Help - Tropical Fish Tank

[Danny3320]

hello!

about 2-3 months ago we bought a tropical fish setup... tank, fish all the bits

the tank keeps getting really dirty with algae

the light is usual on about 12-13 hrs a day- is that too long?

there is a blue light but we never use that, i dont know the what the use for it is?

i clean the filter weekly and its usually full of algae

i'm not sure if i'm feeding them too much maybe

what would be the correct way to clean the tank, the bottom is getting bad with algae

not sure what the correct way to get all the algae up would be

i have half removed the water and refilled it, it helped clear the water but there is still algae on the bottom

it soon went back to normal

i would like to empty it completely and cleaning everything but i would be worried about the fish/ snails (in other tank)

thanks

dan

 

[the_lock_man]

Different algaes are caused by different things, but lights for 12-13 hours a day would be a big cause of brown and green spot algae, I believe. Lights only need to be on for 7-8 hours.

There is also a specialist subsection of this forum for algae issues, and I'm sure one of the mods will move this thread there shortly.

 

[Danny3320]

sorry about that


would the blue light help? what is the point of the blue light

 

[daizeUK]

I'm not sure which tank you've got, but I've got an Interpet and the blue light is simply mood lighting, e.g. for evening viewing. I'm not sure whether it has the same effect on plant/algae growth as the normal white light.

 

[Danny3320]

my tank is a fish X box or fish box x

it have 2 built in lights

a normal light on the right and the blue light on the left

 

[daizeUK]

Yep same tank as mine. It's mood lighting. I use both at the same time and I use a timer to ensure the lights aren't on for more than 8-10 hours per day. Both are rated at 15W so I assume they have the same effect.

 

[Danny3320]

so if i use the light less that should help

i think i maybe feeding them too much, i have 2 snails and 2 small eal things that wont need food,

i have Black Ghost Knife, Red Tailed Shark and about 4 other fish

not sure if its easy to descibe how much i should be feeding them over the internet

but ive been feeding them a fairly large pinch morning and evening

 

[Tuxyu3]

What size is this tank?
A quick note on the stocking you mentioned, Black Ghost Knifefish need very large tank (usually grow to around a foot in captivity), are very delicate when it comes to water quality and parasites/infections, should have plenty of hiding spots, should have a dimly lit aquarium and will eat any fish they can fit in their mouths. Red-Tailed Black Sharks are often bullies and nippers, i would certainly not recommend them will the Black Ghost.

blue light is simply mood lighting, e.g. for evening viewing.

Most people turn on their night lighting before any stronger (white) lighting to help transition the fish from darkness to light (and vice-versa) as it is generally considered cruel to turn on all the lights straight away as it can be very stressful for fish, this is also the reason it is recommended to turn on surrounding lamps and lights before turning the tank light on, it allows the fish to gradually get used to the light.

 

[Danny3320]

the Black Ghost Knifefish come with the tank when i bought it

i would say its a 2ft tank, its usually hiding all the time

the red tailed shark also come with the tank, it hides itself in a plant
both fish have been fine with my other fish up to now

 

[the_lock_man]

my tank is a fish X box

So the fish hang around all day playing Call of Duty?

 

[N0body Of The Goat]

RTBS reach ~15cm and need a 4-foot tank, they get more fiesty as they get bigger and will often dominate other bottom dwellers including darf cichlids.

BGKF reach >50cm and need a massive tank, purely on the basic principle of 4Lx2Lx2L minimum for more sedate fish (where L is the fish's body length) they need a 200x100x100cm tank.

These fish are still youngsters and so need at least two feeds a day and in a typical 2-footer of ~54l (60x30xx30cm) the water quality is going to very quickly deteriorate.

What are the other ~4 fish?

I appreciate you got at least some of these with the tank, but in 2-3 months you ought to have discovered the needs of the fish you took and decided to either rehome or do a massive tank upgrade.

I'm not passing on my two cents from an "ivory tower" here, I have three "tank buster" fish of my own. My Synodontis notata is quite mature at 20cm SL, he was brought indoors out of my 150x60x60cm for the winter and looked horribly cramped in my Rio240, so I purchased a 180x45x45cm that I am setting up over the next few days. I also have a very young Chrisichthys ornatus (Ornate "Bagrid"... odd name as they are no longer Brigridae but Clarotidae) and Auchenoglanis cf. tchadensis (Lake Chad Girrafe catfish) that were bought at 4cm SL and 5cm SL respectively four months ago, they have grown to ~7cm and ~11cm since in a 120x30x37cm and I am looking to give the Girraffe Catfish an upgrade to one of my larger tanks in the very near future to ensure he/she keeps growing healthily.

 

[msasa19]

i only feed my fish every other day, i would cut it down to that for a while and see if it helps,fish can go without food for a long time.

 

[Tuxyu3]

i only feed my fish every other day, i would cut it down to that for a while and see if it helps,fish can go without food for a long time.

You seem to have missed the point N0body was making, these fish NEED to be fed twice a day.

Sounds like good advice and information to me, i would follow it.

 

[msasa19]

i only feed my fish every other day, i would cut it down to that for a while and see if it helps,fish can go without food for a long time.

You seem to have missed the point N0body was making, these fish NEED to be fed twice a day.

you seem to need an attitude check.

 

[Tuxyu3]

I am not being rude, simply pointing out that these fish need to be fed twice a day. I am sorry if it came across wrong but the reason i emphasised it was in an attempt to stress that it is very important for the fish, not an attempt to make you look bad or anything like that.