# A lot of food floating in tank



## oprsd23 (May 22, 2009)

I was too sick to take care of my fish for 2 weeks so my cousin was doing it for me. Today when I got home I noticed a lot of food stuck to the filter and it seemed kind of dirty (food floating around) so I started to clean everything out to wash (the decorations) and vacuum the gravel. I changed about 50% of the water doing that because there was so much food coming out (she must of REALLY over fed them) I changed the filter carbon and cleaned the whole filter. Then I added the 50% water back that I took out (using stress coat). While I was doing it a lot more food was floating around and tried to net a lot of it but without much success. I also added some aquari-sol after because I figure they must be pretty stressed with everything and the big water change and it has helped me prevent ich in them for months now. She also told me in the middle of the week one of my guppies died, I think it was about 2 years old so it might of just been it's time. 

I am worried because there is still a lot of very small pieces of food floating around that they might get sick. A lot of it is getting sucked into the filer though as I am typing this so that is good I guess. Is there anything else I can do to make sure they don't get sick from all of this? I see them trying to eat some of it but then they spit it back out. It is just frustrating because my tank has been doing very well and now this. 

Thanks in advance.


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## Obsidian (May 20, 2007)

The food itself will probably not hurt them if they eat it. The problem here is the chances of a mini cycle or bacterial bloom. I would check your numbers, especially your ammonia and nitrate. If they are up there then I would do fairly large water changes (up to 50%) until you get to 0 ammonia and less than 40 nitrate. With each WC rinse the filter media to get rid of the extra food pieces it is picking up. I would rise that several times until the tank clears anyway. If you are not doing a water change but the filter sponge is pretty messy then just fill a bucket with dechlorinated water and rinse it in there. That won't hurt your bacteria. 

The filter will pick up a lot of the free floating food. You can expect water changes to kick up some of the extra food for several changes. Don't worry about it too much as long as your numbers are good and the tank looks and smells good. It should smell earthy, not fishy. The water should be clear. If it gets cloudy that is a bacterial bloom. If that happens stop washing the filter sponge and just let the water changes help you along. Sometimes the bloom can happen if you clean it too good too fast, that's why you would want to stop with rinsing that off. Chances are this will not happen in this case though. 

Feed very lightly as it slowly comes back to normal. If they are guppies you can go with a light feeding every other day for a while, up to 2 weeks, then start feeding normal again. It won't hurt them to eat every other day, especially over a short period of time. 

Chances are your tank will come out just fine


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## emc7 (Jul 23, 2005)

Ammonia & nitrite are what you need to watch, a spike from uneaten, decaying can be fatal. You are on the right track with water changes, gravel washing, and skimming food or oil off the surface. I might also add a big dose of Prime or other "ammonia-detoxifier" as a precaution. The filter bacteria will likely multiple to meet the 'expanded food source" but you can have 'mini-cycle' with some spikes as it does.


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## oprsd23 (May 22, 2009)

Hello,

So after writing this post I went to get my water tested and everything was good except my PH was too low. So i got tabs that raise it and something to monitor. The next day it was the right level. Now however it is low again, is there a reason it would become low on it's own? It got low again before I changed the water so it can't be from a water change. Is it maybe because of the previous problem I was having with the food? Also I had a lot of algae on the sides of the tank, I have one of those magnet scrub things but it's hard to get it all off. Is that bad? I don't like how it looks but I am more concerned it is hurting the fish. 

Thanks again


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## NatBarry (Feb 19, 2008)

The algae won't hurt your fish, its natural although most people like to clean it up so their tank can be kept looking fresh and clean. Personally I think a tank looks better with a bit of algae on the rocks and most fish like to pick it anyway.


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## emc7 (Jul 23, 2005)

What do you mean by low? the neons won't mind acid water. Test you tap water, too. Sky high nitrate can drop the pH, but you'd see that on the test. 

I'd skip the additives, and just bump up your regular water changes (more water, or more often).

If you scrape off algae, siphon it out.


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