo - is that Easy Life Easy Carbo? If it is, I suggest you stop using it. The main ingredient is glutarladehyde which is a nasty chemical used, amongst other things, for sterilising heat sensitive medical equipment and in embalming fluid.
The algae killing chemicals are also bad for fish, and shrimps are even more sensitive.



I'm assuming you have live plants because the second photo seems to show a plant?
Do you have live plants, and what/how many are they?
When there are no live plants, algae grows if the lights are on too long.
When there are live plants an imbalance between light and fertiliser can cause algae. Too much light encourages algae. Too much fertiliser and not enough light encourages algae. Not enough fertiliser encourages algae.
You've told us your lighting settings but apart form the carbo you don't mention fertiliser.



The pearl gouramis - what gender are they? If you have 2 males, the one already there will see the second as an intruder and try to chase it put of its territory. In a fish tank, there is nowhere for it to go so the dominant one will continue to pick on the subordinate one.
If you post photos, we can try to tell you what gender they are.


I had to google zebra barbs. This came up as the only fish

Desmopuntius johorensis – Striped Barb (Puntius johorensis, Puntius eugrammus) — Seriously Fish

www.seriouslyfish.com

Are these what you have? If they are you may want to return them to the shop as they are big fish which need a tank at least 120 cm long.
If it's not those, can you post a photo of them, please, so we can ID them


One final thing for now - never, ever trust a fish shop. Most of them haven't a clue and will make things up to get a sale. Selling you those fish is an example of this.

 

[justinhill]

Blimey Essjay. A wealth of helpful info in one post. Thank you so much.

(1) I'm obviously not changing enough of the water. I wrongly assumed that if the tank was still balancing I should change as little as possible. I also learned from another thread that I'm wrong in having been rinsing the filter sponges in warm tap water when I should have rinsed them in used tank water...

(2) Yes, I was using Easy Life Easy Carbo, because some website said it was good stuff. I'll stop straight away. I do have a pot of "Prodbio Carbon-Liq" which came with the tank. Should I start using that, or use nothing at all?

(3) Yes there are live plants, but obviously they're not very developed yet. I saw examples of the same plants in the shop and they seem to get quite large... I'm not adding any fertiliser (or anything other than the stuff I mentioned). I've attached pictures showing the plants.

(4) How would I work out the gender of the Pearl Gouramis? The 'original' one is bigger and slightly orange-ier than the new one. I've attached a picture of the 'original' one and I'll try to get a shot of the other one when it next comes out of hiding.

(5) I may have mis-named the 'zebra barbs'. I've attached a picture of the cleaning staff for you to identify for me.

I have also attached a picture of the 'original' shrimp simply because he's such a character (he spends nearly all his time hanging around eating but whenever I do anything to the tank he gets right my face, including paying chicken with the filter pack when I'm trying to re-fit it).

For the first week I was really regretting agreeing to take this on. But my regret level has reduced now to just below 50% and is still shrinking...

 

[justinhill]

oh, and - the substrate is gravel over soil, and I didn't disturb that when I moved the tank to my place (I left about an inch of the water in while I moved it).

 

[justinhill]

Managed to get a shot of the 'new' Pearl:

 

[UnknownFishies]

So when identifying gouramis this is the best way to do so. Males have more angular pointed fins and females have shorter almost circular fins. Pretty sure the new one is female and the old one is male. Also wanted to congratulate you for rescuing those fish!

 

[justinhill]

So when identifying gouramis this is the best way to do so. Males have more angular pointed fins and females have shorter almost circular fins. Pretty sure the new one is female and the old one is male. Also wanted to congratulate you for rescuing those fish!

Thanks! Any thoughts as to the identity of those algae eaters I was sold?

 

[UnknownFishies]

Thanks! Any thoughts as to the identity of those algae eaters I was sold?

I honestly can’t find anything. Looked everywhere on the internet. Even checked Petsmart and Petco fish. Couldn’t find them...

 

[justinhill]

I honestly can’t find anything. Looked everywhere on the internet. Even checked Petsmart and Petco fish. Couldn’t find them...

I found "zebra barb" here (number 7 on the list): https://www.thesprucepets.com/barb-species-1380768 which looks vaguely like my fish. I suppose I'll have to phone the fish shop and ask them what they sold me!

 

[UnknownFishies]

I found "zebra barb" here (number 7 on the list): https://www.thesprucepets.com/barb-species-1380768 which looks vaguely like my fish. I suppose I'll have to phone the fish shop and ask them what they sold me!

Yeah. That fish was the one I found online but yours only have a single stripe...

 

[Essjay]

The zebra barbs are not zebra barbs. They look like siamese algae eaters or one of the lookalike fish. There are a couple of threads on here about how to tell the difference

Distinguishing Among Algae Eaters

nice, all that chart needs is some pictures now :thumbs: Edit: not my pictures but ill post anyways because they are kinda clear siamese algae eater flying fox

www.fishforums.net

False Siamese Algae Eater

Common Name(s): False Siamese Algae Eater, False Siamensis Scientific Name: Epalzeorhynchus sp., Family: Cyprinidae Origin: Southeast Asia, particularly Thailand and the Malay Peninsula Maximum size: Up to 6" Minimum Tank Size: 20 gallons Care: There is tremendous confusion about...

www.fishforums.net

See which one of those matches the fish you have, then look them up on https://www.seriouslyfish.com/knowledge-base/
Some of these fish will grow too large for your tank. if you have one of these species, I suggest you return them to the shop.





The best algae eaters are actually snails - nerite snails. Though they don't eat every type of algae.


Your pearl gouramis aren't pearls; they are gold gouramis, a colour variant of three spot gourami. Looking at the fins they are both female. Three spot gouramis in all it's variants are at the more aggressive end of the gourami behaviour spectrum - we had one member once who had a female which killed every other fish in the tank. Keep an eye on the two you have.
(I have pearl gouramis )


Just about all the liquid carbon products contain glutaraldehyde. You need a different type of fertiliser. I am not the best person to advise about plants but I think the ones in the photos are root feeders, in which case you need root tabs inserted into the substrate near the roots eg Seachem Flourish Root Tabs. But if someone who knows about plants says they are leaf feeders, you need a liquid fertiliser such as Seachem Flourish Comprehensive Supplement (NOT Flourish Excel) or TNC Lite (NOT TNC complete).

When the plants are not fed properly they grow slowly but algae can grow well on less food which is why it can take over.



With the substrate you have, just suck up any mess sitting on top of the gravel.
Actually, if the tank was a mess when you took it, frequent small water changes were the best way to go, then once the tank has settled, you can go to weekly.

 

[justinhill]

Your pearl gouramis aren't pearls; they are gold gouramis, a colour variant of three spot gourami. Looking at the fins they are both female.

Now I'm completely confused...

 

[Utar]

Welcome to the forum. Do not add any more fish until your aquarium has finished its cycle and the beneficial bacteria has matured enough to take on the load. As a matter you need to get rid of some of the fish you have now, more about that below.

Don't stress yourself out because we have all been right where you are now, learning. The time will be when you will be teaching others that are starting out. Essjay is correct about the gold gouramis, they get very large and can be very aggressive. My advice is to bring them back to the pet store or find someone to take them from you because they will get too large for your aquarium. Also, get rid of the siamese algae eaters because they get large and aggressive and are not really good for eating algae.

The plants in the background covered with algae are moneywort, not sure about the little one's upfront. If you want a good root plant get a couple of Amazon swords. There are several different species of amazon sword plants, some large some small, so do your research to learn. But they are great plants and very hardy. The moneyworts that you have are indestructible, but for some reason, they do grow algae, I have had the same algae covering my moneyworts as you have. Get a pair of scissors and cut out the tops of the moneywort and remove the parts covered with algae. Don't worry they will recover and grow again, as a matter of fact, they will take over your tank, so you will have to thin them out in the future. Solving your algae problem will take time, practice, trial, and error. You will need both root tabs and a good water fertilizer. Be careful because some well-known brands of fertilizers are snake oil, and is a waste of money. API Leaf Zone is snake oil, don't waste your money on it.

lol, snake oil is an old term used here in the States for someone selling a product that they promise will work but is actually nothing but junk. In the old west days back in the 1800's there used to be salespeople traveling around the country pulling a covered wagon with a horse from town to town. They would peddle the most wonderful of elixirs, which they promoted as a cure-all for everything, from ulcers to hemorrhoids. When the bottles they were peddling only contained alcohol and other worthless ingredients they concocted up themselves.

Right now your tank is going through a cycle, so you need to stay on top of it and do water changes, every day if needed. Don't worry the beneficial bacteria don't live in the water, they live in the filter, on the gravel, and other stuff inside your aquarium.

 

[UnknownFishies]

Now I'm completely confused...

Basically we identified the fish wrong.