What am I doing wrong with my fish tank?
I've had this 9 gallon fish tank for a couple months now. At first, I bought one Betta, but a couple days later I bought three Corydoras. Only a couple weeks later, my biggest Cory died of popeye. I tried treating him, but I didn't get the medicine in time. The sinking food I had bought for my Corys was the cause of the problem because after a couple hours it turns into big balls of mush and the bottom was pretty covered in it. After he died, I kept some of the water from the tank and cleaned the entire tank, rocks and all. It ended up being about a 75% water change. For a couple weeks the rest of my fish have been fine, I've been sucking up the food gunk from the bottom weekly and doing everything I'm supposed to (such as add Cycle weekly and Waste Control) but now the tank is twice as dirty as it was before, and another of my Corys is dying of something unknown! The rocks are turning brown (what the hell?) and so are the leaves of the fake plant and the one real plant I have.
What am I doing wrong and how can I fix this? Please help!
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http://tinypic.com/r/210yu1e/3
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(Sorry the pictures are a little fuzzy)
The cause of the problem is most likely due to adding too many fish. Corydoras ideally need a 20 gallon aquarium for the long term. If you have a test kit could you provide the details from the water tests for pH, ammonia, nitrite and nitrate.
Most fish-related diseases and deaths are caused by poor water quality so if you have high levels of ammonia and/or nitrite then you can be certain that this is the cause of the problem.
As for the brown substance on the rocks and plants, this sounds like Brown algae or Diatoms. This is very common in new aquariums and tanks that haven’t been cycled. High nutrient levels (nitrate and phosphate) along with a high amount of silicates usually brings on Diatoms. Stepping up water changes and cutting back on the food for a week or so may help.
Well, if the bottom of your tank was covered with uneaten food, you are obviously feeding them way too much! Have you tested your water at all? You don’t just dump chemicals into your tank without knowing what is going on with your water. Doing such a large water change likely threw everything out of whack.
How much light does your tank get? Your real plant should get around 10 hours a day from the hood. Avoid more than that or natural sunlight, that causes algae.
I recommend testing your water, adjusting the light, and go from there. Sorry I can’t be more help. I’ve never experienced anything quite like that.
Maybe algae. Not really sure.
pleccy is right it is diatoms or brown algae an this usually does happen when over feeding in a new tank fish don’t need a lot of food much less than you would think and they only really need to be fed once a day and don’t feed them once a week. Good luck=)
http://saltaquarium.about.com/cs/algaecontrol/a/aa091100.htm
I know this is for salt water but it can be applied to fresh water
The brown stuff is brown algae you could get some yamato shrimp or apple snails to solve that and is the tank heated also try feeding them once every two days that will reduce amonia and feces and check the ph and amonia and nitrate levels and do u use dechlorinator