Polluted Water

[eowyn]

I spent a good portion of my night fixing my water problem. A lot of food had settled at the bottom, so much that I had to remove the fish and drain the tank.
I bought a new gravel vac which made things much easier. My betta tank one is small. The filter was a bit clogged and the cartridge was covered in this brown muck....totally unsalvagable and had to be replaced. I didn't feel too bad since it was new to start.

Two things I wondering that could have caused the mucky filter. Could a plant supplement cause it? I have 3 live plants in the tank and I added something for them at the very beginning. I can't remember the name of the stuff I used but it's for aquarium plants. I have the worst luck with plants...that's why my betta has fake ones. And what would cause driftwood to be covered in slime and smell like rotten eggs? I had a piece of it in the tank which I removed 5 days ago because I could see slime on it.

The fish survived the trauma of being caught; stuck in a bucket; and replaced. They survived the night and seem to be acting fine....swimming like crazy.
Thanks for the help.

 

[Colin_T]

Gunk and bad smells are caused by rotting food, dead fish or rotting plants, usually rotting food. If you use a gravel cleaner every week then you should be able to leave a tank set up indefinitely and never have to take it apart for a major clean. If you have a dirty tank then just do daily water changes and gravel cleans for a week or so and it will clean things up.

Plants can be a problem if you don't have enough light, if they don't get any fertiliser, and if they are marsh plants rather than true aquatic plants. You want a light on the tank for between 8-16hours per day. Start with 10-12 hours per day and increase or decrease it depending on algal growth. More algae = reduce the light. No algae then you can increase the lighting period.
Adding an aquarium plant food several times a weak will make a big difference. Sera Florena is a good basic liquid plant food.
Good plants to try include Ambulia, Elodia, Hygrophilla polysperma, Swordplants and Narrow Vallis.
Water sprite (Ceratopteris thalictroides) is a good plant for a Betta tank and can be left to float or planted in the substrate.