Keeping fish in Green Tea

[sehsuan]

now, here's something that i'm not responsible for doing, but just a shot to speak my 2 thousand words...

can anyone give suggestions how to get rid of that colloidial waters? i do know there's biofiltering stuff, but as you all know, that's my dad's fish. i look at the waters, and i can't imagine breathing it through my gills daily without fail...

help, anyone?

 

[Clown]

change water.

 

[sehsuan]

p.s. though i have advised him to read some of the Fishkeeping FAQ's that i downloaded, he plainly refuses, saying, "why are you telling me things that you're not doing yourself?" tried and proven stuff - biofiltering etc, which is what he sorely lacks, he just doesn't listen. meanwhile the fish suffer. the power of the internet is having reference when we want/need to, but i wonder what's on his mind.

this tank is a tank that has sent many a fish to fish hell, with no biofiltering.

this is an image of the former "survivor" from the failed marine tank days, with the survivor cast to the smaller tank with brown water

 

[Sion]

Are you placing the fish tank in direct sunlight or in a place that is too bright near the window?

Excessive sunlight encourages algae growth. No filter is going to help that. I would advise move the tank to a darker surrounding which fishes love. Green algae would be toxic to for fish to live in.

 

[StreetShooter]

That must be your dad:

 

[sehsuan]

That must be your dad:

no la, not him :bsmilie:

one friend of mine who's uh "stuck" in tasmania told me the same stuff about sunlight. those uv-ish kind of lights, do they have any function, such as providing warmth for the fish? my dad will switch them on without fail each evening from probably say, 7 to 10pm.

does it matter if biofilter chips are just half-submerged, or do they have to be constantly be in air and have the pumped water distributed over them all the time?

 

[GENO]

hey , sehsuan,

the cleaner the fish tank, the easlier the fishes get ill...as long as the fishes are not going to the top of the water to breath, it means the water is fine...

hint: never ,never change the whole fish tank of water..unless u are looking for new fishes...

 

[Sion]

does it matter if biofilter chips are just half-submerged, or do they have to be constantly be in air and have the pumped water distributed over them all the time?

Biofilter chips are to provide maximum areas to cultivate bacterial growth. Whether half-submerged or not, I think it's okay as long as the filtered water flow through them.

 

[2100]

Try www.arofanatics.com

Too many nitrates lar, and too much sunlight. Long time never change water? Even if you have the best biofiltration, you gotta change water. Else you need to have some plants. Else the nitrates is the end of the "incomplete" nitrogen cycle. The biofiltration only does it 3/4 way. From ammonia to nitrites to nitrates.

Change your water regularly like twice a week, 20% max. Remember to put in dechlorinator else you are killing a certain % of your biofilter.

 

[jsbn]

p.s. though i have advised him to read some of the Fishkeeping FAQ's that i downloaded, he plainly refuses, saying, "why are you telling me things that you're not doing yourself?" tried and proven stuff - biofiltering etc, which is what he sorely lacks, he just doesn't listen. meanwhile the fish suffer. the power of the internet is having reference when we want/need to, but i wonder what's on his mind.

Well, remind him, "Killing is a sin. Put down the butcher's knife and gain enlightenment." :bsmilie:

Joking. Well, I'm not sure abt keeping fishes, but if I'm u, I'll juz run out to get the biofiltering stuff, spend a day to clear out the tank (I'm not sure the thing abt not changing 100% of the water. I used to do it a long time ago. No fishes seem to have died under this arrangement?).

Well, subsequently ur dad probably can hop all he likes, but unless he can scoop back the same water frm the drain, he'll probably have to live with the squeaky clean tank and happy fishes.

Anyway, if u wanna be a good boy in ur family, juz live with it. If u wanna be the renegade (like me, hehehe), juz do it. But dun quote me ok? :sweatsm:

 

[hwchoy]

Green algae would be toxic to for fish to live in.

on the contrary, algae is a part of Nature and is not "toxic" at all. it just offends our sense of "beauty". in fact green water is tonic for fish fries as they are filled with nutrious diatoms and infusoria. go to a real fish farm and you will see tanks and tanks of green and brown water so "murky" you could hardly see the fishes.

having said that I suggest you either take over the fish tank or attempt to poison the fishes until he gives up and stop keeping fishes. :devil: just a drop of mama lemon will do the trick.

however if you choose to maintain the tank, then have a regime to weekly water changes. 25-33% change of water is sufficient. Use a dechlorinator if necessary (not all water supplies need this). Get a good filter, an Eheim Liberty 150 or 200 (for the size of the fishes) is appropriate and easy to maintain as it hangs outside the tank.

Even if you do not have plants, do lay a bed of gravel as the majority of denitrifying bacteria lives in the tank substrate when it is present. Try to avoid those with weird psychodelic colours, small gravel about 2-3mm particle size is good. also ignore most advise fishshop owners and shop assistance tell you. avoid adding strange and wonderful chemicals that promises "zero water changes for years".

Finally the most important advise: DO NOT OVERFEED!

 

[hwchoy]

just another point, in a tank which is heavily planted and provided with good lights and carbon dioxide injection, it is possible to go without "artificial" biofiltering as the denitrifying cycle is completed in the gravel substrate.

basically we are trying to achieve a balanced system in terms of "nutrients" as the water is confined.

 

[Poledra]

I had that problem quite some time ago and I went to a fish store in Serangoon Gardens in search of a solution.
The shop owner recommended a solution called 'Super Green Away' by Ocean Free. On the label, it says 'For solving green water problem in aquarium, pond or fountain'. (they obviously need language classes)
I added 1 capful of the brown liquid to my tank and covered the sides of the tank with newspapers to prevent too much sunlight from reaching the water. (Because I'm only allowed to keep my fish in the balcony area)

My tank setup is something like yours because I hate washing the gravel. It's been quite a long time since I got new fish.
Probably because my fish (the only inhabitant of the tank), Commando, is well, a commando. He's pretty tough.

Good luck with cleaning that tank!

P.S: I only change about a third of the water in the tank and I only do so when I think the filter is getting dirty, which is about once every 2 months.

 

[hwchoy]

Hi Pol, you only use Super Green Away if you have greenwater. Most often people simply have murky cloudy water because it is DIRTY plain and simple.

I didn't know so many fishkeeping folks exist here. If you want a good life for your fishes, consider doing a planted aquarium, which if done properly offers very low maintenance as the tank evironment can be made "quite" self-sustaining.

For those interested in a planted aquarium, do check out www.aquaticquotient.com and for thoes more keen on fishes and their proper maintenance you can check out www.petfrd.com

register and drop me a note I'll see you guys there.

 

[henrylim]

Now, it seemed that the problem here is lack of care. The tank can be very beautifully done up... The height allow you to put in plants like hydrilla which can grow quite tall.... The uv-light is not good for plants. Good for fish (make fish look better esp. blue fish like neon tetra or cardinal tetra). For plants, get white light with spectrum in the blue and red region.

I have one solution which might work:
- use the GEO LIQUID (automatically condition the fish tank for optimum water quality).
- use a submerged in-tank filter. This perform basic physical filteration and the sponge in it would help to rear benefical bacteria. Remember to wash with aquarium water (not tap water) at each cleaning session.
- water change 15-20% each week.

Share with you my tank..

 

[moos blues]

hahahaha i'm laughing my head off reading this the big dead fish really made my day... sorry i abit insensitive... hahaha.... and the green and brown water aiyo!!! i tot my tank was bad sia!!

how abt keeping swampy fishes? and knif fishs and chiclids? haha..

Oh btw you could try a UV filer box....

and i'm still laughing at the line "sent many fish to hell!" hahahhaa...

 

[Gymrat76]

Now, it seemed that the problem here is lack of care. The tank can be very beautifully done up... The height allow you to put in plants like hydrilla which can grow quite tall.... The uv-light is not good for plants. Good for fish (make fish look better esp. blue fish like neon tetra or cardinal tetra). For plants, get white light with spectrum in the blue and red region.

I have one solution which might work:
- use the GEO LIQUID (automatically condition the fish tank for optimum water quality).
- use a submerged in-tank filter. This perform basic physical filteration and the sponge in it would help to rear benefical bacteria. Remember to wash with aquarium water (not tap water) at each cleaning session.
- water change 15-20% each week.

Share with you my tank..

Very nice tank setup you have, Henry :thumbsup:

Would like to convert my tank to a semi-planted, but with the kinds of fishes I keep there's no chance of that

 

[Gymrat76]

To Sehsuan:

Also looks like there's a quantity of slime on your tank walls. Getting a fish like a Fei Fong will help.. they clean up algae and slime from the tank walls. Here's a picture of one, in case you go to the fish shops to get one:

Improving your filtering would be good. I would suggest picking up one of those stackable overhead filters, they're cheaper and easier to maintain than cainsters if you're on a budget. Something like this:

Its the clear boxes on top of the tank. I basically allows you to add as much bio-media as you want or whatever else you need, with room to expand should you get more fishes -just buy more trays and stack on top, hence the name, stackable overhead.

But seriously, if you need more help, you can visit any of the sites the others have mentioned, as they're dedicated to fishkeeping. Good luck dude