juliethegr8t
Addicted and in Therapy
Thankfully it is not my tank that is suffering from this awful condition.. but it is my neighbors, and we need a little help.
She has a HUGE goldfish in a 10 gallon tank - they've had him for 5 years and are not about to take him to the store and trade him in or anything, plus can't really afford a bigger tank. He's probably 5-6 inches long, and 2-3 inches thick!!
Just a normal comet... Anyways.
The water started getting cloudly awhile back, so three weeks ago she took out everything - gravel, plants, etc... washed and boiled it all, and changed the filter.
Eeek, I know. She has to totally cycle again.
Her tank is the worst I've ever seen - the water is literally pea soup. When the fish is at the back of the tank you can't see him. It's green and cloudy as all heck. I measured ammonia and nitrites, and amazingly they're both at 0. I don't have a test for nitrates, but they have got to be high.
Here's what I told her to do:
Daily 50% water changes, with a gravel clean 1x a week (gotta keep some good bacteria)
Feed every other day
DONT change the filter (she had been changing it every 2 weeks or so)
Is this good?
I just read something that said water changes don't really help, but I know she needs to get cycled without hurting the fish. Also, I figure that if she can finally get enough bacteria, they'll help get rid of all the crap. If anyone has any other suggestions, that would be awesome. I've never had to deal with this in my own tanks, so was just trying to think logically and come up with a plan. 
Thanks!
Edit: Forgot to say... her tank is in a pretty light room as far as sunlight goes, and I'm positive this is contributing greatly to the problem, but they have nowhere else to move it unless absolutely necessary. Will the problem be able to be cured without moving it?
She has a HUGE goldfish in a 10 gallon tank - they've had him for 5 years and are not about to take him to the store and trade him in or anything, plus can't really afford a bigger tank. He's probably 5-6 inches long, and 2-3 inches thick!!
Just a normal comet... Anyways.The water started getting cloudly awhile back, so three weeks ago she took out everything - gravel, plants, etc... washed and boiled it all, and changed the filter.
Eeek, I know. She has to totally cycle again. Her tank is the worst I've ever seen - the water is literally pea soup. When the fish is at the back of the tank you can't see him. It's green and cloudy as all heck. I measured ammonia and nitrites, and amazingly they're both at 0. I don't have a test for nitrates, but they have got to be high.
Here's what I told her to do:
Daily 50% water changes, with a gravel clean 1x a week (gotta keep some good bacteria)
Feed every other day
DONT change the filter (she had been changing it every 2 weeks or so)
Is this good?
I just read something that said water changes don't really help, but I know she needs to get cycled without hurting the fish. Also, I figure that if she can finally get enough bacteria, they'll help get rid of all the crap. If anyone has any other suggestions, that would be awesome. I've never had to deal with this in my own tanks, so was just trying to think logically and come up with a plan. Thanks!Edit: Forgot to say... her tank is in a pretty light room as far as sunlight goes, and I'm positive this is contributing greatly to the problem, but they have nowhere else to move it unless absolutely necessary. Will the problem be able to be cured without moving it?
