Need Help Making My Ugly Tanks Prettier

[Snailor]

I have a 55 gallon with one common goldfish, a 29 gallon with one black moor goldfish, and a 5 gallon with one betta and one mystery snail.

In my 55 gallon, there is this weird brownish algae that grows on the glass, it's been doing this since I first got the tank about a year ago, and I've done two 100% water changes before. It still comes back. There is nothing added to the water besides water conditioner. Also, the sand has brown sploches in it. The whole tank is plain and ugly. And to make things worse, a couple days ago I lost power for a couple minutes. Then the filter is made a buzzing noise and won't work now. I've tried taking the.. can't remember the name, tube off by unscrewing it and taking off the box with the big propeller inside. I took that upstairs to the kitchen sink and sprayed it with hot water. It's clean, but still makes that buzzing noise and won't work. Also tried adding water inside the filter. Still just makes that buzzing noise and doesn't work....

In the 29 gallon, it's really plain and boring. The water is a tad cloudy because my old filter cartridge just broke down so I put in a new one about an hour ago. It's usually crystal clear. Never had water quality or algae problems in this tank ever. There was a fantail goldfish but he got his fins caught in the filter once and well.. they got pretty much shredded and his gills got ripped inside out and he was bleeding all over so I killed him.

In my 5 gallon, I just have a betta and a mystery snail. The mystery snail floats in a tupperware container with holes drilled in it so the betta doesn't attack him. No filter because it's such a small tank, and any other time I had a filter with my bettas, they got caught in it and died... like 3 times... in that same tank.

In every tank, the lights are on about 8-10 hours a day. The 5 gallon has a 7 watt, the 29 gallon has I believe a 25 watt, and the 55 gallon I believe has a 30 watt. I never overfeed ever, I make sure of that, I'm pretty good at feeding my fish. The only thing different about any of the tanks is that I feed my snail a small piece of cuttlebone for calcium. He has some small cracks in his shell.

So, someone please give me some tips on how to make my tanks look like some of the really good ones I see on here.

 

[paradiddle]

I struggle with the brown like hair algae, I removed the stuff with it on and overdosed excel but it keeps coming back!
If you find a solution ill be checking here

If it helps anyone I NEVER had this problem until I bought a liquid fertiliser from pets at home and after a few days dosing that ... ££££'s over taken by brown moss.
:'(

 

[fm1978]

Maybe a picture or 2 could help us see what you already have in your tanks and then we might be able to advise you further on what you can do with them to make them look prettier.
 
But, it seems like you have a far more immediate problem in that your filters, from what you describe, don't seem to be working properly, or at all any more. You really should replace broken filters but use your existing media in the new ones.
 
I'm no expert of bettas, and I know they are able to survive in poorer water conditions that a lot of fish, but, it really should have a filter. Surviving isn't thriving (I think I stole that from another member's signature so credit to them for that!!!).
 
As for the algae problem; you could try a blackout for that. Algae needs light to grow, no light, no grow!

 

[msasa19]

your betta wont attack your snail, mine lives with a snail and doesn't even look at it, the snail would go in its shell if it came to near anyway, I don't think it would be able to kill it if he tried.

 

[Snailor]

I'll put up pictures in a couple minutes. I'll try to take apart the filter one more time.

 

[Meeresstille]

There are Betta-safe filters available. I am using an Aquaclear filter on my Betta tank with a sponge cover over the intake tube, it works great! Especially with as snail in the Betta tank I would put a filter on there, snails add a lot more to the bioload. How often do you change the water on the Betta tank? Do you regularly check your ammonia levels?
 
The Algae problem: do you have plants in your tank? What is your routine for the regular water changes? Does your tank get direct sunlight? You could try if reducing the amount of time you have the lights on in your tanks, see if that makes a difference. A black out would definitely kill the algae so that is a good way to go if you have no live plants in there. Do you do good gravel vacs when you change the water? There may be too many nutrients hidden in there that encourages the algae growth. After the black out you could add some live plants to your tank that will absorb all those nutrients and hopefully you won't see any more algae coming back.
 
What kind of filter is it that won't work now after the power outage? My Aquaclear filters can be temperamental like that too, when I plug them back in after a water change. I have a little syringe (the kind you can get for dosing oral meds for children) with which I can get a bit of water pressure in there to dislodge anything that may be stuck. It happens so often, that it would be a real nuisance if I had to take the filters apart every single time. Sometimes it also helps to give the impeller a little push with a small tool (I use a plastic needle nose clamp). And I alway prime the filter with tank water, I imagine it prevents the motor from having to work too hard.
 
The cloudy water you see may be a sign of a bacterial bloom. If you have thrown out the media of the broken filter, then you basically now have an uncycled tank on your hands. The white cloudiness from a bacterial bloom is not really dangerous, it will disappear in a few days on its own. The only thing you have to be aware of with this type of bacteria is that it may compete with your fish for oxygen, so keep an eye on your fish for any signs of gasping or staying close to the surface. To help that you could increase the water flow, decrease the water level if you have a waterfall type filter or to put an airstone in the tank.

 

[Snailor]

There are Betta-safe filters available. I am using an Aquaclear filter on my Betta tank with a sponge cover over the intake tube, it works great! Especially with as snail in the Betta tank I would put a filter on there, snails add a lot more to the bioload. How often do you change the water on the Betta tank? Do you regularly check your ammonia levels?
 
The Algae problem: do you have plants in your tank? What is your routine for the regular water changes? Does your tank get direct sunlight? You could try if reducing the amount of time you have the lights on in your tanks, see if that makes a difference. A black out would definitely kill the algae so that is a good way to go if you have no live plants in there. Do you do good gravel vacs when you change the water? There may be too many nutrients hidden in there that encourages the algae growth. After the black out you could add some live plants to your tank that will absorb all those nutrients and hopefully you won't see any more algae coming back.
 
What kind of filter is it that won't work now after the power outage? My Aquaclear filters can be temperamental like that too, when I plug them back in after a water change. I have a little syringe (the kind you can get for dosing oral meds for children) with which I can get a bit of water pressure in there to dislodge anything that may be stuck. It happens so often, that it would be a real nuisance if I had to take the filters apart every single time. Sometimes it also helps to give the impeller a little push with a small tool (I use a plastic needle nose clamp). And I alway prime the filter with tank water, I imagine it prevents the motor from having to work too hard.
 
The cloudy water you see may be a sign of a bacterial bloom. If you have thrown out the media of the broken filter, then you basically now have an uncycled tank on your hands. The white cloudiness from a bacterial bloom is not really dangerous, it will disappear in a few days on its own. The only thing you have to be aware of with this type of bacteria is that it may compete with your fish for oxygen, so keep an eye on your fish for any signs of gasping or staying close to the surface. To help that you could increase the water flow, decrease the water level if you have a waterfall type filter or to put an airstone in the tank.

I usually change 50% of the water in the betta tank every two weeks. I used to test once a week but it was always under control so I don't test it anymore. In the 55 gallon, there are a couple small plants. One large java fern which has given plantlets twice so far, got about 5 baby ferns from that. Also some plants im not sure of, but I'm pretty sure they're amazon swords. There is no direct sunlight. The algae isn't terribly bad, it just looks bad on the glass. Again I usually change 50% every two weeks.

The water in that tank was cloudy because I had someone whose not so good with fish looking after mine... I know she overfeeds because she had a betta once and there was constantly a lot of uneaten food at the top of the... yeah, she kept it in a bowl.

Anyways, pics will be up in about 5 mins.
Here is my 55g first. The water is cloudy because the filter is off but I'm gonna try again to fix it. Then theres a small piece of driftwood with some java fern, and supposedly amazon swords. Then my very plain 29g tank with my black moor, and my 5g tank with my snail and betta. Don't know where the betta was in the picture. But there is also a small ball of moss in there and 3 baby java ferns.

 

[msasa19]

try using playsand instead of gravel, its easier to clean as the poop stays on top and looks nicer, maybe for the goldfish get some big bunches of weed from  a local pet shop, its cheap and grows fast, the fish love it and will have a nibble on it, you may also end up with some small snails which should eat that algae!

 

[Ch4rlie]

Wow, thats pretty minimalistic! lol
 
A few plants, a mixture of heights of live or plastic, your choice, but I prefer live as believe live plants more beneficial for tank and fish
bogwood / driftwood
Rocks or caves
Background cover, picture or plain blue/black
 
Just adding a few of the above will certainly help the looks of your tanks. Nothing to stop your tank from having a good look that you like, just imagination and creativity required really.
I find that once I start, I can't stop fiddling about and adding more stuff until fairly satisfied but I am my own worst critic and then when I see other tank picture on this forum I go, hmm that looks better than mine!! lol
 
As for cloudy water, sometimes just leaving water alone for a day or two will clear by itself.
Algae problem, follow advice from previous comments will help, reduce lighting time, try blackout etc etc.
 
Good luck and hope things will turn out the way you want.