aqua-monkey

so hi im wendy.. and i got a tank too big to handle.. im guessing its a 40gallon.. and i have bad lights in it and the former owner didnt take good care of it... the water is dirty and the fish are new ( i didnt get them... i got this tank as a gift and with fish in bags... the guy put the tank together for me and threw the fish in and said feed ever other day) he says that he put in ADA aqua soil in it and the cat fish keeps "rolling" in it and made the water all brown.... it killed my tadpol!!! should i change the water? should i leave it? the fish look mad and upset i have a small 10 gallon tank that i could put the fish in while i clean this poor tank but will it hurt my freshly put in fish??? HELP!!!!!!!!!!!

acbaldwin

I would take all of the fish and toss them in the 10 gallon, then clean the 40 top to bottom. what kind of fish? plants? can you post a pic (even a crappy one) to show us how bad the tank is? Do you have any water testing kits, even the most basic?
Andrew

trenac

Welcome to APC, Wendy

Is the water dirty because the fish is stirring up the substrate or because the tank has not been taken care of?

Has the tank been cycled?

Is the tank planted?

What kinds of fish do you have?

Have you tested the water parameters?

Give as much info about the setup as you can, so that we will be able to help you better.

With out knowing all the answers to the above questions, I would say that you at least need to do a large water change (75%) to clear up the water.

JaySilverman

The cat fish is actually scratching. And he's doing this because his gills are itchy. He's actually scratching the side of his head where the gills are against the gravel. This could because of an infection due to the dirty water, it could be a parasite or it just might be itchy because of stress. I would move all the fish over to the clean 10 gallon with some plants in it for hiding places and a seeded filter (filter that the bacteria is already established). While cleaning and doing maintenance on the big tank don't forget to do small daily water changes in the 10 gallon tank till the big tank is back up and ready to be put back.

azn_fishy55

I would say move all the plants down to the 10 gallon and clean up the 40 gallon.Another thing why is a tadpole with tropical fish?What type of fish do you have?Is it a planted tank?What types of lights do you have?Do you have test kits,if so give us the readings of ammonia,nitrates,and nitrites.

aqua-monkey

thank you everyone for your help, yesterday i changed the water of the tank and moved my fish and plants to my 10 gallon tank. i cleaned the tank completely built a new enviorment and instead of putting the ADA aqua soil in the tank as-is i washed it out first. everything looks great in the tank and im now waiting for the tank to settle, there's still a bit of cloudlyness in the water but i believe it will subside.
i have two african frogs, two caraval tetras, two gourami, one tadpol, one catfish, one male betta, one big phlco, and a firebelly newt.

i have a huge water kit with the tests, treatments, water conditioners made by jungle.

i have two 15w light bulbs (those were the only ones avalible...) i believe they are translusant...

aqua-monkey

this is the tank now after the changes

acbaldwin

pic does not show for me, but I'm interested to see this interesting collection of livestock...

azn_fishy55

the tadpoles and the fire belly newt like cooler temperatures than most tropical fish.I would dedicate the ten gallon to them unless you wanna lower your temperature a bit.I can't see the picture either.