# Is my tank ok?



## 207lauras (Jan 28, 2009)

I have had a 10 gallon tank set up about 2 months now. Recently I had 1 glo fish die and a mysterious disappearance of a 2nd (within about 12 hours of one another). They had been in the tank since the beginning and the only thing I did differently was not add the water conditioner (Aquasafe tapwater conditioner). I always let the new water sit in a warm room for at least 24 hours prior to using ( I had heard letting it sit will naturally do what the water conditioner does). Obviously I think I need the conditioner every time HOWEVER I think it it making my water cloudy ( I also have a piece of mopani which I know is still leaching tannins). My tests are all coming back pretty ok. The most recent: Ammonia less than 0.05ppm ~Nitrate 0~Chlorine 0~ Alkalinity between 120-180~ Ph neutral~I have soft water 75ppm~ My Nitrite recently went from fine to .5 (which reads caution on the strip). I think that is because my 2 week old pleco just starting getting really comfy in there and is literally pooping everywhere:sad:. I do a 25% water change once per week and try to stir up the gravel a bit before (*gasp* I dont have a vac). Am I missing anything?


----------



## Buggy (Oct 17, 2006)

You are having a mini cycle, probably caused by the large frequent water changes and dieing fish. The cloudiness is a bacterial bloom and will go away when the mini cycle is over. Just keep up the once a week w/c and you tank will get back to normal.

If you are using well water that doesn't have chlorine or chlorimines then letting it sit for 24 hours is fine and you don't need a conditioner. You might try using Prime while the mini is going on to detoxify the ammonia and nitrite to help protect the fish. And don't add any new fish to replace the deceased ones until this spike is over, then introduce new fish 1 or 2 at a time spaced a couple of weeks apart to prevent another spike.

Now I get to be the bad guy here....
I am going to assume that the pleco is a common pleco. A 10 gal is way too small for that fish. Common plecos get up to a couple of feet in size and although it takes a few years for them to get that big, they will still out grow a 10 gal very quickly. You have already observed how much waste they produce and it will only get worse. Your best course of action would be to take the pleco back to the store and wait until your tank is stable again, then research to find a pleco species more suitable for that size tank. I don't know of any that are really suitable for a 10 gal but there are several out there (bristlenose and rubberlip to name a couple) that stay small so they could work with diligent w/c.


----------



## 207lauras (Jan 28, 2009)

Thank You for the input! You are not the bad guy, I just read a post here yesterday about the pleco getting that big and was astounded. The guy at Petco.. (I know I know)...told me it would be fine. I guess I will have to see if they can take him back. too bad though, aside from the pooping he is actually pretty cool! I didnt have my heart set on a pleco when I went in there, just wanted some sort of bottom feeder to get the scraps left by the others.. will have to do some digging around and see what type would be more suitable for my tank!
Thanks again~


----------



## Buggy (Oct 17, 2006)

Ahhhh, so you want a bottom feeder? Well then check out the dwarf pygmy coridora. They are cute, stay small and can (actually NEED) to be kept in groups of 5 or more and are suitable for a 10 gal. Not sure you will find them at Petco but if that is your only fish store choice, ask them if they can special order you some. If not, try online and see what you can come up with.
Petco will probably "adopt" your pleco back but won't give you any credit for it. However, if you have a lfs in your area, they might take it and give you some store credit for it.


----------



## 207lauras (Jan 28, 2009)

Thank you! I will give a call before I bring him over to finalize "adoption" plans and check on the coridora!


----------



## SueM (Jan 23, 2004)

Petco's return policy is 14 days for fish, if you don't have the receipt, hopefully you used your petco card & they can pull up the receipt.


----------



## emc7 (Jul 23, 2005)

> I had heard letting it sit will naturally do what the water conditioner does).


 This depends on what is in the water. Do you have well water? Municipal water? If you have city water, there should be a "water quality report" somewhere that tells you what they add. If they add chloramine to your water, letting it sit won't change anything. Adding untreated water with chloramine in it can kill fish and kill your "cycle" bacteria causing a "mini-cycle" or ammonia spike which can kill fish. Old-style chlorine will come out over time esp. if you bubble some air through it. But you need to know whats in the water before skipping the conditioner. It looks like you have a chlorine test. Did you test the tap water, or just the tank?


----------



## 207lauras (Jan 28, 2009)

Hi we have city water but I haven't checked with the town (or with the test strip) before adding to the tank...I should have just kept up with the conditioner, I just thought that it was making my water more cloudy and was thinking the less chemicals the better...should know better than to change something if it was working to begin with...


----------



## Fishfirst (Jan 24, 2005)

it was probably the nitrogen cycle/bacteria bloom and not your conditioner that was making the water cloudy... a completely natural process that takes 1-2 months after fish are added.


----------

