Opinions Please! ! !

[chelsiethegreat]

ok.. so i have a 10 gallon, with 7 fancy male guppies... everything has been running really smoothly until my 1st water change... i had a dying plant in there, but it is now, hopefully, comming back to life but my water has stayed really murky.. and almost has a green tint now. my plan is, even tho its a week early for a 2 week cleaning cycle to go ahead and do a 20 percent water change tomorrow, and use the gravel vaccum really good... which i did not do last time. i had my water tested at a local pet store and everything came out good. so i didn't rush to buy any chemicals to throw in there..
i don't know.. kinda stuck... thoughts?

 

[MegaZerino]

ok.. so i have a 10 gallon, with 7 fancy male guppies... everything has been running really smoothly until my 1st water change... i had a dying plant in there, but it is now, hopefully, comming back to life but my water has stayed really murky.. and almost has a green tint now. my plan is, even tho its a week early for a 2 week cleaning cycle to go ahead and do a 20 percent water change tomorrow, and use the gravel vaccum really good... which i did not do last time. i had my water tested at a local pet store and everything came out good. so i didn't rush to buy any chemicals to throw in there..
i don't know.. kinda stuck... thoughts?

if the water isnt harmful in anyway then there really isnt any reason to change the water, you might aswell wait a week for it to cycle as that will be better in the long run, as long as the guppies arent distressed or anything it should be fine, its just not very nice to look at

 

[Aqua Tom]

ok.. so i have a 10 gallon, with 7 fancy male guppies... everything has been running really smoothly until my 1st water change... i had a dying plant in there, but it is now, hopefully, comming back to life but my water has stayed really murky.. and almost has a green tint now. my plan is, even tho its a week early for a 2 week cleaning cycle to go ahead and do a 20 percent water change tomorrow, and use the gravel vaccum really good... which i did not do last time. i had my water tested at a local pet store and everything came out good. so i didn't rush to buy any chemicals to throw in there..
i don't know.. kinda stuck... thoughts?

Just do a real big water change now, drain the tank untill the fish can just about swim upright then fill with dechlorinated tempreture matched water.

Tom

 

[chelsiethegreat]

hmmm two totally different opinions..which makes it right to say that doing say a 20 % water change, if thats what i choose to do, shouldnt be harmful..?.. so thats good.. but i just really feel like i need to vaccum my gravel. didn't do it the first time i cleaned it because i thought i could get by, but on the underside of my tank u can see a lot of debris.. and as i look more closely at my tank i am starting to see more and more alge build up on my plants and orniments and frivilous spots on the glass of the tank . . . ? i feel like i'm doing something wrong.

 

[littlenemo]

+1 tom

 

[The Taffy Apple]

hmmm two totally different opinions..which makes it right to say that doing say a 20 % water change, if thats what i choose to do, shouldnt be harmful..?.. so thats good.. but i just really feel like i need to vaccum my gravel. didn't do it the first time i cleaned it because i thought i could get by, but on the underside of my tank u can see a lot of debris.. and as i look more closely at my tank i am starting to see more and more alge build up on my plants and orniments and frivilous spots on the glass of the tank . . . ? i feel like i'm doing something wrong.

Water changes are our best friends, and unless you are in the middle of treating with some sort of medications, there is never any reason NOT to do a large water change (it is good practice to change 50% of your water on a weekly basis anyway). As was mentioned above, i would take the water right down as far as you can, then re-fill with warm, de-chlorinated water.

Terry.

PS- invest in your own water test kit, API Master test kit (liquid based) is widely recommended on here.

 

[chelsiethegreat]

hmmm right on... i should have mentioned that i do have my own test kit... but i just like to take it in a pet store and get it tested for free and get some opinions while i'm at it when i think there might be something up with my tank.. the more i read tho, it says bacterial bloom is a pretty normal thing.. and that it will eventually clear up.. but do i need to help the process?

 

[Aqua Tom]

hmmm right on... i should have mentioned that i do have my own test kit... but i just like to take it in a pet store and get it tested for free and get some opinions while i'm at it when i think there might be something up with my tank.. the more i read tho, it says bacterial bloom is a pretty normal thing.. and that it will eventually clear up.. but do i need to help the process?

A bacterial bloom is normal but that turns your water a milky colour, not green. Its a tiny tank so just do a massive water change. Problem solved.

Tom

 

[Rummynose]

Umm...how long has the tank been set up for?

Is the tank cycled?
(If you are just now cycling your tank with the fish in it, have you heard/read about the fish-in-cycling procedure? Or have you done a fish less cycle before you added the fish?)

I think what you are seeing is an algae bloom, since you say that your water is almost green. During a bacterial bloom the water is milky looking! An algae bloom can happen if you have the lights on too long, dose too much with fertilizers for plants, over feeding the fish, not doing gravel vacs. Hah, Tom beat me to it! lol

You should change 50% of the water every week, doing gravel vacs, removing organic matter (fish's waste, uneaten food) from the substrate! You also want to remove rotting leaves from plants! 20% water changes with more than 2 weeks between w/cs is just not enough. There is a lot more that gets used up in the water during its stay in the tank (like minerals) they need to be replenished a lot more frequently than that. These minerals are important to your fish's health as well as to the health of your tank, your ph could become compromised! You are also running the risk to create old tank syndrome in your tank!

 

[chelsiethegreat]

thanks so much for the opinions! ended up taking them all into consideration and made a great compilation. i did a 40 percent change.. used the gravel vacuum ( which is amazing ) and everything is clearing up nicely! invested in a conditioner that had a lot more perks such as fixing the ph, ammonia, and conditioning and dechloranizing ANNNDDD got a golden mystery snail along with a nice plant. looking great so far! thanks for all the tips

 

[The Taffy Apple]

Just be careful about products that claim to "sort out your PH"..a stable PH is alot more safer than a fluctuating one, if at all possible carry out a water hardness test (GH/KH tester) which will tell you what type of water area you live in, then take the appropriate measures.

Terry.

 

[chelsiethegreat]

i know you gotta watch out!..so i am very careful about what i buy.. don't worry .. so i invested in some Seachem Neutral Regulator.. i know Seachem is a reputable brand, and a friend has also used and has had good results!

 

[Rummynose]

i know you gotta watch out!..so i am very careful about what i buy.. don't worry .. so i invested in some Seachem Neutral Regulator.. i know Seachem is a reputable brand, and a friend has also used and has had good results!

What is wrong with your ph that you need to add that Seachem product?

 

[Fishy friend2]

Yes. As terry said. Even of your PH is a little off for the specific fish's requirements, a fluctuating PH will do more harm than a PH that is A little off

 

[Aqua Tom]

Dont mess with your pH, it is just to hard to keep accurate. If you adjust the pH in your tank you will then have to adjust the pH of the water you use for the waterchange EVERY time you do one & it must match your tanks pH (which is very difficult to do). If not your pH will be bouncing all over the place, this is not good for your fish.

Just leave it alone.


Tom