2nd Time Starting.

[Joshwainwright]

Hey,
I've had my tropical fish tank for about a year now but recently (yesterday) I have completely restarted as I got annoyed with many aspects which are already starting to show.

The things that annoyed me
-Fish almost constantly dying with no signs of disease. This was VERY frustrating as I was always spending money on new fish. Already I have lost a fish after one day after restarting.
-Plants almost constantly dying. Again, very frustrating for the same reason. And again, new plants have started dying.

-Water turning green. After a couple of months trying to maintain the fish tank, the water would turn green. (a point of which i gave in with plants.)
-Water smelling. Again, after a couple of months or even weeks the water would start smelling awfull. Already, I can smell a difference.

I don't know what I have been doing wrong but I have put some things in place to try help. They include
-Inserting bubbles to try make the fish live longer.
[URL="http/img80.imageshack.us/img80/3225/dscf1248.jpg"]http/img80.imageshack.us/img80/3225/dscf1248.jpg[/URL]
-Buy some plant food to try make the plants live longer.

-Weekly 1/3 water changes.

Do you think this will help or will I still be doing something wrong?



By the way, some pics:

The fish tank with the light which is supposed to help plant growth.

The tank with the normal light.

Cucumber, a treat for the fish.

One of my black mollies, (big bully's!)

A pretty orange molly!

 

[Joshwainwright]

Anybody?

 

[kbekll]

first your pics are far too big cant see them fully

when was the last time you check your water perameters ? like ph, nitrate, amonia

i would say it has somthing to do with the water possibly the ph is a bit too acidic

 

[Rediahs]

Sorry that I can't help because I am new too, but I am not new to the forums, so I feel the need to tell you that your pictures are far too large! You need to use an image editing program and make them smaller, so that they fit within an average person's screen (at the VERY max, 1000 pixels wide and 800 tall).

 

[Joshwainwright]

k, will use photoshop.

Im really getting annoyed with my tank!

 

[kbekll]

k, will use photoshop.

Im really getting annoyed with my tank!

dont need to use photoshop but use photobucket or similar they have size settings you can use, seems the site has resized them but takes a while

get the water tested

check the fish for infection

worse case is you have an infection and it is killing everthing off

 

[Joshwainwright]

I'll go into town tomorrow and buy a new water testing kit, do you reccomend this? http/www.petsathome.com/find/category-is...roduct-is-22350

 

[kbekll]

I'll go into town tomorrow and buy a new water testing kit, do you reccomend this? [URL="http/www.petsathome.com/find/category-is...roduct-is-22350"]http/www.petsathome.com/find/category-is...roduct-is-22350[/URL]

no they are pap strips are about as usefull as tasting the water

try api masters kit or even take a sample of the water down to the fish shop and have it tested for free (only if they use liquid test kits tho)

 

[Rediahs]

Most people here would tell you that strips are more than worthless - they are often misleading.

A liquid test kit is much better. Personally I bought the API Freshwater Master Kit, it's a bit pricey, but does over 800 tests so you'll take a very long time before you need another, and the quality and accuracy is far higher.

 

[kbekll]

unless you are like me and break all the test tubes in 1 day lol

 

[Joshwainwright]

Right, I think I've sussed it...

 

[kbekll]

Right, I think I've sussed it...

so what was it ? an ornament with paint comming off lol

 

[Joshwainwright]

Its the fact that my tank is next to a window.
I should block off light from going in the sides and the back.

Still I will have a problem with fish dying so I will have to cycle it somehow.

 

[kbekll]

normally with the window it causes alge blooms or green water and unstable temps

could be this but your tank seems clear enough

i would say it will more than likly be water at fault