Need help with my fishtank

Binarydrone · #1 20th July 2010, 06:33 AM

Here is the deal. The water in the tank keeps getting very murky. It is a 10 gallon tank with 4 goldfish. At first I thought that it was the gravel (like dust or something from it) so I replaced that with glass beads. That didn't help so I am pretty sure that it is the poop. I have a filter thing that claims to be for a 10 gallon tank and that is not helping. Plus I have to assume that there is a way to get a fish tank into some sort of homeostasis where you don't have to change the water every couple of weeks.

So what are your thoughts? Do I need some sort of plant in there? Are there special goldfish poop eating snails or leaches or something? What can be done?

Detroit Hoser · #2 20th July 2010, 06:51 AM

1. Stop changing the water. Add when it gets low or when you end up siphoning a quarter or so of it while cleaning the gravel, but stop changing the water. That's why it's murky, I'm guessing.

2. Accept that goldfish are extremely dirty fish, and that you will be dealing with a lot of fish poop and algae.

Uthrecht · #3 20th July 2010, 06:52 AM

It's been a while since I've fiddled with tanks, but I think the murkiness is usually off algae (which might be feeding off the fecal matter). Is it in sunlight or do you have it heated? I think there are snails that some folks use to try and keep the algae down.

Detroit Hoser · #4 20th July 2010, 07:00 AM

Snails aren't going to do much for algae. A plecostomas might help but with a ten gallon tank, when four of the critters are already gold fish, the tank will become too small within a year.

My educated guess is that the water hasn't had time to settle and develop, and the algae explosion is a result of starting over every time the water is changed. I used to know all the correct terms, the amount of nitrogen that was healthy, all that good stuff, but I haven't dealt with tanks in nearly a decade and my brain needed the room to remember television trivia from the sixties.

For 4-6 weeks, leave the water alone. Don't add any chemicals. Don't leave the aquarium lamp on for more than eight hours a day. I'm confident there will be a big change for the better.

Auntbeast · #5 20th July 2010, 07:54 AM

Regular water changes are GOOD for your tank, but only about a 25% change.

Get a bigger filter or an additional filter. A filter for a 10 gallon tank is not a good match for a 10 gallon tank with that many goldfish. Goldfish are dirty, dirty fish. Did I mention how dirty they are?

Ok, here's some basics, a tank goes through a cycle where the good guys have to build up their defenses against the bad guys. When the appropriate balance is reached, the tank is considered cycled. All that means is that all things being equal, a form of stasis has been reached. Add a new fish, it takes the tank a while to adjust again. Do not add water straight from the tap. Get a two liter bottle, fill it with tap water, leave the top off and keep it full between water changes. Pull out a bottle of water, pour in a bottle of water.

You have to do water changes, not just adding water because the concentration of the crap that doesn't disappear increases, the only way to get rid of it is water changes. Ammonia is the major culprit. High ammonia burns. You'll see a fish with ammonia burned eyes, they are solid black.

You may want to consider painting the bottom of the tank and just going bare bottom. For dirty fish, sometimes it is the best option if you want it to stay clean. Don't get an undergravel filter, they are nasty and you have to rip the whole tank apart to remove it if you don't like it.

Also, a power head shooting down to the bottom of the tank to keep shit from gathering can help. The worst thing that will happen is you'll have one corner where the poop gathers and you can siphon that right out.

Or maybe you shouldn't take advice from someone who hasn't had a fish in her 90g tank in over a year. *shrug* I've had tanks for about 20 years, salt and fresh.

Snails are cool in their own right, but will not help you and will just add to an already stressed bioload. I know the rule of thumb is 1" of fish per gallon of water, but really, it is more about the TYPE of fish than the size. A goldfish will out poop an equal number of other fish. Small snails multiply like mad and can be their own problem. Apple snails are incredibly neato but really, not what you are looking for. And they might eat your goldfish.

Binarydrone · #6 20th July 2010, 08:30 AM

I did try to do the thing where I didn't change the water and within 3 weeks it was totally opaque. So we think that this is an algae thing? The tank does not get sun and I don't have a hood light at all. Will that be someting that I should chage?

Do I need a bigger tank (or less fish?

)

Detroit Hoser · #7 20th July 2010, 08:37 AM

Well, I'm out of ideas now, unless you need the scoop on "I Dream of Jeannie" or "Lost in Space."

SoylentPopTart · #8 20th July 2010, 08:44 AM

The bacteria that support the homeostasis that you're looking for live on the filter media, not in the water. I'd recommend frequent partial water changes to dilute out the funk in the water while not changing the filter media lest you disturb the beneficial bacteria.

Goldfish are nasty, nasty fish. This is going to be magnified if you feed them according to the instructions on the fish food container. You need three meals a day, they need a meal every three days.

White murkiness is caused by too much waste in the water (poop, food, whatever). If it were green murkiness, that would be an algae problem.

Binarydrone · #9 20th July 2010, 08:50 AM

It's kind of brownish.

Mirhanda · #10 20th July 2010, 10:42 AM

I think your tank is just too small for that many goldfish. They are really messy fish. Could you get a larger tank or maybe rehome a couple of your goldfish? You might try asking at Aquaria Central, they have more specialized knowledge about fish and related topics.

Amblydoper · #11 21st July 2010, 02:36 PM

Get a bigger tank. Small tanks are difficult to maintain and are usually overcrowded, which makes it worse. More water means more stability. Flush that "1 gallon = 1 inch of fish" crap down the toilet.

Also, filters are advertised for a particular size tank, but that's not how to select a filter. Ideally, you want to turn over the entire capacity of your tank 4 to 10 times per hour. You may need a bigger filter, or a second filter.

Finally, let your cloudy water problem solve itself. Don't add chemicals to fix it. Don't clean the filter so often. Get a water testing kit and check your water quality.