Rescue mission

[Sitting Duck]

Greetings fish tank enthusiasts,

Long story short, I was recently given two fish tanks in poor shape as well as their content and I need some help in making something healthy out of it all.

Lighting Info and size of the tank:

I scavenged parts from the two fish tanks to run a single one. I combined two different types of light fixtures on top of the tank. One was designed to hold a single standard fluorescent tube for fish tank (25 watts). The other fixture was meant to hold two incandescent bulbs but I'm using it with two 23 watts fluocompact bulbs (46 watts).

The tank I'm using has dimensions of 12 by 30 by 18 inches and came in a box claiming it has a capacity of 29 gallons. If my calculations are correct, this all means approximately 2.45 watts per gallon. I'm planning on having the lighting on 10-12 hours a day (ten hours as soon as I get a timer).

Substrate type:

So far, I have close to an inch thick of white sand as substrate. I chose white because I thought it would reflect part of the light back to the plants but now I'm starting to have regrets because it looks like winter in my fish tank. I'm considering adding tiny pebbles to increase the depth of the substrate and darken it a bit.

Filtration setup:

I'm using two filters (Aquaclear 30 and 50) with chemical and mechanical filtration (The sponge thing and the little bag full of carbon).

Fertilizer dosing:

I'm not using any fertilizer. I'm assuming, perhaps wrongly, that there is enough fish poop in the tank to fertilize plants. I'm not injecting CO2 in the tank either.

Amount and type of fish:

Here's the census of my new tank in all its overstocked glory:

Corydoras aeneus : 4
Corydoras matae: 3
Corydoras panda: 2
Corydoras pygmaeus: 1
Otocinclus: 3
Black neon tetras: 6
Dwarf puffer (better known as nasty little monster): 1
Algae eating shrimps (amano or yamato, depending on who I ask): 5
Apple snails (5)

Types of plants:

Currently, I have java moss growing on a stump of driftwood, chunks of marino balls and three plants that were given to me. I believe one is an anubia, one looks like a bunch of anachris and the third one I haven't been able to identify. I'll try posting pictures once I develop some technical skills.

Maintenance, care and latest water tests results:

I'm doing water changes once or twice weekly (about one sixth of the tank's water is replaced). I'm feeding the fish frozen blood worms and sinking shrimp pellet.

Ammonia is well under 0.6 PPM.
Nitrates are very high between 50 and 110 PPM.
PH is somewhere between 7 and 7.5
Water temperature is maintained around 25 degrees celsius, 80 degrees farenheit.

That's the only three kits I have, so no data on nitrites, water hardness or other.

The tank has been running smoothly for the past month and a half now and suffered only two casualties in the first few days: a corydoras aeneus and a shrimp.

Suggestions and questions:

1) I would like to add some kind of grassy plant to cover the bottom of the tank to outcompete the algae for the nitrates. I would appreciate suggestions that take into consideration the parameters I presented above. I'm also planning on adding java ferns and wysteria to the tank.

2) What should I add to have an acceptable substrate for plants?

3) Which fish/critters and how many should I remove from the tank to solve the overstocking? I already had to euthanize lots of fish so I'd prefer to to avoid doing it again, especially since the fish I decided to save look healthy so far. But I guess it's better to lose a few more fish now than to lose them all later...

4) I'm probably making some mistakes and not thinking about everything. I haven't had a fish tank for a while so please let me know of anything you think I should worry about or change.

Thanks in advance for any reply.

 

[cchase85]

For starters, your nitrates are VERY high. To the point where it is quite toxic to your fish.

Unfortunately, fish exposed to levels this high can die when the water is cleaned. Your fish are currently swimming in raw sewage, to put it bluntly. Not to mention your ammonia levels, which are also probably putting the fish under a lot of stress as they are quite high.

It's difficult to say what the best course of action. If possible, I would try to start lowering the nitrates through partial water changes, and over the course of the next few months bring it SLOWLY down to a level of 20ppm or less.

Ammonia should always be zero, it sounds as though your tank might be going through some sort of mini-cycle.

Before you worry about substrates and live plants, address the poison in your tank, as it is extremely bad for the fish.

I don't suggest euthanizing fish just to fix an overstocking problem. Try to bring them to your LFS or find someone to give them to...

If I were to remove fish, I would get rid of most of the snails, as they are big waste producers. You also have far too many cories for a tank of that footprint, I would try to wean that down to 4 or 5 total. Then, you should be fine in terms of stocking. Also, the dwarf puffer is unsuitable for a community tank (as you have right now) and should be removed and given to someone (NOT killed)...

 

[MissFishy]

Well, first of all, I wouldn't go euthanizing fish just to fix an overstocking problem. You can often "trade" in fish to a local fish store and either get money or store credit for them.

Your water quality is very poor. You really need to start doing water changes every other day until those levels are down. Ammonia at 0 and nitrates below 20ppm. This should solve a lot of the fish health issues. Once the fish are all healthy, I would suggest returning some of the corycats for store credit. You have a few too many bottom dwellers. I would get a seperate tank for the puffer if you don't want to return it, it's just not suited for a community tank. You also have a few too many snails, 1 or 2 should be fine for a tank that size. Also, if you don't have any algae growing in that tank, you may want to consider throwing some algae wafers in for the ottos.

Bottom line, too many fish, poor water quality. Time to do some massive water changes to get that water up to par and those fish healthy.

 

[jen0910]

Yep, they both have covered all the good advice.

 

[Sitting Duck]

Thanks for the replies,

I just did a first small water change (between one and two gallons out of 29) and will do them every other day for a while. I'll also reduce the amount of food I give the fish because I was probably overfeeding them which must have contributed to the poor water quality as well.

I made two phone calls to local fish stores. The fish I have were given to me with the tanks and are old and possibly ill, so the stores won't take them. I'll see what I can do to find a new home to some of the fish and snails (and write a classified ad on a local web site). It's sad about the snails being big waste producers, they're fun to watch (ironically, I always thought they were good at cleaning up waste, not producing it...).

The otocinclus seem to have enough to eat. The glasses are far from being covered in algae but the otos are fat, active and pooping regularly.

I'll get a five gallons tank for the puffer so I can transfer it as soon as possible (after cycling it).

I'll concentrate on all that first.

Thanks again for the replies.