Fish help needed - please read?

Question

Hi, I have a 60 litre (13 gallon) Tropical fish tank. I have not been doing my weekly water changes and for some reason the water pump/filter I think has stopped working. I am starting fresh. I am keeping he same fish but re-cleaning my whole entire tank. muck on gravel poo and everything, its so green you cant even see in it.

What would be my best way going about this?

Thanks.

If you have any of your fish tank pictures, I would love to see them so I get a good idea of what to do, thanks.

Answer 1

first you must fill containers with tap water, the ammount you think you may need, and you must let it sit for 24hrs for chemicals to dilute, flouride etc, or you can use water straight form the tap but use ameasure of declor, from your pet shop, this neutrlises the chlorine etc,, put your fish in a bowl or other container with water in it, while you clean the tank, then put the container with fish in it into the tank, let fish swim out into clean water when they are ready,, hope this helps,  

Answer 2

I don't want to jump on your back Aquagirl, but on your profile it says this:

"About me: Hi, My name on here is AquaGirl, I am a specialist in fish, Tropical, Marine and Coldwater"

I would say this is fundamentally incorrect, based on the question you have just asked.

For people reading this, please do your research before taking on the responsibility of keeping fish.

Answer 3

For a good tip, with your filter, clean the pump's impeller. Sometimes, when the pump falters, the reason is because the impeller is caked in fish ****..

Answer 4

Right get a test kit test everything see whats high and whats not.

Do A 50 % water change.

Get the filter working again.

And i think you can buy something to put in the tank that will take the greeness away.

Your problem is with the filter not working its not filtering anaything or giving oxygeon out.

You may find that some of your fish will die. But just do the 50% water change. Nothing else then go from there

Good luck!!!

Answer 5

i suggest you take the pump/filter to bits, its maybe just debris in the pump, which can easily be sorted. change carbon filter and put new filter wool in, wash bottom  sponges in fish water, as the fish need bacteria, you cant clean the whole tank from scratch without losing fish.  to sort out an algae problem, get a couple of algae eating fish in the tank.  

Answer 6

Find a hobby you can cope with, poor fish, why didn't you do water changes and clean your filters?  If it was a dog you let suffer people would say you were cruel.  

Answer 7

you shouldnt have fish! not if that is how you are treating them you need to make sure you are doing your water changes of corse your filter has stopped working theres so much c**p in the water you realy should know how to look after fish before actually doing it. as for a fresh start you cant do it just like that it takes time for everything to settle and for the tanl to cycle and allow good bacteria to grow i would just start doing water changes and you will soon see a difference or you will need a smaller tank with some fresh water and some of your old tank water to put your fish in while you do it kinda like a temporary home or ask your local aquatic centre . do not just clean out the filter also if it is an external filter there may be alot of waste so be careful with your ammonia levels  

Answer 8

you should really read up on how to keep fish before you start fish. You're not supposed to clean absolutely everything in the whole tank as fish needs some of these chemical cycles in a tank. This forum is one of the best http://www.ukaps.org/

Answer 9

Ahhh no!  dont start from scratch!  First thing is go get amonia test kit.

Amonia is made as the fish poo rots.  Amonia is poisonous to your fish.  It damages their gills and other parts of them untill they die.  Ther will be good bacteria in your tank feeding of the amonia and waste removing poisonous chemicals.  If you start again you will not have the good bacteria and the fish will get sick.

what sort of filter have you got? if it is a little canister filter you will feel the flow of water.

It could be that you hgave an algae problem and that could be blocking your filter.  Every two weeks, unplug the filter, take it apart and rinse the spoges in a bucket with some tank water, you don't want to destroy too much of the good bacteria.  see how many different parts of the filter will come apart for rinsing. use cotto buds/q tips.  Put it back together.

At the same time every two weeks do change at least 1/3 of the water.  You see once the harmfull chemicals have been made in to safe ones by the bacteria, you are left with nitrates.  They are less harmfull but sudden rises in nitrates can stress or kill fish(for example if you put a new fish in a tank high in nitrates).  High Nitrates can also encourage algae!! see!

I would change the water ever week and test amonia levels with a test kit, untill you are happy with it.

as you syphon out the water use a wideish tube and put your thumb over the bucket end then you can stir up the gravle a bit with the other end to get muck out.  stiring up the gravel can disguise the top layer of algae.  the dirt soon settles.

feel free to email to ask anymore questions

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